Focke-Wulf Fw 58 C
“Czechoslovakian Service”

Special Hobby, 1/72 scale

Reviewed by Mark Davies

 Special Hobby's 1/72 scale Fw 58 C is available online from Squadron.com
 

I have always thought of the Fw 58 as a German equivalent of the Avro Anson in many ways. It was primarily intended as a replacement for the Junkers W 34 to train navigators, radio operators, air gunners and bomb aimers, as well as being suitable for general liaison duties and light bombing. The prototype first flew in 1935, and it was produced in two main versions as the Fw 58B or C, as few A’s were built. The B had a glazed nose and open dorsal gunner’s position, whilst the C had the nose and dorsal positions enclosed.

The Fw 58 was licence built in Brazil and Bulgaria, and operated by numerous air arms including those of Germany, Austria, Argentina, Brazil, Bulgaria, Croatia, Czechoslovakia, Finland, Hungary, The Netherlands, Poland, Romania, Turkey and The Soviet Union.

I am aware of two previous 1/72 kits of the Fw 58, one by Karo-AS Modelblau and the other by Commando 5. These were limited run styrene and resin offerings respectively. I had two Karo-AS kits (both the Fw 58 B & C), they were true limited run products that could result in a nice model after some quite serious effort. I have only seen a review of the Commando 5 kit, which by all accounts is a good quality resin product.  Therefore there was a clear opportunity in the market for a reasonably priced modern styrene kit of this important if somewhat overlooked aircraft. Special Hobby responded to this opening some years ago with Fw 58 B & C kits. The boxing reviewed here is the previously offered Fw 58C with Luftwaffe markings, but this time with the addition of Czechoslovak and Soviet markings as well.

The kit is typical of the more recent Special Hobby releases. It is boxed in an end-opening box with attractive artwork. The cleanly moulded parts without locating lugs are sealed in their own plastic bag, as are the styrene clear parts. Additional detail parts are provided in the form of crisply cast resin and good quality photo-etch; again both bagged. The instructions provide a brief aircraft history in both English and Czech.

• 
• 
• 
• 
• 

• 
• 

Thumbnail panels:

An easy to follow parts map is included, and this quickly shows some unneeded parts from the B version. The constructional diagrams are well drawn, provide colour call-outs and are straightforward to follow. The painting and decaling guides are black & white shaded 4-views with RLM colour codes as well as Gunze Sangyo paint codes (There is another brand’s paint codes, but these are not identified).

The kit breakdown is thoroughly conventional. The shared fuselage moulding is optimised for the Fw 58C, so it is the B version that requires some saw work to prepare the gunner’s position.  Alternative grey or clear styrene noses easily cater for the other difference in versions. The airframe parts nicely capture the fabric covered structure that predominates aft of the solid nose and wing leading edges.

Good levels of cockpit interior detail are achieved with a combination of styrene, resin and photo-etch parts.

The large photo-etch instrument panel with photo-negative dials will look especially good, along with many other delicate details. 

A nice touch in the cockpit is two detailed blanking plates to cover off the inside of the wing roots where they would otherwise be visible as large gaps above the cockpit floor.

Clear and acceptably thin canopy parts will enable all this cockpit detail to be admired.

As with many limited run kits, I feel the propellers are a bit uninspired in their appearance and are somewhat plank-like. There are also large but easily filled sink marks in the spinners. I feel resin blades and spinners would provide a nicer result in this case.

The only constructional challenge I thought I could foresee was locating the main undercarriage legs. However, closer inspection of the parts shows that there are good locating lugs for these. This is a nice touch in a limited run kit, as correct placement is so important to a model’s finished ground stance.

Decals for two Luftwaffe, one Czechoslovak and one Soviet aircraft are provided. The German schemes consist of a clean RLM71 upper-surfaces over RLM side and under-surfaces, or a more typical RLM 70 & 71 splinter pattern over RLM 65 under-surfaces.

The Czechoslovak machine is aluminium overall and is singularly uninspiring, as is the Soviet dark green over light blue option. The decals have very good registration with 2-part swastikas provided to placate the PC-Nazis and EU regualtions.

My experience of Special Hobby decals would suggest that opacity should be good, but the decals will be very thin and keen to cling tightly once placed. They will not tolerate repeated or rough handling all that well.

This is a very nicely detailed and moulded kit of an attractive and important, if somewhat overlooked subject. There is a wide variety of schemes on offer for this plane due to the diversity off operators. I wish Special Hobby had made some more inspired choices for the additional decals than those offered here. I suspect this boxing is an attempt to waste out some left-over stock on the domestic market, given the big stick-on label over the German artwork advising that this is a Czechoslovak version. However this is a small criticism of what appears to be an excellent multi-media kit offering reasonable value for money.

Recommended.

Thanks to MPM/Special Hobby for the review sample.

Review Text Copyright © 2009 by Mark Davies
Images Copyright © 2009 by Brett Green
Page Created 31 July, 2009
Last updated 31 July, 2009

Back to HyperScale Main Page

Back to Reviews Page