Focke-Wulf Fw 190D-12
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Kit Review
What you have here is not a D-12 as such, this kit depicts the V63, which was the prototype for the proposed D-12 series and is basically a D-11 with the flat-sided canopy, engine-mounted MG 151/20 cannon (small hole in spinner), no MK108 cannon in the wing at mid-span and the flat wing root gun access panels. All of this is fine, as this is their D-11, which I received here, with the parts mentioned already on the sprues. The real problem is that as moulded, the wings have the bulged root access panels, an easy assumption to make, but sadly very difficult to correct, so I didn't. Assembly is very much as per the D-11 mentioned previously, all I would say is that the kit has a cluster-style bomb container on the centreline rack, but the surviving images just show an empty rack, plus the kit would have you add wing ETC 50 racks and bombs, but again the period photos of this particular machine don't show racks under the wing. I therefore left the centreline rack without the bomb, and left off both racks and bombs from under the wings. The other thing to note is that although the kit would have you fit the 'solid' style head armour support, the period photos show that this aircraft had the simple bar style support. This is not in the kit, but the running rail and bracket are (#D5, D25 & PE5), so paint these up RLM 66 and assemble them, then cut a length of plastic square-section rod to length, paint that RLM 66 and secure the first assembly into the two sockets inside the canopy, put the head armour in place as usual and then join the top of the head armour to the rail/bracket assembly with the piece of plastic rod; sounds harder than it is to do.
Colour
The colour scheme is given as RLM 75/83 over 76, so that is what I went with using the appropriate colours from the Gunze-Sangyo Mr Aqueous Color range. The instructions would have you paint the aft fuselage extension plug white, but I opted for bare metal and they would also have you apply an almost solid leading edge to the vertical fin, which does not correspond with period images. I also felt that the period photo showed the rudder to be a different colour from the rest of the tail, this was not due to the deflection of the rudder, it is very much lighter, so I went for RLM 76 at the bottom, RLM 02 on top, then a mottle of RLM 83.
Once all the colour was one and a coat of Johnson's Klear had dried, the decals went on and these were superb. They settled down with little fuss after an application of Mr Mark Setter and about the only thing I should have replaced was the swastika on either side of the fin, simply because there are supplied in two halves and a real bind to locate accurately. I did think that the black centres to the fuselage crosses were wrong once I had studied the period image closely, so they were trimmed out and removed. The whole model then go another coat of Johnson's Klear which was left to harden for 24 hours, then a Dark Wash from the MIG Productions range was applied to all the panel lines etc., then after 30 minutes the excess was wiped away. The final coat was one of Xtracrylix matt varnish.
Final Assembly
The various bits and pieces were attached and each tip light was secured using thin Gator Glue. The aerial lead was added, this being made from the superb Uschi van den Rosten fine rigging material, remembering that the early flat-sided canopy had the aerial lead tensioning system, so the lead had to be taught.
Verdict
I really did enjoy making this kit, it is a lot easier than the old Trimaster/Dragon D-series and available at a very reasonable price.
Highly recommended to all Luftwaffe modellers, regardless of experience.
Paints used;
Alclad 2
Jet Exhaust
White Aluminium
Gunze-Sangyo Mr Aqueous Hobby Color
H65 RLM 70 Black Green
H69 RLM 75 Mid-grey
H70 RLM 02 Grey
H417 RLM 76 Light Blue
H423 RLM 83 Dark Green
Tamiya Color
X-1 Black
X-25 Clear Green
X-27 Clear Red
XF-64 Red-Brown
Xtracrylix
Matt Varnish
MIG Productions
Dark Wash
What you have here is not a D-12 as such, this kit depicts the V63, which was the prototype for the proposed D-12 series and is basically a D-11 with the flat-sided canopy, engine-mounted MG 151/20 cannon (small hole in spinner), no MK108 cannon in the wing at mid-span and the flat wing root gun access panels. All of this is fine, as this is their D-11, which I received here, with the parts mentioned already on the sprues. The real problem is that as moulded, the wings have the bulged root access panels, an easy assumption to make, but sadly very difficult to correct, so I didn't. Assembly is very much as per the D-11 mentioned previously, all I would say is that the kit has a cluster-style bomb container on the centreline rack, but the surviving images just show an empty rack, plus the kit would have you add wing ETC 50 racks and bombs, but again the period photos of this particular machine don't show racks under the wing. I therefore left the centreline rack without the bomb, and left off both racks and bombs from under the wings. The other thing to note is that although the kit would have you fit the 'solid' style head armour support, the period photos show that this aircraft had the simple bar style support. This is not in the kit, but the running rail and bracket are (#D5, D25 & PE5), so paint these up RLM 66 and assemble them, then cut a length of plastic square-section rod to length, paint that RLM 66 and secure the first assembly into the two sockets inside the canopy, put the head armour in place as usual and then join the top of the head armour to the rail/bracket assembly with the piece of plastic rod; sounds harder than it is to do.
Colour
The colour scheme is given as RLM 75/83 over 76, so that is what I went with using the appropriate colours from the Gunze-Sangyo Mr Aqueous Color range. The instructions would have you paint the aft fuselage extension plug white, but I opted for bare metal and they would also have you apply an almost solid leading edge to the vertical fin, which does not correspond with period images. I also felt that the period photo showed the rudder to be a different colour from the rest of the tail, this was not due to the deflection of the rudder, it is very much lighter, so I went for RLM 76 at the bottom, RLM 02 on top, then a mottle of RLM 83.
Once all the colour was one and a coat of Johnson's Klear had dried, the decals went on and these were superb. They settled down with little fuss after an application of Mr Mark Setter and about the only thing I should have replaced was the swastika on either side of the fin, simply because there are supplied in two halves and a real bind to locate accurately. I did think that the black centres to the fuselage crosses were wrong once I had studied the period image closely, so they were trimmed out and removed. The whole model then go another coat of Johnson's Klear which was left to harden for 24 hours, then a Dark Wash from the MIG Productions range was applied to all the panel lines etc., then after 30 minutes the excess was wiped away. The final coat was one of Xtracrylix matt varnish.
Final Assembly
The various bits and pieces were attached and each tip light was secured using thin Gator Glue. The aerial lead was added, this being made from the superb Uschi van den Rosten fine rigging material, remembering that the early flat-sided canopy had the aerial lead tensioning system, so the lead had to be taught.
Verdict
I really did enjoy making this kit, it is a lot easier than the old Trimaster/Dragon D-series and available at a very reasonable price.
Highly recommended to all Luftwaffe modellers, regardless of experience.
Paints used;
Alclad 2
Jet Exhaust
White Aluminium
Gunze-Sangyo Mr Aqueous Hobby Color
H65 RLM 70 Black Green
H69 RLM 75 Mid-grey
H70 RLM 02 Grey
H417 RLM 76 Light Blue
H423 RLM 83 Dark Green
Tamiya Color
X-1 Black
X-25 Clear Green
X-27 Clear Red
XF-64 Red-Brown
Xtracrylix
Matt Varnish
MIG Productions
Dark Wash
