FW-190 Reich Defender III 5/10-2/11

Great work Crusher. Wingus and Dingus are on thier way to you. Wingus took some butter and his latex catsuit! Whats that all about young man?

Steve the wing joint on the Eduard kits can be a mare. There isnt any locating pins. The whole wings allignment is dependant on the spar and its several inserts being ABSOLUTELY SQUARE. I cant reitterate this enough. Even slightly off it will cause you no end of trouble. Dont ask me how i know LOL. The main problem with all of the other 190 kits is that the gun cover is not molded separately, and theres nothing worse than seeing a fantastically finished kit with a seam line down the centre of the gun cover. In its favour the Eduard kits mold this part separately, though its a s0d to get it to fit neatly,

...Guy

Great work everyone!

Sounds like 'General thinner' needs to address the gun covers. Yes it is a shame to build the interior details without showing them off. Something I will consider when I get to my  Edward F-8. Projected start date sometime in June.

Hey Jules, in regard to the problems you hear us talking about in the Eduard kits wing. I think Guy said it best a few posts above, the lower wing has a main spar that sets the dihederal that must be placed exactly correctly. There are sub assemblies that come off that spar like the ribs of the wheel wells that connect to the spar and the leading edge of the wing on the inside. Then there is some parts behind the spar that will set the position of the main wheeel well that goes on top of the whole assembly boxing everything in. I took my time with all this work but when you try to put the tops of the wings on they dont even come close to fitting or closing up. You now find yourself sanding and cutting away the tops of the spars and roof of the wheel well and in my case enlarging the holes where the ribs mate and the holes for the gun barrells.

The same problems show up with all the detail of the fuselage, cockpit, gun bay and firewall prevent the fuselage from joining. So guess what back to cutting and sanding. These must pate perfectly as when you join the fuselage to wings the interion interlock with the wing. So guess what cutting and sanding again to get it to seat properly. At this stage I have sanded the wheel bay to paper thin and the spar and supports are sanded way down as well as the gun bay in the wing and fuselage. I ended putting a spreader in the fuselage to get the wing joint gap to close up and taped the wing tip to wing tip to pull it tighter and I still have a noticable step in the wing to fuselage. I did the same as SC and set the leading edge and trailing edge and will have to use filler on the rest.

Sorry for the long winded response but those are the issues I had. In a nutshell you have to get everything set perfectly and even then I think you will still be sanding. And there is no way to check your progress as you go.

Steve

Man Steve all of this talk about the Eduard A-8 makes me think my Royal Class A-8 kit is going to be sitting  in the closet for a long time. You build review is right on point with all of the reviews I have read also. I have had similar problems with the new Hasegawa 1/32 D-9 but not quite as bad. Mabye because the parts are bigger and easier to work with too. I could not sleep at all last night so I stayed up till about 3:30 am working on the kit and got alot done.

Soulcrusher

Luftwoller

Great work Crusher. Wingus and Dingus are on thier way to you. Wingus took some butter and his latex catsuit! Whats that all about young man?

...Guy

Guy Wingus probally took the cat suit for protection from this.

He weights in around 20 pounds and has been known to eat small dogs and anything else that wander into the yard. He likes butter to so Wingus is just bringing offerings and trying to proctect himself with the cat suit! Dingus might be in trouble thought! Obvioulsy Wingus is the smarter of the two!

Soulcrusher

Hummmm looks like it may be smart on my part to stay away from those Trumpeter kits

vetteman42

Hummmm looks like it may be smart on my part to stay away from those Trumpeter kits

Be afraid. Be very afraid. Extremelyy overpriced Chinese junk! Do'nt waste you money. But the kit that is being discussed is the Eduard kit in the last couple of pages and my Hasegawa 1/32 D-9.

Soulcrusher

Hey Frank, i put the MDC wheels up against the Eduard wheels and they appear to be a fraction smaller in diameter. Im not sure if this is right or wrong but im pretty sure theyre close to right....if that helps? Probably not LOL. I do get the choice of smooth or ribbed for my pleasure though. The inserts for the hubs are fantastically intricate though,

Oh and heres a sneaky peeky of where im at,

...Guy

Hey Frank, i put the MDC wheels up against the Eduard wheels and they appear to be a fraction smaller in diameter. Im not sure if this is right or wrong but im pretty sure theyre close to right....if that helps? Probably not LOL. I do get the choice of smooth or ribbed for my pleasure though. The inserts for the hubs are fantastically intricate though,

Oh and heres a sneaky peeky of where im at,

...Guy

Wow Guy has flung paint aready, looking good mate. I really like those wheels by the way worth the investment.

Heres some updates on last nights progress. Fuselage is together and thankfully the surgery cannot be seen.

Then the underside where all the action took place. You can see that I have sanded the gun bays almost completely off. Also up front there used to be two what I think were ammo boxes had to be completely cut off from the cowl guns. I have no clue why they were so long and if installed would hang under the wing?????. Finally a chunk of sprue as a spreadder to close the gap at the wing to fuselage joint which worked almost perfectly

So with the wing hacked up and the under fuselage chopped it went together. Brought out the old tape from wingtip to wingtip trick to close the remaining gap and it worked pretty good. The seam only has a small gap to fill now and the step has mostly gone away.

The engine was just for show. Which is the one step from looking at the directions I have been dreding. I have already lost one of the engine mount holes to sanding to get the fuselage together. That comes in a few days though as I am off to a wedding this weekend.

Guy - You're such a tease... show us more!!!

Sidure - Sucks that you had to do all that work but it's looking like it should from here.

Frank Guy is cheating agian! No way he got that much done without using Wingus and Dingus! I still have not seen either Wingus or Dingus as promised!

Steve looks like you are winning the battle of the sanding sticks there. I am going to the bench in a bit to do some sanding of the filler I needed at the front wing root area and mabye have a go at applying the dreaded spinner spiral!

Soulcrusher

sidure

Hey Jules, in regard to the problems you hear us talking about in the Eduard kits wing. I think Guy said it best a few posts above, the lower wing has a main spar that sets the dihederal that must be placed exactly correctly. There are sub assemblies that come off that spar like the ribs of the wheel wells that connect to the spar and the leading edge of the wing on the inside. Then there is some parts behind the spar that will set the position of the main wheeel well that goes on top of the whole assembly boxing everything in. I took my time with all this work but when you try to put the tops of the wings on they dont even come close to fitting or closing up. You now find yourself sanding and cutting away the tops of the spars and roof of the wheel well and in my case enlarging the holes where the ribs mate and the holes for the gun barrells.

The same problems show up with all the detail of the fuselage, cockpit, gun bay and firewall prevent the fuselage from joining. So guess what back to cutting and sanding. These must pate perfectly as when you join the fuselage to wings the interion interlock with the wing. So guess what cutting and sanding again to get it to seat properly. At this stage I have sanded the wheel bay to paper thin and the spar and supports are sanded way down as well as the gun bay in the wing and fuselage. I ended putting a spreader in the fuselage to get the wing joint gap to close up and taped the wing tip to wing tip to pull it tighter and I still have a noticable step in the wing to fuselage. I did the same as SC and set the leading edge and trailing edge and will have to use filler on the rest.

Sorry for the long winded response but those are the issues I had. In a nutshell you have to get everything set perfectly and even then I think you will still be sanding. And there is no way to check your progress as you go.

Steve

LOL. I was just coming on the thread to tell Frank that I wasn't going to be finishing my Dragon Ta152 H-0.

It's been moved to the spare parts box because I screwed up on the wings, which are basically the same as the Eduard kits. Being a gluton for punishment, I just ordered Eduard's 1/48 Fw 190D-9.

I over glued and over clamped the wings and really screwed up the fit at the wing roots. There ain't enough puddy in the modeling world to fix the dips created by the human dip who's typing this post.

Art

Art  I am concerned I am building the same kit and dont want that to happen to me is that spar the cause for your plane not turning out ? if you could post pics of what happened that might help me to not have that happen. Have enjoyed watching everyones build so far great work. I started on the TA152 engine last night and will post pics as soon as I have something worthy to show.

Damon

nomad68

Art  I am concerned I am building the same kit and dont want that to happen to me is that spar the cause for your plane not turning out ? if you could post pics of what happened that might help me to not have that happen. Have enjoyed watching everyones build so far great work. I started on the TA152 engine last night and will post pics as soon as I have something worthy to show.

Damon

What happened was, I applied my glue in too wide of a bead along the edge of my wings, and then I used clothes pins & small plastic spring clamps as clamps. At every spot where I had a clamp, along the rear of the wing, there was a large dip where the upper & lower wing half adhered to one another. I used entirely too much glue

This was completely my fault, and not the kits. The only judgment that I'll make on the kit, is that the plastic may be a little on the soft side.

On the bright side, if you happen to need some spare pieces parts, you'll know where to come.

Art

WOW there is some great work going on here!!!!!! Loving the progress pics guys, Keep'em coming!!!

Guy what paint are you using for the Braunviolett???? It looks spot on to me!!!

Cheers, the RLM 81 i use is from the Xtracrylics range. Its code is XA1210. A lot of thier other RLM colours are a bit suspect IMO, for instance thier 71 and 72 looks fairly identicle in colour! ,also thier RLM 83 (XA1212) is labelled as 'Lichtgrun' whereas in reality Lichtgrun is RLM 82. RLM 83 should be Dark Green. Anyhoo, as long as you keep your wits about you, theyre fairly nice paints to work wityh.

Oh and ive decalled my beast today.....and the plane,

...Guy

Hey slow down thier Guy! Give some of us a chance to catch up mate! Still waiting on Wingus and Dingus!

Soulcrusher

soulcrusher

Hey slow down thier Guy! Give some of us a chance to catch up mate! Still waiting on Wingus and Dingus!

Soulcrusher

Well Guy did give ya'll a head start

Luftwoller

Wingus and Dingus are on thier way to you. Wingus took some butter and his latex catsuit!

The main problem with all of the other 190 kits is that the gun cover is not molded separately, and theres nothing worse than seeing a fantastically finished kit with a seam line down the centre of the gun cover. In its favour the Eduard kits mold this part separately, though its a s0d to get it to fit neatly,

...Guy

WHAT???  What do you mean HIS catsuit?

I never realized that about the other 190 kits.  Just took a look at my Tamiya 190, and OMG!  You are so right.  I shall try to fix that on this build.  That's what I love about these GB's, learn new things EVERY time.  Thanks Guy!

Thanks too for comparing those wheels.  Looking at the photo, the wheel itself appears to be larger on the MDC unit.  Is it really, or am I imagining that?  Perhaps that is why Aires made a replacement.  Great progress on your Dora, bet you have the stickers on by the time you read this LOL.

Steve- Wow mate, that's a lot of work on that one!  That is the worst part of a build IMHO, all of the fitting and sanding to get everything to fit.

Art- That's a bummer about your build, sorry to hear it!  Would you like me to add the Eduard Dora to page one for you?

Thanks Guy!!!! Awesome, I picked up a jar of that same color last time I went paint shopping, I bought several brands of the three main colors, 81,82, and 76. Will choose which has the best look, but after seeing your dora in the 81 Xtracrylix that color is chosen.

Daywalker

Luftwoller:

Wingus and Dingus are on thier way to you. Wingus took some butter and his latex catsuit!

The main problem with all of the other 190 kits is that the gun cover is not molded separately, and theres nothing worse than seeing a fantastically finished kit with a seam line down the centre of the gun cover. In its favour the Eduard kits mold this part separately, though its a s0d to get it to fit neatly,

...Guy

 

WHAT???  What do you mean HIS catsuit?

I never realized that about the other 190 kits.  Just took a look at my Tamiya 190, and OMG!  You are so right.  I shall try to fix that on this build.  That's what I love about these GB's, learn new things EVERY time.  Thanks Guy!

Thanks too for comparing those wheels.  Looking at the photo, the wheel itself appears to be larger on the MDC unit.  Is it really, or am I imagining that?  Perhaps that is why Aires made a replacement.  Great progress on your Dora, bet you have the stickers on by the time you read this LOL.

Steve- Wow mate, that's a lot of work on that one!  That is the worst part of a build IMHO, all of the fitting and sanding to get everything to fit.

Art- That's a bummer about your build, sorry to hear it!  Would you like me to add the Eduard Dora to page one for you?

Yeah, Frank. If you don't mind, please put me down for the Fw 190 D-9. I gotta give it another shot. No guts, no glory. lol

Art

You got it Art, list updated!

Steve...Thanks for the heads up on the Eduard fit issues I was looking at the instuctions while reading your post and know exactly what to look out for.....you have saved me a whole heap of stress and mess......Cheers

Your right about the wheels Frank, the MDC set are a fraction smaller than the Eduard set. I reckon its a bit subjective though. Ive rattled through hundreds of pics of D9's and A through F's wheels and theres so many different looks to them. If you have a slightly underinflated wheel sitting in soft ground on weak shocks, its most definately going to look a lot different to a factory plane on hard standing. I have a feeling these AM guys are loving this and making a packet from us rivet counters/ measurers LOL

In my defence though, the detail in the MDC hubs is amazing.

At present the plane has its decals on, all eccept the wing walk lines (My new pet hate btw) and im trying to modify my ETC rack to actually look like one. From the verlinden set i have a very late cigar shaped fuel tank thats crying out to be fitted.

Pics soon,

...Guy

Wow, some great info on the available kits. Fantastic looking progress all.  

As promised, heres where the old girl is now,

The decals in Eduard kits are just the best ive ever used. The carrier film is just so thin. I always use 'Mr Setter' when applying them and the results are just awesome. Even with my own critical eye, i can hardly make out the carrier fil and its yet to have its gloss overcoat. Cracking Eduard. On a negative point, (I seem to be having a right go at this kit) I came today to the U/C legs. These things have some sort of mold separation in them. The only thing i can liken them too is a limited run kit! Heres what i mean,

By the time i scrape the thing out, they will be almost square!! Or square with rounded corners. Im going to Email Eduard to see what they have to say before i fit them. Lets see what thier aftersales service is like,

...Guy

She looks good in those colors Guy. Man those are some ugly seems on th U/C legs there.

I layed down step one of the 15 I am going to have to go through to obtain the finish I want I my build. The NMF is dry and ready to be buffed. Tonight I should be able to mask it and then lay down the cool blue/green on the fuselage bottom and sides. This is going to be the most steps I think I have even done on one aircraft finish even.

Soulcrusher

Guywillikins, those are ugly seams. maybe replace em with alum tube/rod, make the thicky parts with a wrap of something like softened plastic and then shave off and glue on the square fitting thingers.

All this talk about legs and seams and shaving is raising my blood pressure!

Might be a job for Fritzi!

Crusher, 15 different paint colours? Wow, thats extreme. I think mine used about 9 different colours, including having to paint the yellow and red fuz band.

bondoman

Guywillikins, those are ugly seams. maybe replace em with alum tube/rod, make the thicky parts with a wrap of something like softened plastic and then shave off and glue on the square fitting thingers.

All this talk about legs and seams and shaving is raising my blood pressure!

Might be a job for Fritzi!

I hear you Billybob, and i would expect to do that on an old Airfix or FM kit, but not a brand spanking new Eduard kit. I emailed them and ill see. Ill also check the Eduard 190A kit i have to see if the legs are dodgy on there too. Talking of Dodgy legs, football tomorrow, Wish me luck,

...Guy