Focke-Wulf Fw 189A-1
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Kit Review
This is a brand-new tooling from ICM.
The box is one of their excellent stout cardboard inner units, over which the full-colour thin card outer goes, as this offers superb protection to the product. Inside you will find one clear sprue and three moulded in a dark grey-coloured plastic. Surface detail is a combination of engraved panel lines and rivets, with ribs or subtle undulations for the fabric-covered areas.
The centre-section is made up around the wing section, so there is potential for ICM to do the B-series and the armoured ground-attack version if they so choose? Detail in the crew compartment is superb, with separate seats, control column, rudder pedals, distribution panels, ammunition drum stacks etc, but the real oddity is that there is no camera equipment? The shutters under the fuselage are there, but inside, there is nothing, not even the mounts for the camera on the floor, which is very odd omission indeed. The rest of the interior parts especially all the glazed elements are very nice, although these are made up via a large number of sections, careful gluing of all the joints will be the order of the day.
Once the centre-section is completed (stage 32) you move on to add the upper inboard wing panels, then make up the forward nacelles/undercarriage bays, which mount underneath. The tailplane comes next, with nice detail in the tail wheel bay, they back to making up the booms, which have separate rudders.
The engine nacelles themselves are multi-part with separate exhaust outlets and a little piece inside the front cowl opening to replicate the visible bits of the Argus engines inside. The pitch-control vane on the front of each propeller is separate as well.
The outer wing panels have both the flaps and the ailerons as separate parts, whilst the landing light is in clear plastic.
The undercarriage features tyres with cross-ply tread and all the linkage and mudguards are separate. The tailwheel oleo and wheel is moulded as one piece, so careful painting will be required of both hub and tyre. The kit includes nice SC50 bombs with ETC 50 racks, with two under each outer wing panel and the boarding ladder, pitot and ventral radio mast are all separate parts. The Peil-series DF loop that is also under the nose is supplied in clear plastic, which is great, although adding the metal stripes inside it (these are done as engraved lines, which may help), could be tricky.
Colour Options
There are three options in the kit.
• H1+EH of 5.(H)/12, Poltava, Ukraine, June 1942
• +AH, 11.(H)/12, Russia, Summer 1942
• V7+1H, 1.(H)/32, Finland, March 1943
All of these options are the basic RLM 70/71 over 65 scheme, but the last one has winter distemper applied to the upper surfaces. All colours are identified only by Revell and Tamiya paint numbers in the instructions.
The decals are beautifully printed and all the images are nice and glossy, with limited excess carrier film, All the unique markings are there along with stencils but no swastikas.
Conclusion
A superb kit, which at last surpasses the old Airfix or the limited-production MPM examples. The components look good on the sprues, and apart from the lack of any camera equipment, this kit should look very nice once completed, so it is highly recommended to all Luftwaffe modellers.
This kit can be obtained in the UK from Hannnants (visit here), whilst modellers elsewhere can visit the ICM website at www.icm.com.ua.
This is a brand-new tooling from ICM.
The box is one of their excellent stout cardboard inner units, over which the full-colour thin card outer goes, as this offers superb protection to the product. Inside you will find one clear sprue and three moulded in a dark grey-coloured plastic. Surface detail is a combination of engraved panel lines and rivets, with ribs or subtle undulations for the fabric-covered areas.
The centre-section is made up around the wing section, so there is potential for ICM to do the B-series and the armoured ground-attack version if they so choose? Detail in the crew compartment is superb, with separate seats, control column, rudder pedals, distribution panels, ammunition drum stacks etc, but the real oddity is that there is no camera equipment? The shutters under the fuselage are there, but inside, there is nothing, not even the mounts for the camera on the floor, which is very odd omission indeed. The rest of the interior parts especially all the glazed elements are very nice, although these are made up via a large number of sections, careful gluing of all the joints will be the order of the day.
Once the centre-section is completed (stage 32) you move on to add the upper inboard wing panels, then make up the forward nacelles/undercarriage bays, which mount underneath. The tailplane comes next, with nice detail in the tail wheel bay, they back to making up the booms, which have separate rudders.
The engine nacelles themselves are multi-part with separate exhaust outlets and a little piece inside the front cowl opening to replicate the visible bits of the Argus engines inside. The pitch-control vane on the front of each propeller is separate as well.
The outer wing panels have both the flaps and the ailerons as separate parts, whilst the landing light is in clear plastic.
The undercarriage features tyres with cross-ply tread and all the linkage and mudguards are separate. The tailwheel oleo and wheel is moulded as one piece, so careful painting will be required of both hub and tyre. The kit includes nice SC50 bombs with ETC 50 racks, with two under each outer wing panel and the boarding ladder, pitot and ventral radio mast are all separate parts. The Peil-series DF loop that is also under the nose is supplied in clear plastic, which is great, although adding the metal stripes inside it (these are done as engraved lines, which may help), could be tricky.
Colour Options
There are three options in the kit.
• H1+EH of 5.(H)/12, Poltava, Ukraine, June 1942
• +AH, 11.(H)/12, Russia, Summer 1942
• V7+1H, 1.(H)/32, Finland, March 1943
All of these options are the basic RLM 70/71 over 65 scheme, but the last one has winter distemper applied to the upper surfaces. All colours are identified only by Revell and Tamiya paint numbers in the instructions.
The decals are beautifully printed and all the images are nice and glossy, with limited excess carrier film, All the unique markings are there along with stencils but no swastikas.
Conclusion
A superb kit, which at last surpasses the old Airfix or the limited-production MPM examples. The components look good on the sprues, and apart from the lack of any camera equipment, this kit should look very nice once completed, so it is highly recommended to all Luftwaffe modellers.
This kit can be obtained in the UK from Hannnants (visit here), whilst modellers elsewhere can visit the ICM website at www.icm.com.ua.
