1/72 PM Focke Wulf TA 183

by Gabriel Stern

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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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Photos and text © by Gabriel Stern