 Cutting Edge 1/32 Fw 190A Parts 1 & 2
With Hasegawa's new tool 1/32 Fw 190A kit being very
popular, the aftermarket decal producers have been busy releasing sheets
with interesting Butcher Birds. Cutting Edge has come out with two new
sheets with just that: six interesting and colorful Fw 190As.
The first sheet, Fw 190As Part 1, presents a pair of
Fw 190A-7s and a single Fw 190A-6. Starting with the Fw 190A-6, this
plane is Major Anton Hackl's aircraft from III./JG 11, as seen at Oldenburg,
Germany in April of 1944. Finished in the standard camouflage of RLM
74 and 75 over RLM 76, This plane also features the large yellow tailband
denoting JG 11. Additionally, the underside of the cowl is yellow, and
just to make things a bit different, the entire vertical fin and rudder
is painted white. Hackl's impressive scoreboard is on the rudder, and
his double chevron is in front of the fuselage cross. Rounding out the
markings on this one is a dragon or griffon badge on both sides of the
cockpit.
The two Fw 190A-7s are both from JG 1. The first is the
plane of Fw. Gerhard Giese of 3./JG 1 as seen on February 8, 1944. This
plane, camouflaged in RLM 74 and 75 over RLM 76, has the striking black
and white striped cowling, with a yellow underside, and the large winged
1 JG 1 unit emblem on the side. Coded Yellow 6, this plane also has the
large red fuselage band denoting JG 1.
The last Fw 190A-7 is Major Heinz Bär's aircraft from
II./JG 1, as seen in March of 1944. This plane also has the red tail
band of JG 1, and is also camouflaged in RLM 74 and 75 over RLM 76. Bär's
machine carried a red 13, outlined in black, and the horizontal bar of
the II Gruppe is on the red fuselage band. Interestingly, this bar is
missing from the decal sheet. While the red would be the same color as
the band, there is a thin black outline that needs to be added. This
aircraft has a white rudder, with Bär's 200 kill wreath centered on it.
 Moving to the Fw 190As Part 2, this sheet has a couple
of famous Fw 190s, and a third relatively unknown, but interesting nonetheless,
aircraft. Starting with the famous ones, the first is a Fw 190A-6 flown
by Generalleutnant Adolf Galland in the fall of 1943. This aircraft is
plainly marked, with a simple yellow cowl underside being the largest
splash of color on the otherwise typical RLM 74/75/76 camouflage. A white
2 and Galland's triple chevrons mark the fuselage sides, with that being
the extent of the markings.
The next aircraft is from another famous pilot, this
being Oberstleutnant Josef "Pips" Priller's Fw 190A-8 of Stab./JG 26
as it was seen in France on D-Day, June 6, 1944. This famous aircraft,
one of only two to make it over the beaches on that fateful day, carries
all of Priller's classic markings: his black 13, the red heart card with
the name 'Jutta,' and the arrow and bar on each side of the fuselage
cross. This Fw 190 has the zigzag shape behind the exhaust stacks, with
the thin white outline provided on the decal sheet. The rudder and the
cowling underside are painted yellow, while the rest of the plane is
standard RLM 74/75/76.
The final option comes from 6./JG 300. This plane, a
Fw 190A-8/R2 flown by Unteroffizier Paul Lixfeldt out of Löbnitz, Germany
in November 1944, has quite a few interesting characteristics. This is
a weathered machine, with quite a few questions surrounding it. The base
camouflage is RLM 74/75/76, with a yellow cowling underside. The front
of the cowl is also yellow, or possibly primer gray or even tarnished
metal, and the JG 300 badge on the cowling could have either a white
background or a yellow background. Both options are included on the decal
sheet. The plane also carries a name on the cockpit armor plating, and
it also has a red fuselage band. This aircraft will definitely be an
interesting one to do.
Both of these sheets are well printed and well researched,
and should result in some very attractive Fw 190s. My thanks to Meteor
Productions for the review samples. |
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