Hasegawa 1/72 FW-190A-8 'Nacht Jager'

The FW-190A-8 entered production in February 1944, powered either by the standard BMW 801 D-2 or the 801Q (also known as 801TU). The 801Q/TU, with the "T" signifying a Triebwerksanlage unitized powerplant installation, was a standard 801D with improved, thicker armour on the BMW-designed front annular cowling, which still incorporated the BMW-designed oil cooler, upgraded from 6 mm (0.24 in) on earlier models to 10 mm (0.39 in). Changes introduced in the Fw 190 A-8 also included the C3-injection Erhöhte Notleistung emergency boost system to the fighter variant of the Fw 190 A (a similar system with less power had been fitted to some earlier Jabo variants of the 190 A), raising power to 1,980 PS (1,950 hp; 1,460 kW) for 10 minutes. The 10 minute emergency power may be used up to three times per mission with a 10 minute cooldown in "combat power" between each 10 minute use of emergency power.

Not unlike many Luftwaffe aircraft, it was decided to fit the 190A with a radar using the FuG 216 'Neptun' set. At least one aircraft was produced becoming the FW-190A-8/R11. However, the pilot workload was simply too much and the experiment was cancelled.

This is a standard FW-190A-8 kit with additional parts for the /R11 variant. That means a fairly Spartan interior that uses decals for the instruments. The rest of the kit is nicely done with engraved panel lines. It is not the most detailed 1/72 190A on the market, but I dare say it is the least fiddly and pretty easy to build. I've done quite a few of them.

There have been other kits of the /R11 produced over the years in both 1/72 and 1/48. In 1/72, Revell did a fairly nice one though it suffers from having the canopy frame molded in with the body and quite thick antennas. Hasegawa gets around this by providing thin metal antennas that are slotted into the antenna mounts, a neat way of doing it. In addition, the kit includes exhaust blanking plates to keep the pilot from being blinded by the exhaust flames. You can see those bits in the rather poor image to the right.

It is obvious that Hasegawa planned this kit from the start as there are a myriad of started holes on the inside of the wings that you'd drill out to install the specific bits that apply to this variant.

Instructions are standard fold out with Gunze paint references. The lone option is in RLM 74/75/76, though you will see numerous models completed with the upper surface in just one of the greys. That is incorrect as the photo clearly shows two colors on the upper fuselage. The lone photo does not show any aircraft number, but a standard plane from the same unit (JG 300) shown in the background does have white numbers. Anyway, Hasegawa provides several so you can choose what you want. The image also shows the unit badge with the writing under the boar's head. Some feel the background should be white instead of yellow, but it is difficult to tell from a monochrome image.

I like the Hasegawa 1/72 190s and have several dozen different boxings of their 190A/D kits. I doubt I'll get around to building them all, but I might!

February 2023