A question to those that have built this kit (Eduard):
Did you encounter gaps when you attached the wing halves. I had this problem when I first tried to build this kit and I'm going to give the kit a second chance. If so, what remedies were used to correct or avoid the issue all together. Thanks in advance

I Hermann , yes I had a gap on the left side wing root . The right side was alright .

The gap wasn't all that bad just needed a shime towards the trailing egde light sanding and Mr surface .

How big of a gap do you have ?

The wing root is a bit too wide .. creating a bit of a gap on both wings. I'm considering sanding it down a bit till its snug. The gap is inbetween the 2 cannons

Hey Hermann , Steffen pointed out a small gap I had in between the two cannons . I total missed that when priming and painting . So I 'm not sure if it was my own glue job or an issue with the parts . I do recall on gluing the bottom wing in place before the top halves where fix in place .

I still have to add the small dividers and will contiually test fit before I commit to gluing the wing halves. The gap is not that big, but I have a feeling that it might get wider when I start to add the internal components of the wheel well. I also ordered the detail PE pack that was put out by Eduard to spice up the bird a bit. Will keep you posted with how things go.

P.S. I might go into hiatus shortly for my wife is due in 3 weeks with our first child (will post pix when that happens as well). It is rightfully taking much of our time as we prepare for the occassion.

Cheers,
Hermann

Another question: I'm building kit # 8175 (FW190A-8/R2) and I believe that there is a typo in the instruction sheets. The manual fails to mention how to contruct the nose guns!! Could it be that this variant of the FW190 didn't have nose guns? But then again the manual does mention options to have the gun cover openned and the plastic parts list does show that those parts are used (ie H18-21). Could someone that has built this kit shed some light?

Indeed, the majority of marking options in that kit are aircraft which had the nose MGs removed to save weight. The parts map doesn't seem to be flawed however, as the machine guns seem to be used on a single marking option.

I haven't built this particular kit, but it appears to be basically the same kit as the "regular" A8 boxing. According to the instructions, all but one of the marking options have the nose machine guns removed.

Seems like they forgot to mention the single option (apparently) having those MG131s fitted. At least the cowling part N6 featuring the MG gun troughs pointed to be used for marking option C would suggest that. (please correct me if I'm wrong on this!)

Check the instructions of the first A8 boxing on how to fit in the machine guns and ammo cans if you choose marking option C.

Btw, am I seeing things but could there also be another goof in the kit, as it only comes with a single wing configuration, but marking options from A to D apparently have MK108 outer wing cannons, but option E looks like having MG151s...? (didn't the different cannons also have different wing bulges on both sides as well as differing shell ejection chutes?)

Thanks Eetu!!

Another question to throw out to the community:
I'm planning to build the kit with engine displayed and wanted to know the best way to paint the engine and which colors to use for the engine and weathering of the engine. I intend to use the detail pack offered by Eduard. Thanks again!!

Hi Hermann

..you've probably seen the pics on this nice page

https://www.mech.kuleuven.be/tme/museum/engines/other/index.html

..lots of dark gray, alu cylinder heads & some nice burnt/raw umber oil washes would appear to do the trick

I think, but am not 100% sure, all A-8s had the rectangular upper wing bulge for the outer cannon (even if they had the 20mm guns, which didn't need them), but the under wing bulge did vary according to the type of gun (also there is an area for the 30mm ejection chute that was filled if the 20mm guns were installed).

Anyway, I know I have seen several photos of A-8s with the long 20mm barrel in the outer gun port that had the rectangular upper wing bulge. I suppose this doesn't mean ALL of them had it, but i have not seen one that was definitely an A-8 without it (A-7s do not have them, but they can be identified as different from A-8s by different cooling slots and the lack of the extra fueling hole under the port side of the canopy - they do have the gun bulges in front of the cockpit like A-8s though)

Also note that the Tamiya kit's upper wing bulge sits way too proud of the wing - the real bulge was much more subtle than that. I don't know personally about the one in the Eduard kit, but that is something to watch out for. study some pics and modify if necessary.

Hi Hermann , When I painted the engine in my build I used three shades of metal for this .
Crank casing I painted steel , cylinders pick out in a dull alum , cylinder side sleeves in chrome silver . small bits pick out in flat black . This was then sealed with testors dull coat twice and left to dry for a few days . Then come the washes for brunt amber and flat black , sealed again and then further weathering with pastels using greys and browns .

For the exshust pipes I mix tamiya red and yellow with a little bit of hull red and brushed this on . sealed with dull coat and then a thin coat of brunt iron followed by pastels agian using dark brown and rust . sealed once more with a black wash afterwards .

You don't have to do this way or in that order mix it up a bit , if you are happy with the end results that's all that matters .....................

I also think that most Fw 190 A-8 had that bulge. E.G. Bazi Weiß' (Kdr.III/JG 54) aicraft that had the outer guns removed but still had the bulges (ref. Green Hearts first in combat with Fw 190; Urbanke). Another interesting aircraft is Heinz Marquardt's mount that has fittings for MK 108 but no guns. Pictures of his totally wrecked bird are in Stipdonk/Meyer JG 51 Mölders book.

IIRC even some (most?) F-8's had these ...

all the best

Steffen

Thanks to all.. just waiting for my eduard's detail pack to start the build. I'm shooting for Unteroffizier Ernst Schroder's red nineteen .. it didn't have the side armor but did have it's engine guns mounted (overall looked like a meaner bird)! Can't wait!!

..yes it did - it was a six MG A-8 'Jägerausführung' or 'fighter variant'…but we can assume as Steffen says that most if not all A-8 had the outer wing bulges.

..interestingly Schröder is still an avid modeller even at 80+ years of age..he sent me some pics of his 'Red 19' which I've put on 'My photos' if you haven't got the JG 300 books by Lorant/Goyat ..

..one of his letters to me was published in the February 2002 issue of Scale Aircraft Modelling..in it he describes Red 19 ( WNr. 172733 ) in detail . It was his regular a/c from August through to November 27 1944 when he had to crash-land it after combat with a P-51. As he had some success against P-51s he generally flew it in the top cover role to the Sturm machines of II.(Sturm)/JG300. A red Rotbraun 45 Reichsverteidigung fuselage band was applied to his aircraft during its 25-hour Check or Kontrolle. Rotbraun 45 red oxide primer paint was also applied to the bolts which attached the armoured ring to the front of the cowl. The canopy was missing the Antenneumlenkrolle antenna tensioning device so the aerial wire was slack against the fuselage with the canopy opened... the lower cowl covers were not painted yellow...