Introduction

With Revell of Germany having released their 1/32nd scale Focke Wulf FW 190 F-8 ‘Schlacter’ it has not taken Eduard long to release a whole slew of aftermarket offerings for the model. I have five upgrade sets for the Revell of Germany kit from Eduard covering a photo etched set for the interior, a photo etched set of landing flaps, a set of flexible masks for the canopy, a resin and photo etched set for the MG131 mounts and their cowling and finally a resin and photoetched cockpit, all of these items are specifically for the Revell of Germany offering in 1/32nd scale.

Contents

This product is packaged in a pre-formed clear plastic hanger container; this does do a good job of displaying the contents to potential customers and should protect the contents against most handling other than possible crush damage. The contents consist of;
10 resin components
A photo etch fret
2 pages of instructions

Review

The photo etched parts supplied in this product are of the usual high standard you expect of Eduard. The resin parts are exceptional in my opinion, not because of the detail which you expect of resin products, but the sheer finesse of parts such as the cowling in the set. In terms of quality they are more as what I would expect of injection moulded plastic than resin and yes I do mean that in a positive way.

The gun mount has quite a large pour plug to remove, but it has been placed at the rear of the moulding and so a location that will not be seen on the finished model. The replication of not only structures but wiring as well is very nice to see. The magazines and feeder mechanism are very nicely detailed and will add to the overall look of this area. The MG131 guns are very nice for resin and I was pleased to see a small indent replicated on the muzzles, I do still feel I would have liked turned metal barrels included in this set to really finish the product off, but these are of an acceptable standard for most modellers and for those who want metal companies such as Master are out there.

When I reviewed the Revell of Germany offering of the Focke Wulf FW 190 F-8 ‘Schlacter’, it was the cowling over the guns that I was not happy about and this was due to a complete lack of detail on the inner face of the cowling and that it was not produced to be shown accurately open. The cowling provided with this set from Eduard is a fantastic moulding with excellent detail on both the inner and outer face, the thinness of the moulding has to be seen to be believed, light easily passes through the moulding and makes it very clear that there are no moulding faults in this very fine piece. Fantastic job Eduard.

The photo etched parts included with this product are surprisingly minimal, only 27 parts, 16 of which are for replicating the clamps that secure the cowling over the gun mount. It should be mentioned that the connection points on the photo etched parts are very fine and so it will be easy to free up the parts. The mechanism that supports the cowling and that is attached to the front portion of the canopy is particularly fine and care will be required with this part in order not to damage it.

Conclusion

This product from Eduard replaces the area of the base model that I was most dissatisfied with if you were wanting to display the guts at the front of the model. The cowling is a beautiful moulding and some of the finest resin moulding I have ever seen, very impressive. I also noted that some reviewers/commentators complained about the gun bulges in the kit cowling, while this never caused me concern hopefully this part will also satisfy those people as well. If you are going to build the Revell of Germany offering of the Focke Wulf FW 190 F-8 ‘Schlacter’ in 1/32nd scale and show the guts of this model, buy this product as you will be glad you did.

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