Introduction: Doyusha Model CO LTD

Doyusha Model CO LTD has been producing plastic models for some 45 years. While not a well known or big as giants Hasegawa and Tamiya, Doyusha models compare well with their products. This Fw 190 A-5 Würger (Shrike, or "butcher-bird") is one of seven available in the Focke-Wulf collection, the eighth collection of the growing series of the Tsubasa Collection. These are prepainted, well detailed 1/100 fighters.

The Focke-Wulf 190 history is well established on Aeroscale so I will not touch upon it.

The Model

Doyusha packages their models in end-opening boxes sporting vivid, excitingly busy artwork. The sprues are sealed in plastic bags, the canopy in a separate bag. The kit contains two sprues with 21 parts, a canopy, and a styrene base to display the model upon.

The parts are prepainted. These pieces are crisply molded with recessed detail. The airframe fit is very good; the wing halves are so tight the model is almost snap-together. Be careful handling these wings as the four 2cm cannon barrels are delicate. The fuselage fit left a slight misalignment; while it is very close and may not be noticeable in larger scales, a hair's width in 1/100 looks like a gorge! The wings and fuselage fit left gaps along the wing roots and the lower fuselage/wing junction.

The main landing gear are simplified, the struts and doors molded as a single piece. These did not fit in the mounting holes in the wheel wells. I had to affix them with CA glue.

Doyusha includes a full color flyer featuring their Tsubasa Collection and other models.

Detail

There is no detail in the wheel wells. Disappointing, as the Fw 190 wells had a fair amount "business." Doyusha includes a cockpit tub in which you set the pilot. The detail is basic and almost unnoticeable. The pilot is painted Feldblau with a flesh spot for the face. I painted his helmet a dark leather color, and washed the figure to enhance the parachute straps.

You choice is to build your Fw 190 A-5 as the straight fighter or as the Fw 190 A-5/U12, packing the twin MG 151 cannon Umrüst-Bausätze 12 under each wing.

Camouflage and Markings

The paint is very smooth and obscures no detail. The markings are sharp. The colors match the standard RLM 74/75/76 camouflage, and the Balkenkruz are painted in gray instead of black. This model appears to sport the markings of Hans Mohr's Black 0, II.Gruppe "Grun Tatzelwurm", Jagdgeschwader 1 "Oesau."

I lightly weathered the wheels with a muddy tread to improve the appearance of an operational aircraft (Ok, to hide the sprue detachment points).

Summary and Thoughts

Doyusha produces a pleasing model of the Würger. The molding and detail is sharp for such a small scale. Some modelers may scoff at the concept of the prepainted model, and this feature has its pros and cons, i.e., paint damage discontenting from the sprue, and any blemishes from glue and fit.

Why 1/100? With 1/72 established as the most popular aircraft scale and with 1/144 growing in popularity for those with space issues, 1/100 is a niche scale. Decades ago 1/100 lost out to 1/72, just as 1/50 succumbed to 1/48, and 1/35 prevailed as the standard for armor. However, there is a fair selection of high quality 1/100 aircraft available (from Tamiya, Revell, and others). It fits well with 1/96 ship scale, TT model railroad scale, and allows a larger model than 1/144. Doyusha's 1/100 series offers another choice for those restricted by space and close to scale with model ships and railroads. The price is great!

This is a fine model of the Fw 190 A-5. Recommend.