Without going into great detail on the 190, I'll just say that the plane was a huge shock to the RAF when it entered service in 1941. Up to that time, the Spitfire V had been able to hold up rather well against the Bf-109F. Now there came a new plane on the scene which outclassed the SpitV in almost every category. It was fast, heavily armed and relatively maneuverable. If it had a failing, it was a bit of a pig in terms of climb as it had relatively high wing loading compared to the broad-winged Spitfire.

Unbeknownst to the British, the first versions of the 190 were prone to engine fires, a problem that plagued early versions. So much so that several ground crew with fire bottles were always on hand during engine start-up. This is much the same problem as plagued the B-29. Eventually that was cured and the aircraft went on to serve well up until the last days of the war. The 190, unlike the 109 was always in short supply as it was generally preferred over the 109. One big reason was that large lump of armor protection (otherwise called an engine) that sat in front of the pilot. Another was that it was an air-cooled engine so had the huge benefit of not having coolant lines that could be shot away, causing the engine to seize at the most inopportune times and places! A total of 102 Fw-190A-1 variants were built between June and October 1941 by Focke-Wulf, AGO and Arado before production switched to the A-2 version.

"Your typical Czech short run kit........". Actually it is a bit less than typical for several important reasons. One is an actual injected plastic canopy and windscreen, something that I like. Secondly, there is resin, but it is limited and encompasses important bits, like the wheel wells, wheels and cockpit. The cockpit is a single casting that includes the seats, pedals and whole deal. Unfortunately, on mine the control stick had gone astray somewhere between being molded and encapsulated in the plastic bags. The wheels are the proper early versions with the circular holes in them.

The rest of the kit is quite typical with finely engraved detail, a slightly rough surface texture and semi-large sprue gates. Some of the smaller bits will need a razor saw to remove or you'll break them; guaranteed! The parts also have slightly rough outer edges that will all have to be cleaned up prior to use.

Instructions are basically a single folded sheet of paper, but are adequate to build the kit with no problems. Construction is given in several exploded views with color information provided for all the salient bits and pieces. Colors are given as RLM numbers, a big help. There is only one camo/marking scheme provided. This is an aircraft of II./JG 26 in RLM 74/75/76 with no mottling and yellow on the rudder and lower cowling. These markings are typical of Channel Coast Luftwaffe fighter units. The decals themselves are printed by Techmod of Poland so should work quite well.

Reports from friends who have built this kit say that it is not a slap together model and I do believe them. However, if you have had some experience with short run models, then this one should not be too difficult to build. For one thing, you won't find an A-1 variant in 1/72 from any other source that I know of!

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