The Focke-Wulf Ta 183 Huckebein was a design for a jet-powered fighter aircraft intended as the successor to the Messerschmitt Me 262 and other day fighters in Luftwaffe service during World War II. It was developed only to the extent of wind tunnel models when the war ended, but the basic design was further developed postwar in Argentina as the FMA IAe 33 Pulqui II.
- Highly detailed cockpit and landing gear
- Molded in Light Grey and clear
- Accurately reproduced air-to-air, wire-guided missile and drop tank
- Contains photo-etched parts
- Masking tape for masking clear parts included
- Features Cartograf decal
- Academy Kit 12327
- MSRP: $39.00 USD
- Street Price: N/A (at the time of this entry)
Who would have thought? After submitting a blog entry last week about the 1/72 PM Model Focke Wulf Ta-183, this new kit from Academy of the same subject shown up in our office studio. This is the new Academy Focke-Wulf Ta183 ‘Heckebein’ kit 12327. Those who wondered publicly or via messenger on our Facebook Page if this is a rehash, your question is about to be answered.
Yes indeed! The new Academy Focke Wulf Ta 183 is a reprint of the original kit printed by AMTech Models back in the early 2,000. Shortly after its initial release, Tamiya did borrow the tooling and made a special set that included a 1/48 Kettenkraftrad kit No. 89586.
Being the same tooling it is obvious that the kit will come with the same goodies but also the same imperfections that most model builders complained about back in the day. In all honesty, there is no such thing as the ”perfect” model kit. This kit is printing well 15+ years later. There is no visible flash at all and the production copy I have at hand only has the average/typical mould line we would encounter on any good quality model kit.
I don’t intend to make a comparo with the PM Model version. It would be unfair, but it is hard not to notice and not bring to the model kit builders attention the beautiful molded-on detail. The panel lines are exquisite and in proportion with the scale in case this is of your concern.
The major complaint about this kit back then was the sink marks on the landing gear wells and doors. They are in my humble opinion very subtle and with some light sanding and primer, one could make them almost disappear.
The clear canopy is well molded and has no flow marks on this copy. Unlike the PM Model version, the canopy frames are well defined. The Academy Focke-Wulf Ta 183 has a few goodies. Included with the kit is a small but effective (not to mention better than nothing) photo-etch fret of seat belts. A set of window masks are also provided with the kit to ease the masking of the canopy. Gracias Academy!
Besides the included goodies mentioned above, Academy is providing with their Ta-183 ‘Huckebein’ a beautiful and colorful set of decals printed by the great folks at Cartograf. Missing from the illustration below is the General, Adolf Galland, Commander of JV44, early 1946 version which is the one depicted on the box art.
I have yet to decide my version for this model. But my heart is leaning towards a bare metal + mottled version. I might head to my local hobby shop and get a second one because I love the subject. That’s a lot to say because those who have been part of this website for a very long time know that building multiple versions of the same subject is not my thing. Too many cool models to be built, too little time 😉
Would I recommend it? Absolutely! It has been a long time since the last time this tooling was used. This now gives us the chance to get the model at a really fair price with a nice choice of fresh high-quality markings. My sincere thanks to Model Rectifier Corporation for the review sample.
Another nice thing to consider is that there is still new old stock of aftermarket parts to make this little gem shine even more.
