Name: Tim
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Hasegawa 1/48 Fw-190A-7 JG1 —- In Box Review
May 26th, 2011
Hasegawa 1/48 Fw-190A-7 ’JG1′, Stock #9902, MSRP $39.99
When I saw this listed, I had a huge “WOOHOO” moment, and bought the beast sight unseen. My bad. I know many folks swear by Hasegawa as being excellent kits, but they missed the boat on this one.
This is, to be fair, a decent kit. What it is NOT, however, is a Fw-190A-7. This is merely their A-8 with a new set of decals:
1) Maj. Heinz Bar ‘Red 23′ (alternate aircraft used for 200th victory)
2) Maj. Heinz Bar ‘Red 13′ with 200 victory markings
3) Oblt. Wilhelm Krebs (has black & white striped nose decals)
The kit itself is fairly straight forward, though not as shake-&-bake as a Tamiya, and at least looks relatively accurate (at least the landing gear are the right length!) You get 83 parts in light grey & clear plastic, with options for an aircraft with or without outboard wing 20mm cannons and a multi-part gunsight (this is certain to be a challenge, and probably a good feeding for the carpet monster.) My copy has very little flash and I can find no underfill or sink marks, and the knockout marks seem to all be placed in areas that are not seen outside the completed kit. So far, so good.
The problem arises from the fact that, in order to do this kit as an A-7 variant, the modeler has a LOT of filling and re-scribing to do. The circular port in the bottom for the GM1 nitrous oxide tank has to be filled, as do the various ports and handholds, since the A-7 had those placed in the same positions as the A-6. This promises to be a long, tedious, and difficult task. What a shame, since this is a decent kit.
The Bottom Line:
If you’re buying this kit, grab a set of decals for an A-8 and build it that way, then use the decals on an Eduard A-6, since their A-6 boxing contains all the parts needed to turn the A-6 into an A-7.
My apologies for not being able to post photos. I’m having camera issues. I’ll add them when I get the problem fixed.
