I’m excited to share some photos from my latest build: a high-altitude German fighter plane: Focke-Wulf Ta-152 H-0.

Historical Inspiration & Reference Details

It was Kurt Tank’s high-altitude fighter introduced at the end of WWII. It had a pressurized cockpit and an engine booster. It was able to outturn and outrun a P-51 Mustang. One of the German pilots who flew the Ta-152 said that although he did not believe the plane would change the course of the war, he was convinced that it would at least ensure his survival during air combat. The Ta-152 was a unique design but it is closely related to the Focke Wulf FW-190D that preceded it. The D ‘Dora’ version had almost identical fuselage but short wings similar to the standard FW-190A-F variants. Its armament consisted of one 30mm cannon shooting through the propeller spinner and two 20mm cannons in the wings. This is the initial H-0 version that did not have fuel tanks in the wings as they were in the fuselage only. Later series production variants had fuel tanks in the wings.

Kit Overview & Build Features

I first saw the Ta-152 model in 1/72 scale from Frog when I was a boy and immediately was fascinated by its shape with wide wings. Zoukei Mura also makes this kit in 1/48 scale, and I plan to build it too. The 1/32 scale model is a beautiful large kit with a lot of internal details. It has a full engine. Initially I thought I would glue the engine covers in place but realized that the fit was so good that I decided to make them removable. The left side engine cover stays in place on its own. The right side required some help, so I installed a tiny magnet in the corner of the structure to hold it in alignment with the left side. I replaced the kit’s grid covering the filter intake on the right side of the engine with a metal one as it looked too bulky compared to the historical reference photos. It also has its flaps lowered. I replaced the wheel struts with white metal ones to make the landing gear sturdier as well as the tires with resin ones that had a slight sag in them, something missing from the plastic kit parts. I also added an antenna wire that was a bit tricky. The model’s wingspan approaches 18” in this scale. I really like it as it reminds me of my youth days flying gliders that also tend to have long and narrow wings. I used Ammo ATOM paints exclusively during this build.

Additional Experience

I used Ammo ATOM pains in this build and I really like them. They are really deep matt when they dry and hold well to the primer. My recent experience with them was a bit challenging, however. The green color I used on the Ta-152 sprayed like a charm. The brown-violet color struggled with the same airbrush and frequently caused a spatter. It could have been the paint to thinner ratio issue, but it took me twice as long to paint the darker color. Both paints were well mixed so I think it also could be the paint’s particles / density. The light blue undersides color, also an ATOM paint, sprayed very well too. I would recommend them as they also go on well with a brush, although I only use a brush on small parts, not large areas.

Check out the photos below showing some of the build stages. I have also attached a few more pictures with the exposed engine that is equally impressive in my opinion.

~ Tomasz