Amtech 1/48 Ta-183 ‘Huckebein’
by
Christian "CQ" Anderson
When I first saw Amtech’s Ta-183 reviewed on Brett Greens website Hyperscale.com I was amazed. More than a few Me-109s, Fw-190s, and even such esoteric aircraft as the Do-335 and the He-219 have been kitted. But a real live Luftwaffe 1946 kit? I was stunned. I ordered one as soon as I could. I eventually ended up with 3.
OK, so you like it. But how does it build? Easily. Beautifully. Tamigawa quality, with no vices. Really? So is it perfect? Well, no. It has no vices, and goes together very nicely, but there are 1 or 2 things to look out for. There are a few ejector pin marks to beware: inside the main wheels, and in the gear doors. Easy enough to fill though; I used liquid paper. Beware the sink marks on either side of the nose; again easy enough to fill. The canopy is molded as 1 piece; I prefer 2 as I like my cockpits open and inviting, but as Amtech’s Alan G pointed out to me, the canopy is designed to be easy to cut apart. I’ll try it on my next one. And Squadron makes a vac canopy. Finally, no pitot tube or DF antenna. No big deal to scratch tho.
So what are the good points? More than a few. Besides being a fun and easy build, it has excellent detail in the cockpit, wheel wells, and is nicely engraved. And has options galore: 2 different jet engine types, options for missiles and/or a drop tank, and six different sets or markings. All this for an aircraft that never flew or even existed! Tamiya and Hasegawa could learn a few things here.
I built mine almost straight out of the box. I added PE seatbelts and R4 rocket launchers that I borrowed from DML’s Me-262 kit. I also altered the paint scheme a bit. I painted mine as an aircraft of 1. JG2 Richthofen, but changed the number to ‘Red 3’ for a bit more color. And while I painted the fuselage the recommended colors, I painted the wings in the scheme and colors of a late war Me-262. Different parts of aircraft were built and painted in dispersed locations at the end of the war, with some interesting results. I decided to play off this, and quite like the effect. I airbrushed using Testors Acryls straight out of the bottle. The results were outstanding.
After painting was completed, a quick shot of Future and on went the decals. With a touch of solveset the checkers conformed to the nose quite nicely. All the other decals went on without a hitch.
The end result is a very nice, unique WWII fighter that never was. Kudos to Amtech , for not only producing a subject that few others would have attempted, but doing such a nice job on it. I can’t wait to build my next Ta-183 as a nightfighter. And I can’t wait for Amtech’s next cool release!
Christian Q. Anderson
" The conquest of space is worth the risk of life."
-Gus Grissom
CQ is a member of IPMS Centennial in Colorado Springs and a field demonstrator for Iwata Airbrushes.
Contact Amtech at www.amtechmodels.com
|
Click any image for a larger picture.
Download times at 56K around 20 sec.
|
