[Serpiko]

I had two "short nosed" FW190 kits in my pile, an Academy A6/A8 one and a Revell F8/A8 one. So I thought: let's build them both and see which one is better!

Now that the job is finished I can tell that, IMO, there is a "winner", but it isn't flawless, while the "loser" is not too bad anyway.


IN THE BOX

When you open the boxes, you already realize that each kit has its own good and bad points.

REVELL: this one is an original Revell release, as stated by a printed logo inside the fuselage. Engraved panels and detailed parts are finely molded, but some flash and huge injection pins are present, requiring a careful job when separating tiny pieces. Some of them are very fragile: in my box, the engine cooling fan was damaged.
The canopy frame is molded on fuselage halves so, unless you want to practice some surgery work, you'll be forced to build the canopy closed. Transparent sprues provide one "flat" and one "blown" canopy, however, the only included headrest is the kind for the flat canopy.
Optional external loads have to be assembled separately: either a single centerline bomb (apparently SC500) or the BV246 "Hagelkorn" glide bomb. This one requires a dedicated rack and extra struts under the wings, so you may have to drill a few holes.
Decals sheet looks pretty good, with a lot of stenciling and markings for either a "White 11" F8 (in an unusual mediterranean scheme, sand with green mottling) and an unmarked A8 (supposedly a test plane for the BV246).
Instructions are quite clear, apart from a few slightly inaccurate points (i.e. they tell you to add outer wing cannons also on the F8 version - that's clearly wrong).

ACADEMY: no flash at all here, good! Engraved lines are a little heavier, but not excessive. Small pieces here appear to be somewhat thicker: this way they are less fragile but, on the other hand, they may look oversized (the centerline rack is actually too big).
In this kit, each of the two canopies (flat/blown) is one-piece with its frame, and there are two alternative headrests. Since there is an A6 option, there are also two alternative nose MG cowlings (thinner for 7.92mm and bulkier for 13mm).
The choice of external loads includes a bomb (SC500 again), a fuel tank (which looks more like a BF109 one) and a pair of underwing dual MG151 gun packs (these are really basic, actually).
Decals sheet looks a bit poor: only one option, "black 5" with JG26 "green hearts" insignas, and very few maintenance markings.
Instructions are generally OK, but they provide weird painting references that are inaccurate for the plane portrayed by the decals (yellow engine ring cowling?!).


BUILDING

These two kits build up mostly the same (easy) way. Once the cockpit is assembled, it must be enclosed between the two fuselage halves; then you need to glue the upper side of wings onto the single piece that incorporates both lower sides. You can then join fuselage and wings, glue tailplans and MG cowling, and add ventral racks-gear-antennas-loadouts. The engine-propeller block can be built at anytime and later fixed onto the nose.
Noticeably, in both kits, overall fitting is very good and little or no filler is required.
Now let's get to the point, and focus on what's different between the two "opponents"!

I've taken side-by-side photos of both models at the same "in progress" stage, to let you compare their overall look when they're still "naked".








COCKPIT: well, here we have a sort of paradox. As you can see in the pics, while Academy kit allows for an open canopy, cockpit internals are poor and, frankly, not worth showing, so you'll probably choose to build the canopy closed.
Revell, instead, offers a beautifully detailed cockpit, including a great decal for the gauges panel... but, when the model is finished, you won't be able to see it! In fact, not only is the canopy frame fixed in closed position, but also "glass" parts are somewhat opaque, thus hiding most of the internal details. What a pity!

GEAR: Revell kit allows you to choose between extended or retracted gear. There's an extended tailwheel molded with the fuselage, but it can be easily removed and replaced with the provided "half" (retracted) tailwheel. Plus, main gear bays are quite deep, so gear legs and wheels should fit inside them without too much hassle. Be aware that some gear parts are very fragile!
Academy kit, instead, is intended to be built wheels down. Only an extended tailwheel is provided, and gear bays have much less depth, so fitting a retracted gear will require some extra work.

RACKS, ANTENNAS ETC.: as I said before, such details are finer in Revell kit, but also more fragile and prone to damages when removing from the sprues. On the other hand, in the Academy kit they are thicker and sturdier, but also oversized (bomb rack is almost the double than in Revell kit).
Revell kit provides as separate pieces the two protruding panels that must be on the wings, where there are outer guns. Academy kit has them molded on wings, but there you need to glue the two "cheeks" protruding on the sides of the nose, because there are two alternative sets of them (normal and what appear to be sand filters).

ENGINE: look at the pics: while the front cowling of Academy's FW has a "straight" profile and a wide open intake, the nose of Revell's model looks way more rounded and its intake much smaller. This is weird: Revell's kit, that should be either an A8 or F8, has a more "A8-styled" nose, while Academy's kit, an A6/A8, has an F8 profile!

OVERALL APPEARANCE: I'm not a maniac with scale measurement, nor do I look for absolute perfection in detailing. Anyway, by looking at these two models side by side, I see that these two Fw-190 are different. Minor differences, but enough to state that Revell kit looks more accurate than Academy one.
Again, look at the pictures, and see in example the differences in tail profile and control surfaces. The paneling looks better, too.


PAINTING AND DECALS

I have to say it: there's just no contest with decals, because I found out that Academy decals weren't just few. They also SUCKED! They simply disintegrated when trying to slide them off the sheet. I had to apply a huge layer of protective "liquid film" to try and save at least some of them.
So I decided to "dress" Academy model with a whole new paintscheme, "Black 8" flown by Willi Maximowitz. To do so, I used a few decals from Revell sheet (which, luckily, is excellent), and tried a new way as well: home printed decals. That's where the markings of "Black 8" come from. Before painting, I also added a few pieces of tape to replicate the extra armour carried by the "Rammjaegers". I took a few licences: the "8" marking doesn't have the white border (couldn't print in white!), I added armoured panels also on both sides of the canopy ("Black 8" didn't have them, but i wanted to hide cockpit internals as much as possible) and the loadout is the one with the dual MG151/20 gun pods (outer guns should be in-wing MK108s instead).
I also got fooled by the 3D model of FW190A8s in IL-2 1946, which has the pitot tube on the left wingtip. The model had it on the right wing, so I cut it off and glued it on the opposite side. However, after that was done, I checked photo references of later FW190As and they all showed the pitot on the RIGHT wing, so I guess that's the correct thing.








After finishing the Academy kit (and liking it) i changed my plans and, instead of completing the Revell kit as an A8, I decided to make the F8 version with stock decals (I "cheated" a bit with crosses, since I had used some of them to replace the broken ones in the other model), and to make it grounded. So, lowered gear and... cutting work! Yes, I liked the cockpit too mich to leave it hidden under the canopy. With a simple cutter and careful handling (to avoid damaging the model and myself, as well) the canopy frame was successfully separated, then sanded and glued in open position. Remember that, as I said before, there's only one kind of headrest in this kit: to add the correct type for the "blown" canopy, I picked the one from the Academy kit.
The final look of the mottling relies on one's hand and technique, so "results may vary" . If you think that the panel highlighting looks bad, it's my fault, because I messed up with paint layers and had to "re-dig" panel lines that were almost canceled.







CONCLUSIONS

The "fight" is over and Revell kit comes out victorious, even with some bruises. Despite being cheaper (I found mine at less than €6,00 in the shop) it looks more accurate both in shape and details, its only weak points being less than perfect sprues, an arguable nose shape and a fixed canopy with "ugly" transparents, hiding the excellent cockpit.
On the other hand, Academy kit loses, but doesn't go KO: decals are the only critical flaw, all the rest makes a decent kit with minor inaccuracies and, if I hadn't also Revell kit, probably I would have been happy with this one.
Anyway, both "contenders" are remarkably easy kits, with a simple structure and an excellent fitting, suitable for modelers of any skill.

Model on guys!