CharlesMetz

Gene, The definition of "best" here depends upon the kind of information you're looking for, of course, but in addition to the book by George Hopp that John mentioned (which is *very* hard to find these days) I would recommend the following as coming closest to being a "bible" on the '190 family: Rodeike: 'Focke Wulf Jagdflugzeug Fw 190 A, Fw 190 "Dora", Ta 152 H' (privately published [Germany], [undated]; in German; 443 pages) -- AIRCRAFT TYPES INCLUDED: Fw 190A, Fw 190D, Ta 152H; COCKPIT DETAIL: Fw 190 V2 (p. 3), Fw 190A-5 two-seat trainer rear instruments (p. 375), Ta 152 [version?] (p. 423); MISCELLANEOUS DETAIL: Fw 190A [generic] canopy & head armor (p. 47, 66), cowl (p. 71), exhaust pipes (p. 71), flap-angle gauge mechanism (p. 43), ventral drop tank and ETC rack (p. 83); Fw 109 V1 landing gear (p. 10), landing gear door (p. 10); Fw 109 V2 engine mount (p. 3); Fw 190A-0 ventral drop tank and ETC rack (p. 32); Fw 190A-1 canopy (p. 38, 46), head armor [glass] (p. 31), landing gear retraction mechanism (p. 48), wing guns (p. 40); Fw 190A-3 cowl gun bay (p. 109), engine bay (p. 109), external oil-coolr intakes (p. 122, 123); Fw 190A-5 underwing 4-cannon pods [Fw 190A-5/U12] (p. 177-1780); Fw 190A-6 canopy & head armor (p. 217), ventral drop tank and ETC rack (p. 206); Fw 190A-7 cowl gun troughs (p. 236, 241), ventral drop tank and "Erla" rack (p. 201, 202), underwing 21cm rocket tubes (p. 183, 185-194), ventral 21cm rocket tube (p. 194-196), wing guns (p. 237); Fw 190A-8 one-piece steel ventral rack (p. 300), "Sturmjäger" armor (p. 347, 371), "Sturmjäger" MK 108 wing cannon (p. 343, 357); Fw 190A-9 [and late Fw 190A-8] canopy & head armor (p. 271); Fw 190D-9 canopy & head armor (p. 389), engine bay (p. 388, 393), flap interior (p. 392); Fw 190D-11 propeller & spinner (p. 408); Fw 190D-13 supercharger intake (p. 413); Ta 152 [version?] signal-flare device [same as in Me 262?] (p. 418, 419); Ta 152H-1 propeller & spinner (p. 422), supercharger intake (p. 422); GENERIC MARKING PATTERNS: Fw 109A-2, Fw 190A-3, and Fw 190A-5 werknummern position variations (p. 129); SPECIFIC MARKING PROFILES: Fw 109 V2 (p. 424), Fw 190A-1 (p. 424), Fw 190A-2 (p. 424), Fw 190A-3 (p. 425), Fw 190A-4 (p. 425, 426), Fw 190A-5 (p. 426, 427), Fw 190A-6 (p. 427, 428, back cover), Fw 190A-7 (front cover, p. 429, 430), Fw 190A-8 (p. 430, 431), Fw 190D-9 (p. 432, back cover), Fw 190D-11 (front cover, p. 432), Fw 190D-13 (p. 432), Ta 152 [version?] (front cover, p. 433), Ta 152H-1 (back cover); NOTABLE MARKING PHOTOS: Early Fw 190A [version?] with shark-mouth marking (p. 100); both sides of Sigfried Schell's Fw 190A-4, appearing to show JG 1 eagle head on port and rooster head on starboard side of cowl (p. 119) of same aircraft; both sides of Hermann Graf's Fw 190A-5, showing different markings on two sides of rear fuselage (p. 163); Fw 190A-7 with JG 1 black/white cowl stripes (p. 242-245); Fw 190A-7 in all-over light gray camouflage (p. 252); Fw 190A-7 with black/white/black Sturmstaffel I RV band [similar to JG 4's] (p. 334-337); Fw 190A-8[?] in unique high-contrast segmented camouflage with "<<-+-" stab marking (p. 277); Fw 190A-8 with black/yellow JG 5 RV band (p. 325) Other worthwhile volumes include: Laing and Ryle: 'Focke-Wulf Fw 190A/F' (Walk Around series, No. 22; Squadron/Signal [uSA], 2000; 79 pages) -- AIRCRAFT TYPES INCLUDED: Fw 190A-1, Fw 190A-3, Fw 190A-4, Fw 190A-6, Fw 190A-7, Fw 190A-8, Fw 190S-8; COCKPIT DETAIL: Fw 190A-6 (p. 12, 13, 34), Fw 109F-8 (p. 44-47), Fw 109S-8 front (p. 70) & rear (p. 71); WHEELWELL DETAIL: Fw 190A-6 (p. 4, 5, 15-17), Fw 109F-8 (p. 53-56); MISCELLANEOUS DETAIL: generic Fw 190A "flat" canopy (p. 28, 29, 31); Fw 190A-3 cowl vents (p. 7), wheel (p. 16); Fw 190A-4 wheel (p. 16); Fw 190A-6 cowl vents (p. 7), D/F loop (p. 18), engine & engine bay (p. 7-9), landing gear (p. 17), step (p. 10), propeller (p. 6); Fw 190A-8 cowl (p. 24, 25); Fw 190F-8 armored headrest (p. 32), ETC 50 wing bomb rack (p. 59), ETC 501 ventral rack (p. 43), exhausts (p. 42), landing gear (p. 51-53, 57, 58), tail wheel (p. 66, 67), wooden propeller (p. 41); SPECIFIC MARKING PROFILES: Fw 190A-1 (p. 72), Fw 190A-3 (p. 72), Fw 190A-4 (p. 72), Fw 190A-6 (back cover), Fw 190A-7 (front cover), Fw 190A-8 (p. 73, 76, 77), Fw 190F-8 (p. 76, 77) Nohara and Shiwaku: 'Focke-Wulf Fw 190A/F' (Aero Detail series, No. 6; Dai-Nippon Kaiga Co., Ltd. [Japan], 1993; in Japanese and English; 100 pages) -- AIRCRAFT TYPES INCLUDED: Fw 190A-0, Fw 190A-1, Fw 190A-2, Fw 190A-3, Fw 190A-4, Fw 190A-5, Fw 190A-6, Fw 190A-7, Fw 190A-8, Fw 190A-9, 190F-2, 190F-3, Fw 190F-8, Fw 190F-9, Fw 190F-10, Fw 190F-15, Fw 190F-16, Fw 190G-1, Fw 190G-2, Fw 190G-3, Fw 190G-8, Fw 190S-8; COCKPIT DETAIL: Fw 190A-4 (p. 63); Fw 190A-8 (p. 12, 13, 63); Fw 190A-8 nightfighter (p. 70); Fw 190F-8 (p. 63); Fw 190S-8 front & rear cockpits (p. 12-15); WHEELWELL DETAIL: Fw 190A-8 (p. 17, 20, 21, 27, 28); MISCELLANEOUS DETAIL: Fw 190A-3 canopy (p. 62); Fw 190A-8 canopy (p. 10, 62), ETC 501 ventral rack (p. 18, 24, 28, 69), wing cannon shell ejection ports (p. 19), landing gear (p. 29, 59), 30; Fw 190A-8 & Fw 190F-8 cowling (p. 4-9, 60, 61); Fw 190F-8 canopy (p. 11, 62); Fw 190S-8 canopy (p. 11, 12); MULTI-VIEW DRAWINGS: Fw 190A-0 (p. 71), Fw 190A-1 (p. 71), Fw 190A-2 (p. 72), Fw 190A-3 (p. 72-75), Fw 190A-4 (p. 75-77), Fw 190A-5 (p. 78-81), Fw 190A-6 (p. 82, 83), Fw 190A-7 (p. 84, 85), Fw 190A-8 (p. 86-88, 97-100), Fw 190A-9 (p. 89), 190F-2 (p. 90), 190F-3 (p. 90), Fw 190F-8 (p. 90-93), Fw 190F-9 (p. 93), Fw 190F-10 (p. 93), Fw 190F-15 (p. 94), Fw 190F-16 (p. 94), Fw 190G-1 (p. 94), Fw 190G-2 (p. 95), Fw 190G-3 (p. 95), Fw 190G-8 (p. 96), Fw 190S-8 (p. 96); GENERIC CAMOUFLAGE PATTERNS: Fw 190F-8 (p. 46); GENERIC MARKING PATTERNS: Fw 190A-8 & Fw 190F-8 (p. 43-45); SPECIFIC MARKING PROFILES: Fw 190A-3 (p. 47, 49), Fw 190A-4 (p. 50), Fw 190A-5 (p. 50), Fw 190A-6 (p. 48), Fw 190A-8 (p. 47, 48), Fw 190F-8 (p. 47, 50), Fw 190F-9 (p. 48), Fw 190S-8 (p. 48) Nohara and Shiwaku: 'Focke-Wulf Fw 190D' (Aero Detail series, No. 2; Dai-Nippon Kaiga Co., Ltd. [Japan], 1990; in Japanese and English; 76 pages) -- AIRCRAFT TYPES INCLUDED: Fw 190D-9, Fw 190D-13, Fw 190D-15; COCKPIT DETAIL: Fw 190D-9 (p. 58, 59), Fw 190D-13 (p. 14, 16-18); WHEELWELL DETAIL: Fw 190D-9 & Fw 190D-13 (p. 26, , 27, 30, 32-36, 38); MISCELLANEOUS DETAIL: Fw 190D-9 ailerons (p. 31), cowl (p. 4-6, 8, 9, 52-54, 56), drop tank (p. 61), Jumo213A engine (p. 54, 55), exhausts (p. 12), guns (p. 60, 61), landing gear (p. 37, 38), propeller (p. 56), tail (p. 38-42); Fw 190D-13 canopy (p. 13-15), cowl (p. 6-10, 57), Jumo213F engine (p. 43-45), exhausts (p. 10, 11), propeller (p. 56, 57), step (p. 24), tail (p. 39-42); Fw 190D-15 cowl (p. 53, 57), DB603 engine (p. 55), propeller (p. 57); CUTAWAY DRAWINGS: Fw 190D-9 (p. 51); MULTI-VIEW DRAWINGS: Fw 190 V17, Fw 190 V53, Fw 190 V56, Fw 190D-9, Fw 190D-10, Fw 190D-11, Fw 190D-12, Fw 190D-13, Fw 190D-14, Fw 190D-15; GENERIC CAMOUFLAGE PATTERNS: Fw 190D-9 (p. 46-48); GENERIC MARKING PATTERNS: Fw 190D-9 (p. 46-48); SPECIFIC MARKING PROFILES: Fw 190D-9 (p. 49, 50) Ryle and Laing: 'Fw 190D' (Walk Around series, No. 10; Squadron/Signal [uSA], 1996; 80 pages) -- AIRCRAFT TYPES INCLUDED: Fw 190D-9, Fw 190D-11, Fw 190D-13; COCKPIT DETAIL: Fw 190D-9 (p. 15-18), Fw 190D-13 (p. 52-54); WHEELWELL DETAIL: Fw 190D-9 (p. 23, 26-31, 33, 34), Fw 190D-13 (p. 48-51, 64, 65); MISCELLANEOUS DETAIL: Fw 190D-9 cowl (p. 19-22), engine bay (p. 6), fuselage interior (p. 8, 9), gun bays (p. 24, 25), propeller (p. 67), step (p. 38), tail (p. 13, 14), tailwheel (p. 15), turbocharger intake (p. 19-21); Fw 190D-13 cowl (p. 59, 64), cowl flaps (p. 59), engine bay (p. 60, 61), propeller (p. 67), tail (p. 40, 41), tailwheel (p. 58), turbocharger intake (p. 56); GENERIC CAMOUFLAGE PATTERNS: Fw 190D-9 & Fw 190D-13 (p. 68); GENERIC MARKING PATTERNS: Fw 190D-9 & Fw 190D-13 (p. 68); SPECIFIC MARKING PROFILES: Fw 190D-9 (front cover, p. 69, 72, 73, 76, 77, 80, back cover), Fw 190D-11 (p. 73, 80), Fw 190D-13 (p. 76) and: ------: 'Focke-Wulf Fw 190A/F/G' (Model Art Special Issue series, No. 316; Model Art [Japan], 1988; in Japanese; 178 pages) -- AIRCRAFT TYPES INCLUDED: Fw 190A, Fw 190F, Fw 190S; Ju 88G-10 in Mistel combination; COCKPIT DETAIL: Fw 190A-3 (p. 109, 111, 120), Fw 190A-4 (p. 110, 111), Fw 190A-8 (p. 95, 96, 108, 109, 125), Fw 190F-8 (p. 111, 130); WHEELWELL DETAIL: Fw 190A (p. 98, 138, 144); MISCELLANEOUS DETAIL: Fw 190A, including engine (p. 102-105), landing gear (p. 112, 114), difference between Fw 109A-7 & Fw 109A-8 centerline racks (p. 126); MULTI-VIEW DRAWINGS: Fw 190A; GENERIC MARKING PATTERNS: Fw 190A & Fw 190F (p. 160-162); SPECIFIC MARKING PROFILES: Fw 190A-3 (p. 5, 7, 8), Fw 190A-4 (p. 4, 6, 164), Fw 190A-5 (p. 10, 157-159, 164), Fw 190A-6 (p. 9, 11, 167), Fw 190A-8 (p. 11-15, 167), Fw 190F-2 (p. 170), Fw 190F-8 (p. 16, 170), Fw 190F-9 (p. 17), Fw 190S-5 (p. 170), Fw 190S-8 (p. 17), Mistel [Fw 190F-8, Ju 88G-10] (p. 18); COMMENT(s): Includes 8 paint chips of RLM colors (p. 147) Charles Metz

Martin, At the risk of seeming grouchy or overly negative, I feel obliged to say that Combat and Roberts are the *only* companies whose products I've thrown away as soon as they arrived in the mail (before I learned not to order any more, that is). The various Combat kits range from primitive to rubbish, whereas everything I've ever seen from Roberts was terriblly crude. In my opinion, anyone who has the skill to make something decent out of Combat or Roberts products would -- in most cases, at least -- find scratchbuilding easier and more effective. Charles Metz

Pauldoe, Jerry Rutman's on-line catalog now includes a D-13 conversion set for Hasegawa's new-tool D-9 kit. Scroll down to the '190 D-9 section at http://jrutman.playnet.com/catalogue/catalogue.html Charles Metz

Jay, CAM, Cutting Edge and MDC also produce decals for the 1/32 Hasegawa '109 G-6 kit: -- 'Messerschmitt Bf 109G-6: Luftwaffe / Hungarian Air Force'; 1/32 scale; manufactured by CAM (Custon Aeronautical Miniatures) [uSA] — product no. 32-141; MEDIUM/MEDIA: decal; MARKINGS: Bf 109G-6 "Yellow 280" of unknown Luftwaffe training unit; Laszlo Molnar's Bf 109G-6 "Black 66" of Hungarian Air Force, Kharkow, 1944 -- 'Messerschmitt Bf 109G-6: Luftwaffe / Regia Aeronautica'; 1/32 scale; manufactured by CAM (Custon Aeronautical Miniatures) [uSA] — product no. 32-142; MEDIUM/MEDIA: decal; MARKINGS: Horst Carganico's Bf 109G-6 "Mickey Mouse" of II./JG 5, Finland, 1943-1944; Bf 109G-6 "White 365 of 356a Squadreglia, 150 Gruppo, Regia Aeronautica, Sciacca, June 1943 -- 'Bf 109G-6 Gustav Aces, Part 1'; 1/32 scale; manufactured by Cutting Edge [uSA] — product no. CED32025; MEDIUM/MEDIA: decal; MARKINGS: Emil Clade's Bf 109G-6 "White 9" of 7./JG 27; Franz Götz's Bf 109G-6 "<<+|" of III./JG 52 -- 'Bf 109G-6 Gustav Aces, Part 2'; 1/32 scale; manufactured by Cutting Edge [uSA] — product no. CED32026; MEDIUM/MEDIA: decal; MARKINGS: Walther Dahl's Bf 109G-6 "<<+|" of III./JG 3; Ludwig Fransisket's Bf 109G-6 "Black <(triangle)" of I./JG 27; Wilhelm Mink's Bf 109G-6 "White 12" of 4./JG 51 -- 'Bf 109G-6 Gustav Aces, Part 3'; 1/32 scale; manufactured by Cutting Edge [uSA] — product no. CED32027; MEDIUM/MEDIA: decal; MARKINGS: Gerhard barkorn's Bf 109G-5 "<<5" of Stab II./JG 52; Helmut Lipfert's Bf 109G-6 "Yellow 1" of 6./JG 52; Alfred Hammer's Bf 109G-6 "Yellow 1" of 6./JG 52 -- 'Bf 109G-6 Foreign Gustavs, Part 2'; 1/32 scale; manufactured by Cutting Edge [uSA] — product no. CED32029; MEDIUM/MEDIA: decal; MARKINGS: Bf 109G-6 "Yellow 10" of 1a Squadron, ANR; Bf 109G-6 "V8+65" of 101/2 Puma Squadron, Royal Hungarian Air Force; Bf 109G-6 "V8+06" of 101/3 Puma Squadron, Royal Hungarian Air Force -- 'Bf 109F/G Colorful Messerschmitts, Part 2'; 1/32 scale; manufactured by Cutting Edge [uSA] — product no. CED32031; MEDIUM/MEDIA: decal; MARKINGS: Bf 109F-4/B "Yellow 1+<—" of 10(Jabo)./JG2; Bf 109F-4 "White 1" of 7./JG 54; Bf 109G-6 "<(triangle)" of II./JG 51 -- 'Bf 109 Friedrichs and Gustavs'; 1/32 scale; manufactured by Cutting Edge [uSA] — product no. CED32032; MEDIUM/MEDIA: decal; MARKINGS: Bf 109F-4/Trop "Black 8" of 1./JG 3; Bf 109F-4/B "White 11" of 10(Jabo)./JG 26; Bf 109F-4/B "White 3" of 10(Jabo)./JG 53; Bf 109G-6 "White 10" of 7./JG 3 -- 'Messerschmitt Me 109G6 Ilmavoimat 1944'; 1/32 scale; manufactured by Model Design Construction [uK] — product no. D32001; MEDIUM/MEDIA: decal; MARKINGS: Full markings (including stencil markings) for 6 Finnish Air Force aircraft: Bf 109G-6 "Yellow 9" (MT-437) of 3/HLeLv 24, July 1944; Bf 109G-6 "White 11" (MT-453) of 1/HLeLv 34, July 1944; Bf 109G6 "Yellow 7" (MT-458) of 3/HLeLv 24, July 1948; Bf 109G-6 "White 9" (MT-459) of 1/HLeLv 34, July 1944; Bf 109G-6 "Yellow 8" (MT-460) of 3/HLeLv 24, July 1944; Bf 109G-6 "Yellow 5" (MT-485) of HLeLv 30, July 1944 Charles Metz

(The following is reposted here for those who missed it on Hyperscale) Steve, According to my database, Seafire 47 drawings can be found on the supplement pages bound into 'Supermarine Seafire: Griffon-engined variants,' by Bussy (Warpaint series, No. 20; Hall Park Books [uK], 1999), and on the 8-page foldout after page 176 in 'The Supermarine Spitfire — Part 2: Griffon-Powered,' by Humphreys (Modeller's Datafile series, No. 5; SAM Publications [uK], 2001). Brown's "Seafire" doesn't include *any* drawings, if I recall correctly. Charles Metz

Jeff, See http://www.largescaleplanes.com/Marketplac...ce/Mosquito.htm The Paragon F.VI and FB.XVIII conversions listed there included fighter cockpits, whereas Marine Air Products' cockpit set was for the B.IV bomber version represented by Revell's kit. Unfortunately, Paragon has ceased production and Marine Air Products is out of business. Charles Metz

Denie, Thunderbolt wheels and tires were essentially the same size as those on Corsairs and Hellcats, though the hub patterns were different. One way around the latter problem is to model a particular P-47 that used flat "hubcaps," which can be cut from thin sheet plastic and added to a spare set of 1/32 Corsair or Hellcat wheels. However, as Maverick mentioned, another approach is to purchase a set of Jerry Rutman's excellent resin P-47 wheels and tires, which come in six-spoked, eight-spoked and "hubcapped" form. You can obtain these directly from Jerry, who lists them near the bottom of the web page at http://www.jrutman.freeola.com/page3.htm Charles Metz

D, I agree that Olfa's Circle Cutter is the best tool for cutting circular masks. Placing a blade in a cheap compass, as Chris recommended, leads to many headaches, because the compass's flexibility doesn't ensure that the blade will return to exactly the same point as that at which you began cutting the circle. Even expensive draftsman's compasses suffer from this problem. Trust me; I know ... Charles Metz

Rato, A few F3F detail references are listed below. The 'In Action' includes multi-view drawings, but I don't know whether they're accurate. Charles Metz ############# Alles-Fernandez: 'Classics of the Air' (Exeter Books [uSA], 1988; 256 pages; approximate value US$17 [out of print]) # F3F-3 cutaway drawing (p. 160, 161) Dann: 'Grumman Biplane Fighters in Action' (Aircraft in Action series, No. 160; Squadron/Signal [uSA], 1996; 49 pages; US$9.95) # F3F [version?] cowl gun bay (p. 39); F3F-2 cockpit detail (p. 39) Muth: 'Cockpits - Early WWII' (Cockpits series, No. 1; Peregrine Publishing [uSA], 2001; 11 pages; US$9.95) # F3F-2 cockpit detail (p. 5) Treadwell: 'Ironworks: A History of Grumman's Fighting Aeroplanes' (Motorbooks International [uSA], 1990; 192 pages; approximate value US$30 [out of print]) # F3F-3 cutaway drawing (p. 32, 33)