Fw 190 Butcher Bird 2013 (extended to June 2014) Group Build

All right, everyone. I'm game for this group build. I am going with the Eduard 1/48 scale Fw 190A-8 Profipack. I am probably going to go with the kit decals Blue "8" Erika from IV/JG 5 in Herdia. A little Norway action!

Lovely work on the engine. Some great added detail as well. Nice.

That's a really creative idea to use Mustang gear covers for the mounting arms!

Stunning painting work as well!

Man Doug, I have to say that using P-51 gear doors for your engine mounts is a might better than nice. That right there is down right brilliant! And fantastic job on fashioning them to represent the mounts. I am not worthy.

Thank you, Eric!

Greg- Great work on the wheel bay! Looks nice and grungy as I would suspect one would look!!

Doug-Your D-9 is going to look great with that engine displayed. Very nice substitution for engine mounts with the gear bay doors!!

Doug, very impressed by your detail work. You can give me detail painting and finishing lessons anytime. How did you achieve the stain blotches on the gun mounts? I really like them.

I'd be interested to hear how you get along with the Vallejo paints. Maybe we can compare notes along the learning curve.

And thanks for commenting on my wheel wells.

Joe, to you, too.

Not sure whats going on with posting but the pictures are not in order that I inserted, Oh well, Thank you guys for the ongoing encouragement and compliments, Building wouldnt be half as much fun, if I couldnt share my results, and see how others apply their talents too. I do like watching everyones builds come together and learning your secrets to success too!

Doug

OK, I got a bit more done this morning, I need some mounting brackets to hold engine to firewall due to there being none supplied with the engine kit from Aires, I do wish they would start including in kit. I dug through my "spart part" box,(leftovers from past builds) and found a set of landing gear doors from a Monogran 1/48 P51-D mustang.I just skeletonized the framse and they worked great, Got the Engine mounted and began the detailing, I still have a ways to go on Gundeck and engine combo, but the wash is applied and they are mated now, Like I said earlier I am cutting and fileing to blend the Eduard firewall into the engine so it blends into the shape of the engine. Thanks

Doug

Doug: Truly Impressive work! I can't wait to see more pics from you!

I use Tamiya's tweezers. I never had the problem of mine being magnetic... I'm just figuring out how to work with all that PE stufff. The small parts are no big problem, but the large part (floor plating) still scare me a little...

Greg - Impressive start. You indeed, flat coats and washes do not mix well. Yet, you did a nice job in painting to rectify the mess.

Doug - Ho hum, just some more magnificent, awesome, remarkable, fantastic modeling from you. LOL. Seriously, very very nice work.

Good progress Doug. Nice work on that gun platform and guns. I'm liking the engine too but there's just something about that platform. Lookin good!

Well since I cant figure out how to comment on pictures as they are being posted... I started the Gun Deck assy, Got the firewall started which also contains the back half of the Jumo engine since there is no engine intended, but the back half is visible through the landing gear area. I had to cut off the back half of the resin engine and attach to the mount, then cut, sand and file to make it look like a complete engine, those pictures to follow soon.

Doug

Greg... Good looking start, I've not used Vallejo paints, as until just recently I was having trouble locating, but finally found a local source. They appear to be great paints from every thing Ive seen them used on.I will try some soon,

Clemens... My deal with PE parts (I love PE) is that sometimes the tweezers are slightly magnetic from being ground on, and the @#*%%^ PE sticks magneticly instead of to the super glue! (LOL) I do have one good set of stainless tweezers that work pretty well though.

Well, I'm going to try to post a little more progress, Not much to post this weekend, Yard work between the rain drops, and the high humidity has made paint very iffy...

Thanks Clemens. :)

Looking really nice, buddy!

Ah, I see. Cool that your LHS can get this sort of thing. At mine (both of them), nobody would have a clue what an 'Eduard' is. Please remember to take some pics whenever you use the engine parts!

Time for my first progress pic. Not too exciting to view, but doing it was for me.

I'm new to building sub-assemblies then painting them. I was always a paint, scrape, assemble guy. Also new to going beyond painting whatever color instructions say.

My goal was to do this in an afternoon, with some visual interest beyond painting it all RLM 2 and satin black on whatever those two things are. This subassy would have taken me 2 weeks on my previous build.

Not perfect, should have left well enough alone because it looked good before I messed it up playing with another new product (Vallejo black wash), but it looks better in person (really, it does), and I am ready to move on. :)

Base coat of Vallejo black primer (because I just got it today and wanted to play)

Uneven coat of Vallejo RLM 2

Some light and dark drybrushing with Vallejo Model colors

Make a mess with Vallejo wash, forgetting it needs to be gloss coated. D'oh!

Spot spray some RLM 2 to hide some of the mess

Get called to dinner

Hey, I had fun! (got a bunch of Vallejo colors, primers, mediums, etc to play with today). Thanks for looking and tolerating my ramble.

I order it either at Hannants or ask the owner of my LHS (we are pretty good friends by now) to get it for me.

I'm crious about that PE set. I never used any PE stuff for engines (only resin and wire). I just bought the set because of the access panels, but the gun bays are an awesome addition and the engine details look gorgeous! I'll use the PE parts for the gear bays on my other A-8 though...

You should have fun with that PE set, Clemens. I look fwd to seeing how the engine detail parts work, never seen it done.

Curious how you acquire your Eduard stuff over there. I ordered direct first time not realising that Squadron and Sprue Bros here in the states carry it. It was kind of fun getting a package from Czechoslovakia, actually. :)

I wanted to keep the right side of my A-8/R-2 closed up, remember? Not anymore!!! I'll open both engine panels up now. I can build my other A-8 closed up anyway...

What a gorgeous PE set Clemens!! I guess I know which one I will be picking up for my next A8 project which will be completely opened up. Dayum!

I just ordered some small goodies at Hannants.

An Eagle Calsheet for "Black <I" and an Eduard PE set for my A-8/R2.

The PE stuff looks reaally nice and includes parts for dressing up the engine, wheel bays, gun bays and some other stuff, but just have a look at some pics of it on their website:

http://www.eduard.com/store/Eduard/Fw-190A-8-1-48-1-1.html?cur=1&listtype=search&searchparam=fw%20190%20a-8

I'll only use the PE for the engine and the left gun bay on my R2. The rest will be added to the normal A-8.

Thanks for the encouragement folks.

Clemens - Hold tight on the kudos as I have not fixed it yet. Still sanding.

Greg -  Your Welcome. At the start of this GB I encouraged everyone to try and show their process rather than just show the finished product. I haven't been overly good at it but I try to show what I am doing. We have a tendency to assume everyone knows what were doing yet we have some folks that are new or returning that benefit from a visual "how to". 

Nathan - You are indeed correct. My plan is to run some Mr. Surfacer 1000 along the edges and feather them out. Thank You for the assistance though.

Keep at it Joe Rix! I know those sanding edges can be a pain to blend in and hide but try using a primer to help fill in the low areas and make sure you are wet sanding; it seems to work better.

Thanks for taking the time to show us your efforts, Joe.

I thought it was just me when I was unable to sand the chip lines smoothly after my problem with paint lifting off. Not to say I'm happy you are having this problem, not at all.

You are showing better stick to it-iv-ness than I, I just sanded, painted, was unhappy with the results and called it good anyway.

Hang in there buddy Joe. There's plenty of time left there reverend!!

That's some really nasty paint chipping you had there, Joe. I'm glad you managed to fix it...

Alrighty, Let's continue on with my efforts to fix the area where the paint lifted off when I attempted to remove the decal. I regret that I did not get a pic of every step but, I believe you'll get the idea. My first attempt was to sand the edges of the paint in hopes of feathering it enough that it would not be apparent. I also chipped more of the paint off to the forward and upper panel lines. Here is what it looked like after masking and prior to painting:

Well, after the paint went on it looked like a big pit. Completely unsatisfactory. So, I further chipped the paint back in a straighter line. Sort of creating a false panel line:

Sanded the edges and painted:

Still looked horrible. So sanded the edges trying to smooth it out. I then considered calling it good and just complete the model and chalk it up to a learning experience. But, last night I I decided that I have invested too much time and effort into this to just accept that big square pit. So, I got serious. Stripped the Balkenkreuz and got with some serious sanding of the whole area in order to smooth it out.

So, this is where I am currently at. The edges are not quite as prominent now but, I'll do some further sanding and then some complete remasking and repainting the afflicted area. At the very least it should look better and not quite as prominent as the first 2 attempts. If any of you have any further ideas on repairing this I greatly welcome them.

This is a perfect example that although something may not be absolutely perfect it's best to LEAVE WELL ENOUGH ALONE!!!!

...Hey, whatever it takes to get that build of yours moving along so we can all see it in its finished glory!

Now THAT was what I needed!!! Thanks Nathan!! Glad youre here. Thanks for your efforts also Clemens!