1:32 Fw-190 D-9

When an inverted V12 replaced the radial

Converting the Focke-Wulf to the Junkers Jumo 213A twelve-cylinder was technically elegant precisely because it could hardly be told from outside. The cooling system stayed annular and hidden in a ring ahead of the engine, so the silhouette of the nose kept the rounded shape of the radial version and only grew about half a meter longer. A plug in the rear part of the fuselage helped balance the center of gravity, recognizable by the vertical seam ahead of the tail surfaces. The result was a machine that above six kilometers climbed and accelerated noticeably better than its predecessor.

Contents

A pair of films for the cockpit glass, outer and reverse side, plus a pair of national insignia and two metal muzzles for the barrels of the 13 mm machine guns.

Alignment that plastic cannot do

A plastic barrel stub points where the mold aimed it, and if the cowling half twists even slightly while being glued, one weapon looks in a different direction from the other. Nobody can correct it, because the part is molded in one piece with the cowling. A metal barrel sits in a hole you drill yourself, so the direction is in your own hands: insert the part dry, look at the model from the front, level both muzzles into one plane and only then glue. It is the view from the front that tends to be the first one on a model in a display case.

Briefly on the finish

The Dora is most often seen in photographs in a late camouflage of gray shades, complemented by a wide band on the rear fuselage and large numbers on the sides. The national insignia masks are useful here precisely because, unlike a decal, a sprayed cross has the same finish as the surrounding paint and no carrier film shines under it.