Focke-Wulf Fw 190A (oz14415)

About this Plan

Focke-Wulf Fw 190A. Radio control scale model WWII fighter, for electric power with Speed 600 motor. Wingspan 48 in, wing area 2.70 sq ft.

Direct submission to Outerzone.

Note there is an old Ezone review of this kit from June 2000 (by Wayne Hadkins) still available online at: http://web.archive.org/web/20020208140012/www.ezonemag.com/artic...

Quote: "Reviews: The Balsacraft FW-190. Author: Wayne Hadkins.

The FW190A is manufactured by Balsacraft, the kit manufacturing arm of the English company, Ripmax. Tower Hobbies sells this kit in the USA, and provided this one for review. To me, the great thing about this kit is that it is one of a series of kits designed primarily for electric flight but offered with the parts for a conversion to IC propulsion for the noisy oily members of our fraternity.

When Steve Horney offered me the review of this kit, I quite literally jumped at the opportunity. It is some years since I did a kit review, and I have the perception, at least in my part of the world, that kit prices have slowly risen but the 'quality'/value for money has not necessarily risen in conjunction. To get what I believe is a reasonable quality kit requires the handing over of a significant cash investment. I liked the look of these kits from the first time I saw them advertised.

Since this is a kit review, I decided at the outset to follow the instructions!! I tend to 'customize' my aeroplanes with a little mod here and a little mod there. However, even I had no major difficulties following the instructions with this one! The instructions are clear and precise, the parts fit together very well, the wood is consistent and of a good quality, and the assembly sequence is logical. The simple fact is, the standard of kits in general has increased across the board the last few years (better manufacturing techniques that are becoming cheaper – CAD, CNC cutting, etc) and the Balsacraft line of kits are testimony to this fact. I only encountered a few minor problems, but I’ll go into those in more detail later.

If you are like the majority of aeromodellers, you are a flyer, not a builder! So, first and foremost, how does the Balsacraft FW190 look and fly? The simple answer to these two basic questions is the same – GREAT! – MY humble opinion of course, but then isn’t that what this review is!?!

Flying: I want to talk about the flying before I get into the 'how I stuck part A to part B' routine, because this is what I believe the Balsa Craft range of kits is all about. If the others fly as well as the FW190, then they are on to a winner. Add to that the excellent appearance of these aeroplanes and you have a great combination. I must admit right here and now, this aeroplane flies much better than I expected – the performance is great on a humble 8.4 volt Speed 600 on 8 cells.

The finishing took longer than I expected (painting in wet humid conditions never works out) and I really wanted to get this butcher bird into the air. Having finished putting the radio gear into it late one Saturday evening and really wanting to fly it, I was driven by the desire (imperative) of meeting my deadline, so I threw caution to the windless conditions, and fly it I did. Flying a camouflaged aeroplane at dusk against a dark background is not the brightest thing I’ve ever done, but for the good of you readers and this review, I tried!?! Fortunately, the Kit Review Gods smiled on me and I got away with it. But Wow, – what a rocket!!

The FW190 doesn’t have an undercarriage, so you are expected to hand launch it – to facilitate this exercise, there are two small cutouts provided in the underside of the wing on the C of G. Having experienced considerable success with bungee launching my Kyosho T33, I decided that this was the way to go with the FW190. However, how to achieve this? The solution proved to be very simple. I created a removable dummy drop tank with a mono wheel hidden inside and a small peg on the front to attach the bungee [pic 007]. This proved to be so simple and effective that I strongly recommend this modification (enhancement?) to you.

The FW190 is NOT an aeroplane for the inexperienced flyer. It is not difficult to fly, but it does use up sky quickly and should be flown with authority. Spend some time building it straight and then finishing it and you’ll be rewarded with a model that looks superb in the air.

Contents: OK – I have hopefully convinced you already that I like this aeroplane. If you race out and buy it, what do you get when you lift the lid. There are no real surprises here - You are greeted with a box of CNC routed parts, well selected and graded timber, rolled plans, ABS moldings and two sets of instructions. Remember I said earlier that the FW190 was designed primarily for electric propulsion systems, but it that it could be converted/built with IC power – that’s what the 2nd set of instructions and parts are for.

Construction: You should read the instructions and identify all parts and label them before you start pushing them out of the milled sheets. There are some really small bits that you do need later – as I labeled the parts, I sanded the 'pips' off them and then placed them in plastic sandwich bags – one for the wing parts and one for the fuselage parts. Take your time at this stage and the construction will go more smoothly later.

Fuselage: The construction of the FW190 is facilitated by the excellent design of the structure. The basic fuselage is built up from interlocking parts to form a crutch that is then added to the fuselage sides. The sides are then joined at the tail and the remaining bits inserted. Add the tail feathers and ABS cowl, canopy and blisters and you basically have a finished fuselage. Sounds simple enough – where is the catch? Take your time and there will not be any catches.

The first minor problem I encountered was that the milled parts, once they were removed from their carrier sheets, were very prone to warping in our Australian summer conditions.

The second minor problem was at the rear of the fuselage. The piece of balsa provided for the stern post on each fuselage side was too short by about 5mm. No problem – just cut another from the scrap sheet that the fuselage sides came out of. Generally the wood selection for the fuselage was excellent. However, the 2.5mm (?) precut sheeting used on the front of the fuselage contained one or two very hard pieces that even when wet, cracked as they were bent around the fuselage behind the nose.

The choice of cockpit detail is up to you. The pilot is molded in two ABS halves that when sanded and fitted together, had a few small gaps where the halves didn’t fit together properly. I cut a hole in the bottom of the pilot bust and then glued small pieces of scrap ABS over the gaps from the inside, then filled and sanded from the outside – no more holes. Make sure you get your pilot in the correct location. My pilot, Willie von Fliesgood, must have had long legs, because he ended up sitting too far back in the cockpit such that his head just touched the canopy..."

Update 30/1/2024: Added kit instructions in English and German, also IC conversion notes, thanks to Thom.

Update 21/2/2025: Added kit review from AMI June 1999, thanks to RFJ.

Quote: "Balsacraft's Focke-Wulf 190A for electric power or .15 - .20 glow, reviewed back-to-back by our Ken Swailes.

Previous designs in this series that have crossed my path were the Bearcat (oz14543) and the Sea Fury (oz13711) which though designed for electric flight, I converted to 2-stroke power, after that irrepressible teenager-pensioner David Boddington re-designed the nose area accordingly. Both aircraft were super fliers, so when the opportunity arose to review the Focke-Wulf, we decided to do two of them, one electric and one IC for direct comparison. The difference now is that Balsacraft have done all the necessary work, and provided all the parts, for whatever type of power you choose.

The kit is a truly complete package with good design, spot-on production and with the - if its worth doing it's worth doing right - approach.

Accurately router-cut liteply sheets by the handful, a clear plan and great instruction manual smoothes the building process no end, and for the IC fliers there are three additional liteply sheets and a separate manual and drawings to show how its done. Wood selection is just right, the pilot and canopy, snakes and horns and so on are all provided, and all are quality items.

When Boddo says this is nice, I wish I'd designed it, you know its not too far off the mark!

The build: I'm not going to insult the designer by going over his instructions again, so just the odd pointer here and there. The electric jobbie went together exactly like the man says, with no mods or deviations, and balanced right on the spot without ballast.

On the other hand, the IC versions needs a little care. The full size Focke Wulf, like all WWII fighters, had a whacking great motor up at the sharp end, and was naturally short nosed. The electric model has a heavy motor and battery, both in front of the CG, so it balances rught. The IC version though needs all the hardware as far forward as you can get it, plus some lead at the front as well..."

Supplementary file notes

Instructions (English and German).
Instructions, IC conversion.
Review.

Corrections?

Did we get something wrong with these details about this plan (especially the datafile)? That happens sometimes. You can help us fix it.
Add a correction