Hello, I just finished this Eduard FW 190 A-5 for the Wurger Group Build so I figured I would post it here too. It's the I/JG 54 Mount of 258 kill uber ace Walter Novotny on the Eastern Front in the Fall of 1943. He was eventually killed in combat with 8th AF fighters while flying an ME 262 in late 1944.
Regarding the kit, well....I've just about had my fill of the Eduard 190 (You may remember my D-9 build). I shall no longer torture myself with a kit that pretty much laughed at me from start to finish. In a nutshell, It's beautifully detailed but poorly engineered and nothing really fits right. I especially had trouble with the wing root cannon covers and upper cowl gun cover. Apparently its better to open everything up but thats not how I roll. For the folks who love this kit, I tip my hat to you.
It's built out of the box (to include decals), however, I did drill out the guns and added brass tube for the wing root cannons. I intentionally deleted the inner gear doors because my research showed that this plane did not have them. Apparently these were cumbersome due to the muddy conditions of Russia at the time so they were removed. I also added fine wire to the gear legs to simulate brake lines.
I used Gunze RLM 70/71 for the uppers and Tamiya's recommended mix for the RLM 76. To add insult injury, My Testor's Dull Coat had a hiccup and decided to spray white flecks on parts of my finish. Apparently I need a new bottle. I wiped most of it off with a light sanding of 2000 grit paper but some would not come off.....I was way past caring at that point. This turkey isn't close to being a contest winner, so I'm not too worried about it. At photo time, I somehow knocked the foot peg and pitot tube off into the abyss. I suppose this was like a final obscene gesture to me. I may or may not replace these. Thanks for looking and comments are always welcome.
Joe
