Focke Wulf 190 D-9 'Brown 16'

My latest model is Tamiya's 1/72 Focke Wulf 190D-9. I've had this as a little side project for a while now but it is finally finished. The kit is very simple to build (as most Tamiya kits are) and the detail is excellent. It really is difficult to go wrong with these kits. Granted, the rear of the engine is not visible from inside the wheel bays as it was on the actual aircraft, but to my knowledge this is missed by all D-9 kits in this scale (I'll happily be corrected on this though). Other niggles that have been pointed out with this kit are the bulbous nose gun cowl and landing gear legs that are a little short. While both of these points have some validity, I am not too bothered with them as the model is certainly not spoilt by these imperfections. These kits are still pricey for 1/72 single engined aircraft at around £10 but you do get a lovely model for your money.  

The paintscheme depicts 'Brown 16' of 7./JG26 during the spring of 1945. It sports a typical camouflage scheme of aircraft of this timeframe, with RLM 82/83 upper surfaces against RLM 76 lower surfaces. I decided to have large sections of the underneath of the wing in bare metal which was not un-common on late war Luftwaffe aircraft, but it turns out that the actual aircraft did have a fully painted belly, oh well!  A knowledgeable member of Britmodeller also pointed out to me that this Dora had a early 'Anton' style canopy so this model is more representative than a true historical replica.