Hasegawa/Minicraft 1/32 Fw 190A-7 Heinz Bar

By Wayne Bowman

MATERIALS USED

Kit: 1/32 Hasegawa/Minicraft Fw 190A-6/7/8
Accessories: Eduard Photoetch set
Paints: RLM 74/75/76 exterior, RLM66 interior, & clear coat - Gunze Clear satin as final dull coat - Humbrol
Decals: Swastika, and JG1 emblem - Eaglestrike
Balkencruze, Red 13, and laurel on rudder - Superscale WNr, "100" in laurel, and bar on rear fuse, printed on clear decal film using laserjet printer

CONSTRUCTION NOTES

Positive elements:

general fit of kit parts (with exceptions noted below) is pretty good.
Eduard set really improves the look of both the cockpit and wheel well
I'm not known to count rivets, but the final result sure looks the part

Negative elements:

raised panel lines
raised rivet detail is over done
kit wheel wells are incorrect
I/B (inboard) cannon bay doors are not correct shape
"bulged" O/B (outboard) upper cannon bay fairing / doors are not represented on model (note: not req'd on "light gunned" versions)
exhaust ports on lower / bottom of cowl is not represented on the model
area of wheel well cut outs is incorrect so as to preclude the addition of the spent cartridge, ejection chute ports for fuselage cannons on under side of wing / fuse area
tail wheel is moulded integrally with strut.
sizeable gap at wing to fuse join
Cylinder halves didn't aligned very well
gear struts are a bit flimsy to support weight of model
Eduard head rest / rear deck arrangement is incorrect, especially when displaying the canopy in the open position

Scratch-built additions and corrections:

rescribed all panel lines & sanded down (not off) rivets
some additions to engine (i.e. reshaped top of cylinder heads, added improved "cross links "between cylinders, added small sub frame aft of rear cylinder bank)
opened up / scratch built I/B port cannon bay
built up interior surface of gun bay, and engine bay doors, added latches
boxed in area of flaps (only required if you're going to drop the flaps)
added gun camera port on port wing leading edge
added stiffeners / straps in wing-to-fuse area, aft of gun bay door
added stretched sprue antenna and insulators
added clear navigation lights on wing tips
added wires and pipes on MLG from lead wire
replaced kit cylindrical loop antenna with flat brass loop
carved away back of engine assembly and bottom engine bearers to accommodate Eduard wheel well
added struts/bearers in wheel well on A/C center line
corrected Eduard headrest / rear deck arrangement

Weathering

oil wash for panel lines and interior of doors
drybrushing in cockpit , wheel wells and gun bay
pastels used for some elements of engine exhaust staining
paint chipping/wear using silver prismacolour pencil

Comments

Overall, a pleasure to build. The only pain in the a*! was the gaping at the wing to fuse joint and the cylinder halves which wouldn't align properly.

Bar's A/C was the "light gunned" version with no O/B cannons installed and thus the bulged doors on the O/B upper wing surface where not required.