Focke Wulf mission - Ein

Look to the skies! Is it a bird? Is it a plane?

Um yes, it is a plane... three of them as a matter of fact!

After reading a great comparison blog post featuring a double build of an Airfix Mitsubishi Zero fighter and its Tamiya equivalent, I decided to give a multi-build a try!

Seeing as how the Zeroes were already taken (even though I have been given a lovely Tamiya A6m2b kit and was seriously considering doing this project with Imperial Japanese aircraft) I figured I had better choose something else. Being the closet masochist that I am; I've decided to go for THREE individual Focke Wulf fighters at once, each one from a different period in the company's history.

I decided to use a variety of manufacturers for the build settling on an FW190A-8 from Airfix, an FW190D-9 from Academy and a sort of 'Wild Card' in the Revell re-box of the old Frog company TA152-H1 model, a kit that dates back to 1965!!

Here are the individual kits with their contents;

 The Airfix kit is the most recently manufactured of the three being released in the last few years. All of the 'retooled' Airfix builds I have attempted up to this date (these are non-painted reference models) have been excellent kits. This kit is no different with pretty much no flash, all the options you need, and a pilot! The plastic is also a good quality and if I had to name one gripe it is only the thickness of some of the sprue joiners to delicate parts - you have to be exceedingly careful not to break things like the control stick when removing them from the sprue!

 The Academy kit is also fantastic. Both of my previous kits that have been finished on this blog were from Academy. This kit is not as jam packed with options as the FW190 A6-8 or the Spitfire MkXIVc but everything you need is there, including the VERY important element of a complete and separate blown canopy that I will need to customise the next kit...

Speaking of the next kit! This is the one I am really looking forward to. I only learned about the existence of the TA152 a while ago - which seems amazing to me considering my interest in WW2 air power, but it has become one of my favourite aircraft! The service history of this particular plane was not particularly long as only one unit was equipped with enough of them to be considered a squadron by the end of the war. The kit itself is ancient, and it shows! Having said that - age is obviously no barrier to grace as the shape is beautifully captured with a minimum of components. It also includes a pilot and (like the Airfix kits) two sets of landing gear (raised and lowered) which is a nice touch.

That's it for now - lots more to come on this project!

Ace