Focke Wulf Fw 189A 1/72 - SPECIAL HOBBY SH72546

Focke-Wulf Fw 189A “Owls over the Eastern Front” model kit in 1/72 scale - Special Hobby model. In 1937, the RLM (Reich Aviation Ministry) issued specifications for a new Luftwaffe reconnaissance aircraft. Blohm & Voss with its asymmetrical BV 141, Arado with the single-engine Ar 198, and Focke-Wulf with the Fw 189 design participated in the competition. The winner was Focke-Wulf.Like the BV 141, the Fw 189 was distinguished by an unusual technical design. Chief designer Kurt Tank designed the aircraft with a central nacelle in the fuselage and two tail booms extending from the engine nacelles. This provided the three-person crew with excellent visibility. The prototype made its first flight in July 1938, and the first pre-production models of the Fw 189 A-0 were delivered in September 1940. Production continued with the first production version, the Fw 189 A-1. It was manufactured at the Focke-Wulf plant in Bremen, where production was soon halted to make way for the Fw 190. Starting in March 1941, the Prague Aero plant supplied the Fw 189 (production ceased in 1943). Additional Fw 189s were produced until 1944 at the French plants in Bordeaux-Mérignac. In the second half of 1941, the A-1 version was replaced on the production lines by the A-2 version, which featured more powerful armament. A small series of B versions, intended for training and liaison duties, was also built; these differed in the shape of the fuselage nacelle and other details. A ground-attack version, designated Fw 189C, was tested on prototypes; the first prototype, the Fw 189V1, crashed, and even the modified prototype, the Fw 189V-6, failed to prove convincing.  The vast majority of Fw 189s saw service on the Eastern Front. The Focke-Wulf Fw 189 A proved capable of taking off from unpaved runways, with excellent maneuverability and reliability. Several Fw 189A-1s were even equipped with the FuG-212 Lichtenstein C-1 radar and a slanting cannon and used as night fighters in Romania in 1944. The Fw 189 also saw service in the Slovak, Hungarian, and Romanian air forces.The Fw 189A-1 SH72546 kit includes three sheets of plastic parts, one sheet of clear parts, and 3D-printed parts. The decals depict two German aircraft, a captured Soviet aircraft, and a Norwegian aircraft. The latter, originally German and from the Eastern Front, flew to Norway shortly before the end of the war and was used by the Norwegian Air Force after the conflict.- Model kit of an unusual-looking car- Interesting color combinations