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Friday, August 18, 2017

Focke Wulf Fw 190 F-8

Here are some images of Revell's 1/32 scale Focke Wulf Fw 190 F-8.
This is an excellent kit especially for the price. With the exception for a few minor fit issues the detail is fantastic.
This model bares the markings of Feldwebel Eugen Lorcher, II./SG2, 5 Staffel, Aufthausen, 8th May 1945, Fiancée Rescue Flight.
As regards the decals I couldn't find a proper "3" in my font list, so as a result I was forced to make my own. I think I came pretty close.

From Wikipedia"
 

The Focke-Wulf Fw 190 Würger (English: Shrike) is a German single-seat, single-engine fighter aircraft designed by Kurt Tank in the late 1930s and widely used during World War II. Along with its well-known counterpart, the Messerschmitt Bf 109, the Focke-Wulf 190 Würger became the backbone of the Luftwaffe's Jagdwaffe (Fighter Force). The twin-row BMW 801 radial engine that powered most operational versions enabled the Fw 190 to lift larger loads than the Bf 109, allowing its use as a day fighter, fighter-bomber, ground-attack aircraft and, to a lesser degree, night fighter.
The Fw 190A started flying operationally over France in August 1941, and quickly proved superior in all but turn radius to the Royal Air Force's main front-line fighter, the Spitfire Mk. V, especially at low and medium altitudes. The 190 maintained superiority over Allied fighters until the introduction of the improved Spitfire Mk. IX. In November/December 1942, the Fw 190 made its air combat debut on the Eastern Front, finding much success in fighter wings and specialised ground attack units called Schlachtgeschwader (Battle Wings or Strike Wings) from October 1943 onwards. The Fw 190 provided greater firepower than the Bf 109, and at low to medium altitude, superior manoeuvrability, in the opinion of German pilots who flew both fighters.
The Fw 190A series' performance decreased at high altitudes (usually 6,000 m (20,000 ft) and above), which reduced its effectiveness as a high-altitude interceptor. From the Fw 190's inception, there had been ongoing efforts to address this with a turbosupercharged BMW 801 in the B model, the much longer-nosed C model with efforts to also turbocharge its chosen Daimler-Benz DB 603 inverted V12 powerplant, and the similarly long-nosed D model with the Junkers Jumo 213. Problems with the turbocharger installations on the -B and -C subtypes meant only the D model would see service, entering service in September 1944. While these "long nose" versions gave the Germans parity with Allied opponents, they arrived far too late in the war to have any real effect.
The Fw 190 was well-liked by its pilots. Some of the Luftwaffe's most successful fighter aces claimed a great many of their kills while flying it, including Otto Kittel, Walter Nowotny and Erich Rudorffer.

 Fw 190 F-8
Based on the A-8 Fighter, having a slightly modified injector on the compressor which allowed for increased performance at lower altitudes for several minutes. Armament of the Fw 190 F-8 was two 20 mm MG 151/20 cannon in the wing roots and two 13 mm (.51 in) MG 131 machine guns above the engine. It was outfited with an ETC 501 Bomb rack as centerline mount and four ETC 50 bomb racks as underwing mounts.

The Bf 109, called "the lean" (the Soviet nickname for the series) was widely considered by Soviet airmen as a more agile and potent adversary than the Fw 190, which was viewed as "heavy and slow..." especially when climbing. The Fw 190F and G ground attack versions essentially replaced the obsolete Ju 87 on the Eastern front during the latter part of the war. These heavily armoured versions of the Fw 190, piloted by ex-Stuka air crew, were indistinguishable in the air from the fighter versions and thus Soviet pilots may have miscorrectly attributed characteristics of attack versions to pure fighter ones.
Soviet pilot Nikolai G. Golodnikov claimed the Fw 190 to be inferior to the Bf 109; "It did not accelerate as quickly and in this aspect was inferior to most of our aircraft, except for the P-40, perhaps." Goldonikov noted that German pilots appreciated the Fw 190 radial engine as a shield, and frequently made head-on attacks in air-to-air combat. "The plane", noted Golodnikov, "had extremely powerful weapons: four 20 mm guns and two machine guns. Soon, however, the Germans started evading frontal attack against our "Cobras". We had a 37 mm gun, so no engine would save you, and one hit was enough to kill you."
The general rule for Soviet airmen in the latter war years was to take advantage of their turning ability, acceleration, and rate of climb to force the adversary into entering a horizontal or vertical manoeuvre. Likewise, the fuel-injected Shvetsov ASh-82 radial-powered, Lavochkin La-5FNs freely took up the challenge as an "energy or angles" fighter against all Fw 190As, and as "angles" fighters against the Fw 190D, which was considered by the Soviet pilots as a fighter that "burned as well as other aircraft, and was easier to hit.

Fiancée Rescue Flight
From Corgi" - As Allied forces closed on Germany from all sides and the war in Europe was coming to an end, there was one thing that frightened German servicemen more than anything else – capture by the Red Army.  Luftwaffe pilot Eugen Lorcher had no intention of letting this happen and on the evening of 8th May, he fuelled up his Focke-Wulf and prepared to escape to the west. Taking off from their home airfield in the Czech Republic, Lorcher had also bundled his fiancée into the radio compartment of the aircraft and they made their bid for relative safety. The aircraft was flying at very low level, to avoid being shot down by Allied fighters, but Lorcher feared destruction at any moment, as they were taking ground fire and in danger of simply striking the ground. Gaining height at the last moment, in an attempt to find a suitable landing spot, the Focke-Wulf belly-landed in a field near the parental home of Lorcher – both he and his future wife walked away from this incredible incident, with their war finally over. 

7 comments:

Motorsport Modeller said...

A classis from the second world war...true craft in the design...Nice build Warren.

-Warren Zoell said...

Thanks. You should read the story about this particular aircraft at the bottom of the post.

FalkeEins said...


Indeed. A lot of German 'desertions' at the end. These Revell 32nd scale kits are first rate, especially at about a 1/5 of the price of the Tamiya equivalent!

-Warren Zoell said...

It's a great kit. I may get another one.

Anonymous said...

Very nice for sure. My son is into the ef-dubs quite a bit. He likes this a lot.

Dave

-Warren Zoell said...

Thanks Dave! Like father like son I see. ;-)

-Warren Zoell said...

Dave - Hobby Boss is coming out with a 1/18 scale FW 190 A kit pretty soon.
I wonder if it's one of the old 21st Century models made into kit form.