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Kagero Mini Topcolors 38, Fw 190's over Europe, Part II


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Fw 190's over Europe

Part II

(Painting Schemes and Decals)


Maciej Góralczyk, Janusz 'Swiatlon
Kagero Books (Topcolors series #38 / 15038)
Available from http://www.shop.kagero.pl/en/fw-190s-over-europe-part-ii.html 
for €14,10

 

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I really like the format of these books. Or is it decalsheets with deluxe instructions? Nevertheless, the profiles are always a treat to look at and the decals are extremely well done.

 

There are 8 options featured From Fw 190A-2 to Fw 190A-9. I'd think that everyone should be able to find something to their liking in this package!

 

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  • Focke-Wulf Fw 190 A-2; W.Nr. 0125228, 'Chevron L', flown by Ofw. Erwin Leibold of Stab I./JG 26, St. Omer-Arques, France, July 1942,

An early machine with interesting "Stab"-markings.

  • Focke-Wulf Fw 190 A-2; W.Nr. 0125299, 'Blue 2', flown by Lt. Leopold Wenger of 10.(Jabo)/JG 2, Caen-Carpiquet, France, mid-August 1942,

A fighter bomber outfitted with the centreline bomb rack. Also note the 10.(Jabo)/JG 2 emblem of a red fox with a blue ship in it's mouth.

  • Focke-Wulf Fw 190 A-4/U7; W.Nr. 0147092, flown by Hptm. Wilhelm-Ferdinand Galland, Kommandeur of II./JG 26, Vitry-en-Artois, France, spring 1943,

This aircraft was flown by one of Adolf Galland's younger brothers.

  • Focke-Wulf Fw 190 A-7; W.Nr. 430170, 'Yellow 5', flown by Lt. Hans Ehlers, Kapitän of 3./JG 1, Dortmund-Brakel, Germany, late December 1943,

A "standard" JG 1 scheme with the red recognition band of the Geschwader.

  • Focke-Wulf Fw 190 A-8/R6; probable W.Nr. 171172, 'Black 8' of 3./JGr 10, Redlin near Parchim, Germany, January 1945,

My favourite! An A-8 with a wicked snake down the fuselage and Rüstsatz 6, a pair of W.Gr. 21 rockets, employed against the bomber streams sent over "the Reich" by the USAAF. What is a bit puzzling is that the profile of "Black 8" shows the 8 as dark grey while on the decal sheet it is pitch-black...

  • Focke-Wulf Fw 190 A-8/R2; 'Red 10', flown by Ofw. Karl Rusack of 5./JG 300, Löbnitz, Germany, January 1945,

An A-8 with a dark scheme where green was used to overspray the top and sides to better conceal the aircraft on the ground for prowling Allied fighter bombers. The R2 means that the outboard 20mm MG151's were replaced with 30mm MK108 cannon.

  • Focke-Wulf Fw 190 A-8; W.Nr. 737435, 'White 20' of 9./JG 5, Herdla, Norway, 8th March 1945,

An A-8 fitted with a "bubble" canopy and in winter camo. The emblem of III. Gruppe isn't featured on the artwork but is included on the decal sheet as a bonus.

  • Focke-Wulf Fw 190 A-9/R11; W.Nr. 206000, 'White 2' of III./KG(J) 27, Wels, Austria, spring 1945.

The last option is a nice Fw 190A-9. Keep in mind that this version was 30mm longer than the A-8 (almost a whopping 1mm in 1/32! :)  )

It did however have a 14-blade ventilator instead of the usual 12-blade. The type should have been fitted with a wooden broad-chord "paddle-blade" propeller, made by Heine or Schwartz. In practice almost all Fw 190A-9's were fitted with the standard metal VDM props. As Murphy dictates; this one did have the broad-chord propeller fitted, though. The R11 means that the aircraft was "optimized" for night and adverse weather with modifications as heated windshield panels, landing light and a PKS 12 autopilot.

 

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Every profile has a short description of the plane and it's most noticeable features. The decals are in 3 scales and printed by Cartograf which means that you don't have to worry if the decals are in register! Because of the rich printing of the decals they may be somewhat thicker than decals from other printers, although that will not extend to the decalfilm. It's the consequence of making beautiful opaque decals with fine details!

 

Conclusion
A very nice selection of Fw 190A's that I haven't seen before. The Hasegawa Fw 190A-8 that still languishes on my worktable will get some very nice snakes on it's fuselage!

 

Very highly recommended

 

Our sincere thanks to Kagero Publishing for the review sample. To purchase directly, click http://www.shop.kagero.pl/en/fw-190s-over-europe-part-ii.html

 

Erik Bosch

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