0.18 photos on Flickr

1:72 Focke Wulf Fw 190 A-6/R1 trop.; “26 Red” of the 1st Fighter Squadron, Royal Moldovan Air Force (Королівська авіація Молдови); Krywyj Rih (Кривий Ріг), Oblast Dnipropetrowsk region, Ukraine, February 1943 (Whif/Academy kit) by Dizzyfugu

+++ DISCLAIMER +++

Nothing you see here is real, even though the model, the conversion or the presented background story might be based on historical facts. BEWARE!

Some background:

On 27th November 1940, Moldova followed closely behind its neighbor and protector, Romania, and joined the Axis Powers. Now eligible for German military equipment, the Royal Moldovan Air Force sought to update its inventory with German types and gain access to German training. In January 1941 an agreement was reached that enabled both; by then, German troops had already entered Moldova to “secure the border [with the Socialist Union] from Red aggression.”

Moldovan air and ground crews were soon sent for training with the Luftwaffe and the first (second-hand) Messerschmitt Bf 109E-3s to enter Moldovan service arrived in May 1941. This first batch of 14 planes was allocated to the 1st Fighter Squadron, where they replaced Romanian-built PZL P.11fs. They were in combat from the first day of Operation Barbarossa, crossing the border into the Transnistrian and Ukrainian republics of the Socialist Union to conduct escort, strafing and fighter sweep missions on 22 June 1941.

Soon thereafter, more and more modern (but still mostly second hand) equipment of German origin was provided. Beyond the Bf 109 E, several Bf 109F and early G fighters were delivered, some Fw 190A and F, a handful of Ju 87 and Hs 123 dive bombers as well as some Ju 52 transporters and Junkers Ju 88 bombers.

Most of these aircraft had formerly taken part in the North Africa campaign or the Mediterranean TO. As a consequence, many Moldovan aircraft were outfitted with special equipment like dust filters, and a high number of machines still carried desert camouflage upon their arrival at the Russian Front. The latter was quickly modified in the field workshops, with whatever alternative paints at hand, but due to the aircrafts’ immediate use in combat, only hasty and minimal adaptations were made.

During its peak in June 1943, the Royal Moldovan Air Force had grown to a total of 150 aircraft. However, its contribution to the Axis forces was not significant, even though some individual Moldovan fighter pilots scored considerable air victory counts.

With the advance of Soviet Forces by late 1944 and the liberation of the Crimean peninsula, most Moldovan aircraft had been severely damaged or destroyed. Through the withdrawal of the Axis forces the Moldovan machines became unserviceable, so that the small air arm effectively ceased to exist. The few remaining, airworthy machines were retired to the west and absorbed in Romanian units.
It would take until 1991 that the Moldovan Air Force would be re-formed, after the country’s newly gained independence from the dissolved Soviet Union as Republic of Moldova.

(Background and model inspired by fellow modeler comrade harps at whatifmodelers.com)

General characteristics:

Crew: 1

Length: 9.00 m (29 ft 5 in)

Wingspan: 10.51 m (34 ft 5 in)

Height: 3.95 m (12 ft 12 in)

Wing area: 18.30 m² (196.99 ft²)

Empty weight: 3,200 kg (7,060 lb)

Loaded weight: 4,417 kg (9,735 lb)

Max. takeoff weight: 4,900 kg (10,800 lb)

Powerplant:

1× BMW 801 D-2 radial engine, 1,250 kW (1,700 PS, 1,677 hp)

Performance:

Maximum speed: 656 km/h (408 mph) at 19,420 ft (5,920 m)

Range: 800 km (500 mi)

Service ceiling: 11,410 m (37,430 ft)

Rate of climb: 15 m/s (2,953 ft/min)

Wing loading: 241 kg/m² (49.4 lb/ft²)

Power/mass: 0.29–0.33 kW/kg (0.18–0.21 hp/lb)

Armament:

2× 7.92 mm (.312 in) synchronized MG 17 machine guns with 900 RPG

4× 20 mm MG 151/20 E cannon, two of them with 250 RPG, synchronized in the wing roots,

and two more with 125 RPG outboard in mid-wing mounts

A retrofitted centre-line ETC 501 rack, typically holding a 250 kg (550 lb) bomb or a 300 L drop tank

Some machines also carried Luftwaffe Rüstsätze, e .g. R1 with a pair of WB 151 weapon

containers, each holding 2× 20-mm-MG 151/20 with 125 RPG under the wings

The kit and its assembly:

A remake of an inspiration. This build is a follow-up, and a further interpretation of another modeler’s idea, comrade harps from whatifmodelers.com, who came up with a Moldovan Bf 109E and a respective background story some time ago. After all, the Russian Liberation Army (ROA) also operated German aircraft like the Bf 109G, so the idea was not as weird as it might seem at first. I liked the idea of an overlooked Moldovan operator very much, and my first build within this fictional framework was a Heller Bf 109 F trop (a horrible kit, BTW).

This time I wanted to tackle an early Fw 190 A fighter, and also finish it in winter camouflage. The kit I used is the Academy Fw 190 A-6/8 model. It is certainly not the most detailed and up-to-date model of the aircraft, but it is a solid model, goes together well and is IMHO a priceworthy offering.

Building-wise, I did not change much about the kit, it was built OOB with some minor mods. The pitot, OOB mounted close to the wing tip for an A-8 version, had to be relocated towards a mid-wing position for an earlier A-6 variant. As an extra I lowered the flaps and cut away the lower sections from the wheel covers; this was a common practice on Fw 190s operated at the Eastern front during wintertime, because snow would clog up between the wheels and the covers, freeze and eventually make the aircraft inoperable.

As another extra I used the WB 151 gun packs which come with the kit – resulting in the massive firepower of eight(!) 20mm cannon, plus a pair of machine guns that would operationally fire tracer bullets, so that the pilot knew when he could unleash the cannons! The optional tropical sand filters came with the kit, too.

Painting and markings:

To a certain degree quite conservative, since this was supposed to be a former Luftwaffe aircraft, transferred to the Moldovan air force from the Mediterranean TO. As such I gave the aircraft a standard Luftwaffe camouflage with RLM 74/75/76 (using a mix of Modelmaster enamels). As a side note, this does not speak against the aircraft’s potential former use in North Africa – many Fw 190s operated there did not carry any desert camouflage at all.

However, I wanted to present the aircraft in a temporary/worn winter camouflage on the upper surfaces with washable white paint, overpainted former Luftwaffe insignia and additional new Moldovan markings. I also wanted to visualize the short period of time between the aircraft’s arrival at the Russian Front from Northern Africa and its immediate employment in Moldovan hands, including tactical markings of the Axis forces in the Eastern TO from around late 1941 onwards. Sounds complicated – but it’s the logical translation of the made-up background, and I think that such a concept, literally telling a story, makes a what-if model more convincing than just putting some obscure markings on an off-the-rack kit.

After the original German scheme had been painted, the next step was to paint over the former German and African TO markings. I used a light olive green and a light blue tone, as if the machine had been modified in a Moldovan field workshop with Romanian paints (or whatever else) at hand. The new yellow ID markings (lower wing tips, engine front (both painted with Humbrol 69) and fuselage band (decal) were added at this stage, too. Then came a black ink wash, emphasizing the model's engraved panel lines.

Once dry and cleaned-up, the new Moldovan markings were added. They come from a Begemot MiG-29 sheet. The flag on the rudder was improvised with a mix of paint (blue and red) and a ~2.5mm yellow decal stripe. The tactical code, the red "26", comes from a Soviet lend-lease P-40.

But the Fw 190 was till not finished - now the whitewash was added. This was simply created with Humbrol 34 (Matt White) and a soft, flat brush, in streaks which were made from the back to the front. This creates an IMHO quite plausible look of the worn, washable paint, and in some areas (around the cockpit, on the wings) I thinned the whitewash layer down even more, simulating wear.

Once dry, the decals received a light tratement with sandpaper, in order to match their look to the worn surroundings, and exhaust stains and gun soot were added with grinded graphite. Some dry-brushing with light grey was done on some areas, too. The wheels and the landing gear received a layer of "snow cake", created with white tile grout.

Finally, the model received a coat of matt acrylic varnish and finishing touches like a wire antenna (made with heated black sprue material).

Even though it's almost an OOB build, except for the markings, the result looks quite convincing. The result cannot be called “pretty”, but I think the extra work with the whitewash paid out. The fictional Moldovan Fw 190 looks really …different, especially in the BW beauty shots, the aircraft looks pretty convincing, and now it can join its Bf 109F stablemate in the collection.