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

Matt......I have a mix of feelings on this one. The Eduard is accurate and mine is turning out good for me but pay attention to the detail of putting it together. It's not a very forgiving kit for the unwary builder. I'll be going with a Tamiya D-9, even though it suffers from inaccuracies. This A-8R2 I'm building has definetely been a friggin workout!

Isn't that crazy, you can get a decent priced Eduard kit Profipack with the goodies for usually much less than the old inaccurate Tamiya kit. But it does build nicer like you said.

You got it, unless I can find a decent priced Tamiya A8 (built one once, fell together like a dream).  I have the A8 profipack ($20.00 from squadron last week) and the Royal class boxing to choose from.

We'll be waiting Matt. Would that be an Eduard A-8?

Jester,

That is one sharp looking Dora!!  The finish is absolutely top shelf!  Keep up the sweet work and keep us posted.

FYI - I am tempted to drop an A8 on the bench here soon, but am currently finishing up a stalled F-16C and an early P-51D (as Passion Wagon), so it might be a few weeks before I can build another Wurger.

Matt

Nice catch Rix. What boxing is that Hase kit?

Joe - Veerry Nice! See what a little bit of practice and testing will get ya. I knew you could pull it off and you did a magnificent job.

Eric - Outstanding work there. It is indeed shaping up very nicely.

 Made it over to the LHS yesterday and snagged the 1/48 Hasegawa FW 190 A-8 out of the clearance pile. I showed remarkable restraint in that that was the only kit I picked up. Also the owner informed me that due to a manpower shortage for the WestFest Model Contest in Grand Junction, Co. I was going to be "Shang-haied" to help out. SWEET!!!

Hey Joe...

The 200 is a siphon fed gun I believe if memoyy serves, and a pretty good one,as you said, reliable. Easy to use and maintain. I have a 150 with all the needles and its the workhorse of the lot. The eclipse is a gravity feed isnt it?  If your having a trigger pull "catch" or something like that, check the stop at the rear of the trim tube and check the needle for true. just the slightest of bends will cause problems your describing. Also if you have a gravity feed brush, try unscrewing and removing the air cone on the needle guide (the very last tip) and you can almost get a line or pattern like a pencil line if paint and pressure are right. (This doesnt work well with siphon guns) , and practice , practice, practice.(ha) Takes alot of trial and error. I'm still learning after all these years and someone always comes up with new tricks!

Take care Joe,,,

Doug

Ok everybody. It's now official. This group build will be moved to the Group Build section (where it should have been in the first place) on Friday 29 March. Tim will be moving the whole build there so it will appear as it is here but in the correct section. It will still be accessible from "Your Discussions" so you will have no problem finding it. Just putting this out so that everyone is aware of the change. Thanks for everybodys participation, Joe

I will continue to post this once a day until Thursday. After that this build will be in the Group Build Section.

Sweet news Jester. That spinner spiral looks perfect. Parallel lines and everything. Nice gloss work, is that MM acryl gloss? ...And yeah, I hate those empty crosses. I keep some spare Montex masks handy just to help me paint those buggers. Sometimes though, the inner color was either 74 or 75, or even 81 or 83 instead of straight black, so check your refs. Nice work Man!

Jeeeeez! Out of the wood work this guy comes!! Great work Eric. Man I'm trying to get that good with an airbrush. What the hey are you talking about with that spinner? That looks terrific! Go to bed and get up and look at that thing again buddy! I've got a D-9 in the works . Should be here by Saturday!!

Mustang, that mottle is looking super!! Whatever your doing ,keep it up!!

Got my Dora glossed and decaled tonight. I decided to leave most of the stenciling off as according to Dortenmanns memoir, the aircraft had just been repainted in the 82/83 scheme so I am going with they didnt spend the extra time to reapply all the stencils.

And the dreaded spinner spiral decal. Its not evenly spaced and quite frankly I dont care as long as it lays down smooth!! These spirals (along with 1/700 pe ship railings) are the bane of my existence, lol.

Letting them cure over night, another light clearcoat tomorrow and then on with the wash.

PS Oh yeah, got to fill in the black insides on the fuselage crosses, thanks Eduard???

As I was looking around for reference pics, came across a couple of good youtube videos of restored FW''s. One listed as no.2 on the screen sidebar looks almost like Bish's Checkerboard nose bird. Would love to see one of these at an airshow here. 

http://video.search.yahoo.com/video/play;_ylt=A0S00Mjr5FBRnyQAMkT7w8QF;_ylu=X3oDMTBrc3VyamVwBHNlYwNzcgRzbGsDdmlkBHZ0aWQD?p=Fw-190+start+up&vid=87dc3344cb8cb6709bb8d171e00436bc&l=2%3A34&turl=http%3A%2F%2Fts3.mm.bing.net%2Fth%3Fid%3DV.4937933413417034%26pid%3D15.1&rurl=http%3A%2F%2Fwn.com%2FFW_190_AWESOME_ENGINESOUND_%21%21%21&tit=FW+190+AWESOME+ENGINESOUND+%21%21%21&c=28&sigr=11colei8u&age=0&fr=my-myy&tt=b

Ok everybody. It's now official. This group build will be moved to the Group Build section (where it should have been in the first place) on Friday 29 March. Tim will be moving the whole build there so it will appear as it is here but in the correct section. It will still be accessible from "Your Discussions" so you will have no problem finding it. Just putting this out so that everyone is aware of the change. Thanks for everybodys participation, Joe

I will continue to post this once a day until Thursday. After that this build will be in the Group Build Section.

Hey Doug. Thanks for the input man. That was actually my next step. I have two Badger 200 AB and a Badger Renegade Velocity AB. The Velocity is being finicky with me. Got a weird spray/ trigger reaction. The 200's have been working out for me for a while now and give reliable results so thats the brush I'm working with. I have a compressor with a moisture trap and the regulator so thats not an issue. The pressure settings you had in mind were what I was going to go with. Just gotta wait until I get back from Dallas. I'll probably work with it on Thursday morning.

Not sure what your using, but when trying such a complex paint scheme, I thin the paint just a slight bit thinner then normal and crank the pressure up not down, to about 40 to 45 psi. Get fairly close and work in slight bursts. If your gun has a trigger, set to stop the travel of the trigger, play around a bit to find out where the pattern is best and stop the trigger travel at that point. Then like you said turn pressure back down and set back about 6 inches and paint like your going over pre shading. Just try on samples befor your birdie. Just my 2cents... What you have shown is looking great!

Take care

Doug

Hey Nathan. Well I look at it this way. I started this thing and I'm going to finish it. One way or the other it will turn out the way I have envisioned it (or really friggin close!) I would use enamel paint as I know that goes on alot easier but I work in the house so I keep fumes to an absolute minimum. As far as paint brand...MM lifts really easy and so far Vallejo is working out fairly well. My experience with an airbrush on a more advanced level is what I think the problem is....or has been. The  75 is already on the upper pattern on the fuselage.

Wonder why such trouble with paint splatter Mustang? Is Vallejo just hard to use for up-close fine lines and spots? On thing I've learned: thinner isn't always better. Maybe thicker paint next time? You still have to spray the 75? I'm glad the overspraying worked and things are looking good. Practice makes perfect and sounds like you've been putting in the overtime on this kit.

Archangel:Good to see you back around again. Looking forward to seeing you building again. Don't feel like the lone ranger! I've been movin like pondwater on my build.

Nathan: Thanks for the comments. Yes it is free hand but I think I have the secret (at least well for myself) to accomplishing this soft edge mottle stuff. This is my third attempt at this. I applied the 76 over the sides and started out appyling the 74 in a irregular mottle pattern on the sides. I tried thin paint with low air pressure and got sloppy results................twice! The second attempt was less sloppy than the first but a light bulb came on in my head to apply a REALLY thinned out coat of 76 over the mottle pattern to get rid of the paint splatters that were a part of the 74 mottle application and WALLA! This is the end result. I have to soften up the edges of the upper camo pattern on the fuselage so what my plans are is to apply a thinned out coat of 76 along the border of the upper camo pattern to sofen up the demarkation line. Still working that issue in my head but for now thats what I have come up with.

Between out of state friends visiting and battling a nasty sinus head cold for the last week, I haven't done much other than to research FW pics on the web.  Going to attempt some work on the kit today. Have been in awe of the previous posted pics of the in-work and completed birds, truely some beautiful work being accomplished here.

Scott

Holy check out that camo! Is it all free hand? You captured that dense, heavy mottled look perfect I think.

Hey guys. Just a quick update. Playing around with the camoflage and think I have the system down a little bit. Have a couple of corrections to make but will be doing these when I get back from Dallas on either Wed or Thursday this week. A little blurry but here goes:

Gary, that is a sharp 190. Your photography is really good too. The only thing that might offend me is that your pictures look so much better than mine!!!

Reasoned, Bish, and Doug- Thanks for looking and glad you like them. Reasoned I agree about all that firepower, specially on the Sturmbock with the 30mm. Too bad they were most often removed along with the cowl Mg's to lighten them up to just keep up with the Allied fighters.

Mustang, can't wait to see your paint job, its been too long since we've seen your progress. No doubt it will turn out great. I'd love to build another, but not for a while yet. I'll still be here though, to make sure you don't screw anything up, lol!

Great job Texgunner! Thank you for sharing that with us! Wanna join????Come on......you know you wanna!!!!!

Although I'm not a member of this group build, all the beautiful builds have inspired me to take a few pics of my one and only FW.  I hope you don't mind if I post a couple pics of my 1/48 Fujima FW-190D-9 "Black 10", built several years ago.    If I'm offending some, please just let me know and I'll take them down.  Thanks, and tally-ho!

Gary

Ok everybody. It's now official. This group build will be moved to the Group Build section (where it should have been in the first place) on Friday 29 March. Tim will be moving the whole build there so it will appear as it is here but in the correct section. It will still be accessible from "Your Discussions" so you will have no problem finding it. Just putting this out so that everyone is aware of the change. Thanks for everybodys participation, Joe

Matt: Long nose birdies are friggin awesome looking and your's are no exception. You and Doug are really inspiring me to build a D-9 when I finish with this A-8/ R-2. I really like the photos with both displayed together. Really lets you see the contrast between the two. I enjoy your input and good work here and thank you for being a part of this build. Don't be a stranger. Will post your pics in the opening post, Joe

Nathan T; Knocked em dead with those two. Really like the weathering effect you applied. Great detail and awesome paint. I got back on mine yesterday morning and this morning trying to get the paint right. I think I'm headed in the right direction. While I'm fighting to get just one out you and Matt have managed to finish two!  Great goin guys. Hang around Nathan. It's great to have you here, Joe

I'll post yours in the opening post soon also.

Nathan... Both your Birds are just EXCELLENT! Nicely done and finished... Hats off to ya!

Doug