Michal Sindera has sent us details of a superb looking comprehensive correction set from Karaya designed for Eduard's range of radial engined Fw 190 kits.

Link to Item



If you have comments or questions please post them here.

Thanks!

First look is promissing. Having in mind Karaya's quality, I have no doubt that the corrction set will only improve already great Eduard's kit. However, this seems like a Wurger fanatic product Thanks for sharing the info!

This set does absolutely nothing correct some of the Eduard kit's bigger flaws:

One: The canopy's windscreen is 20 % too wide, at 6.2 mm (297 mm), over 50 scale mm too wide over the actual 245 mm measured on a relic (5.1 mm)... Let me reiterate this: This is a TWENTY PERCENT ERROR...This affects the entire canopy... (The profile of the Eduard's blown canopy is also the worst ever offered in 1/48th as well)

Two: The cowling's upper half on the real aircraft is tapered, not tubular as in the kit, and the Eduard frontal armored ring is terrible as well, being too broad and thin-lipped as a wafer... This is currently the worst FW-190A cowling in 1/48 scale by quite a wide margin...

The usefulness of correcting the Eduard kit is very dubious for many other reasons as well (except for its great convenience for all the gun hatches open displays), since we have a perfectly accurate late A series wit the outstanding 1/48th Hasegawa A-5/6/8 kits, which are far less often built (compared to the Eduard) for reasons I cannot even begin to fanthom...

Even on its own terms, this set does not broaden the much too thin plan view of the Eduard kit's rear fuselage...

Except for the useful open gun panels issue (which are hardly ever used on most builds I have seen), building the Eduard kit strikes as setting out in advance for much harder work, this with the specific goal of achieving a far inferior result to just about every other kit out there...

Gaston

Dear Gaston,

Thank you for your input. You have raised some very interesting issues that are worthy of beeing discussed.

[1] The canopy problem,

We do know, that both flat and blown canopies of the Eduard kit are of wrong profile. Specially the blown one is out of the lines. The canopies we have prepared for our update kit does not base on the kit ones. They are a new design with the outlines based more on old Trimaster molding but heavily reworked and detailed.
The Hasegawa canopy, although very beautiful has one error that may affect on the shape of all even more than to wide (?) windscreen. I mean the profile of the canopy top. In Hasegawa it is to square. Our update kit will feature the canopies of correct shape in both outline and detail.

[2] The windscreen problem,

I have red your comment on that with great interest. I have to measure my item and compare it to Trimaster and Hasegawa. I think that Hasegawa windscreen is visibly to narrow and when both are compared they look odd. However in my personal oppinion the Eduard windscreen, even if slighty wider looks much better and do not disturb the overall shape of cockpit hood in noticable way.
On the other hand, to reshape the windscreen is not possible without vast fuselage interference. If you reshape the windcreen then almost all nose need to be reworked. We are speaking about 1mm which in our understanding even if slightly visible does not ruin the look of the whole item.
It is miles away from tragic Tamiya windscreen by the way...

[3] The upper cowl and oil tank/oil cooler rings.

We are still focused on this item. Keeping in mind that it may appear bit to flat in the upper section we still consider if and how to fix it.
The best solution will be to make the whole new corrected cowl mainly updating the panzerring of the oil cooler and tank.
There is still space for improvements here, we know it and will discuss it one more time.

[4] Narrow rear fuselage

We are also aware of this fact and the decision was made to leave it as it is.
The difference is not so obvious and does not distort the shape of the fuselage too much. One may always still amend it by putting some thin styrene strips between fuselahe and tail unit halves if one finds it reasonable. It is not so obvious to us. To correct it we should have make a new fuselage. That would be too much I think. Enyway, the problem and the proposed solution will appear in the update kit instruction so do not worry.

I see you're much happier with the Hasegawa kit that with Eduard one. I completelly see your point. I love the way how Hasegawa portrayed the A-8 and also consider it as a great kit. However it is not error-free too.
Hasegawa has the fine outline of the fuselage and the nose looks good too. Unfortunatelly the MG 131 cover is out of the proper lines, has improper shape and it is visible. The narrow windscreen and too square canopy in its top section are noticable too. The propeller blades are far from ideal. Cockpit looks better than in Eduard kit but the instrument upper panel and its sunshield. It is obviously to narrow. I do not have my kit in front of me now but from what I remember when you put Revi in its correct place the Schusszachler counters are invisible.
The wheel well in Hasegawa kit is also noticeably inferior to the Eduard one.
Personally I do not like the wing plugs in the outer cannon bay area. Those require lots of dry fitting, filling, sanding. Nasty...

What is also important and should not be forgotten - Hasegawa made a model of a really late A-8. Its final production I would say. Look at the wings, they have some interesting features related to the outer wing cannons. It is a "unified wing" modified for MK 108 installation. The gun bay covers are also in the late form. You will find this configuration in some late war A-8, Karl Kennel's Kitzingen bird is one of a good examples.

Taking the above into consideration we decided to go with Eduard kit, fix its problems and enjoy this one. What is also a huge advantage of this Eduard choice - this update kit will be easily reshaped into a Dora correction/update. Here we do not have a better kit than Eduard.

I hope that final shape of our update kit will be satisfactory for many Fw 190 fans.

Many thanks for Michał and Aeroscale for this fine announcment.
Many thanks for Gaston for his good post here. All thoughts and comments are highly appreciated.

Kind regards,
Kuba Plewka

Hello Kuba.

I too have some issues with the Hasegawa kit but not quite the same as yours: I find the depiction of the raised lines on the control surfaces annoying for sharpening the trailing edges without damage to these areas, and the tailplanes are very thick, which is why I always use the Tamiya or other tailplanes on the Hasegawa kit (these Tamiya parts can use a very small touch more span added at the base).

I emphatically agree with you about the Hasegawa propeller, and I always use a modified Tamiya propeller which is the most accurate for narrow blades, with a bit of carving.

The Hasegawa cowl ring is accurate, but does not fit and "blend" as well to the Hasegawa cowl as the Tamiya cowl ring!

However I cannot disagree more with you about the Hasegawa canopy: The Hasegawa kit windshield's width of 5.1 mm is absolutely correct, and matches the width measured at 245 mm on a real relic.

I agree the real canopy's windshield looks much wider in most photos (looking as if the Eduard kit is accurate!), but that is only because of the extremely sloped angle: It is a visual illusion: Look at this photo from an unusual downward angle and you will see the Hasegawa kit is very correct (as the measured dimensions bear out), and how far off is the Eduard kit just below:




I agree the too narrow Eduard tail is not really too bad once your resin has fixed the tailfin base, but the Eduard kit absolutely needs a better canopy that is narrower, unless a tarp is to be put over it...

To me the usefulness of this kit is strictly as part of a elaborate maintenance diorama, where it is in fact a better starting point than other kits if the goal is to have all the maintenance access panels open. The problematic cowl can then be left completely off for instance, but in no way can the late blown bubble canopy be used, as it is totally inaccurate in every way.

I would say with a narrower vacuform canopy, your corrected tailfin, and maybe a new cowl, there is indeed the basis here for something very interesting and useful with this kit, but closing all the panels on this kit, as most people do, makes absolutely no sense to me given the better Hasegawa release.

I wish you the best of luck with all your present and future corrections sets.

Gaston

That's why Vector has released a set of control surfaces and tailplanes for Hasegawa kits




Sergey.

Wow! Thanks Serguey: This is exactly what the Hasegawa 190 kit needs. All that is missing now is the prop... My knowing about your set is too late for my first build, but I will get it for my second FW-190A.

I have Vector's engine and prop set for the P-61, and though the new P-61 kit is worse than anything I feared, I cannot praise the quality of that P-61 Vector set enough (It is intended for the Monogram P-61 kit).

I will look this one up.

Gaston

Hi Gaston

A new propeller is precisely one of the items this News item is about.

All the best

Rowan

Dear All,

It has been a while since the last update.
During that time we have reviewed the nose and cowl issue and here's the result.
The new nose, reshaped.

Maciek, who crafts the masters have reshaped the upper cowl part with the gun throughts. The oil tank panzer ring was of proper shape but the oil cooler front ring was to flat. As you may see it was totally reshaped for a maximum accuracy. Now looks much better.
The side bulges over the compressor air intakes are of better shape than those in Hasegawa and the whole cowl looks better now too.
As you may easily compare to drawings and photos - Hasegawa upper cowl is bit to steep while the corrected one for Eduard has the good shape.
Of course those issues may not become so obvious at the first look but after careful examination one may draw similiar conclusions.

Please see some comparision shots:












What is also important - this new cowl fits well and is easy to use. Less complicated, better shape. Easier to use.

I do attach also some test castings. New prop, new tail with tailwheel unit.
Those resin elements falls together with Eduard kit like LEGO bricks.






Now the kit is almost ready. Soon will be released with a PE sheet and some fine extras too.

Best regards,
Kuba Plewka

Very nice: Now the only thing left is a corrected canopy to the Eduard... Maybe adapting a modified Hasegawa canopy is possible...

I particularly appreciate, on this resin cowl, the longer gun throughs: I think this makes it a VERY worthwhile accessory even for those using the Hasegawa kit (in addition to the necessity of replacing the Hasegawa prop)...

I would think an "openable" multi-piece version of this resin cowl would complement the "openable" options offered by the Eduard kit...

A small thing to note is that the Eduard cooling fan blades are much better than Hasegawa's, being flatter and broader, not looking like "sticks"... Still hate that canopy though...

Gaston

Hi Gaston,

Thanks, I really apreciate your input.

The canopy or better - the windscreen is in fact too wide in Eduard kit. I have found some blueprints with precise measurements and you are right - Hasegawa has captured the outline of the windscreen perfectly while Eduard missed this issue.

I understand why Eduard might have done it this way. The windscreen part has its thickness for technical injection moulding reasons. If the windscreen has proper outline, the inner dimensions impacts on the size of the following elements:

[1] The upper instrument panel
[2] The sunshield panel
[3] Revi placement
[4] Windscreen base as seen from the firewall side

Look at Hasegawa's instrument panel and sunshield. Does it look right or odd?

So, when the canopy is closed, the Hasegawa outline is perfect but when you decide to show the cockpit details it is maybe better to have a bit (really a bit) too wide windscreen than distort and loose the interior details.

I have compared also the old Trimaster windscreen and it is somewhere in between Hasegawa and Eduard. Maybe one may try to fit it to Eduard fuselage?
Have to check it myself...

Now the sliding canopy - it is not based on Eduard element. The canopy should look good, for it has the proper smooth lines on its front section and also the profile.
If the clear resin allows it, should be also possible to form it and to give the proper look when the canopy is open on its non-paralel rails.

We'll see once the kit is ready.

Now the exhaust pipes and some test fit shots:







We are happy to confirm, that no major surgery skills are required to fit all this stuff

Best regards,
Kuba

I see a little what you mean about the interior panel detail being "squeezed" by overscale glass thickness, but to me the exterior shape is always the priority...

Hasegawa's canopy cannot be displayed open to show the interior better anyway (at least not for FW-190 purists), because it does not have the "narrowing" mechanical action Eduard took the trouble of replicating with extra canopies moulded "pinched"...

I knew the Dragon windshield was "in between", and thus much better than Eduard's, and very close to Hasegawa for the windshield dimensions (to the point of being acceptable to me in appearance).

The trouble is that the "blown" bubble version of the Dragon sliding canopy is really terrible (Eduard's is even worse) and not accurate at all in profile. Hasegawa's "blown" sliding canopy remains, by far, the only accurate representation of this "bubble" canopy ever offered in 1/48th scale (this statement is still true even extending to all Squadron/Falcon after-market replacement canopy versions)...

This is no small matter when you consider the popularity of later FW-190F-8 schemes, and especially the popularity of the FW-190D-9, all of which can only use the "blown" canopy for almost all the schemes...

I have to ask you, even if it is not the intended kit: Does your resin cowling fit the Hasegawa kit? Your longer gun throughs I consider a major improvement, but I suspect the fit is too complicated to use it on the Hasegawa kit...

Superb work I have to say...

Gaston

Can't wait for your upgrade for the Eduard kit. I have several and plan on using your upgrade when available!

Rick R.

Gentlemen,

I wish I could say, that this resin kit is released but for a time being we should be patient. It will be released soon but I am unable to give you a date.
This is the production process, the thing that is out of my hands.
Please contact Radek of Karaya for more details.

http://www.karaya.pl/pl/

Hope Radek will be able to push the process as I am also the one who waits for this kit to be released.

Many thanks for your input,
Best regards,
Kuba