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Nocturnal Fw 190

Following the introduction of Window by the British during the bombing of Hamburg (June 1943) and the consequent disruption to the Himmelbett interception system the German's set about changing how they organized their night time defences.One of the changes was the use of single seat fighter in the Wilde Sau role.To find out about these fighter units and the tactics which they used to make their interceptions see Wilde Sau. One of the first Luftwaffe units involved was JG 300, others would soon follow. In addition the Germans experimented with different radar fits for single seat fighters aircraft and these were used operationally (NJG10).

Subject	Focke Wulf Fw 190 A6 and A8
Scale	1:72
Sort of build	Straight out of the box with slight modifcations.
Specific aircraft	White 9 and 14 1/NJG 10, Black 8 2/NJG10, Red 19 5/JG300, Green 3 Stab JG 300, Red 10 II / JG 300.
Kit	Hasegawa Fw190 A6 (Kit Nr. AP131), AcademyFw190 A6/8 (Kit Nr. 2120) and Revel Fw190 A8/R11( Kit Nr. 04118-0389).
Remarks	Tally Ho decals 72012 and 72007, Aeromaster 72-139

Fw 190 A8 Red 10 II/JG 300	Fw 190 A6 Black 8 2./NJG10	Fw 190 A6 Green 6 Stab/JG 300
I discovered a profiel on JG 300 of this aircraft. The dense motteling on the fuselage was reason enough for me to model this subject. The photos available are form a period post- dating the use of JG 300 in a nightfigher role. The kit is Revell with canopy from an Academy kit and the numers from Tally Ho 72007.	This is a A6 featuring the J3 Neptun Radar. These are easliy identifeid by the presence of a whole series of whip aerial on the fuselage, wings and under surfaces. Complete with the unusual application of the standaard camouflage colours this makes for an eye catcher. Kit is Hasegawa with modifications.	This A6 was the mount of Karl Muller, a Wilde Sau ace (30). The absence of radar on this aircarft was proof of the basic soundness of the Wild Sau tactic.The subdued mottling onderline the sleek lines of the aircarft. The kit is Academy and the decals are from Tally Ho 72012
Fw190 A8 White 9 and 14, 1/NJG 10	Fw190 A6 Black 5,Fictious	Fw190 A8 Red 19 , 5/NJG 300
This is a pair of Fw190 A8 based on the Revell kit. In reference Nr. 4 there is a photo of White 9 with White 14 clearly visible in the background.Though the kit is of A8 some commenators have calimed these Werneuchen based 190's were actually A6's.	This was one of my first attempts at single seat nightfighter using the Academy A6/ A8 kit incluiding the decals. At the time I wasn't aware that not all the difference between A6 en A8 are dealt with in the instuctions. This model is probaly eight years old at this stage.	A rather famous JG 300 a/c flown by UnterOffizier Ernst Schroder November1944 Germany. At this stage JG300 were heavily involved in carrying out daylight Stürmjager attacks on American bombers. Revell kit and Aeromaster decls.

General comments : Given that the period of interest begins around June 1943 the versions of the Fw 190 one is interested in are the A6, A7 and A8. Some of the kits available are marketed as allowing one to make one or more than a single sub variant of the Fw190. This is generally true but the modeller needs to be aware of the changes necessary to accurately model the differences. Of the three types the first and last were the most numerous, as there were only 80 A7 produced (Squadron signal p.34).The big differences between A6 and the A8 is the location of the pitot tube, the style of MG cowl covers and the absence of the MG 151 coverplates on the wings of the A6. Additional detail differences include panel line detail pertaining to access hatches on port and starboard fuselages sides and on the ventral surfaces. Squadron Signal publications clearly show these differences.

References:

Squadron Signals In Action series Number 170, B. Filley.
German Aircraft Interiors Vol 1., Merrick .
German Fighters in WWII: The Night Fighters, a Photographic History 1940-1945, Held/Nauroth.
Luftwaffe at War,Nightfighters over the Reich,M. Griehl.
Focke-Wulf Fw190 Aces of the Westeren Front, J. Weal.
Luftwaffe Airfield Equipment Dressel and Grieh