We’re having a 1943 Group Build and suits my interests just fine and would like to devote the year to it. I’m marooned in St. Paul for a month. I was absolutely positive that I had a Spit IX here and even brought the canopy mask for it. I don’t and every plane I’ve got here was in the class of 44 except the old Tamiya FW-190 A3. It looks good but is relatively simple build which is actually good now. The question is would A-3s have been in service in 1943. My guess is that they would have - they entered use in mid42 I think and the later As were not so much better and Wikipedia says A2s were produced until August 42. All of my reference stuff is in California. If there are any LW junkies out there that could confirm this I’d appreciate it. I’m thinking the Wolfpack might have run into some of these things - maybe even the Rooskies, or the allies over Sicily.
A-3s were in service in '43 on both western and eastern fronts for sure, but were starting to get replaced by A-4s and even early A-5s. I’m sure I can get lots of profiles for you. Not sure about Med. theater though.
Checking some of my reference library, the A-3 began delivery in the spring of 1942.
The A-4 began production in the same year. A different radio was installed, but externally the only difference was the addition of a vertical aerial pylon on the rudder. I’m not 100 per cent sure if this the only physical change required if you go the A-4 route.
I would of thought that possibly the A-3 was available in Tunisia, but I’m only finding the A-4 and later types. Many were Jabo (fighter/bomber) converted. Main armament might change dependent on bomb load.
Looking at the colour plates in Osprey’s two books on 190 aces of the east and west, only three A-3 are found in the 1943 slot, all on the Russian front. Two are from JG51, and the other, see below…
Quite a few were still flying in Norway in 1943 with Jagdgeschwader 5. There is this particularly detailed list of their losses, some even include the WNr. and the individual aircraft number:
www.stormbirds.com/…/14_Staffel_JG_5_more.html
HTH
regards,
Jack
I am pretty sure the variant in the A 3 and A 4, as jgeratic stated, was the aerial and the radio housed behind the pilot on the port side. The radio was internal, so unless you’re planning to open panels, the only change would be the rudder. I am quoting this from the ian allen publishing book FW 190 volume one 1938 to 43. In addition to the pylon and radio, the antennae wire was slightly re-routed. On the A 3 the antennae wire ran from the canopy to the forward edge of the tail. On the A 4 the wire ran from the canopy to the post on the tail and a second line dropped from the first into the fuselage. If need be, I have a number of port side color profiles and images from the book, I can scan and send them if you’d like.
Other difference could be skinnier head armour behind the pilot on the A-3, but some A-4s had this style too.
Looking at the color plates (and whether or not they are reliable is the next question) the head armor seems to be the same dimension. The other variation I noticed was the little whip antennae under the fuselage seems to have moved aft on the A 4. Visually, that’s all the plates show as different.
I may have cobbled together some evidence of the A-3 in Tunisia. One of the sites though is in German and provide no source for their info.
fw190.hobbyvista.com/afrika.htm gives a list of FW 190 units in North Africa, which are III./Z.G. 2, III./S.K.G. 10, II./J.G. 2, the Stab and II./Sch.G. 2
This German site http://www.ww2.dk/oob/bestand/flugbew.htm lists the different aircraft units. Going to** Jagdverbände **section and find II./J.G. 2 in the charts as an example.
regards,
Jack
Really appreciate the assistance. As luck would have it, the Revell Spit IX I was sure I had is here (surprising how much can hide behind a Dragon box) and I figure that’s got to be perfecto for a 1943 theme. We’ll put it on the Channel - I refuse to mangle any Spitfire or 109 with those hideous trop arrangements, although I’d guess regular Spit IXs were flying out of Sicily by late summer. (Got a P-40B that will get the Desert AF treatment someday.) The 190A3 looks like a splendid Zen kit: about 50 parts, (good detail to my eyes) and screams “I fit.” It looks like it has a camo mask diagram in 1:48 scale: how helpful. We’ll throw it together with a Tamiya Spit V and let them glower at each other - maybe over Dieppe or the Channel Dash. The 1943 LW will get a DML 110D in Norway - one of the few planes that could have possibly engaged either British or Rooskie targets. I’m pretty sure was the type of aircraft that was engaged at the Battle of the North Cape - go nicely with the 1/700 Scharnhorst I’ve got. (Scorn not a 1/700 battleship: every ship has its own burdens. Still don’t know why I build them.) Then a year of Tamiya airplanes - Corsair, A6M3 and a Betty if I get ambitious. Then two serious tanks TBD after a medical experiment in winter weathering. (Got a Tamiya Marder and Wespe: one might make the cut. I’ve been modeling for three years and have only built two Tamiya kits - both from the 70s. The Revell is a Hasegawa rebox which is fine, but it’ll be fun to see what the Tamigawa shouting is about.) I’m ready to come home Lord, just not quite yet.
Eric