Markings
The markings provided are not surprisingly just for the V18 prototype. They seem to be glossy and thin – though the open white crosses have large areas of transfer film which will require care when they are applied as they could cause silvering. The fuselage crosses and codes are supplied as single images with large areas of film so care will be needed here too.
A colour painting guide is supplied with RLM colour codes and paint references for Mr. Hobby, Tamiya, Vallejo, Model Master and Humbrol paints.
The painting guide suggests that the aircraft had areas of RLM02 and unpainted metal. I’m a little unsure about some of the details here though. I suppose that black and white wartime images are open to a great deal of interpretation when it comes to deciding which colours to use on a model.
Period photos show that there was an area at the side of the cockpit on the right hand side which seems to have been a little darker than the bare metal areas in front of it and a different shade from the RLM02 behind it. This could have been a slightly different shade of RLM02 or perhaps bare metal of a different shade from the rest or even a completely different colour altogether? The area next to the cockpit has several rows of very shiny rivets which are very prominent. As this was a very visible feature of the prototype I feel I should include these rivets on my model and highlight them somehow (perhaps with a very sharp silver pencil), but this begs the question – should I rivet the rest of the model as well?
The underside of the aileron on the starboard wing seems to have been a different colour from the rest of the wing as it appears much lighter in the photos. Perhaps this item was taken from another Fw190 so perhaps it was RLM76 and not RLM02 as suggested in the instructions?
I may be a little guilty of over-analysing fuzzy black and white photos here, but once I started I just couldn’t stop! It seems to me that the wing walkway markings were a dark colour (red or black?) whereas on the kit transfer sheet they are presented in white. The rear of the canopy also seems to be a different colour from its surrounding areas (perhaps in bare metal as shown in the painting instructions), but with a small circular area in a different colour (perhaps RLM02) which is not shown in the instructions.
I daresay I will be pouring at some length over any available images that I can find online and will change my mind several times before I get the airbrush out and hopefully in the end I won’t be too far out.
All in all I think that this is a good kit. It may not be perfect, but it’s well engineered and is not that expensive. I look forward to building this kit in the near future (and squinting myopically at online photos of the V18 for hours on end – before producing something that will, with luck, have Fw190 experts writing furious letters of complaint for years to come).
Hopefully you’ll see my full build article here in SMN in due course :)
Dai W.
SMN Quick Summary Star rating out of 5
| FEATURE | STAR RATING (out of five) |
|---|---|
| Quality of moulding | **** |
| Level of detail | *** |
| Accuracy | ** |
| Instructions | *** |
| Decals | *** |
| Subject choice | **** |
| Overall | *** |