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

Geezer. Youre in pal! Welcome to the Group Build and youre in good company here bud.

Okay Mustang1989,

You talked me into it. Assuming this goes long enough, I may get something done. Hobby room has been drywalled, mudded and is awating paint, electric finishing work and floor. I can live w/o the flooring for a bit.

I've ordered two kits, Eduard 8187 Profipack Fw 190A-9 and the Eduard 84101 Fw 190D-9 Weekend Edition (both in 1/48), along with a couple of decal sheets that were on sale. Hope they arrive soon,  I'd hate to sick "killer" (aka Doodle) on them.

Probably start with the D-9 since in theory, it should be a bit simpler. Unh huh, sure, right....

That masking looks good Joe, let see some paint on her!!

Ok guys. Sorry I've been out for a little bit. Things have gotten a little crazy around here but back on board.

Joe Rix: Good progress. Lots of masking for you I see!

Archangel: Man thats some good stuff going on in that engine/ gun bay!

Bill: Bill! You are the wildman! That engine looks super!

Jester: I'll get with you on the make and model and post them in the intro buddy! Good to see you back in here.

Will get back on here and check on everybody's progress. Good to be back in here amongst fellow modellers.

OK Compadres, I have actually made some degree of progress. I applied the initial silly putty mask and sprayed the RLM 84. I'll be applying another light coat for touch up and then mask off the 84 in order to shoot the RLM 75 followed by some more putty and finally the RLM 83. Although I like masking with silly putty the issue is that of being able to handle the model without smooshing the putty. Thus, I utilize a wood dowel with blu tac to hold the model.  It feels good to actually get going again although what has taken me a couple of weeks to do Doug would have done in 5 minutes. Anyhoo, on to a couple of pics.

2 Eduard 190s??!! Holy Jester, break out the Xanax!!

The 109 is just an ordinary build not attached to any GB. It's the Cyber-Hobby 32nd E4 kit and I've really been wanting to build it for a long time. Putting it on hold is actually probably a good thing as I am having tons of trouble deciding on markings. I wanted to build Wolfgang Lippert's mount that he was shot down in, but I think he was flying a F4 at the time.

LOL... Thats funny Eric! Hey, is your 109for a GB or just taking a break? Cant wait to see your "dual" build take shape. I have an Eduard 1/48 D-9 on ice right now until I finish (haven't started yet) a 109.

Doug

Live and learn it is! I am waiting on a few more items and I will put my 109 build on hold and kick off a dual 190 build using Eduards D9 and A8. Could someone find me an old priest and a young priest??

Gettin quiet in here lately. I've been busy with some stuff round the house so not much building happenin. My putty job went fair. Painting is slowly coming along. Creating a nicely messed up bird aint easy, especially when your primer turns out to be worth every penny of $3.47. Not so crazy about  Ace Hardware paint anymore. My generic "Now" primer is much better. Live n learn, right?

Hi Guys!

I've been watching the builds from a distance, and it's been killing me that I've got photos that might be useful to y'all, but I haven't been able to do anything about it till now! I had the good luck to visit the BMW Museum in Munich where they have a pretty nice 801 engine on display; I started a thread about it over at the Aircraft category; the link is here:

Detailed Photos of BMW 801

I also was able to visit the Luftfhart Museum Hannover-Laatzen where they have a Fw 190 A8 (rebuilt from original parts from several aircraft) and a BMW 801. I'll have those up as soon as possible - maybe they will be of use to you.

Keep up the great work!

Best regards,

Mike

Scott, YOWZA! That is some spectacular detailing. I am really impressed with the workmanship. Just gorgeous. I've got to tell you all something about this here GB. Just when you have seen some jaw dropping model someone steps up and raises the bar. Just an excellent GB with some very talented individuals.

JOE RIX

Yeehaw, we've got ourselves about a flurry of activity here. I best be to catchin' up.

Joe - No doubt that she's shaping up beautifully. Just an excellent build.

Bill - Sorry to here that you'll be buttoning up all that wonderful work you put in. Regardless you should be really proud of the work your doing.No doubt that styrene shims can save a poor fit.

Eric - Really glad to hear that your going to rejoin us. Looking forward to what you've got in store for us.

 I'm actually making some movement on my F-8. Wrestled a bit with the canopy headrest as I was painting and detailing it. Broke it in half, glued it backed together. Broke it again after I finished it while I pulled it from  the blue tac. Reglued, resanded and repainted it and now she be good to go. Sprayed the yellow wing tips this morning and now I'm masking for the upper camouflage.

Thanks JOE. Hey, I too broke my canopy/headrest assy TWICE! Mine (old 80s Hasegawa 1/32) was designed totally wrong and didn't take correction kindly.

I'm in the priming and body gap filling stage of mine now. Feels good to finally start to see the plane's shape coming together. I guess it's not gonna look 1/2 bad when I'm done. 

Rigidrider

Great solution Bill!  You had mentioned earlier your building for some body, An old Wurger pilot? That would be so cool to have an actual pilot directing your hand! But again, Great solution!

Doug (RR)

Doug, no,  my neighbor asked me to build this for him. It's from his old stash and, as payment, he gave me a Revell 1/32 scale Me-109G. He's only in his late 50s and has never done any military service but was afflicted with serious arthritis already in his 40s. He's had his knees replaced, his feet rebuilt using epoxy and cadaver material to create new cartlidge. He requires regular cortisone injections for his shoulders and lately his hands have become useless for manipulating small objects. All his life while raising his 4 kids he was slowly amassing this LARGE model stash for building later in life and now, he can't build them. He is a major WWII buff and loves everything Luftwaffe, especially the Abbyville Boys, JG26, and of course the "Butcher Bird". When we talked about what paint scheme and markings he wanted, he seemed to gravitate towards the Galland bros, mainly "Wutz", so I decided to build it as Wilhelm's last plane, the Fw-190A5 as it appeared during his fatal mission Aug 17th, 1943.

Now I haven't actually seen Al's (my neighbor) stash, but it must fill a good sized closet. He has talked about having a Corsair, Blenheim, Lancaster,  various armor and helicopters. I also have his Hawker Typhoon to build for him in D-Day Invasion style. Last year I built a Stuka for him but I botched the clearcoat so I kept it. Gotta fix that one day...........

Umm, talk about putting people to shame ...... Geees.  I was going to help you research some details for your build but I couldn't find anything on what the landing gear tire pressure should be. This is the look on my face when viewing Scotts work :    Wow, man! That is outstanding. I can't wait to see the finished product.

Good luck with your surgery.

Oh my Scott, does that thing run?  Looks very sharp.  Best of luck w/surgery.

Looking very sharp so far Scott, no shame in taking your time on a build, I know I do quite often!! Best of luck with your surgery.

Yep, looking very nice, Scott! Good luck from me as well.

Cheers, Clemens

Looking good Scott! Luck w/surgery...

Doug

Hi ya, thought I'd check in and post a few progress pics here, been slow going but I'm still slugging away at it. You guys with your complete builds are putting me to shame, they all look outstanding!

I been searching and searching for something to show the wiring layout particularly for the gun deck without much luck so I'm doing a little creative guesswork here.

Finally decided to mount the engine onto the mounts so to continue with the wiring.

Once I'm done will touch up everything. Using Tacky Glue than following up with thin superglue.

Adding connecting rods and will throw in more wiring along the sides and upper engine.

This is where I get slowed down by adding maybe too much like the windscrenn washer lever and tubing. It may not even be visible once pit is button up. Well I will know it's there. Have the Eduard placard set and will add some more detail to the instrument panel.

Got sugery on the 10th and hoping to get more done while I'm off for a week.

Scott

Great solution Bill!  You had mentioned earlier your building for some body, An old Wurger pilot? That would be so cool to have an actual pilot directing your hand! But again, Great solution!

Doug (RR)

Yeehaw, we've got ourselves about a flurry of activity here. I best be to catchin' up.

Joe - No doubt that she's shaping up beautifully. Just an excellent build.

Bill - Sorry to here that you'll be buttoning up all that wonderful work you put in. Regardless you should be really proud of the work your doing.No doubt that styrene shims can save a poor fit.

Eric - Really glad to hear that your going to rejoin us. Looking forward to what you've got in store for us.

 I'm actually making some movement on my F-8. Wrestled a bit with the canopy headrest as I was painting and detailing it. Broke it in half, glued it backed together. Broke it again after I finished it while I pulled it from  the blue tac. Reglued, resanded and repainted it and now she be good to go. Sprayed the yellow wing tips this morning and now I'm masking for the upper camouflage.

Excellent idea Bill, it's a shame we have to come up with those tips but ill-fitting kits make us better (not necessarily happier) modelers.

Reasoned

Bill, I suspect Mr. Tank would not approve of you chucking two cylinders on his butcher bird. 

Reasoned, I don't know if Tank himself would be happy about those cylinders, but they were definitely Luftwaffe approved. They issued the supercharger kits to be added on to those who required better high altitude performance. I kinda like em. They make the bird even uglier.

 I taught myself a little trick here today and thought I'd share. Might be something common but new to me . . . . .  I ended up with some moderate gaps between my wings and wing roots that normally I would gob full of putty and then sand forever. However, structurally it would've left me a little weak as there is little other glued area keeping the wings on. So, I used thin strips of Evergreen styrene, cut with a slight curve, held it in the gap as flush to the surfaces as possible on one end and dabbed there with liquid cement. As that started to hold, I gradually laid the strip further along into the gap, chasing it with cement until I had the whole strip inserted flush along the gap. 

The strips filled the gap enough to cause the liquid cement to wick over to both sides of the gap. I applied a second dab of cement along the gap for good measure. Now, the gap will be as strong as a tight joint and will require very little, if any, putty. 

I hope this helps someone else with a crappy wing/fuse joint. I'm much happier with these results than I would've been had I just puttied.

Bill, I suspect Mr. Tank would not approve of you chucking two cylinders on his butcher bird. 

Sorry for the late post Doug but just had to comment on the superb job on the 190!  That finish and scene are terrific.  You can just imagine a cold Russian spring, with a worn and tired 190.  Bravo! 

  Man, You guys are the best! Thats why I keep building here with you all.No better group anywhere... And I mean that .

  Joe (M) As always you do exceptional work and VERY intricatly detailed and executed, I love watching your stuff come together.Bravo!

  Joe R, Thank you my friend... I usually age in steps, I just cant bring my self to do a "New Pristene" aircraft. I have always loved the battered , war weary look. What I don't do that alot of builders do is worry too much about overspray,Now, Being realistic about it too much will ruin your build, but a little is what I  mean. Keeping in mind that I almost always work with acrylics, when the main theme is complete, and that is befor decals, I lightly spray(airbrush) a section at a time and GENTLY wash the overspray INTO the finish not off of, with straight rubbing alcohol and a soft bristle brush.I will repeat this until I get the desired look,Not too clean, but not too muddy looking. This usually leaves a nice blended finish. After that, gloss coat, Decal, gloss coat again, flat coat (to desired look) and lastly again lightly wash with straight rubbing alcohol. Alcohol has a great way of flattening your paints out, and depending on the paint will work on enamels too. Then if desired I lightly bry brush some "chips and scratches in" and depending on goal, maybe wash with a sepia artist oil paint (Weak mix) Really depends on the look your going for. Just practice and you will (I think) like the results,I hope!

  Jester, Clemens... Thank you, Not bad for a $1.50 Kit I found at a yard sale huh? (LOL) Really With all the extras, I still only have about $35 bucks wrapped up in it. For awhile at first I REALLY had doubts about it , I thought I had finally bitten off more then I could chew, But Day by day, it started looking like something. Nathan kinda goaded me into it when he said that 48s are screaming for detail too! (lol) I usually stay in the 32nd 35th range. Thank you again guys!

  Bill... Thank you! wow what a compliment! Listen, from what I see you doing... Its looking great! If they went togethetr without problems and any one could do em...It would be a real boring hobby! Improvise, adapt and over come...(sorry the old Marine coming out in me)(ha) Your doing a good job, dont sweat it! any one here would stop and maybe offer some help if you wanted. I dont see where you need it though! Watching with interest!

Well my friends, I as said earlier need to take a short break in the action, But will be back in a while, I would love to squeeze in another "Dora". I'll still be here watching these beautiful builds come together! Oh and Joe... as always the choice of pictures is all your fancy. Select any one you want!

Doug (RR)

Looking forward to seeing another190 outtta you. Fw190's are just the coolest aren't they?

I've been reading about every build log I can get my mouse on and it seems to be a mixed bag with lots of folks having trouble and about the same number not having so much trouble. Got to get this 32nd scale 109E knocked outta da way and I plan on diving right into those 2 190's! It should be interesting and good exercise for the nanny bot if nothing else....

lts not impossible by any means...................I'll defenitely be with you all the way