1/48 Fw190 D-11/D-13
Dual Combo (http://www.hlj.com/product/EDU8185)
*History*
A total of 17 Fw 190 D-11s were known to have been manufactured. This version
was fitted with the uprated Jumo 213E series engine which was also used in the
Ta-152 H series. Changes over the D-9 were the enlarged supercharger air-intake
on the starboard side cowling and the use of a wooden, three broader bladed VS 9
or 10 propeller. The 13 mm fuselage guns were removed, and the cowling
redesigned and by omitting the gun troughs was changed to a flat profile. Two 30
mm MK 108 cannons were installed in the outer wings to complement the 20
mm MG 151s in the inboard positions. Of the 17 Dora-11s delivered, three can be
accounted for. One, the best-known, was /Rote 4/ (red 4) of JV 44's /Platzschutz/
unit. While the D-11 was under manufacture, work started on the D-13 models. The
D-13s were based on the D-11 design, however the D-13's were fitted with /Motorkanone/
nose cannons firing through the propeller hub. The D-13 would be fitted
with a 20 mm MG 151/20 cannon). In all, the RLM called for 820 D-11
airframes to be built and 1,060 airframes of the D-13, stating in early 1945. It
was known that 17 D-13's were more than likely built, but only two were known to
be in service.
Click on
images below to see larger images
*The Kit*
Eduard has followed up their release of the Fw190 D-9 with the release of the
D-11/D-13 Dora Dual Combo boxing. 12 Sprues contain 318 parts in clear and
Eduard olivey-tan coloured plastic, a large sheet of photo etch, canopy masks
and a large decal sheet. The kit contains parts to complete two models, one of
the D-11 and one D-13. Some of the sprues have already been seen in the Fw190
D-9 boxing, one of the wing sprues, canopy sprue, the sprue that contain
the cockpit, and tailplanes, movable surfaces, landing gears, wheels, gear
covers, and smaller components to name a couple. There are also two newly tooled
sprues which contain the D-11 Wings, upper cowls, VS-9 Propeller, fuselage
half's and the Supercharger intake. Sadly there is no sprue that contains a Jumo
213E engine.
The detail of the plastic is the same as the past Fw190 releases from Eduard.
The detail has been excellently tooled with full engraved crisp panel lines and
finely detailed rivet rows. There are no traces of sink marks or flash on any of
the parts on the sprues. It should also be noted that there no signs of plastic
injection pins locations on any of the visible detail. As there is no engine to
display, Eduard have include the option to have the upper cowling and the wing
roots compartments open to display the machine guns. The plastic cockpit parts
offer an outstanding level of detail that can be dressed up with Photo Etch
parts. Surely there will be boxings of Weekend Editions of these two variants
sometime .
Eduard has nicely added a feature in their D-9 release that has carried over
into this release that past Manufactures have missed. This is the open wheel
well area where you can see the lower parts of the engine bay. Unforturenaly
they have one small error that has got the modeling talking, which is the empty
shells discard chutes opening on the lower wing. Eduard have tooled it as two
separate chutes. From my references that I have read, the D-11 and D-13
had the same exhaust canal as the Fw190 A Series, which only had one chute. This
is a very easy fix, if you wish to correct it. Again you will need to check
references.
As mention before, a sheet of Photo Etch has been supplied in the kit for the
cockpit area. The sheet features pre-printed enhancement detail for cockpit
instruments bezels, instrument faces and Seatbelt harnesses. Other items that
are included are rudder control pedals, Cockpit knobs and levers. Pre cut canopy
masks will make the masking and painting process a lot easier, there are also
masks for the wheel hubs. There is enough supplied for both kits. The A4 sized
instruction booklet is printed on 16 pages that contain the History, build
process and the colourful profile art for the schemes that are supplied in this
kit. The assembly sequence is easy to follow with clearly illustrated pictures,
with clear callout for re-movement of detail and placement of Photo Etch parts.
The paint callouts are in Gunze acrylic and lacquer ranges, but these would be
easy for you to convert over to you favorite brand of paint.
The large decal sheet is excellently printed by the best decal printer in my
book, Cartograf in Italy. The colours are bold and crisp without any misprints.
The sheet carries marking options for a total of 5 airframes, 3xD11's and 2x
D-13's. The schemes offer some interesting German camo/mottling finishes,
aswell as a captured airframe and one markings of the most famous German units,
the D-11 of Lt. Karl-Heinz Hofmann, Sachsenberg Schwarm of JV 44.
Markings are -
- Fw 190D-11, WrNr 2200xx, Red
4, JV 44, Sachsenberg Schwarm, München-Riem, May 1945, flown by Lt.
Karl-Heinz Hofmann
- Fw 190D-11, WrNr 2200xx, White
58, Bad Wörishofen, March 1945
- Fw 190D-11, WrNr 220014, White
61, Bad Wörishofen, April 1945
- Fw 190D-13, WrNr 836016, V./EJG
2, Pilsen-Bory, Czechoslovakia, May 1945
- Fw 190D-13, WrNr 836017,
Yellow 10, Stab./JG 26, Flensburg-Weiche, Germany, May 1945
Again its clear that Eduard have
produced another winner for the Luftwaffe fantanictics. The D-11 and D-13 kits
will surely be an nice addition to any ones collection of Fw190's or late war
aircraft.
I
would like to thank Hobby
Link Japan
for supplying this review sample.
Dave
Johnson
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