There is a certain
charm in buying a very affordable kit that we know will need a certain degree of
effort in "getting there". No pressure regarding the cost of the kit,
a little bit of "artistic license" here and there and, being this a
Luft 46 project, well... probably nobody will argue about anything. That's the
case with this little model from a manufacturer that cranked out some appealing
subjects: The Horten flying wing, the DFS glider -forerunner of the Me 163- and
this FW TA 183. They also produce other subjects that are better left...for
another one to write about them or even build them.
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The kit is very
simple, no etched or resin parts, no vacuformed canopies. It has recessed panel
lines and a low number of parts. The fit is not bad. Or good. The plastic is
hard but very comfortable to work with, feels heavy and has a slightly grainy
surface. The fuselage sides will need to be convinced to get in terms with each
other, which they will resist with remarkable stoicism. The transparency was
passable and its fit was not the best.
I started by throwing the cockpit
parts into the spares bin, and producing a credible replacement with parts
coming from several donors. I clipped the "onion" off the backing
piece that represents the rear end of the engine to facilitate sanding and
painting; and I drilled out the first "former", in order to provide
visual continuity to the intake. I glued a piece of aluminum tube to the back of
the intake, crimped it to close the other end and painted the interior black, to
accentuate the depth. I drilled out the "cannons" openings and
fabricated some missing linkage for the main landing gears. I Also added a
couple of ribs to the gear bays and glued another roof on the front wheel bay,
to hide the joint that runs there. For those landing gear linkages I often use
plastic-covered metal paper clips. I just cut a piece and peel off some of the
plastic to expose a length of the "oleo strut", which is already metal
and doesn't need paint. Airbrushed acrylics were used for a totally far fetched
scheme. All the extra work done, although not totally well executed or accurate,
provides with a sense of busyness that makes the model a little bit more
appealing. The kit decals deserve comments that are better left off this
website, that might be visited by children or lady-modelers. I just merrily used
spurious decals from the spares bin. Pitot tube and a couple of other details
were added later.
Gabriel
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images below to see larger images
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