Hello everyone ! Thanks for the warm welcome with this one...
Pedro it's the result of a lifetime of collecting kits... and not building as much as I wanted to before I retired. Now that I no longer have a regular job, it has allowed me to devote more time to the hobby. I guess now I'm trying to make up for lost time when I couldn't build kits due to a very busy work schedule.
Yes David a Ju-52 would be a good one for the GB... I just happen to know a guy...with a few 1/48 Tante Ju kits in the stash... but right now I hear he's busy with a boat load of other kits going on at the moment. But we still have a long ways to go before the deadline, so you just never know 😉
Yes Bernard, you correctly guessed the Butcher Bird that I'm planning on building. I coincidentally saw a review of the Eduard A4 kit on another website earlier today, and it got me thinking... here's the markings I'll try to replicate. This picture is part of the Eduard kit markings.
This Focke Wulf was supposedly originally delivered in RLM 74/75/76. Once in Tunisia it received a coat of RLM 79 Sand Gelb over the upper surfaces. From what I have read so far, the original RLM 76 was left as is.
Hello Paul. This will be my first A3 variant from Tamiya. I've built several of the later Dora Nines, and a few of the F-8's, all being Tamiya kits. You're correct about the antennae mast fitting as a small addition to the fin. Here's a picture of what we are talking about:
It is supposed to be the only visible difference between the A3 and the A4. The other changes were all internal so I'm hoping it's going to be an easy conversion. Here's a picture of the A3 fuselage plastic sitting directly over the A8 plastic. You can see the differences between the two.
If I was going to build a later A5/A7 series plane, I would probably go with the Hasegawa edition or use a Tamiya F-8 (or A-8) and back date it. I just looked at the plastic sprues on the Tamiya kits I just mentioned and compared the fuselage plastic to the earlier A3 kit. Tamiya did add some length to the nose to replicate the additional length of the A-5 and later Wurgers.
These two photos shows the additional length added to the nose: Here again, the early A3 plastic is lined up directly over the top of the later A8 fuselage plastic parts. It makes the differences easy to see.
These side shots of the fuselage area where the cooling vents are also show a minor difference in the slots.
This picture shows the newer Squared style as found on the A8 / F8
These longer more narrow style were found on the early A2 / A3 / A4's
I did manage to find a photo of a 190 with a tropical filter. This one is a later variant with the fuselage extension. I'd take a guess and say it's an A5 to A8 variant. If you look closely at the area just ahead of the wing, you can see where the additional metal was added. It goes just behind the rear portion of the cowling, and ahead of the wing. I think it was about 8 inches in length on the real plane if memory serves me correctly...
Looks rather interesting, but probably a complicated contraption to scratch build.
One of my books has a drawing showing the extension on the nose. It is exactly as Paul stated. I'll try to find the picture and post it on my next update.
Thanks for the additional information everyone !
One of the P-40's is getting close to being done, the Sherman and Panzer III are close too, with some OVM tool painting and a literal dusting should wrap them up...
Please stay tuned for updates. I'm going to get busy on this one right away.
