1:72 Focke-Wulf Fw 190F-8

The Fw 190 in the ground-attack role

When the Luftwaffe looked for a replacement for the slow Ju 87 dive bomber in 1943, it reached for a proven fighter. The version with the letter F came about on the basis of the A-8 airframe, but was given heavier armor for the underside of the fuselage and the cockpit, modified wing armament and, under the fuselage, a rack on which a bomb or a container with an anti-personnel load was hung. The result was a machine that could take fire from the ground and yet, once it had dropped its load, could hold its own against fighters.

They were used above all by the ground-attack wings on the Eastern Front, where they replaced the older types during 1944. Flying was done from field strips, often in miserable weather, and the machines showed it in their appearance: oversprayed patches, soot around the exhausts and traces of mud from waterlogged strips under the wings.

The markings of these aircraft are rewarding above all because of the tactical symbols. Besides the national crosses, the machines carried letters and numerals in the color of their Staffel, additional bands around the fuselage and unit badges ahead of the cockpit, which turn a model into a particular machine rather than an anonymous fighter.

In 1:72 the markings are small, but where they are placed decides everything. The commonest mistake is a misplaced cross on the fuselage; before you lay it down, measure the distance from the edge of the wing and from the tailplane, so that you do not position it by eye. And do not go on to the soiled finish until the decals have dried.

The choice of period also deserves some thought. The machines of 1944 still carried fairly legible markings, whereas in the last months of the war the markings were simplified and were often replaced by no more than a roughly sprayed outline. The period you choose will also change the degree of wear you suggest on the model.