1/48 Eduard FW 190A-8/R2 Sturmbock - Hans Weik (Complete!)

Nice Start! I have intentions of doing Weik’s A-8 eventually as well. Sweet looking plane. Not sure if my decals are for 1 or 7, wanna say 7. I’ll be following your work.

Wow thats some fabulous detail in the cockpit. Pulling up a chair 

I really like the 190's that are more flashy...striped nose/ yellow panels, etc...

But I am REALLY digging that dark scheme on this Butcher Bird!

Ill be checking in on this one!

Awesome looking office!

Thanks all for the comments. Here's the latest update. 

The build is complete. A couple of minor items: On the good news front, I successfully got the panels around the cowl ring uniformly spaced, with smooth seams between the panels that open for maintenance. I know this is probably "FW 190" 101 for most of the audience but I've messed this up in more than one way on previous builds. 

As for bad news, I cracked the windscreen, trying to flex it to fit the fuselage. The windscreen was splayed a little wider than the fuselage. Grabbed a spare from another kit and was good to go. 

I'm also not a fan of Alclad Klear Gloss. It went down fine and looks good but remained tacky for longer than expected (days). Not a big issue from a finish standpoint but I just don't like handling the model with a tacky surface. 

On to painting. Masked and ready for priming. Since Eduard supplies both a "closed" and "open" version of the canopy, and I intend to use the "open" one, I used the "closed" canopy with blu-tac weatherstripping to mask the cockpit. 

Primed with Mission Models Gray Primer. 

Preshaded with black. 

White RV band. 

RLM 76 down. 

I'm also trying out AK Real Colors for RLM 70 for the prop. I thinned it 2:1 with AK thinner and it sprayed like a dream. Thin coats, quick drying and very smooth finish. 

Very cool!  These new-tooled Eduard 190‘s are quite amazing.

Nice cockpit! And the rest is looking great too.

Which Alclad clear is causing you grief, the water-based or solvent-based?

Greg

Nice cockpit! And the rest is looking great too.

Which Alclad clear is causing you grief, the water-based or solvent-based?

 

Thanks Greg. It's the solvent-based. 

Hoss WA

Thanks Greg. It's the solvent-based.

You're welcome. And I'm surprised. I've found all of them (gloss, flat, matte, etc) to be fast-drying and durable. I'm sorry you are having trouble.

But more importantly, your workmanship is first rate, tacky coats or not.

Greg

 

 

Hoss WA

Thanks Greg. It's the solvent-based.

 

 

You're welcome. And I'm surprised. I've found all of them (gloss, flat, matte, etc) to be fast-drying and durable. I'm sorry you are having trouble.

But more importantly, your workmanship is first rate, tacky coats or not.

 

Thanks - by the way, I do like the flat and matte Alclad Klears. Maybe I put the gloss on too thick. Might give it another shot. Thanks.

The build looks great so far! Very quick, but it doesn seem that quality has taken a hit in the slightest. 

Just so you don’t feel like a crazy person, I have found that Alclad Gloss Coat stays tacky for me too. Love the flat though!

I completed painting and decals over the weekend.

Using Mission Models RLM 75, I mixed about 15% white to increase the contrast against the RLM 74. Used white-tac to mask the camo on the wings. It worked fine but I think the demarcation line was too smooth and linear. The actual camo boundary is a little more wavy and varied. I'll try to clean this up during weathering.

I also think I applied the paint too thick, using about 20% thinner and 80% paint as Mission Models recommends. Going forward I'm going to experiment with 1:1 thinner at lower pressure for thinner coats. 

I did the fuselage and mottling freehand at 1:1 thinning ratio and ~12psi. I was very happy with the result. Very thin coats, good control, reasonable tip drying, nice smooth finish. Did some heavy masking when I painted the black nose to prevent overspray. 

Since I ws very concerned about the black nose detail, I tried a different gloss coat technique this time since I've often messed this step up. I kept the 1:1 gloss to thinner ratio and stayed at about 15psi.  Using almost the same technique as mottling or feathering the fuselage RLM 74, I sprayed in small areas only enough until the surface went from flat to glossy and no more. No blobs of gloss goop pooling around the flaps, etc. No hamfisted, full-trigger, high-pressure firehose effects. I must have only used about 10 drops of gloss vs. the usual 50 on the entire plane. I put a little extra where the crosses would be applied on the wings and sides. I was pretty happy with the result. Whew.

The decals went on fine and everything was looking good until I was applying litterally the last decal -- disaster struck. As I was finishing the decals for starboard wingwalk, I found it didn't fit the space properly. Then I realized someone (me) glued the 30mm cannon cover in the wrong position. After debating whether to leave it alone I decided to muscle it off and replace it with a spare from my 190A-5 kit. After sanding, masking, priming, paint-matching, painting, feathering camo and gloss coating the area, I got to the point of acceptability. There are a couple of scuffs but I think I can tackle these during weathering. 

On to weathering... Thanks for following. 

Great looking paint work! 

Finally completed Hans Weik's FW 190A-8/R2 "White 1" of 10./JG 3. 

For weathering, I started with panel line washes using Flory washes - black for the control surfaces and a series of grays for the other colors, very dark gray for the black areas. 

Next I sprayed a very thin beige-gray mix to tone down the stark white of the RV band and crosses as well as soften the black of the cowl area and crosses. I followed this up with a black brown thin mix for panel lines, exhaust areas, control surfaces and camo demarcation lines. 

Alclad Matte was the final surface finish and I liked the way it looked on the black areas. Not two-dimensional, but not shiny either - just right to my eyes. The photo of the actual aircraft looks uniformly matte with very little reflective areas, but it's difficult to tell. I've seen photos of other aircraft with the same scheme with more sheen on the black areas. 

I added some restrained chipping with a silver prismacolor pencil and some pastels for exhaust and gunsmoke. Some oil staining around the bottom of the cowling and drop tank finished things off. 

The armored windows on the side of the sliding canopy section were attached with a carefully applied bead of Micro Kristal Klear. 

Overall I really enjoyed this one. Thanks for reading and enjoy the photos.

Good grief, Hoss! That's a flying TANK.

FABULOUS FINISH!

Very cool!

Hoss, great job on this one! Everything looks so nice a tidy!

Are you located in the US? If so, where did you get your Flory wash? I’ve been looking for a domestic source and have so far struck out. 

Thanks for sharing!

All:

Thanks for the comments.

RadMax8

Hoss, great job on this one! Everything looks so nice a tidy!

Are you located in the US? If so, where did you get your Flory wash? I’ve been looking for a domestic source and have so far struck out. 

Thanks for sharing!

 

@RadMax - Thanks again for the comments. I'm in the US and bought the washes directly from Flory in the UK. Couldn't find a US source either. 

Very nicely done Sir!

Wow - well done.  I have one in the stash and have yet to do a German fighter.  You'rs is inspirational!  Museum quality.  Very nice.

Exceptional, Hoss, thanks for the details and photos. Very helpful, gave me some ideas for improving my work, (needed.)

Patrick

Thanks for your nice comments Patrick. This community is great for learning this craft. Thanks to all the modelers who share their techniques and tips. Good stuff. 

It passes for the full size prototype! Awesome paint and detailing. The flat came up perfect as well... something Im finding difficult in modelling paints to master. I can get it consistant but not quite as flat as I want. 

Can I ask what you use for the aerial cable?

Josh 

Thanks for the comments tempestjohnny and Josh.

Josh, the aerial cable is made from EZ Line (www.berkshirejunction.com). I use the "fine" black, usually paint it steel or gray, and attach it with CA glue. The insulators are PVA glue blobs. EZ Line is really great to work with since it stretches. I actually think it's a tiny bit thick for 1/48 scale, but it still looks OK. 

I'm still searching for the perfect flat also. The most flat I've found so far is Alclad "flat". A couple coats of this and the finish is dead flat. I almost think it's too flat for 1/48 scale. Testors flat clear lacquer and Alclad matte are roughly on par with each other for a smooth finish with just a hint of sheen. 

Hoss WA

Thanks for the comments tempestjohnny and Josh.

Josh, the aerial cable is made from EZ Line (www.berkshirejunction.com). I use the "fine" black, usually paint it steel or gray, and attach it with CA glue. The insulators are PVA glue blobs. EZ Line is really great to work with since it stretches. I actually think it's a tiny bit thick for 1/48 scale, but it still looks OK. 

I'm still searching for the perfect flat also. The most flat I've found so far is Alclad "flat". A couple coats of this and the finish is dead flat. I almost think it's too flat for 1/48 scale. Testors flat clear lacquer and Alclad matte are roughly on par with each other for a smooth finish with just a hint of sheen. 

 

Thanks Hoss thats great. I appreciate you taking the time to walk me through your method. Ill pick up some EZ line. I saw the insulators on the line and thought how cool!

Thanks for the tips on the matt clear. I had used a wurth matt clear on my p40 which was ral1250 but just that bit too glossy, so I tried Tamiya matt clear from my local hobby store whilst picking up paint for the zero Ive got, but it was almost identical. The testors flat seems to be popular amongst the guys here on the forum.

Josh