1:48 FW 190 V18

An experimental machine for flight at great altitude

The eighteenth prototype of the Fw 190 series came out of a simple requirement: to put a well-established fighter into altitudes where its air-cooled radial ran out of breath. A liquid-cooled V12 engine therefore went into the nose, and with it a turbosupercharger whose ducting and cooler called for a conspicuous fairing under the fuselage. It is exactly to that fairing that the machine owes the nickname the mechanics gave it after a kangaroo's pouch.

The changes did not stop at the power plant. The wing was given a greater span and the tail a taller vertical surface, so that the aircraft would keep its handling in thin air. The trials revealed weak points in the supercharging system and series production never happened, but the data gathered led, by way of the high-altitude branch of the series, all the way to the Ta 152, that is to the highest-flying German piston fighter of the end of the war.

The real subject is interesting for a modeler exactly because it is unusual. The plastic parts wait to be cleaned up, glued and sprayed; you will not find a finished aircraft in the box.

How the prototype differs in the build

The longer nose shifts the center of gravity forward, and so the finished model is apt to tip onto the nosewheel. It pays to plan for balancing as early as when you glue the fuselage and to hide a weight in the space behind the engine. The finish of experimental machines was usually simple, without colorful camouflage and with a minimum of markings, which puts the emphasis on a clean spray job: every irregularity will stand out. Sharp transitions between metal and fabric give you no relief here.