Fw190 A/D/F Control surfaces Fabric Covering

HGW's 1:48 scale Fw190 A/D/F Control surfaces Fabric Covering sheet comes in a small plastic bag and is protected from damage by a strong cardboard. Surprisingly there were no instructions in my sample which is quite a shame for such a new product. However, in other references I have they were present, so maybe they have been forgotten during the packing process. In any case, should they be missing in your sample as well, there is the possibility to download them on the HGW website (see here).

The product looks like a decal sheet and you have to dip it into water to use it. However, it is very important to separate each printing first, since they are all on the same plastic film. The latter must be considered like a carrier film and a placement guide at the same time. Once the decal loosens from the support it can be applied in reverse (plastic film at the top) to the model. Of course, the plastic parts must be been sanded smooth before.

I have tried to use it without decal solution but it didn't worked very well so I have decided to follow the instructions and applied Mr Mark Softer on the kit's parts first. Instead of the 2 hours recommended in the instruction, I left the decals to dry overnight (12hrs) and then carefully removed the plastic carrier film. What remained on the part was the very fine representation of the fabric surfaces.

I then cleaned the surface of the parts and added a coat of grey Tamiya acrylic paint to see how the effect looked like. I must say that I was impressed by the result which is very subtle but nevertheless noticable.

Conclusion

Quite frankly I don't know if this representation of the fabric surfaces of the Fw190 is more realistic than any other one, but from a technical point of view, the HGW product works very well. So if you like how the modified control surfaces of the Eduard kit look like on the accompanying photos, I can highly recommend this reference to you.

For more infos, you can visit the HGW homepage.

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