Eduard 1/48 Fw 190-5 Light Fighter – Walter Nowotny
“Major Walter "Nowi" Nowotny (7 December 1920 – 8 November 1944) was an Austrian-born German fighter ace of World War II. He is credited with 258 aerial victories in 442 combat missions. Nowotny achieved 255 of these victories on the Eastern Front and three while flying one of the first jet fighters, the Messerschmitt Me 262, in the Defense of the Reich.
He scored most of his victories in the Focke-Wulf Fw 190, and approximately 50 in the Messerschmitt Bf 109. He was credited with three victories in this aircraft model before being killed in a crash following combat with United States Army Air Forces (USAAF) fighters on 8 November 1944. He was flying a Me 262 at the time.
Nowotny radioed that he had downed a B-24 Liberator and a P-51 Mustang before he reported one engine failing and made one final garbled transmission containing the word ‘burning'.” (Above content lifted from AirPages.ru)
This particular Fw-190A-5 scheme depicts Nowotny's 2 tone dark green “4” that he flew in the Soviet Union during the summer of 1943. This was an early A-5 light armed fighter that had the same wing as the 4 series with the mid span MG-FF cannons removed nor did it have any under wing or centerline racks. All the decals and paint guides needed for Nowotny's mount are included in Eduard's boxing. Strictly an OOB build, this is the my second Würger and contribution to the ongoing Luftwaffe group build currently in progress here on iModeler where you can find my build thread.
Simply put, Eduard's Fw 190 ProfiPACK series are wonderful kits and a joy to construct. I'm sure I will be building a third one down the road. I had no problems other some minor self-inflicted flubs. That @#&*#$% carpet monster ate the front windscreen (part N8) so I substituted the extra windscreen included on the clear sprue (but not correct for this A190A- 5 model) only to have it crack in half while polishing it. Ok. Let's try the windscreen from a never to be built Eduard 2006 Fw 190A tooling that I had sitting around. Nope. Too tall and too wide. Fortunately the good folks at Eduard came to my rescue and sent me a N8 replacement, which fit perfectly.
One other thing you need to keep an eye out for is the stance of the landing gear. Although the kit's main gear legs lock into place in the wheel well e-z peesy, you still have to check the gear angle, which I forgot to do this time around. The wheel axles should protrude forward just beyond the leading edge of the wing when viewed from above. I had to go back in there and wiggle them around even though they had been glued for some time, but I managed to get it almost right without snapping them off. Whew….
Everything else went smoothly except for the spinner spiral decals that absolutely refused to cooperate. I ended up cutting my own spiral mask by tracing the image of one from a old Eduard mask set onto a piece of kabuki tape and applied it over the already painted glossy RLM 04 yellow spinner. Then I sprayed it with dark black green and voila! Not as easy as it sounds, but it works with a lot of patience.
Paints used were mostly Vallejo and Tamiya acrylics topped off with a protective coat of Future followed by two coats of Alclad II Flat Klear Kote to finish it off. Uschi .03 mm elastic thread was used for the antenna wire.
Thanks for looking!
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- 1. brake line added
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- 1. Nowi sitting on his Bf109 spinner.
@eb801, That is a fantastic 190 model Eric! ? I really like that dark scheme too; really emphasizes the brutish look of that bird. Hey, very nice job on that spiral too brother! ?
@garybrantley - Thanks Gary! That spiral was a real pain but now I know how to do it right the next time.
Nowotny always flew 109s or 190s that wore interesting, and often peculiar, camouflages. His 109 F flown in the earlier stages of Barbarossa operation is dashing (much like all the Grupoe machines).
However, it’s the 190, and especially this one and the subsequent A-6 model, the planes everyone recalls when thinking about him and his eastern front successes.
Eric, you made a fine example here, I particularly like the painting and some fine details.
Thumbs up, let’s see what will your next 190 be 😉
P.S. later this year I will also revisit this kit, this time using this brand new decal option
1 attached image. Click to enlarge.
@holzhamer - Thanks! Your valued input sure helped me cross the finish line with this one.
Any ideas which kit I should try for a Nachtjager? I recall Eduard issued a version.
Exito Decals I have yet to try but they have always pick great subjects. "Yellow 3" definitely gets a real thumbs up.
@eb801 Eric, if you’re craving for a night fighter version of the 190, I read sometime ago that Eduard is indeed planning to release a “new mould” Wild Sau box edition, probably containing an A-6 or even an A-8, I believe still in 2022.
However, if you have appropriate decals stashed then I believe you can pick a Profipack or even a Weekend box because all you need to build it (the extras like the FuG aerials, exhaust flame hinders and even the Mg131 gun flash suppressor if memory serves right!) is there already
Great looking 190, and well painted and weathered. Well done!
@gkittinger - thanks Greg. One of these days I'm going to mount a plane on a stand with gear stowed away just to beak the pattern.
Sharp work Gary!
It's impossible to dislike that kit, and it's impossible to dislike this product of that kit. Great work on this, @eb801.
An excellent looking Wurger, Eric @eb801
Your expertise really brought the best into this kit.
Especially the work on the spinner is superb.
Your building thread was a pleasure to follow as well.
Two thumbs up.
Nice work, Eric! You did a fine job on my favorite 190 variant in my favorite colors.
Looks great, Eric! Well done. Way to go Eudard for the replacement.
@gwskat - Thanks Gary. The folks at Eduard are really customer oriented. Over the years they have sent me replacement parts including for kits they have discontinued. When I was in Prague, I got in touch with them and they steered me to a couple of great hobby shops and nearby air museums. That's why I like to support them.
Amazing result out if this good kit, Eric!
Nothing better than seeing "Nowi"'s plane built in such excellence!
Great looking 190, nicely painted and weathered. Great Job!
Well done Eric, that's a really nice looking 190. Great job with the weathering and the overall camo scheme.
For a "GOAT" or one of the "Greatest of All Time" fighter pilots, Walter Nowotny's Fw-190 is very subdued or the cameo was restrained. If you didn't know the history of the pilot this a/c would be any of the squadron aircraft. TC has written that many of the American Aces in the U.S. Navy weren't assigned to one specific aircraft. This is a loaded question, did Nowotny fly a specific aircraft or did German pilots fly what was available at the time of the mission? Or did they fly two or three specific aircraft within the squadron?
Eric, loved your article and your adventures with the carpet monster. I firmly believe that there is a fourth and maybe even a fifth dimension. Having wind screens and other bits disappear usually towards the end of a build, as your about to triumphally finish your master piece seems to be the modelers lot. Being edgy . . . in playing with the landing gear and not braking it while try to seek perfection after the fact. The model has been finished or so you thought until seeing . . .
Two thumbs up on a down to earth article and excellent build.
Stephen @stephen-w-towle - Thanks for the thumbs up. It's my understanding that Nowotny was known for having interesting schemes on his personal mounts like his 109s and Fw 190s. But I have read that towards the end of the war, Germans pilots jumped into whatever was available on the airfield. Perhaps TC @tcinla or Perdro @holzhamer can address this better than I.
You pretty much summed it well Eric.
Aces, as all other staffel, gruppe or geschwader leaders had their own designated machines, often with a second replacement machine when it was possible.
By 1944 onwards the mounts of those aces became less and less conspicuous as allied air power roam freely and German loses in the air and ground were staggering. Airplane concealment and discretion were paramount to survive another day. The very few that kept personal distinctive markings on their fighters were the rare exception
Thanks @johnb, @fiveten, @j-healy, @dtravis, @v1pro and @tom-bebout - Appreciate all your comments.
Eric (@eb801),
This build was a joy to follow and I'm glad you go past the odd hiccup in the build.
The end result is fabulous.
I have a few of the new (and two night fighter boxings of the old) Eduard Fw 190s in the stash.
I must put them higher on the pile, and get one started soon - maybe this year.
Liked!
P.S. And a great save on the spinner spiral.
Glad you enjoyed my thread Michael @michaelt. Those Eduard Fw kits issued between 2006-2009 are a real pain and almost not worth building which is why they discontinued them and came out with these wonderful new tools. Eduard should redo the Dora series but those kits are not so fussy as their initial Würgers.