Eduard have released details of the Royal Class Fw 190A-8 which includes a unique set of extras over the standard kit.

Link to Item

If you have comments or questions please post them here.

Thanks!

This has got to be one of the coolest offerings ever! I can't seem to find it on their website yet. Any idea of when they are taking pre-orders or a price?

This IS a must have!

Hi Justin

All Eduard say is "bookings will be open on our web site in January", so keep your eyes peeled for updates on their homepage.

All the best

Rowan

Thanks Rowan.

". . .March will bring the great Fw 190A-8 ROYAL CLASS kit. Please book this release as soon as possible, the edition is limited to 2000 units only. The retail cost will be US $165.00. . ."

a little background...

The 11 September action was the first major Sturm attack flown by II/JG4 as the US 8th AF sent over 1,000 bombers escorted by some 450 fighters to attack oil refineries and power stations in central Germany. Forty five years after the event, former Uffz. Kurt Scherer (6. (Sturm)/JG4) described the action ;

"Our tactic was to open fire from the closest possible range. The Staffel bore in on the bomber Pulk in close formation, opening up with such a weight of fire that the bombers were practically torn to pieces... it was like standing in front of a barn door and firing a catapult. You couldn't really miss the target! We closed in from astern strung out in our line-abreast formation ... fire was opened firstly with the 20mm MGs and the 30mm cannon was unleashed at closer range. Their explosive rounds had extraordinary destructive power - just a couple of strikes was needed to set a 'fat car' ablaze. If the bomb load was hit the explosion was like a flash of lightning - ripping the bomber apart.."


This first clash with the bombers cost the lives of some twenty one JG 4 pilots - twelve from II. (Sturm) and nine from III./JG 4 (Bf 109 escorts). A further nine pilots were wounded - 4 from II. and five from III./JG 4. During the pitched battle II. and III./JG 4 lost between one third and one half of their entire aircraft strength - a total of 23 Focke-Wulfs suffered 60 to 100% damage - two more sustained damage that was assessed as being less than 60%- and 27 Messerschmitt 109s (60-100%), plus a further four that were not so badly damaged (less than 60%). Among these aircraft were the machines flown by Uffz. Kurt Scherer and Ogfr. Hans-Günter Lemmer, who had bailed out and those of Oblt. Hans-Martin Markhoff, Lt. Günter Fick and Uffz. Rolf Langestroer which had been damaged on landing...
Very few machines returned unscathed from the battle.

Some 23 B-17 Fortresses - including 8 Herauschüsse- were credited to II. (Sturm)/JG 4, while III./JG 4 received confirmation for 13 victories - including 5 HSS....

other JG 4 Sturm pilots describe their experiences on my site.. click here

That is one great kit. I would never buy it. If I made a mistake on it, I would never fogive myself.

I would do if I had some thousand euro surplus money .. this is just a clever business strategy, and most of the RC Kits will be collectors items (especially the 100 with some scrapp metal piece --- Rowan I think you made a small mistake here as the normal Royal Class will not have those included...)

I think a normal run of eduard kits is 1000-2000 (since the strategy change some year ago) so with 2000 Royal class kits it is not really rare and I believe you will get one for a good price if you can wait ... I might be wrong though .... OTOH I do not believe that more than 5% of the RC kits will be built .. as I said: collectors items

If you really want to build that kit and make a mistake, just buy a regular kit for replacements ...

@Neil: may thanks for the nice historical background .. IIRC there was a book to be published about the battle over the Erzgebirge (Ore Mountains). Do you know if it was published?

best wishes

Steffen, already waiting eagerly for teh Hasegawa Fw 190 A-5 with the BMW Cabrio ....

yes it was ..although it was more a booklet than a book ......it was produced in German and English ..

http://www.museum119.cz/px/px_an.htm

Many thanks Neil ... it is hard to track all the announced books ..

Well, I'll try to get it and the re-issue of LW over Czech territory ... sooo many nice books and so few money .....

As we are on that topic (although it is a little for the Eduard RC kit

Erich mentioned a 2 vol book about some Staffeln of JG 3 .. (13./14. IIRC) ???

Another one that got out of sight is Sergio's Fw Weihe book .. any news on that one

I hope Erich will get all the problems solved to get the his "Mosquitojagd book" out in a few years ... I am really curious ...

thanks again Neil .. and no you do not have to answer all my questions above .. time will tell

Horridoh!!

Steffen

Hi Steffen

My apologies if I unwittingly mislead people, but this is the announcement I read for the standard edition:

"However, the closest Fw 190A release is the most special of all ­ yes, the ROYAL CLASS! Fw 190A-8 ROYAL CLASS will come as double edition, with two kits included. One of them will contain parts for Fw 190A-8, the second one will bring something new ­ the set of parts for famous armored version, Fw 190A-8/R2 Sturmbock. The concept of this ROYAL CLASS kit will be a bit different from the previous RC kits. First difference is the number of kits in the set ­ two instead three, as was the case with the I-16 and Fokker D.VII. The second difference is the set of bonuses. No PC game will be included here, but we will maintain the tradition of the inclusion of a medal ­ this kit contains an exceptionally valuable one, the Knight’s Cross, which will be a full scale replica as with previous inclusions.

Another interesting bonus will be a small piece of the original aircraft ­really small, a piece measuring some 2x2 cm, of the airframe of the II.(Sturm)/JG 4 Fw 190A-8/R2, shot down on September 11, 1944, over Czech territory. We have the marking of this aircraft (Yellow 8 ) among the decal options. The third bonus will be a publication describing a big air battle over Kovarska/Schmiedeberg, where this aircraft was shot down together with another 37 German and 18 USAAF aircraft. We bring very interesting information about this not so well known, but epic part of the air war over Europe, with plenty of original photographs and color illustrations. The final bonus will be a classic Eduard overture ­ PE sets. This set collection will be designed on the level of the BIG ED concept ­ besides the standard kit color set (implicitly included), there will be four more sets for each kit contained, which means 8 extra sets ­ 2 each of 48 551 Fw 190A Landing Flaps, 48 555 Fw 190 Tools and Boxes, 48 556 Fw 190A-8, and FE370 Fw 190A placards."

- and then, for the special edition of 100 kits:

"And that’s still not all. We will complicate the sales of this item very much. Besides the standard bonuses, we have some very special plans, for strictly a very limited number of kits. So, this very limited number (less 100 boxes) will be available with a piece of an original Iron Cross band. These kits will come with a higher price and will be available exclusively through pre-order, which must be placed during January, 2007."

So I took that to mean the standard Royal Class Fw 190 will include a piece of aircraft wreckage, while the special limited edition will also include the piece of the Iron Cross band, as I decribed in the News item.

All the best

Rowan

Hallo Steffen!

According to Eduard's website:

- the "standard" Royal Class A-8 boxing (2000 ex.) will include a small piece of the original aircraft, a piece measuring some 2x2 cm, of the airframe of the II.(Sturm)/JG 4 Fw 190A-8/R2, shot down on September 11, 1944, over Czech territory.

- the "very limited" Royal Class A-8 boxing (less than 100 ex.) will include a piece of an original Iron Cross band. These kits will come with a higher price and will be available exclusively through pre-order, which must be placed during January, 2007.

- the "third level" Royal Class A-8 boxing (only 3 ex.) will include an original engine cowl clip with original paint on its surface. Three boxes only will be available, and Eduard will do an internet auction to sell these three top rated boxings of the kit.

Jean-Luc

Hi Jean-Luc

There are three versions now!? Eduard weren't kidding when they said "We will complicate the sales of this item very much. "!

All the best

Rowan

Hi Jean-Luc and Rowan

I am just back from a visit to Revells facility in Bünde .. a very nice trip..

My apologies and "Asche auf mein Haupt" ... so the small mistake was mine, I am sorry for the confusion

best wishes

Steffen

Hi Steffen

It sounds like you've had an exciting day! Any chance you can put together a photo-report for us on Revell's operations?

All the best

Rowan