Eduard 1:48 Fw 190 A - what a dog!

About 13 years ago now, the Czech model concern Eduard released their first new-tool Fw 190 in 48th scale. I've avoided it - until now. Recently I (perhaps rather naively) imagined that I could complete it to a reasonable level and call myself a 'real' modeller! I'm working on one at the moment and I can safely say that it will easily make it into my listing of the Top 10 worst model kits ever released. In fact I'd go further. It is quite possibly the worst kit ever manufactured and sold to the general public. Of course some people on model forums and in blogs actually maintain that they have built it - to which I would say, not as the model company intended you haven't! There are a whole range of fit issues with it - from the small 'triangular' part that you must align and glue behind the wheel well spar to the wing root gun bays and covers, the upper cowl MG mounts -far far too large- which clip into the upper wheel well part and are supposed to represent the ejector chutes to the horrible horrible (yes, twice for emphasis..) engine assembly - so bad Eduard provide a 'template' for you to align the individual exhaust stacks to the multi-part cowling. I could not even get the wings together properly. To get anywhere with the kit you must immediately deviate from the instructions - glue the fuselage halves together and then slide the completed cockpit in from underneath - the fuselage halves are so thin and flexible doing it this way is fairly straight forward.Obviously checking all the while that the forward cowl cover and windscreen will fit without leaving a 'lip'. The way the instrument panel is supposed to be located - 'clipping' into the coaming - is dreadful, especially as the coaming doesn't even touch the sides but there is not a lot that can be done here, aside from super glue and clamp. That's about as far as I've got with the kit at the moment and while I never bin anything, I'm seriously contemplating doing it with this one. I'd been saving this one up for a long time as well - 13 years. I've read all the reviews, collected all the advice, from Fridell and others. Even Eduard themselves issued a page of guidance to 'help' modellers with the build - and it still didn't work for me. Do they not perform test builds at the factory before unleashing stuff like this into the modelling world? Evidently not as they managed to completely screw up the first new-tool '48th' scale Me 109s they released as well. No wonder both their 48th scale 109s and Fw 190s had to be re-tooled!

This is part 1 of this build report - who knows whether there will be a part 2.   

yes, if you want everything 'opened up' just follow the instructions. But those cowl gun mounts will look rather ridiculous if you do leave them alone. Part I21 is tricky (see image above). There is no indication at all where this 'sits' - a bit of trial and error and test fitting with the cowl cover and windscreen is the only way to do it, otherwise it end up far too high as well.. 

Below; Even if you do use the cowl part closed up then you will need to retain the bulkhead I4 onto which your suitably amended magazines will still need to be mounted. The engine mount struts fit onto this part as well but I'm not feeling at all confident that the engine assembly will 'work' as per the instructions. Well the wings are assembled and some filler at the roots will be required. The MGs have to be inserted into the bays before the top wing goes on, which, once again, is not ideal!

Changes at Airfix and a look at their 1:72 Bf 109 F-4 starter kit

Following on from Luke's departure to Revell, Head of Brand at Airfix Dale Luckhurst has been pushed out (or jumped ship before being pushed) and gone to Heller. Dale has been replaced by a marketing whizz ( and former wedding bridal dress store owner allegedly) according to what you can read around the Net. Which means she knows nothing about scale modelling. Obviously the brand appears to be undertaking cost cutting measures, perhaps anticipating a sale by Hornby? Some of the planned 2026 releases also allegedly appear to have been ditched.  After my issues with their new releases (missing sprues in the Wessex box, Blenheim canopy glazing irredeemably cracked, no replacement available) my Airfix 'loyalty' is maybe now slowly starting to wane....... 

So just time to mention that the Bf 109 F (Friedrich) starter set I've just finished was really not worth the effort. Lacking in detail and finesse - as perhaps a 'starter set' requires - this 109 carries on the Airfix 'tradition' of being unable to give us a really decent small scale Bf 109. It of course builds easily enough, but looks slightly 'under-sized' to me. The box art shows a Jabo Jagd-bomber of III. /JG 77 on the Eastern Front taking out some T-34s - but the kit does not feature a bomb rack or any ordnance. As the new Gruppe had to have a Jabo-Staffel (a fighter squadron that could occasionally operate as a light bomber with a 250 kg bomb under its belly), 7. Staffel was designated to fulfill this role. The one decal option in the kit provides the markings for 7./JG 77 Staffelkapitän Wolf-dieter Huy. You also get a stand for your nearly £12 outlay, which when compared to its Eduard 'equivalent', seems a little over-priced too. A poor 3 out of 10 is my rating. Seen on the table at Shepway Military Modelling Society club night, first Monday of the month at the Hawkinge Battle of Britain Museum...