Reviewed by Dave Coward
Our thanks to Hannants for supplying the review sample. Get this kit here now at www.hannants.co.uk
Initial assessment…
This kit is the second in Eduard’s Fw 190 D series but in this case the box contains two complete models and is sold as one of their `Combo packs`. The initial D-9 boxing brought the modeller the most accurate kit of this aircraft in this scale and using this D-9 as the basis they have produced another winner. The kit does contain some differences from the D-9, notably new wings that allow you to build the D-11 and new fuselage sides with enlarged turbo charger intakes. The boxing allows you to make one D-11 and one D-13 – you can’t make two D-11s or two D-13s due to the different wings.
The box itself is up to Eduard`s usual high standard with some nice box art and when you open up the box you will find it crammed full of goodies (155 parts!!). In addition to Eduard’s usual light brown sprues there are two sets of masks, a set of colour PE, Cartograf decals and a very well produced instruction sheet.
Initial dry fitting of the parts show a good fit and the surface detail is refined and crisp with very little flash. The great advantage of this kit over Tamiya`s is it provides a realistically engineered open landing wheel well roof with engine backside and other inner fuselage equipment inside.
The clear parts are thin and very clear and provide options for the canopies being posed open or closed (those canopy parts that are not used can be used for masking tha cockpit which is a bonus).
The PE fret is up to Eduard`s usual high standard and I`m a great fan of these even if some modellers consider it cheating – personally I call it progress !!!
The instructions are printed on glossy paper and have a feel of real quality to them. The build sequence seems logical on this initial look but you will have to take care not to mix up the variants during the build. The instruction sheet has 6 full colur profiles comprising the following options:
- Fw 190D-11, W.Nr.2200XX, Lt. Karl-Heinz Hofmann, Sachsenberg Schwarm of JV 44, München – Riem, May 1945
- Fw 190D-11, W.Nr. 2200XX, VFS des G. d. J., Bad Wörishofen, March – April 1945
- Fw 190D-11, W.Nr. 220014, VFS des G. d. J., Bad Wörishofen, April 1945
- Fw 190D-13, W.Nr. 836016, V./EJG 2(?), Pilsen – Bory, Czechoslovakia, May 1945
- Fw 190D-13/R11, W.Nr. 836017, Stab./JG 26, Flensburg – Weiche, Germany, May 1945
- Fw 190D-13/R11, W.Nr. 836017, Flensburg – Weiche, Germany, summer 1945
The decals themselves come on a single large sheet and are produced by Cartograf so you are immediately assured of their quality.
Summary…
Once gain Eduard has produced a quality kit. My only reservation is the price as their Hellcat combo retails at around £25 but this retails at £52 when the D-9 is around £25 – surely the twin boxing should be better value than this ?
Aside from this though, this boxing fills a gap in the Fw190 D series and is a must for all you Luftwaffe fans out there so even though it is expensive I have to recommend it both for its subject matter and for its quality.
Dave C.