Martini_Man

IF the - yet unknown - basic version of ZM focused only on accuracy and ease of buildability, then these kits could be compared to Kotare's approach. But as ZM's Dora will only get the overly complex SWS treatment, the way is wide open for Kotare to release an easy to build, accurate Fw190D-9 (or D-11/13 which ZM will not touch) without any extra bells and whistles!

I think we should bear in mind that Kotare's approach to kits is very different from Tamiya's or ZM's. Kotare creates highly detailed, easy to build kits without unnecessary extras or elaborate representation of the inner workings! It is therefore quite possible that in the future Kotare will release aircraft types that have already been released by other manufacturers. The key factor will be that the kits sell well, as Kotare is a young company that needs to build a solid business base. I think we will see a P-51 B/C and a Griffon Spitfire at some point. If Kotare also wants to continue releasing German aircraft in the future, a Bf109 G-10 (Mtt. and WNF production) or Bf109 G-14/AS (Mtt. production) would be obvious. Or they could take the big, lucrative step and release a Fw190 Dora (D-9 and D-11/13)! While there are enough kits of the radial engine Fw190 (Hasegawa, Revell, ZM and in the future Trumpeter), for the inline engine Fw190 there are only the options of the old Hasegawa kit and - sometime in the distant future - the one from ZM! Judging by the many Papageienstaffel builds on this forum alone, I think Kotare is going to make millions with the Fw190 Dora!

The 1/32 scale Fw190 series is new and very welcome. But it is very surprising that Trumpeter wants to release both a short fuselage version (Fw190A-4) and a long fuselage version (Fw190A-8) as they require quite different moulds! I am very excited about Zoukei Mura's rendering of the Fw190, but at the rate they are releasing kits, we will probably not see the later A variants until 2026 Trumpeter's approach may also be easier to build and less detailed than Zoukei Mura's.

A Fw190 D-9! With Zoukei Mura we might have to wait around 15 years for its release....

Hello Peter, Good to hear that another Bf109G set will be released in the future Regarding the proposed detail sets for the Hasegawa Fw190 series (or Revell and Hobby2000 releases); I think these would find plenty of customers as the Hasegawa kits are currently more or less the only game in town until Zoukei Mura covers the later Anton and Dora variants in maybe a few years. In my opinion, the Hasegawa cockpits only need a few 3D printed drop-in replacement parts to really shine! These would be a new seat, control stick, side panels with back armour plates and seat rails and an instrument panel with a properly mounted Revi16B or EZ42. In fact, the instrument panel hood with the cut-out from the Hasegawa kit is the correct one for a Fw190 equipped with the larger EZ42! If you need documentation for the Fw190, I would be happy to help! Best Michael

Great looking sets! Any chance of a cockpit detail set for Revell's Bf109 G-6 late and G-10 (e.g. with the Revi 16B)? Do you plan to continue the line with sets for Hasegawa's Fw190 in the future? Thanks a lot and best regards Michael

In Zoukei Mura's latest blog post there are some pictures of the Fw190A-4's sprues, decals and instructions.

Hi Andreas, thank you very much for this insight! Let's hope that Revell's plastic model division will continue to design and release LSP models - whether under the Revell brand or some other investor's brand! Do you have any idea if Revell will be releasing another new-tool 1/32 aircraft model next year?

I love this idea of an easy-buidable and accurate Ta 152! But do you think Revell will be quitting producing LSP in a foreseeable future?

Maybe a state-of-the-art kit of the Arado 234 B/C? Or a Ta 152 C? Or new-tooled and finally accurate out-of-the-box Bf 109 K-4 and Fw 190 D-11/-13?

From what I can decipher from the chart, my guess is that the order of ZM releases is as follows: - Fw190A-4 SWS - Fw190A-3 Basic - Fw190A-8 SWS - Fw190A-5/-6/-7 Basic - Fw190D-9 SWS If one follows this logic, one may perhaps still dream of an Fw190D-11/-13 Basic Maybe in 20 years??

A Tank 152 C-1 and an Arado 234 B or C Best

A Ta152C and a Ar234B!

A state of the art model of the Ta 152 C!

Looks already quite flush! After sanding it should be totally smooth Are you planning to produce your own decals for the Fw190; e.g.cockpit placards or maintenance stencils? Best

That is very unfortunate! Especially pieces of the set like the Revi16D or Revi EZ42 - which were never modelled in 1/32 - would have been a great help to detail all the Me262s, Fw190s, Do335s and Ta152s!

Are there any news regarding the production and release of this most useful aftermarket set? Thanks in advance

Hello gents, going through pictures of late-war Fw190s I had an inkling that some of these airplanes might feature a fuselage with a complete or partial natural metal finish. I know of course the extensive and excellent works of Jerry Crandall, David E. Brown, Michael Ullmann, the late Eric Larger and many other experts on Luftwaffe camouflage. And I am also aware of the practice from autumn 1944 on to keep the underside of fighter planes natural metal in order to save resources and facilitate the production. But some Fw190 A, F and D seem to have no paint on the fuselage sides and top at all! I would like to start a discussion based on the following pictures (and possible contributions from other board members as well) if the respective fuselages were actually natural metal or maybe a whitish RLM76 or some other color. Based on the assessments there could be a chance that we can at the end of the discussion establish if these Fw190 were simply exceptions or if some small production batches were uniformly manufactured in this finish. https://imgur.com/a/L7smIbX I am looking forward to hear your opinions on this rather peculiar topic! Thanks a lot in advance Best Michael

In my opinion, all the unpainted Duralumin parts in late-war german planes bore these stamps! The only difference was the stamp itself, depending on the producer of the Duralumin. Have a look at MDC's set for Duralumin stamps: http://www.largescaleplanes.com/reviews/Decals/WW2/MDC/32009/mdc-d32009.php For example, the first stamp on the sheet (looking like an eagle) stands for AWS (Aluminium Walzwerke Singen) Maybe you can find further information about German manufacturer codes in that book: http://forum.12oclockhigh.net/showthread.php?t=18602 HTH