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Last Updated: Aug 21st, 2020 - 13:06:35 |
The differences between the A-3 and A-5 are identified here. I have checked one of our stock of Hasegawa A-5s and can confirm the following:
- the change in radio fit in between the A-3 and A-4 led to the obvious addition of the small antenna pole on top of the fin, which continued in the A-5. The Hasegawa A-5 would need to have this removed but it's not that simple: the A-3 had a slight curved bulge on the upper forward part if the fin where the aerial entered which I think would be difficult to recreate;
- both the A-4 and A-5 were capable of carrying several combinations of underwing and centreline racks for either bombs or drop tanks. The point of understanding this is that various fits of racks usually came with either the cowling MG17s or the outboard MGFF cannons being deleted. If the A-5 kit has these deleted they may need to be reinstated. The Hasegawa A-5 does not contain the MGFFs; these would in themselves be straightforward to create for the A-3 but the associated underwing bulges supplied in the Hasegawa kit are not appropriate for the A-3;
- the biggest visual external difference was in the cowlings between the two variants. The A-5 had a strengthened engine mount which moved the BMW 801 forward by around 6 ins. The length was made up in the fuselage area around the ammunition hatch and not the cowling itself, together with fillets at the forward wing root. The engine changes also extended to the cooling louvres behind the cowling which were different between the two variants. No options are offered in the 1/32 kit so these would have to be scratchbuilt.
- The Hasegawa A-5 correctly supplies the dished mainwheels but these may not be appropriate for the A-3: most of which had cast spoked or holed wheels of a completely different style.
Overall not a straightforward conversion and one which I don't think I'd bother with in this scale. 1/48 scale modellers are better served obviously with the very nice Tamiya or Hasegawa A-3s and the new Hasegawa A-4 which can serve as an A-5 also. There are also numerous Fw190 conversions by CMK for the Tamiya kit.
First posted on Hyperscale
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