Goals and objectives
for this cockpit

Normally my goal would be to go after this cockpit with a full head of steam until finished. Detailing cockpits is my favorite part of the entire build, so I'd really like to be able to nail this one.

However, keeping the bigger picture in mind, I have a few considerations that are driving my goals and objectives for this cockpit in a slightly different direction...

First off, the design of the kit utilizes very thick styrofoam walls, which reduces the availiable space inside the fuselage dramatically. This means I can't go full depth, nor can I really go full scale width.

Next, weight is a huge issue. My priority is keeping weight down, so I don't want to add too much cockpit weight, and, any weight I add will have to be added again up in the cowl in order to balance. An ounce in the cockpit means another ounce in the nose.

Lastly, the whole goal of this plane was to have a good looking, relatively authentic FW190, but never to compete. Rather, the objective was to build a good flying "sport" plane and throw in just enough detail to make it stand out on the flight line.

So what does all that mean? Well, it means you shouldn't expect to see the extremely long and detailed building blog that I did on my last project, the Bates SBD Dauntless.

That plane eventually ended up being something I'd hoped to do well with in competition, so I went a little overboard on the cockpit and crew. All the work on the large, 2-man cockpit of the SBD eventually paid off with a First Place and Best of Show at the 2004 Toledo Weak Signals RC Expo, but this project will be a whole different story.

On this project, we'll be looking at hopefully a half to 2/3rd depth cockpit that will be slightly off-scale to adjust for the thick styrofoam walls. This means no detailed floor and possibly no pilot. I need to try to keep the entire cockpit detailing weight to under 4 ounces max. That will mean 1/2 pound total gets added to the plane. Now, let's get started...