I got another very interesting PE fret from Eduard the other day, and I just figured out what it is (I could have read the label in the first place, but that would have been the easy way out). It’s a 1/72 set for detailing the armament carried by the A-10. It’s all fins and little doodads and connectoins and some parts to spruce up pylons. But what’s cool about it is, since you have to cut off the thick kit fins on all the missiles and bombs, Eduard includes PE jigs that slip onto Mavericks and Sidewinders and bombs and whatever, so that the fins will align perfectly while drying. Unfortunately, for several reasons, it’s something I will never use, the most prominent being that I would never build a Hog in 1/72. It says it’s for Revell/Italeri, a kit I’m not familiar with (or are they two separate kits?) But it would easily work on Hasegawa’s weapons sets, I should think. Apparently, it was just released, though I may be wrong on that score. But if you’re a big fan of the Warthog, this is something you might want. It may also exist in 1/48 for all I know, but I got the smaller one.
And while on the subject of PE frets, can someone tell me the difference between a FW-190A-5 and the A-8? I have these 1/32 frets for the interior, exterior and flaps for a Hasegawa 1/32 FW-190, but I just noticed that two of them are for the A-5 and one is for the A-8. If I build using all these frets on the same kit (the newly tooled Hasegawa kit, according to the label), will it be grossly inaccurate, or different to the point that I can’t modify the parts to make it accurate?
Tom
Tom,
I think the big difference in the two models are in the instruments in the cockpit(the a-8 had autopilot for wild sau missions,and base finding instruments),engine(5 inchs ahead of the a-5) ,machine guns and underwing racks for bombs or drop tanks.
That is what I think.
Pedro
Greems The Warplanes of the Third Reich indicates the following"
A. 4.9 in nose extension caused by new motor mount came between the A-4 and the A-5
B. A-8 had “bumps” over fuelage guns caused by the installation of 13 MM mg introduced earlier in the A-7. (Which is the most visible difference between the models.
What (In my mind) causes confusion is the wide range of conversions for all models of the FW-190 which modified the aircraft for a specific role. These could be factory installed (Umrust-Bausatze) or field installed (Rustsatzen) (sorry, no umlau on this computor). These include radio installations, radar installations (A8/R11), different sized drop tanks, different types and locations of bomb racks, armor plating (A-8/R7 Rammjager) and different cannon installations below the wings. And you could have two or three different kits installed on the same aircraft (for example, install the armor kit and two underwing 30 mm MK 108 cannons and you have a FW 190-A8/R2/R7) Green indicates 14 U kits and 12 R kits were available for installation. Additionaly many of the U kits would require changes made in the cockpit. (I remember reading somewhere that you could blindfold an old FW-190 pilot, set him in the cockpit, take the blindfold off and he could tell you what model it was just by looking at the cockpit arrangement.)
Basically it looks like you need to research exactly what the particular version you’re modeling had installed to determine what you use off the PE fret.
PS - confusing ain’t it???
Indeed it is, but also, when an airplane is so versatile, and that versatility was put to use at every opportunity, then who is to say any model is inaccurate if I have this or that lever missing and this or that switch added.
I just noticed what I have is the exterior set and a flaps set for the A-5 and the interior set for the A-8, and I would be willing to bet that the interior set for the A-5 shares about 90 percent commonality with the A-8 set I have. Those people at Eduard are not fools when it comes to marketing, and they are especially adept knowing the mindset of us modelers. Rather than use the fret we already have, with 90 percent of the right parts, many of us (like me) will go spend thirty bucks on the fret with 100 percent of the right parts for the FW-190 variation we’re building.
But regardless of what you do, or how good your 190 looks, of course that fat guy in the dirty tee shirt, five Bic pens and a dentist’s mirror in his pocket, is going to waddle up to the table, peer into the cockpit, and snort, “That little backup lever’s missing there on the left side behind the right rudder pedal.”
And if I’m in the wrong mood, I’m going to think back on the six months I put into this lovely Stormbird, and knock his fat ****** to the floor.
But that’s just me.
Thanks for the info guys.
I found a fret for the Promodeler 190G in 1/48th in a disposal box a year or two ago at 1/2 price. I plan to use most of it on a DML A5. after all, why not do it the way you want to? It has gotten to point that I don’t care what certain fanatics think. After all , the last time I checked, this was still supposed to be more for relaxation than total accuracy.