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

Glad to see you making some good progress Frank. Nice fix on the alxes to. The look spot on from the picture.

Mike the big boy is looking good.

Jeremy there is a second antenna behind the DF loop. I have a good picture of it. I can scan it for you later tonight and post it.

Soulcrusher

Frank, great update, I can only repeat what the others have said, great eye for the detail and it's going to look very special, like what you've done with the bomb racks.

Damon, stunning paintwork, that paint looks so thin but vibrant, beautiful!

Mike, the engine in the cowl looks fantastic, it really is a shame so little will be seen, keep up the great work. Cockpit looks nice in the background as well.

Jeremy, your paint looks beautifully smooth, the surface detail looks great and it looks like you've built your 190 up flawlessly so far

Top work fellas

Cheers...

Hello Everyone! I'm quite a bit late to be joining the group build, but thanks to Frank's encouragement I'm all in. And, I'm really impressed with all of the great work done so far - you guys rock!

My project is the Eduard Fw 190 D-9; and I see that many others in this GB are building the same kit. I'm planning on finishing it in Hans Dortenmann's yellow 1. However, I'm still a way away from having to worry about exterior paint and finish, so that could change. But there's something I really like about the guy who painted the tail of his plane yellow, especially given the state of the war at that point. Kind of the same way I admire Hans Bär for putting a 13 on his plane. 

So, here's the reference material I'll be trying to use:

I say trying because there's a lot of info to digest there.

It seems that almost everyone who writes about building any Eduard 190 seems to have some trouble with the engine bulkhead/firewall. I was browsing the Eduard site and downloaded their June newsletter, and found this:

That's not fair! There's nothing that says anything about how the parts fit up. I've got a 190 A-8 going on the back burner (now) that I've had a bear of a time getting the engine to sit properly. But that's because I assembled the firewall with a square. Who knew it was supposed to be 93˚?!? 

So, for the Dora, I decided not to mess around with guessing - I started with the two main parts being held together with 5 minute epoxy, and when it started to set up I installed it in the fuselage and held the parts in place till they were dry. Then I welded them together with plastic cement. After the two main parts dried overnight, I did the same thing with the remaining part. 

So, using my square I can see that each angle is a bit over 90˚, so i hope this fixed it this time around! Here's pics of the completed firewall:

I've got a lot of work done on the cockpit and landing gear well, and will post them in coming days. 

See y'all soon!

Mike

What a lot of great progress work going on. Im really enjoying all the progress photos. Keep em comming guys

Steve

Thanks guys, much appreciated!

Damon- That is a sweet looking TA-152, you make it look easy!  Camo looks very good from here.

Mike- A bit of a blessing on the radial FW's, don't need to detail them much as you can't see it anyway!

Jeremy- Great looking progress there on the Dora, looks like you are about ready for some paint!  Good luck with the gear on it.   Hope SC can get your antenna question answered for you- I looked through my references and came up with zilch.  If not, mayby Mike (benzdoc) can help out with his more than ample library.

Mike (benzdoc)- aboard, glad to have you here!  great googly moogly... that's a lot of reference books you have there.  I know who we'll be coming to for info now LOL.  That is a LOT of info you have at your fingertips.

OK Jeremy here is a picture of the IFF antenna on the bottom of the fuselage behind the DF loop antenna. Hope it helps. I you need a the exact location on the antenna take a look vack at the pictures of my finished D-9. There is a good shot of the bottom of the model that should help you.

Soulcrusher

Tbolt that is some nice work on the bigun'!!!

Jeremy very smooth paintwork on the Dora!!

Benzdoc aboard and looking forward to seeing more progress pics, you are off to a fine start!!!!!! You have Vol.1 of Luft camo & markings!!!!!! I have Vol.2 and am trying my .......hardest to get a copy of #1 !!!!! At a price though!!

Welcome aboard Mike, great to have ya.

Jeremy, superb looking paintwork. Smooth as a babies bum, chum. Looking forward to seeing some more paint on the beast,

Frank, your almost ready for paint too bud. Nice looking work on the hangers.

I may be in with another Dora! I saw in a magazine review, a 'Big Tail' conversion, including decals.

http://www.a2zeemodels.co.uk/focke-wulf-fw-190d9-broad-chord-ta152-tail-and-decal-set-5008-p.asp

I ordered the piece, all i need now is another Dora LOL. Day off tomorrow, so we'll see,

...Guy

Hi again, have any of you seen this beauty yet?

http://scaleplasticandrail.com/kaboom/index.php/component/content/article/277

It comes out at 9,500 yen, which i think is around $108. or £78. Its got me interested,

...Guy

When you buy, Guy, replace those over scale gear doors with brass. Then you'll be right as rain...

Thanks for the warm welcome guys, I really mean that.

Frank, Simpilot (I can't seem to find your real name anywhere!) - I'm very fortunate to have put together this collection of reference books. The Luftwaffe Camouflage and Markings Vol. 1 was really hard to find! I ended up buying it from a book seller called Alibris, never had heard of them before, but the book came from a bookstore in New Zealand. It's not in perfect condition, but I'm thankful for having pulled it down. 

Here's some more pictures of the cockpit at it's current state:

As you can see, I'm using Eduard's detail set for this kit. The funny part is all of the cockpit parts could be used on any Eduard 190; there's a bunch of useful stuff there. 

You probably also noticed the detail on the left side of the cockpit side; that tube/rod sticking out is the device that adjusts the tension of the throttle lever - and come to think of it you all probably already know that. The white styrene is the access panel / cover. It's probably out of scale, but some of the photos I've seen show it flush and some show it sticking out like you see here. So, my plan is to de-emphasize the thickness with 'reverse' weathering, if you will. 

Next, I've got to get the pedals in there, and start painting it all. 

Until next time, happy modeling!

Mike

Mike, name is Richie or Richard, or Rich, or (or you can call me JJ or you can call me J junior Johnson Or you....)sorry old commercial flashback< The office is shaping up nicely mate!!! Yes, having a very hard time finding that book. Had one site that was at a decent price but they wouldn't ship overseas!!! So will continue searching.

Guy if you get that kit, looks like all you'll need is a license to build, GEEZ that thing has everything in it!!!! No not the kitchen sink mind you!!! PM inbound mate

It is a fantastic kit. There are a few bits to watch out for but seeing as i built one not long ago, for this GB, i shopuld be golden....ish LOL,

...Guy

NP at all Richie, ive PM'ed the details.

I did buy the Eduard 190D. So add me for another, Frankengenius. This one is going to be a 'Big Tail'

...Guy

Great stuff there Mike, your work is very clean!  Keep those WIP pics coming!

Guy- You're an animal, but you knew that, didn't you?  You must have a fully staffed shop in the back room turning out 190's faster than the Reich could have ever hoped for LOL.  I added your big tail Dora to the list!

Thanks a million Guy!!!! Your tops and I wish I was your son!!

SC - Thanks for the help with the antenna! One meatball sammich in the mail sir!

Benzdoc - Nice start! The PE in your cockpit is really going to look good.

I managed to spray some RLM75 on today. It's only in one spot on this particular plane so that made things easy. I was having some trouble getting my paint thinned the way I like so I ended up with a little speckle of overspray here and there. Once the paint is dry, I'll lightly wet sand with some 1200 grit to take care of that problem.

Please excuse the messy bench. I know Mr. Crusher won't let it slide!

One strange thing is that the decal sheet says that the upper part of the wings should be primer grey. Anyone ever hear of this? Did the Germans use light grey primer like that? I assume that the tail should be painted the same way? Sounds odd, but if that's the way it is, that's the way I'll paint it!

Never mind the stains on the instruction sheet... I tend to drool.

Benzdoc Mike---Add my welcome aboard too.  From the look of your office, you are a PE master.    I am looking forward to watching your build.

Jeremy---Well done on the painting so far.  I'll defer to others more knowledgeable, but "primer gray" may mean RLM 02 the color my reference indicates was used overall on prototypes.  The same sorce indicates the Luftwaffe primer color was red.

Guy---I'm confused.  Have you built the Zoukei-mura Ta152H-1?  The site you linked says it doesn't come out until the fall of '10.

Jeremy I have never heard of the term primer grey in reguard to Luftwaffe. It could mean RLM 02 which was used in alot of the interior areas.  74 75 76 was the norm for the last three years of the war. unless you have pictures of the exact plane painted in any other colors this is what I would stick with. Even with the late war 190's being pieced together I still have never seen and with any outter panels in RLM 02. I have seen alot bare metail subsections some grayviolet panels on the underside and even the non standard greyblue that my 190 build had but not RLM 02.

Yes you better clean up that mess there young man! You know what I always say. A messy bench is an accident wating to happen usally resulting in something spilling on your build. Thanks for the meatball sammie! That hit the spot. The missus sure knows how to make em

Clebode Guy has super powers. He can build so fast somtimes he can complete a build before it has even been released! Seriously though what Guy posted was just some pictures of the new kit.

Soulcrusher

Jeremy- Hmmm... primer grey, huh?  Is that the Errormaster Aeromaster sheet?  That sounds unlikely, perhaps a faded 75 on the wings?  I'll have a looksie at my references to see if I can come up with anything.

Alrighty SC... these pics are for you!  Put the spiral decal on tonight, still a little wet in the photo.  I was a little concerned about how the Eduard spiral would fit onto the Tamiya hub, but it worked out fine.  After a satin coat, weathering to come!  Also painted the prop, with a 50/50 mix of Tamiya XF-27 Black Green and XF-1 Black. 

Jeremy- I did some digging through my very limited resources on the Dora, and found an interesting bit about "Yellow 10" also featured on that sheet.  The wings of this well-documented D-13 featured a heavily mottled application of 82/83 over the upper wing surfaces, but there was also a fair amount of 75 showing through those other colors.  Perhaps your aircraft was painted with 82/75 on the wings?

You know there is nothing I like more than a spiral painted spinner Frank! Looks lovely. You darkend up the blackgreen even more? Is it just the Tamiya that is off or do you think the MM colors is too green also?

Soulcrusher

Jeremy that is a great start to your painting!!!! Hope you find the right colors.

SC -- Tamiya Schwatrzgrun is definitely lighter than MM.

M/TB379

SC- M/TB379 is right- the Tamiya black green is considerably lighter than the MM stuff.  Darkening it up with some black seems to fix the problem.

I was just thinking about how many Mikes we have here!  I am seeing a definite correlation between excellent building and the name Mike.

Awwwwwwwwwww... Well, I have ten models on the bench right now, including finishing two old builds, so I'd better get busy and live up to the reputation we Mikes seem to be developing round here!

Cheers, Mike/TB379

Jeremy- Primer gray is indeed correct.  This is from the High Guru of the Fw 190, Jerry Crandall.  RLM 02 was out of general use by 1945, any use of it as an exterior camo color would have been exceptionally rare (read never).  When my A-8 is finished I'll probably be doing a Dora-9 as "Yellow 11" of II./JG 2 which featured the same color scheme on the wings, I'm considering using RLM 77.  Hopefully I'll be seeing one of my buddies at our club meeting today who is also exceptionally knowledgeable (he is credited in Jerry Crandall's books on the 190)  on the 190 today and I'll get some input from him.

Frank- Spinner looks great, I used a mask for the first time on mine and was pretty happy with the results.

Thanks so much to everyone for all the help! I really appreciate it!

Mike (Luftwaffle) - The closest color to a primer grey in my arsenal would be RLM63 which looks like it could work... not far off from 77 from what I can tell. Thanks again!

Jeremy id say it was the standard RLM 75. This is very grey and a standard colour for early Doras. So many people have tried analysing and dissecting black and white pictures to find subtle changes in hue but im sure this can all be accounted for by bad film, different lighting conditions, paint deterioration etc etc. Its only if someone has a piece in thier grubby mitts, that itself hasnt been degraded by time, can say catagorically if the colour is right or wrong,

...Guy