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

I was actually planning on hosting a series of GBs with a duration of 6 months each. The themes of those GBs are German (very) late-war planes. The first plane would be the Komet and the Salamander is #2. How about making the 2nd one for the 262 and having the Salamander in 2015? I could extend it to a full year if 6 months aint enough...

I'd rather see a GB dedicated to all German Jets/rocket propelled aircraft. More subjects thus more participation. Now that I think about it, GBs for 2014 are plenty enough already. I forgot Bish's Stuka GB is coming up. Us Luftwaffe builder's will be busy til 2015 already.

I can see planning GBs for 2014 but 15?? Let's all try to keep the scope of the GBs just lined up with the next year for now. Before you know it we will have GBs planned out for 2020!

Hi Guys! It is a refreshing feeling to be able to post some progress pics for you all. I have applied a pin wash along the panel lines using MIG Productions Abteilung modeling oils thinned with turpenoid. Some of the panel lines were a bit to shallow to effectively take the wash and consequently are lighter than other surrounding lines. I will touch these up with pastels. This was then sealed up with a coat of Tamiya flat cote. And that is where I am currently at. My next step will be to tone the camo and decals down a bit with Doug's suggested elixir of rubbing alcohol tinted with Tamiya gray.

Ooohh, looking good Joe. I really like the camo. You got the look of the real machine there. Looking forward to the final weathering.

I'll second that one Joe! That is definitely a one of a kind scheme! Glad to see the progress pal!

Man, shes looking great j

Joe...careful on that top coat now... I usually start at about 80% thinner to 20% color to start with, and lightly mist it on, you wont see the results when wet, after dried it will show results. Hint... a hair dryer works wonders at thisstage...

Looking fwd to seeing the effect you choose.

Doug

and like Doug says, and I stress, LOW PRESSURE!!!

Joe, that is looking fantastic!  I really envy you guys that throw down complex camouflage schemes so effectively.  Regarding the toning down of decals technique you're going to use, I'll have to go back through the pages to find out more about it.  

I managed to get a wee bit done on mine.  I ran a .5mm pencil lead lightly along all the panel lines and then tried a bit of work with pastels for the exhaust stains although I'm not sure if it is dark enough.  Got the Future sprayed on and have started to decal.  Once that's all done, I'll try my hand at some more weathering and dulling down the decals to reduce the contrast.

I didn't paint the plate behind the exhaust black, just kind of copied from the picture on the Eagle Cal sheet.

It's slowly getting there...

Allen

Allen,

it looks great so far, you are a brave dude,  those white/winter scheme's scare me to death.  Hopefully I get some bench time for my two 190's this weekend.  Supposed to -17 F  tonight

John

Allen... shes looking good, I had read somewhere that most of the exhaust panels on your bird were either painted dark red or black th attempt to hide the exhausting stains. Yours looks just fine, also keeping in mind that in winter jammies and a yellow campaign band, shes in the dead of a Russian winter, so heavy black stain is orrect, being the engines were run much richer due to the extreme cold temps. During the summer the staining looks much lighter , more brown and grey shade. As you have her painted it looks very convincing.

John...-17 what!!! HOLY CRAP MAN??? Lol, makes me glad I live in Atlanta! LOL...

Looks nice Chanter. Great gloss and paint work. Exhaust stains look good. You can go over them again with pastels if you wish once the model is flat coated.

John- Good ol MN weather huh? We just got out after our first major blizzard of the season.

Joe, thats some damn fine work and a complicated scheme not to mention your recovery efforts are top notch!

Allen, great look start on a winter schemed 190! Got another Dortenmann bird in the stash that has a winter scheme to round out my Dortenmann collection. Will be following along to see your weathering!!

Ya and didn't even go in the ditch.  just love shoveling 9 inches of snow by hand.   Good thing is it's so cold out you might as well go to the work bench and get something done,  no one can really blame you for not wanting to go outside. i just keep the washing machine and dishwasher going and the wife is happy and I get somethings done.

John

Yeah, but I have kids that wanna play in the snow piles. It is prime bench season though...

So do I,  and 2 dogs.  Kinda crazy, but I'm on 5 acres so I don't really have to be out there with them

Joe (Rix), masterful work on that camo, really! It remains a hoot for me to see these different schemes come together from you experienced guys. Really, really helpful. ...more on that below.

Allen, I've never seen a winter scheme before period, let alone watched one in progress. Looking great and I'm really glad you are sharing this with us. Will be great to watch this come together as you move forward!

Doug, glad you posted the hint about the ISO/grey paint mix looking different when dried. One of the major skill level things I am facing is I just can't seem to stop spaying too heavily. I don't want to, I know not to, and it's always 'one more pass', etc. It'll come with time.

And Joe, how low is low (pressure, re the above)?

Everyone, I got to pondering this morning why is that in years past I read excellent how to articles, probably in FSM, and it all looked so easy yet I was never able to make much progress. However, by participating in two GB's here so far, things ARE starting to progress. Just musing.....

John, I looked but cannot find your initial post about MN winter weather. But I can surmise what's going on and I always think northern IN (right in Great Lakes lake effect snow belt) is the winter armpit of the US. I don't think I could handle -17 yet!

Yeah Greg, I know what you mean... you just have to practice self control and an immense amount of patience.  The aforementioned mix was just a starting point and oft times works well for most applications,  but depending on the scheme and desired effect you do, it can vary.  Now when I choose todo these  schemes,  I try to shoot between 5 and 10 psi being the mixture is so thin.  After a mist coat that looks like youve done nothing, dry with a hair drier if desired, and see what it looks like. Repeat as desired... (ha) Good luck and looking forward to seeing results.

Doug

Thanks Doug. That's helpful. I forgot to mention that in addition to my 'just one more pass' (that usually ends up being several more passes for reasons I cannot logically explain), I also have no patience waiting for coats or passes to dry. Thinking this is why my matte coats are too often coming out a bit white and milky looking. Never thought of grabbing the hair dryer between coats, definitely will try! Thanks, buddy!

I think it's time for me to stop thinking about slowing down and make a conscientious effort to do so! This is a mystery to me because in life I do everything slowly. But when I get an airbrush in my hand I don't. Go figure.

Thanks for the kind words all.

Doug - Would your technique apply to this scheme as well? (Tamiya Grey / Thinner) I will be looking to take away the starkness of the decals against the white and the fuselage band. 

Nathan - I will most likely try to get the staining a little darker...at least closer to the engine.  I can go over with pastels once the dull coat is on, and then I would shoot another dull coat to protect it, correct?

I just happened across an old picture of the exact bird I'm doing(!!)  I linked to it below, as I'm not sure about copyright rules etc...regardless, it is a great shot and really shows the staining associated from winter weather.

http://www.asisbiz.com/il2/Fw-190A/Fw-190A-JG51/images/Focke-Wulf-Fw-190A3-Stab-I.JG51-(~+-Russia-winter-dispersal-area-1942-43-01.jpg

Allen

Great pic Chanter. I've seen a ton of winter camo 190 pics but not that particular bird. You basically got it, but don't seal in the pastels with another dull coat. No need too, plus it could fade out the effect alot. Or, if you have an airbrush, spray on the exhaust stains with a brown/black mix.

Chanter:That's a great start on that winter camo! I was going to add and Nathan already covered this , that  the pastel effect is one of the last things to go on. Sometimes the dullcoat takes away almost all of the effect that you're after when using pastels like you are. NIce job so far buddy!

Greg:I feel the same way you do pertaining to all of the knowledge I've gained 1) while in the forum and 2)certainly while I'm in a GB. You can't help but learn. It's magnetic!!!

Chanter, that's a cool pic and how neat that it's the same bird you're building.

Just an observation because you had mentioned maybe going heavier with the exhaust stains, and you may have already noticed this, but...... as a guy who likes to take and process pics, I notice the pic is exceptionally contrasty, which is making the exhaust stains look a lot blacker than they really are.

Nathan, thanks again...Pretty much everything I'm doing is a first for me, other than just slappin' them together as fast as possible when I was a kid, so I appreciate the tips.

I did not realize that about the pic Greg, thanks for that. :)

Chanter... Yes you can use the mix as described, it shouldnt affect the other paint, but the way I do alot of mine is to use a .02 or .025 tip and needle, I also remove the nozzle at the very tip of the AB (and for goodness sake be careful with the needle) with the tip removed its exposed and is easily damaged. Then I get up close and personal (about 1/4 in. ) and trace over the insignias lighty, dry, then hit again if desired, until you get the look you want, again, please fully dry between applications so as not to fade too much. Once I get the markings the way I want, I re fit the air nozzle, crank the pressure up to about 15 to 20 psi and draw back to between 4 to 6 inches and mist coat the whole model to blend in the fading, again, repeat until you achieve the desired effect.

Now if I may, most all winter camo was a form of whitewash, appiled as best as they could sometimes even brushed on. I have seen some very cool pictures where as the winter wore on the "Wash" would begin to fade badly and the perminent paint below would start to show through, and on the national insignias the wash would actually stain down across them making some very war weary looking effects. But any way, Thats how I do mine most of the time, and hope I didnt confuse too much,,, Practice,practice,practice! Ha...

Take care... Shes really looking good!

Doug

Thank You Gentlemen for the positive feedback. Helps me to feel that I am on the right track here.

Allen: Absolutely terrific work so far. Your exhaust via pastels looks great to me.I, for one, am a big fan of using pastels for all sorts of weathering and detailing. Given that, I had a thought, albeit a completely random thought, on maybe utilizing pastels on your panel lines to kind of give a bit of a "dirtier" appearance on the white wash. It can be a slow tedious process but, it does wield nice results. Here's a pic of my Spitfire Mk Vb that I did for a GB a couple of years ago. I completely weathered and highlighted with pastels including panel lines and panel shading.

Greg; True that what you say about enhancing one's skills here on the forums. I certainly have a healthy library of how to books that are very helpful and have contributed to developing my skills. But, here amongst these fabulous folks, one finds an incredible amount of different techniques that are more accurately described and demonstrated. More importantly though is the folks here teach you the techniques and then follow that up with immense amounts of encouragement and inspiration.

True dat Joe... Fine looking Spit there...very nicely done!

Say it again Reverend!!!!!!

Doug - thanks for going over that technique for me.  It sounds like something I'll definitely need to try on a "practice" model before trying it on a production version.   All the same, I've copied and printed the instructions and added it to my vastly growing binder of tips-n-tricks. 

Joe - That's Spitfire is superb, a real stunner.  Thanks for the feedback re: the pastels.  I was planning to try and dirty it up with some Florry washes before dull coating, to see if I can give it a not so pristine finish.  I also have a bunch of PDFs printed (forget what site I found them at) that shows how to use pastels on panel lines etc.  That's also where I got the pencil lead idea from.

Everyone - I am really enjoying my first Group Build and you guys have been fantastic in your encouragement and suggestions.  I have a couple of 109s and  P-38 I wanted to get at, but am learning so much here I may just pick up another 190 so I can stick around!