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Hasegawa’s Fw190 D-9 has been
reissued quite a few times in the past, with different decal options. This new
limited release of Hasegawa’s Dora is in Jagdgeschwader 4 (JG 4) boxing and
markings.
The kit tooling hasn’t been
modified and is still the same, as per its pervious issues. Most modelers should
know the history of the kit from past reviews that are found on the Internet. If
you are familiar with the kit skip the next paragraph... If you aren’t, keep
on reading! I will give you a quick run down on it.
Click on
images below to see larger images
Hasegawa’s Dora is molded in 104 gray and
7 clear pieces of plastic. The kit its self is nicely detailed and very
accurate, I believe that Jerry Crandall of Eagle Editions has given the
big thumbs up when it was first tooling was released. If you don’t know
who Jerry is… He is the King Rivet counter and know-it-all on Dora’s
and mostly anything to do with the Luftwaffe. The kit offers the two
different styles of canopies that are found on D-9’s. The tail section
is molded separate from the fuselage as it gives late style Ta 152
tail option for later releases. Also included are parts
for the rear section of the engine that is visible through the open wheel
wells. This looks very realistic on the completed model. There are only a
couple parts that require some minor attention, the main one is the gun
cowl. The bulge on the upper gun cover cowling has a bit too much
“cleavage”. This can be corrected with some time and effort or an
aftermarket replacement can correct it. The cockpit detail is a bit basic
compared to the rest of the detail in the kit and there are some great
aftermarket resin cockpits that are on offer. The flaps positioning tabs
have been molded nearly to a 90-degree angle, which is incorrect, it
should be around the 45-degree angle for the correct dropped position.
Hasegawa is well known to
reissue past kits with new decal options, in the past they have release 5
different decal/boxing versions of the D-9 tooling. This latest release is of
JG4 boxing offers 3 schemes, two for JG 4 -
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"Black Chevron with
Bar” Stab/JG4, Germany, March 1945
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“Black 11” JG4,
Germany, 1945
and one for JG 301 –
The colour registers of the
decals are nicely done, with the white areas being white and not a creamy white,
like on some of Hasegawa’s pervious releases. The only down side is the
carrier film on the decals is a bit excessive and will require some trimming.
Overall, Hasegawa’s tooling
of the Fw190 D-9 is nicely engineered and is still the best on the market to
date. Hasegawa offers a great starting canvas with this kit The end results can
be outstanding whether you choose to improve it and add aftermarket items or
not.
I would like to thank Hobby
Link Japan for providing this kit for this product review and is
currently available from HLJ.
Dave Johnson
Click on
images below to see larger images
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