Focke-Wulf Fw 190A-10 build thread

[matrixone]

Here is the very start of my Fw 190A-10 project, the A-10 was not built during the war it and only made it to the blueprints before cutbacks caused by the worsening war situation cancelled the program. This model will be a what-if version of what a Fw 190A-10 would have looked like if they had been built and used. I intend to mark this one as a machine that fought on the Eastern front in 1945.

Here are the two kits used in this conversion:


This is what the Fw 190A-8 fuselage looked like straight out of the box:


Here is a shot of the Fw 190A-8 after the tail had been cut off and the large Ta 152 style tail had its fuselage extension piece cut off. As you can see the rear of the A-8 fuselage and the front of the big tail are a near perfect match just like the full size machines, the large Ta 152 style tail could be bolted onto the Fw 190D-9 or Fw 190A-8 without any problems. A small number of Fw 190D-9s and at least one Fw 190A-8 (or A-9) were fitted with the big tail.
Also in this pic you can see the painted cockpit for this model:


This model should be finished near the end of this summer.


Matrixone

[sotoolslinger]

I have my coat , thank you , leaving now. 
Man am I looking forward to this one

[matrixone]

Thanks sotoolslinger!

This build should go smoothly, the only tricky parts will be adding the big tail to the fuselage, it takes a little time to make sure its a perfect fit before gluing the parts together and making the four blade propeller. This one will also have the late war ''blown'' canopy which will come from the Revell kit.

I plan to have this model built (but not painted) by the time the new book from Jerry Crandall is released, the book will have a section devoted to the late war German painting practices as used on Focke-Wulfs, this type of information is very important to the success of my current batch of Focke-Wulf models both real and what-if.

Matrixone

[frank2056]

That's a beautiful looking cockpit! It looks like you and JHM have the amazing cockpit detailing market sewn up!

What did you use to make the cuts on the fuselage? They look surgically clean.

Frank

[matrixone]

Frank,

Thanks for the comments on the cockpit.

In this case the cuts were easy to do because they were on a panel line, I used a scribing tool and just scribed the line much deeper. I also used my Dremel moto tool and thinned the plastic on the inside of the parts. It only took about five minutes to make each cut.

Matrixone

[BlackOps]

Matrix, you know I love watching your work, good to see another project revving up 

[matrixone]

Thanks Jeff!

Not much done on the A-10 today, but I did put the wheel wells together and carved the two holes in the wings for the outer wing cannons. Also glued the tail wheel assembly together and put Mr. Surfacer on the seamline. Nothing worth getting pictures of.

What took up most of my time today was getting the new pics of the He 100H-1 and Bf 109G-10, the sun came out (first time in a week!) and I had to act quickly if I wanted to get any pictures before the clouds came back.

Matrixone

[GTX]

Matrixone,

Out of interest, what's your source of info on the A-10 variant?  All the information I've seen gives only a short written description without too many details and certainly no drawings.

Regards,

Greg

[matrixone]

I have several books on the Fw 190, few even mention the A-10 project but one book that comes to mind is Kageros ''Focke-Wulf Fw 190 Vol. 1''. Somewhere I have seen the factory drawings of the A-10 variant but I can't remember which book I had seen them in.
The Fw 190A-10 would have used the BMW 801F engine if it had been produced and would have had the Ta 152 style tail. It would have looked very much like a late war A-9 with the big tail. Focke-Wulf was in the process of switching all their prop fighters to the Ta 152 style tail in order to streamline production but the war ended before that could take place. Had the war dragged on a few more months many of the late production A-9s and D-9s would been fitted with the big tails.

Matrixone

[Ian the Kiwi Herder]

It'll look great in RLM 02 & 83 with aluminium undersides....

Ian

[matrixone]

Thanks Ian,
I will get this model built soon but not painted for a while until I get the new book (Fw 190 Dora Vol II.) by Jerry Crandall, the book is supposed to have the most complete information yet on the late war Focke-Wulfs. This is important to have this information so I can make a believable what-if out of this thing.
My model might have a 4 blade prop or the same wide cord wooden propeller just like the Dora used. The only known photograph of a short nosed Fw 190 with the Ta 152 style tail looks very much like it has the wide cord wooden prop attached.


I have found out a little more about the Fw 190A-10, the A-10 series was to have been made from recycled A-8 and A-9 airframes, they would not have been newly built airframes. Performance of the A-10 would have been about the same as the A-9.

Matrixone

[TsrJoe]

def looking forward to seeing this one progress, do you have any drawings or a description of the A.10 variant?

cheers, Joe 

[matrixone]

Joe,
The only two books I have looked for information on the Fw 190A-10 so far have been been the Kagero Fw 190 Vol.1 and the Osprey Production Line to Frontline Fw 190 book, I do have other books on the Fw 190 but have not dug them out yet. After all, this thing is a what-if and I am not that worried about it being 100% factual. If its fun to make is whats more important to me.
I have tried doing a search on the internet and there is not that much out there on the A-10, a few sites I looked at even doubted the A-9 was even built during the war! So much for the web.
The good news is there will be new books on the Focke-Wulf out later this year or early next year, and maybe there will be more info on the proposed A-10 version in them.

Somewhere in my book collection I have some factory drawings of the late model Focke-Wulfs including the Fw 190A-10 version. The Fw 190A-10 would have looked much the same as the A-9 did except for the big tail. The Osprey book said the A-10 was to be made from recycled A-8 and A-9 airframes mated with new engines, I think it was very possible at that same time the aircraft were upgraded that the Ta 152 style wooden tail was to be fitted to them but I have no proof of this so far, but it is known that the Ta 152 style tail was to be the standard tail for the last of the Focke-Wulf prop fighters as production of them were phased out in favor of jet aircraft designs.

I just finished painting the gloss black on the wheel hubs and the wheel well. The wheel well will later be painted with Alclad II aluminium to replicate the bare metal often seen on Focke-Wulf aircraft near the end of the war. While I had the airbrush out I dug out a few other Fw 190 kits and sprayed gloss black on the wheel hubs of all of them as well, after that I sprayed all the cockpit parts RLM 66 black gray and then painted inside of the fuselage halves of the Fw 190A-10 so I could finish up the foward part of the fuselage later today.

No pics taken of my progress today, there should be some posted next weekend when there is more progress to be seen.

Matrixone

[GTX]

Here's my interpretation of what a Fw-190A-10 would look like (based upon available info) - I'd like your thoughts Matrixone:



Regards,

Greg

[matrixone]

Greg,
I think your drawing is spot on, I can't see anything wrong with it and thanks for posting it. :thumbsup


Below is one of the factory drawings of the Fw190A-10/F-10, I found this drawing in one of the Kagero Fw 190 books.


The pic below shows the tail section and how I glued the front of the tail slightly wider than I did at the rear of it. This MUST be done this way in order for the tail to match up with the rear of the Fw 190A-8 fuselage. I glued some plastic shims on the inside of the tail to insure the proper sized gap stayed the same size until the glue dried. The gap is easily filled and sanded smooth later.


I will try and post more WIP pics later this weekend.


Matrixone