Focke-Wulf Fw 190 Upgrade and Conversion Sets
Grey Matter Aviation, 1/24 scale
S u m m a r y : |
Catalogue Number: |
Grey Matter Aviation Item Nos.:
GMAJR2405 – Fw 190 late cockpit set
GMAJR2407 – Fw 190A/D/F landing gear
GMAJR2409 – Fw 190 A8/R2 conversion |
Scale: |
1/32 |
Contents & Media |
GMAJR2405 – 19 light grey resin parts; photo-etched rudder pedals; instrument dial decals; four A4 colour instruction sheets.
GMAJR2407 – 36 light grey resin parts and two black resin parts; one A4 black-and-white instruction sheet.
GMAJR2405 – 12 light grey resin parts and one 3 cm-length of solid brass tube; one A4 black-and-white instruction sheet. |
Price: |
GMAJR2405 – GBP £36
GMAJR2407 – GBP £23
GMAJR2405 – GBP £27
all available online from Grey Matter Figures Click here for currency conversion... |
Review Type: |
First Look |
Advantages: |
Cockpit and landing gear upgrade sets are well produced and will be highly visible on your finished model; the A-8/R2 conversion set will totally change the character of your 1/24 Würger. |
Disadvantages: |
Some shortcomings with the instructions for the Fw 190 A-8/R2 conversion set. |
Conclusion: |
Grey Matter's 1/24 Fw 190 upgrades and conversions are well worth investigating if you are contemplating building an Airfix 1/24 Fw 190 A. Previous experience working with resin parts will be helpful with most of the sets, as they will add further complexity to what is already a challenging kit. Within these parameters, however, I can definitely recommend Grey Matter's Fw 190 A accessories as key ingredients towards a stunning 1/24 model. |
Reviewed by Brad Fallen
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Airfix’s 1/24 Focke-Wulf Fw 190 A-5/A-6 kit was released in the mid-1970s and remains the only Fw 190 A produced in this scale. While generously detailed for its time, the kit has been overtaken by more recent 1/32 and 1/48 Fw 190 A toolings and benefits from significant scratch-built or aftermarket enhancements. Grey Matter Figures produces half-a-dozen sets specifically for this kit, including replacement cockpit and landing gear and an Fw 190 A-8/R-2 conversion.
The sets have been mastered by Jerry Rutman and draw on his wealth of experience with the big Airfix Würger. Well over a decade ago, Jerry produced a number of sets for the kit that ranged from cockpit and wheel well replacements to complex and ambitious Fw 190 D-9, D-11 and D-13 conversions. Many of these upgrades are no longer available in their original form, but some of the patterns appear to have been carried over to the Grey Matter sets being examined here.
Fw 190 late cockpit set
The cockpit set uses a comparatively small number of resin parts to replace the office of the Airfix kit, enhanced with instrument dial decals from airscale and seatbelts and rudder pedals from R.B. Productions. I haven’t got an Airfix Fw 190 to use as a point of comparison, but I can’t see the kit parts competing with what’s on offer here.
The single-piece cockpit tub is a large and well-executed example of resin casting. It includes the side consoles, floor detail and mounting points for the control column and rudder pedals. With careful painting, this will be an impressive centrepiece of your Fw 190 cockpit.
The other resin parts are also well cast. There are one or two air bubbles present, but nothing that can’t be addressed in a couple of minutes with superglue, accelerator and sandpaper. And there are no casting blocks to deal with – the major components are presented basically ready to use (although they’ll need a wash to remove any residual mould release agent). A dozen of the smaller parts are attached to resin wafers, from which they can easily be sliced with a sharp scalpel.
The only resin part on which I can’t comment is the rear decking that fits beneath the sliding canopy section, because this item was absent from the review sample. Also missing were the R.B. Productions’ seat belts. However I used the same manufacturer’s Sutton Harnesses in my 1/24 Airfix Mosquito and found that the combination of paper belts and photo-etched buckles looked convincing when assembled.
The final items in the cockpit set are the R.B. Productions 1/24 Luftwaffe rudder pedals and airscale 1/24 World War II Luftwaffe instrument dial decals. Both are excellent products that will be highly visible in, and add finesse to, the finished cockpit.
How to bring all these parts together, and integrate them into the Airfix kit, is thoroughly explained in the four A4 pages of colour instructions. If you’ve seen a Fisher Models instruction sheet you’ll be in familiar territory here, with photos of the resin parts used to step you through the assembly process. The rudder pedals and instrument dial decals come with their own instructions that need to be followed separately.
Fw 190 A/D/F landing gear
This set consists of four main resin parts – two gear doors and two gear struts – and a number of smaller detailing items. The gear doors are wonderful examples of pattern-making and will be very obvious on your finished model. One of the doors in the review sample was a little warped, but should be fairly easy to straighten using warm water.
The gear struts have been cast in a black, presumably stronger resin to ensure they aren’t deformed by the weight of the finished model. This resin appears to be slightly more brittle than the grey resin used for the rest of the set, as a small piece of one of the struts had snapped off in transit. Fortunately, it wasn’t a structural part of the strut and will be easily re-attached with superglue.
The smaller items in the set – spacer bolts, scissor links, hydraulic rams and tow points – will require care to test-fit and assemble, but will add a layer of detail that I suspect is missing or rudimentary in the Airfix kit.
The instructions are a simple but effective page of line drawings and explanatory text that leave no doubt as to where everything goes.
Finally, it’s worth noting that wheels are not included, but are available as a separate Grey Matter set.
Fw 190 A-8/R2 conversion
With its cowling gun bulges, 30mm MK 108 outboard wing cannons and – in some cases – supplementary cockpit armour, the Fw 190 A-8/R2 is a more purposeful-looking Würger than the A-5/A-6 variants kitted by Airfix in 1/24 scale. Grey Matter’s A-8/R2 set is therefore a welcome conversion, but it will require more work than the previous two sets to install.
The most challenging part of the conversion will be modifying the kit’s one-piece lower wing to accept the replacement resin parts with MK 108 cannon bulges and shell ejector ports. The wing will require surgery outboard of each gear bay; you will need to make your cuts precise and do plenty of test fitting to ensure a snug fit. Modifying the upper wings should be straightforward in comparison, with Grey Matter supplying two cannon bulges that need to be glued in the correct position.
The other main change involves the forward engine cowls, fuselage gun cover and gun troughs. The Grey Matter parts appear to directly replace the kit parts, but again I’d recommend dry fitting before you bring out the glue.
The balance of the conversion involves fitting the MK 108 cannon barrels to the wings, and the morane antenna and DF loop beneath the fuselage. You’ll need to roll your own loop using the flat brass strip provided, and find another short length of brass tube for the end of the antenna. You will also need to scribe in the oval access hatch that was present on the lower mid-fuselage of the A-8 (but not the A-5 or A-6).
The instructions are presented in the same format as those for the landing gear set - a single page of line drawings with accompanying explanations - but are not particularly comprehensive. While providing useful information on general Fw 190 A-8 features (for example antenna, DF loop and access hatch locations) they only vaguely mention the wing adaptations that need to be made, and don't mention the cowling changes at all. You'll therefore need to rely heavily on other references in order to complete the modifications.
Grey Matter's 1/24 Fw 190 upgrades and conversions are well worth investigating if you are contemplating building an Airfix 1/24 Fw 190 A. In addition to the sets reviewed here, Grey Matter offers the wheels and pilot's seat as separate sets, as well as a straight Fw 190 A-8 conversion. Previous experience working with resin parts will be helpful with most of the sets, as they will add another level of complexity to what is already a challenging kit. Within these parameters, however, I can definitely recommend Grey Matter's Fw 190 A accessories as key ingredients towards a stunning 1/24 model.
Thanks to Grey Matter Figures for the review sample.
Review Text and Images Copyright © 2014 by Brad Fallen
Page Created 24 September, 2014
Last updated
24 September, 2014
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