exito decals Focke-Wulf Fw 190A “Wulf Pack vol.1”

[James H]

Focke-Wulf Fw 190A “Wulf Pack vol.1”
Exito Decals
Catalogue # see article for codes, links and prices
Available from Exito

 

Exito are perhaps a name that you’re not familiar with. They are a Polish company that has a retail online store selling the sort of things that we’d expect from such an entity. I know that I’d never heard of them until I was asked to do a little text for them, announcing the launch of their very own decal brand. Exito set themselves apart from regular aftermarket sets in that they provide A4-sized, print-quality posters as the profile sheets instead of regular weight paper with standard printing. The really good thing to add to this is that these sets don’t seem to really cost any more than your standard decal fayre. So, let’s take a look at these offerings from the new kid on the block.

• 1:48 Focke-Wulf Fw 190A “Wulf Pack vol.1”, €10,82
• 1:72 Focke-Wulf Fw 190A “Wulf Pack vol.1”, €7,20

Exito’s decal sheets are presented in a re-sealable A4 clear sleeve with a standard printed profile insert at the front. In this case you can see that there are three scheme options to choose from, and all quite startling in their differences. It’s also to be noted that each pack is quite weighty too with a serious piece of stiffening card sat within. This protects not just the decals but also the high-quality poster art within.

The back of the packet shows a simple paper insert with some contact details, plus you can also see the decal sheet that’s included.

Having three schemes means that Exito has provided each of these on light grade card with a satin finish, and the printing on them is absolutely superb! In fact, very much akin to what I would expect to see in a high-quality publication. I don’t just mean that in terms of the quality of print, but also the profile rendering and artworks themselves. For me, I’ve not seen anything quite this good when it comes to aftermarket decals. 

Whilst the front of each scheme sheet contains both port and starboard profiles of each scheme (one with gear down) plus the emblem for the machine and name of pilot etc. (unadulterated with annotation for decal placement), the reverse of the sheet contains an upper planform for the aircraft, and wing lower panels, plus a section showing the tail. All of these graphics are annotated for decal ID, plus an RLM chart is provided, with paint reference codes for Mr Hobby and AK-Interactive paints.

A single decal sheet contains everything that you’ll need for these schemes, with the exception of the stencils that you’ll need to either source yourself or have provided for you in the kit (such as Eduard). A small bonus stencil is included for the rear fuselage door, so I assume this is normally missing in the stencils provided with kits. The sheet itself is clearly broken down into sections of which each contains decals for a single scheme. It has to be noted that my sample has both full swastikas as well as the halved ones which I presume will be for those lucky customers in Germany. 

Printing is by Cartograf too, and these glossy-finish decals are nice and thin, have minimal carrier film, plus solid and authentic colour. Registration is also perfect. The machines depicted are A-3, A-4 and A-5 types, and as none of these relies on shared decals, you can build three complete models from this release.

The three schemes provided in this release are:

1. Focke-Wulf Fw 190A-3, flown by Oblt. Detlev Rohwer, Kapitän of 6./JG 1, late spring 1942
2. Focke-Wulf Fw 190A-4, W.Nr.0799, coded SK+OU, probably belonging to I./SG 101, France 1943
3. Focke-Wulf Fw 190A-5, coded “Yellow 5”, flown by Fw. Karl ‘Charly’ Willius of 3./JG 26, Dno, Soviet Union, early April 1943

Conclusion
For Exito’s debut on the decal market, this is mighty impressive. Not only do we have poster-quality prints that really are worth framing, but the subject choice and schemes will prove to be highly popular. The fact that three models can be built from one release also increases the value for money even further. I really can’t wait to see their future releases, and I hope they also extend to 1:32 scale in future.

My sincere thanks to Exito Decals for the review sample seen here. To purchase directly, click the links in the article. 

 

[Mikester]

They look great, hope they can be persuaded to do these in 1/32 at some point.  I'd be all in.

[Wumm]

An early Tatzelwurm and colourful Wappen will always be in demand.