Several years ago, I purchased a copy of the OTAKI (now referred to as OLDTAKI) Focke-Wulf Fw 190A-8. I planned to build it up as a JG 1 bird with the stripes on the nose and super detail it in such a way that it would be the best model I'd ever built. 

About a month after that, a friend showed me the (then new) Trimaster kit. I thought I would drop. The difference in the two moldings was remarkable. So, off to the scrap box went the OTAKI 190. 

I didn't give it a second thought until I came across the old kit and thought that even though it was aged, it might make a nice platform for an interesting color scheme. The basic lines are there, and who knows, with a little TLC, it might come out alright.

Resurrecting the kit would take a bit of effort though. The wheels and a few other tid bits were missing. I called our local Luftwaffe expert, Mr. Joseph Marx and asked him if he had any extra wheels and accessories for the kit. He dug around in his spare parts box and came up with enough stuff to complete the model. He also supplied me with a resin cowl hood that would back date the A-8 to an A-5. Now I was in business.

The model was built up straight from the box with the exception of the gun deck. The kit supplied forward hood had to be cut free and the resin gun deck added to it. This was the only real chore in building. The construction was kept very straightforward. Once assembled, the model was painted overall with a light primer coat. Seems were inspected and refilled where necessary.

The paint scheme chosen for this was Eric Hondt's Fw 190 based in North Africa during 1943 with 2/JG11. This aircraft has long been of interest to me, and I thought it would be a good choice for the old kit. The tail was painted white, then the RVD band for JG 11 was added. After drying, these areas were masked off and the rest of the airframe was painted 74/75/76. 

Gloss coat was then applied to give the decals a smooth surface to adhere to. The decals were applied in the normal fashion and snugged down with Solvaset. The airframe was then given a final coat of Humbrol Dull Coat.

Though not the "best model I've ever built" (nor will it ever be), it was quite fun. I don't expect this to be a real show stopper, but I had a great time building it. All in all, I'd have to do more of this, once in a while......

Camouflage and Markings 2 Luftwaffe 1935-1945 pt. 2 by Jaroslaw Wro'bel AJ Press 1995

Model, Images and Article Copyright © 1999 by Victor Annas
Page Created 09 November 1999
Last updated 26 July 2007

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