I went to a local model expo/comp today and picked up some kits on the cheap. They are the Dragon Master series FW-190-A5 ($20AU), a monogram classics JU-87-G1($7) Stuka and a Tamiya A6M3 Zero ($10). All are 1/48 kits. Now my reason for posting this is to ask if anyone has built any of these kits before?
I know the Stuka will be a hand-full seeing as though it was designed in 1968. I want to up-grade a classic kit like I see in FSM all the time. But are there any real problems I should look out for?
As for the FW-190, it looks like a nice kit in the box. It even come with two small PE frets. But is there any build problems I should expect?
Same goes for the Zero. But seeing as though I’ve built the A6M5 version before, I’m not going into it so blind. But it was a while ago, so any tips would come in handy…
Thanks in advance.
From my experience with those three kits, they are all easy to build with no fit problems. The Stuka is definately ‘old school’ but goes together well although has very little interior detail. Have fun with you builds!
Of the 3, the Dragon Fw-190A will require the most TLC & the Stuka the most work to bring it up to modern standards. The Tamiya Zeke is the easiest build. None of them are particually difficult for a modeler with at least intermediate skill/experience.
Regards, Rick
There are a few areas on the Fw 190 that can potentially complicate assembly.
First, the landing gear retractor arms are short. I cot off the ends of these, and make a new, longer piece from sheet styrene. If you don’t do this, the gear will be pinched in at too great an angle.
To ease fitting the gear, align and glue the retractor arms to the struts. Dryfit them to the wheel well piece to get the proper angle.
When you glue the well to the bottom wing, slide this piece forward and dryfit the gear legs. Ypi want to make sure that the retractor arms connect to the locators on the back of the well and clear the openings in the wing. When it’s in the correct position, glue the rear of the well only. Don’t glue the front yet.
After assembling the fuselage, glue the wing tops to the fuselage fillets. This will eliminate the need for filling and sanding, which could ruin the beautiful detail here.
When you add the bottom wing, glue the rear first. Align each wing to the tops and glue, allowing the fuselage to flex slightly to get everything aligned. Leave the leading edge of the lower wings in front of the wheel wells unglued.
Once this is all dry, you can start adding the cowling. Don’t do it as a subassembly. Instead, take the bottom piece and align it to the lower fuselage. You can then glue the portion of the lower wings, aligning everything at this point. You can then assemble the rest of the cowl piece by piece to the airframe. Make sure you sand the seam of the side parts where they form the cowl ring. There was no seam here.
Aligning the PE pieces for the headrest and rail system in the canopy needs care. The glueing areas are small, and it needs to be aligned. Take your time here.
It’s a beautiful kit, and one of my favorites. I’ve built about a dozen of the DML/Dragon BMW-engined Fw 190s. It LOOKS like a 190, and makes the Tamiy kit look like a toy.
Here are some pics of a Dragon Fw 190A-8 that I finished last year
You can see the angles of the gear.
Good luck with the build, and post pics !
Thanks fellas, I’ll make sure I take my time with the 190. Thanks for the write up Pix, that’ll make it much easier to build the thing. Just curious though, what makes this kit make the Tamiya kit look like a toy? Detail? Accuracy? I’ve built the Tamiya kit, and it was quite nice.
Thanks;
The angles of the pics are not the same, but you can see the differences in these two kits.
The Dragon kit (top) has the robust look of a 190. The Tamiya, bt comparison, looks more dainty. The Dragon kit has PE headrest, which is more to scale. It also has PE antennas.
Tamiya kit: small spinner, narrow pointed prop blades. Thin main landing gear, with small wheels. Simplified gear retractor arms. Mis-shapen cowl and tail. Windscreen size and slope. Single-piece tailwheel. Cannons molded to top wing. Sits “nose low.” Panel lines very wide and deep.
If you don’t see them side-by-side, it might not be noticable. One looks like a 190, while the other looks like a representation of one. And the less realistic one costs more. You know which company gets my money !
Thanks for that mate. It’ll be interesting to sit the Tamiya A-3 that I did a few months ago, next to the dragon A-5 when it’s finished. I’ve got my colour scheme and decals picked out, so it’ll be a fun build.
Great review guys! [:)] Bill’s probably built more of these than the rest of us combined… [;)] [:D]
Take care,
Frank
I built that old Stuka right out of the box a few years ago, and if you don’t look in the cockpit (which ain’t there!), you hardly notice.
http://www.inpayne.com/models/stuka_g.html