Trumpeter 1/24th Scale Fw 190 D-9
Out of the Box Review
by Jerry Crandall
After reading all the discussion on the internet about the new Trumpeter 1/24th scale D-9, my curiosity was tweaked so I decided to see for myself what all the furor was about. Since I am in the middle of my new large book about the Dora aircraft, this is an opportune time to take a look at this new and exciting kit release. With all my photos, drawings, parts and documents in hand, I opened the box and proceeded to take a close look at the accuracy of the kit.
The drawings used as reference are primarily drawings I had produced from the D-13 when it was in Santa Barbara California, then owned by my friend Dave Kyte. At least once a month I would travel to his hangar and we would take detailed measurements of the airframe. In the 1970s, Tom Seay had an opportunity to measure and photograph the Fw 190 D-9 in the Air Force Museum collection, which he used as the basis for his accurate drawings. He had previously proven himself to the Smithsonian Institute by producing extremely precise drawings of their Bf 109 G-6. Mr. Koichiro Abe also produced a series of highly accurate drawings of the Dora series aircraft that match almost exactly to Tom Seay’s drawings.
This is not a build up review but simply a close look at most of the parts. Above all I’m not trying to bash Trumpeter, I am thankful they are producing these kits for us, and like most all modelers would encourage them to do more. But this kit does have some serious problems.
Based on all the information gathered, I have concluded the following about the kit.
* Fuselage outline is okay, except the tip of the fin should not have such a gradual radius but should be slightly sharper. Overall the fuselage is 3/16” short, front to back. The rear fuselage between the wing root and the fuselage extension plug is where the dimension is off. There is some controversy over the exact length of the Dora 9’s published dimensions, but Tom Seay’s dimensions and my dimensions were taken from the real aircraft and not from published figures.
* Wing span and shape is okay but is 1/8” narrow in the cord at the wing root. Unfortunately the panel lines front to back are curved and they should be straight.
* The main problem with the whole kit is the engine cowling from the firewall forward. The kit cowling is curved, which cannot be because the cowling hinges would never open. On the real airplane the four hinges are straight lines and the top view of the cowling has flat sides, not curved like the kit. This has a negative effect also on the engine exhaust panel which is curved in the kit, but in reality is straight. Another side effect is it causes the gun trough edges on the kit to be curved, whereas in reality they are straight lines. It is not a matter of just sanding them off and re-scribing them because the kit cowling is curved. You cannot make a straight line on a curved surface. Also the hinges should not be “piano style” hinges as the real Dora has a rod and tube style hinge. The forward end of the engine cowling where it meets the radiator cowling curves inward which is not represented in the kit.
Above: The straight edge illustrates the hinge as it has to be a straight line in order for the cowling to open. In this view can be seen the hinge is not a piano hinge but rather a rod and tube style.
Left: The D-13 cowling, even though it is bulged in the cross section still has to have straight hinge lines to open.
This photo of the D-13 under restoration shows how straight the cowling hinges are.
* The radiator cowling has a nice shape with the proper airfoil and compares with the measurements taken from the D-13. The open cowl flaps in the kit are not accurate as the actual cowl flaps have a double thickness half way up the flap. Missing too, is the mechanism that operate the flaps from the rear.
* Both canopies have problems. The one canopy that is supposed to be the early flat type, 8-190.122 is too curved at the top and the hinge detail that allows the canopy to spread when closed, is missing. The brace for the flat canopy should be slotted. The blown canopy which is the type 8-190.1025 is okay but the attachment point or pulley at the top of the canopy needs to be clipped off. The metal fairing for the pilot’s armor is not even close to being accurate.
* The windscreen is slightly too vertical, and does not have the 63 degree angle it should. As a result, it makes the canopy angles incorrect. This is probably not a big problem for most modelers.
* The interior is rudimentary and will be acceptable to many modelers. The seat shape is good but the details on the bottom pan are not quite right.
* The landing gear doors are useless as they are. The overall shape is fairly good, but of course the interior paneling is not even close.
* The tail wheel diameter is correct for the late style smooth tire, but has no wheel detail at all and needs to be replaced.
* The main wheels are about the right diameter but the cross section should be round and the tire tread is not accurate. The tread in the kit is simply a deep groove into the plastic tire. The wheels, especially the back portion, are not very good.
* The horizontal stabilizer shape is okay but the corners of the elevators need rounding off.
* My favorite area that all 190 kits miss is the gun cowling. They all have a look as if they had a silicone implant and those on this kit are the worst! They are way too bulbous and have a curve front to back. One of the cowlings has panel lines to represent and early five piece cowling but the other one has no panel lines at all, which of course needs two panel lines running front to back.
* The spinner looks pretty good, especially the rivet detail on the panel line.
* The prop leading edge needs more of a curve but the kit part may be acceptable to many modelers.
* The main landing gear from the bottom of the wing to the bottom of the main strut, before the oleo, is 1/16” too short. Although the result of how the model sits has to be determined when it is built.
* The pilot’s footstep is too thick and too short.
* Decals – the quality looks good, but there is a substantial amount of stenciling missing. The “Yellow 11” of II./JG 2 is a real aircraft and documented in photos; however the number 11 is not quite stocky enough. The “Black 12” is totally speculative. There are no known photos of this aircraft. Yes, the loss records show “Black 12” of KG(J) 27 W. Nr. 500658 crashed on 1 April 1945, but did it have green and white checkerboard bands? Did it have a Ta 152 tail as it was close to two sister aircraft that did have Ta 152 tails? What were the top camouflage colors? Normally on aircraft with checkerboard bands, they alternate at the top of the spine, these do not. Why did they choose these markings?
My first reaction was to ignore this kit with regard to aftermarket decals and resin parts, but the overall molding and quality of the kit is excellent. So, it does have possibilities.
The purpose of this write up is primarily because I want to be able to build an accurate 1/24th scale D-9 for my collection. For this reason, we at Eagle Editions, have decided to produce corrective parts and decals. Resin parts are not my personal favorite, but in some cases are a necessary evil. Others may not want to invest the time and the money to accurize their kit, they may feel it is good enough as it is, and that is fine. But, I can’t live with building it out of the box because the errors are just too glaring for me to be happy. Producing these resin parts will probably not be a financial success as the market may not be very big, but it is a personal challenge for me to accurize the kit. As we develop the Dora resins and decals we will post progress to our site.