Unboxing and Review of Airfix’s FW 190A-8, Scale1/72, Ref: A868210
This boxing is the Starter Set version that comes with some paints, brush a small tube of glue – and is often available quite cheaply in large discount grocery stores (such as Aldi), especially in the run up to Christmas. The idea being is that they are cheap stocking filler, and therefore a good way to introduce new people to the hobby.
The quality of the kit itself is very good, with some fine recessed moulding of panel lines – so although cheap Airfix have used a relatively newly tooled kit. Therefore it’s perfectly acceptable for more experienced modellers.
What let’s the Starter Set down is the paints. They are thick and gloopy, and if a new modeller attempts to use them straight from the pot they’ll pretty much ruin the kit. As an experienced modeller I know that the paints should be thinned (tap water is fine with these), and applied thinly. The first layer will be streaky and look terrible, but waiting for the paint to dry before adding a second (and if needed, third) thin layer will give a much better finish. However, Airfix neglect to say this in the instructions, and it would be impossible for a new modeller to know this.