1/72 Scale   Fw 187  FALKE  Airmodel  Vacform 
I had only once seen a photo of this aircraft , and was impressed by the good looks and aggressive lines  , and had wondered why it didn't progress to become a front line aircraft . It seems that it was a victim of politics and didn't make it even though it's performance  was superior to that of it's main competitor. (Apparently  the Me 110 ).
Anyway , the kit was picked up at a clearance sale for next to nothing .(Funny
how most clearance sales seem to include vacform  kits). 
 The instruction sheet looked pretty comprehensive ,with numerous small detail
parts shown in the exploded views ,each carefully denoted by  lettering .
After buying it and opening it sometime later ,it was a rude shock to find that the
kit wasn't as comprehensive as first thought .
Namely,ALL of  the  parts shown with lettering,were the parts which WEREN"T INCLUDED ,and had to be made / provided by the builder !
 Only the main parts were supplied in the kit . I've since learned that this is normal in Airmodel Vacforms .
 The parts supplied appeared to be useable with the exception of the vacformed
canopy ,exhausts and landing gear doors . All of those parts appeared to be too thick and ill defined to use .However, the rest were well formed ,especially the upper  half of the wing with the nacelle tops with intakes .
The lower half  had  really deeply drawn mouldings for the nacelle sides and  bottoms ,which were almost paper  thin .
 Fuselage
The first item was to make a floor , and bulkheads to fit behind each position , an instrument panel and some imaginary consoles for both cockpits ,and a control column .  Seats were moulded over a wooden master . . A joining strip was fitted along the top and bottom edges of the fuselage . The side gun ports were drilled out ,and small tubing glued in position    behind each port so that small wires could be inserted later to simulate gun barrels after painting .Slots were cut in the tailplane mountings so that spars could be used to aid fitting of the tailplanes later. A small block of thick card was inserted in the tail to serve as a mounting for the tailwheel ,as well as another block in the nose to mount the prominent pitot tube  The halves were joined and the seams filled . The vacformed lower front window was carefully shaped  to enable fitting after painting was completed .
Wings and Engine Nacelles 
As mentioned ,the nacelles were really thin ,so pieces of card were glued in to strengthen the sides and bottoms ,and the intakes opened up.
 Small rectangles of card with criss-cross scribing were mounted just inside the intakes to simulate radiators .and thin card fitted to represent the adjustable cooling flaps . Half formers at each end of the wheel wells ,and a roof were fittedto each nacelle ,to both blank off and enable mounting of the undercarriage and supporting struts.
The wing has anhedral on the inner sections so two spars were made which would fix this angle and overcome the extreme flexibility of the lower wing .They
were superglued into the bottom half and kept square with small wedges of card .
 Gun ports were drilled and tubing fitted as with the fuselage . As the whole wing assembly was to fit into a cut out in the fuselage bottom , small lengths of copper wire were inserted in the top of the wing mating  area to ensure that the fuselage
sides would be spread apart to the correct width and minimise the amount of filling work when joined . 
Exhausts
The kit exhausts weren't usable ,as their small dimensions aren't suitable for the 
vacform process . One exhaust was  made from thick plastic card ,and a rubber mould made from it. Then, 4 were cast in resin ,and fitted to the sides of the nacelles.
 Propellers and Spinners
The spinners were filled with resin , the hole drilled through the centre and a small hub fitted inside the opening . No suitable props were available ,so as a last resort 6 identical blades  were scratchbuilt and fitted into holes drilled in the spinners .They're not great , but reasonable . 
Tailplanes
The upper and lower  halves were joined and fitted to the fuselage using the spars .The mating joints were filled and smoothed.
Canopy 
 The kit canopy wasn't really useable so the prominent framing was wet sanded  off and the canopy used as  a master to mould a duplicate .The new canopy was carefully trimmed to ensure a good fit . Framing was done  with pre painted strips of decal sheet .
Undercarriage
The kit wheel haves were cut out and joined , and cross tread grooves cut into the completed wheels .Tubing was used to make up the main gear assemblies and axles made from plastic rod . A tailwheel came from the scrap box ,being suitably re shaped  . Each pair of nacelle  doors were moulded in one piece over a carved wooden master ,and then separated .A brake line as per photos was added on each assembly . Photos showed very thin door stays from the legs ,so these were added  when the doors were fitted after painting was completed. 
Finish
The wing and fuselage markings were taken from  various scrap decal sheets ,
where the aircraft marking  "7" was cut from white decal sheet and fitted  . Apparently there were only 7 aircraft made , and  this number was the simplest to cut out  from the  decal sheet .
Final Details
The Antenna mast  and lead in was fitted . Short lengths of wire painted gunmetal
were inserted into their places to simulate guns . The  pitot tube was simulated with a piece of thick broom bristle  inserted into the mounting provided ,and being flexible isn't as vulmerable  . The clear window was fitted under the nose , the framing being pre painted decal strips. 
Conclusion
As the kit itself is so basic , the build turned out to be a bit fiddly ,but the result isn't unreasonable particularly as it's  likely to be the only way to get an Fw187 ,even though it's a good looking aircraft ,not unlike the famous Mosquito . One in 1/48 would be nice ,but it's  very unlikely to eventuate .