1:48 Focke Wulf Fw-190F-8 (Hungary)

Hungarian fighter-bombers at the close of the war

The Fw 190F-8 came about as the attack variant of the well-known fighter: strengthened armor under the engine and under the cockpit, bomb racks and altered armament made it a machine for work low over the ground. The Hungarian Air Force received them at the close of the war and deployed them in the fighting in Transdanubia, where they covered retreating ground units.

Five machines of the 102nd Regiment

The sheet covers an aircraft with the yellow 54 of the 102nd Regiment of the winter of 1944 and 1945, further the white 21 of the 2nd fighter-bomber squadron from Varpalota and the white 5 of the 1st squadron. They are completed by the yellow 24 deployed in Transdanubia in 1944 and the white 26 again of the 1st squadron. The color of the numbers is not arbitrary; with the Hungarian units it told affiliation apart, so the shade is worth checking against period photographs.

Winter camouflage and film

Most of the machines wore a sprayed or brushed white over the factory finish, which wore away quickly. If you are going to imitate it, apply the decals only onto a continuous gloss coat above the winter layer and only then set to work with abrasive paper or a brush with thinner. The reverse order will give the edges of the film away at once.

The sheet is in 1:48 and reckons with a finished model.

Where the type belonged in Hungarian service

At the close of the war the fighter-bombers escorted retreating formations and attacked columns as well as river crossings. These are therefore machines that were closer to the ground battlefield than to combats at altitude, and the wear it pays to suggest on a model matches that.