Focke-Wulf Fw 190A-4 Conversion

for Tamiya's 1/48 Fw 190A-3

Eagle Parts

 

S u m m a r y
Catalogue Number, Description and Price:	#14-48 - Fw 190A-4 Conversion (early or late)
Scale:	1/48
Scale:	USD$10.00 available online from Eagle Editions website.
Contents and Media:	Five pieces in pale cream-coloured resin
Review Type:	FirstLook
Advantages:	Excellent casting; beautiful detail; parts included for early or late A-4s included; good instructions; simple parts breakdown; lots of interesting Fw 190A-4 subjects.
Disadvantages:	Tip of fin aerial mast broken off in my sample
Recommendation:	Recommmended

Tamiya's 1/48 scale Focke-Wulf Fw 190A-3 can be converted to the A-4 variant with relatively little work. Early A-4s could only be distinguished from their predecessor by the vertical aerial mast on top of the fin. Later production batches of the Fw 190A-4 replaced the open cooling slots behind the cowl with louvres. Pilot's head armour changed during production too.

This new conversion from Eagle Edition makes the transformation even easier.

EagleParts 1/48 scale Fw 190A-4 conversion comprises five parts in cream-coloured resin. In addition to parts for the new fin tip, head armour and cooling louvre panels, a new rudder is supplied with a greatly superior (and more subtle) fabric pattern compared to the kit part. Although the photographs do not show it well, the rudder features rib tapes and stitch detail. The starter lug detail on one of the vent panels is a nice touch too.

Casting is perfect. The only problem on my sample was that the very end of the aerial mast had broken off in transit and I could not find the tiny piece of resin to glue back in place. Under these circumstances I am sure that Eagle Editions would have replaced the part, but repair was a fast and simple option.

First, I glued a slightly oversized triangle of strip styrene on top of the base of the mast using generous quantities of super glue. I applied a drop of Zap super glue accelerator to speed the drying process, then reshaped the styrene with a sanding stick. Less than ten minutes work (including photography) repaired the damage.

Click the thumbnails below to view larger images:

Preparation of the kit fuselage will be fairly simple as all the cutting is along panel lines.

This is a simple and useful conversion for anybody who wants to built either an early or late-production Fw 190A-4.

Recommended.

Thanks to Eagle Editions for the review sample

EagleParts accessories are available online from Eagle Editions

Images and Text Copyright © 2003 by Brett Green
Page Created 28 May, 2003
Last updated 14 August, 2003

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