Background

Fw 189 B-0/B-1 five seat trainer was a development of the Fw 189 reconnaissance aircraft. Three pre-production Fw 189 B-0 were built and only ten Fw 189 B-1 were produced

Special Hobby’s 1:72 scale Fw 189B-0/B-1 is originally from the moulds of Condor/MPM that first saw the light of day in 2001. Twenty years on the detail in the plastic still looks excellent, with fine recessed panel lines and a delicate touch on the fabric control surfaces. There are alignment pins to aid construction and there’s a little flash here and there.There is a hint of raised areas in the surface coinciding where ejector punches have pushed against the plastic while still soft. They should be very easy to sand out though. The fuselage looks quite sleek with the nose and tail faired over. 

Content includes:

• 3 x Grey plastic sprues
• 1 x Clear plastic sprue
• 2 x Resin parts
• 2 x Decal sheets
• 1 x A5 12 page instruction

The cockpit is a bit sparse though the little detail contained is not bad. There is raised frame work on the cockpit walls and floor. There are some recessed ejector pin marks inside, but they should not be seen with the reduced amount of glazing with this trainer version. The floor has rudder pedals moulded in. Four seats are fitted to the floor, as well as a couple of control wheels, a central console, a box type part on the left and at the rear a bulkhead. There are no harnesses for the seats. The instrument panel has some raised detail and would benefit from some spare decal instrument or aftermarket photo etched parts.

The fuselage is made up from two parts, the glazed areas around the nose and tail are faired over. The two clear plastic parts look good, but the numerous panes of glass will need careful masking or painting if using a brush.

The main wings are made up from five parts and the control surfaces are moulded in situ.

The front of the booms are nicely moulded. Unusually the prop blades are separate, but as each prop is only two bladed, it shouldn’t be too difficult to line up the blades correctly. The distinctive prop bosses look very well moulded. There are a couple of resin fairing for the radiators attached to the front of the booms. They look similar to the plastic versions except the resin ones have radiator detail. The plastic ones have no radiator detail at all. The undercarriage bays on the booms are boxed in with a couple of bulkheads and a roof. There is no detail at all. The inside of the undercarriage doors does have some good detail typical of pressed aluminium.The main undercarriage is made up from five nicely detailed parts including the mud guards. The wheels are two piece, with some fine tread detail. The tail wheel is one piece and the detail is very good. The tail wheel door is separate.

A nice touch on the bridging tail plane is the internal detail for the tail wheel bay. The horizontal stabilisers are butt fitted to the vertical tail.

There are three marking options: one in the standard splinter camouflage of RLM 70/71 with RLM 65 under surface. The other two are grey RLM 02 overall. The two decal sheets are small reflecting the number of markings evident on the marking options. Swastikas are included and each is made up from two parts. Each of the two wing walkways is made up from seven separate decals.

The A5 format twelve-page instructions include full colour painting guide. Three pages feature other products from Special Hobby and CMK. There is also information about alternative CMK resin parts available from Special Hobby. I’m a little confused with the parts map as it suggests there are two sets of resin radiator. The build instructions suggest that only one set is used. Just as well as there is only one set included in the box.There are nine build stages, plenty for a kit with around sixty parts.

 This is a really welcome re-release of a rather sleek version of the Fw 189 from Special Hobby. The reduced amount of glazing might attract folk that have been put off by the myriad of glazing panels on reconnaissance and night fighter versions. Just watch out for the raised ejector pin marks

SH72430 – Focke Wulf Fw 189B-0/B-1 ‘Luftwaffe Trainer’ –1:72 

Our thanks to Special Hobby for this review sample.

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