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

Jester ... comon now, Thats just too neat and orginized to be a paint rack... Just kidding bud... Looks great!

OH Eric, Me Like! That is a sweet paint rack. I need to come up with something like that some day. Your Dora is certainly looking excellent. I know you will do fine with the mottling. I'm just about to the same stage. I painted the engine/cowl detail yesterday. Now I just need to detail/weather it and then I can attach it and some masking and I'll be good to go with the primer.

Welcome aboard MKelly ! Always good to have another 190, cant wait to see that ProModeller kit!

Well, this Dora is in primer finally. A few very small touches on a couple of areas and its time for paint. 

Up first, a couple of obligatory shots of my new paint rack. Feels so good to get all of those jars out of the drawer on on a shelf where they are visible. Currently holding 150 miscellaneous jars of paint, can probably push it to 200 when full.

And the Dora...

I drilled out the spot for the gun camera in the wing to give it some depth. Also hollowed out what appears to be a small intake duct on the MG cowl(??). Going to let this air out for a couple of hours and get to painted the ID bands and the yellow under the nose and the tail. Then its on to my nightmare, the camo. Warning, this will be my first mottle so.....................

Welcome to the GB Mkelley. I'm looking forward to your Pro Modeler.

                                                       Joe

Jump on in Mkelley. Will put you in the intro post buddy.

Ahh, thanks Nathan! I really hope they do a much better job on the upcoming Spitfire they are releasing.

Eduard Fudged that part up Jester. You need to scratch build two half round brackets fore and aft and just make it work. I think I used .030" strip styrene and cut out two notches in the rack and glued in the makeshift brackets, then attached the drop tank. Sorry, I captured no pics of the process.

That is a very cool story Joe. Thanks very much for sharing with us! That B-17 is a very nice looking build!

Question: As I fill and touch up seams and wait for the Mr. Putty to dry, I have been working forward a bit trying to get some of the future sub-assemblies finished. The markings I have call for the drop tank and looking at the parts....I have a drop tank.......and a rack. That's it. Absolutely zero attachment points, photoetch, or even a reference in the instructions that show how the two are suppose to be joined. Has anyone else actually attached the tank to the plane in the Eduard D-9 and if so, how did you do it? I suppose I could just attach the rack and leave the tank off, but part of me kinda wants the tank on there. Looks like the instructions have the same vagueness with the bomb and its rack as well.

LawDog (Joe)... Thank you for the story... How cool is that! Great tribute to Granddad...Thanks again for sharing.

Doug

Is to late to join? I have a promodeler 190 that I crank out.

Holy Smokes Joe, That is absolutely outstanding!! Wonderfully built and displayed. What an excellent tribute you've put together. I do hope you are proud of that because you dang well should be. Thank You for sharing that. I personally think that sharing that sort of stuff in conjunction with the GB is welcome as it only aids in us getting to know each other better and only enhances the GB as a whole.

WOW, thats a stunning build, and with the medals, a great display. And not to ditract from the B-17, tahts a great base as well.

Bish

I have seen that photo before, wow. With all the photo's taken in WW2, i wounder how many people can point at one and say they have a relation in the pic, even if you can't see them. Have you thought about building one of his B-17's.

Nathan T

Nice clean looking build Joe. That tape to protect the pitot tube? I've knocked mine off twice already

Thanks Nathan. The tape is indeed there to protect the pitot tube. Being as it is brass I'm not worried about knocking it off but rather to keep from bending it, which I have already done once. It may have been prudent to install the guns and tube at the very last but, I opted to carve slots in the wings prior to gluing them together and then attaching the brass fittings. This ensured proper mounting depth and alignment rather than trust drilling holes. Being that they are brass the guns are quite stout as is the pitot tube and thusly can handle some "rough handling". That is unless you drop it and lands on the pitot tube.

Lawdog... Amazing story... like Bish said,  Thank you for sharing.

No worries Joe. If you notice on those colour profiles, there seems to be some confusion over the actual paint scheme. The second one doesn't have the white spiral, and that scheme looks the most like the one i am doing. I have a colour plate in an Osprey book, and that looks nothing like mine but does look more like yours.

It does show how difficult it can be to do proper research into some of these subjects.

I have seen that photo before, wow. With all the photo's taken in WW2, i wounder how many people can point at one and say they have a relation in the pic, even if you can't see them. Have you thought about building one of his B-17's.

Nice clean looking build Joe. That tape to protect the pitot tube? I've knocked mine off twice already

Joe, That is not only a fantastic story but, to have a pic of the very aircraft in action with your grandfather on board is simply amazing. Thanks for sharing that.

Here is an update pic.  I got the PE rear deck on as well as the gun sight. I'm holding off on gluing the acetate lens on as well as the wind screen until the very last. Took a bit of time to fill in along the edge of the PE rear deck with Mr. Surfacer 500 but the step filled in and polished up nicely.

Bish

Joe, thats a nice tribute there. So your grandfather was based at Framlingham. Now thats is a rural part of the county.

Not sure if you have seen this. But it has some images of White 5. Most are computer images and colour profiles. But there are two photo's, including one of the aircraft after it had forced landed on 8th Oct 43, 2 days before your Grandfather was captured. So you never know.

Thanks Bish.  That is an awesome link.  I'll have to confess that another deciding factor on Hubl's white 5 was the white spinner with black spiral. I'm a sucker for something different that the norm....lol.  Yes, my grandfather flew 13 missions in three different 390th BG/570th BS aircraft.  1 in "Skippy", 1 in "Roving Roma", and the other 11 (to include the one he was shot down in) in "Cash and Carrie".  Interestingly, there is a photograph called "Top cover for J Group" which is apparently pretty famous with P-47 contrails in the back (below).  The plane in the photo (main one) has been researched as being "Skippy" and my grandfather is actually manning the ball turrent on this mission.  I thought I would share it.  Anyways, I got the Hubl's 190 decaled and I should have pics posted in a few days.

Joe

Joe, thats a nice tribute there. So your grandfather was based at Framlingham. Now thats is a rural part of the county.

Not sure if you have seen this. But it has some images of White 5. Most are computer images and colour profiles. But there are two photo's, including one of the aircraft after it had forced landed on 8th Oct 43, 2 days before your Grandfather was captured. So you never know.

asisbiz.com/.../Fw-190A-JG1.1-White-5-Hubl.html

Lawdog, that's some great paint work. Love the cowling and fading. Can't wait to see the finished model. Looking forward to your P-38!

Steve

Indeed? I've been pretty much a MM man although I have my share of Tamiya. Glad to hear that my need for one specific color will lead to a life of eternal bliss.

Good to hear they brush well, I didn't know that. But never airbrushed them??!!??!!??!!??!! Holy s...., you're missing heaven on earth!

Thanks for the photo Nathan. Indeed yes, I am using the solvent based Mr. Color. It's all good with my spray booth. I've never used them through an airbrush before but, they are really nice for brush painting.

Rix- I agree, Gunze sky is a good match for the grey/green version of 76, aka rlm 84 unafficially. You must be using the solvent based stuff? I like those paints too, just really smelly, which is why i stick to the aqueous.

Here's a good pic of the greenish 76 on the front lower cowl of the blue 12:

Lawdog - That is just fantastic. Really gorgeous paint job. Great info on Gunze paints as I too will be using those for my camo. I'm using those simply because they had all 4 colors I need for my subject. Especially the mysterious RLM 84. Some sources have this as gray/blue while others (more reliable in my book) have it as a blue/green. Since the blue/green is the call out on the decal sheet I'm going with that. Anyhoo, Gunze Duck Egg Green matches the color chip I have in Merrick's book almost dead on. I will be thinning mine with Mr. Leveling Thinner as I am simply a stickler for matching the paint brand with their recommended thinner. I just find I get in less trouble that way and it saves me time by getting it right with no hassles the first time. I just need to find the thinner/paint ratio and a workable psi and I'm good to go. Interesting though the use of Tamiya lacquer thinner for Tamiya paint. Good info. 

Nathan T

Aren't you thinning your Tamiya paints with Mr. color Lacquer thinner? If so, that makes them go on real translucent too correct?? I've found Gunze paints thinned with the hobby color thinner (must be close to the same thing as X-20A) cover better than that Tamiya mix-Maybe 3 coats or so. You can use Mr. Color Lacquer thinner with Gunze aqueous, and it will behave just like the Tamiya/lacquer thinner combo. They go down silky smooth, but go on very translucent. I'm talking like 5-8 coats if you thin it wayyy down. Try thinning the Gunze with less x-20 and see if it takes less coats. It should still spray nice.

Thanks guys.  Nathan, I actually I use Tamiya Lacquer Thinner with Tamiya Paints, but I usually reserve it for exterior painting only where a silky smooth surface is needed.  Its expensive so I try to use it sparingly.  For painting everything else, I just cut the stuff with 91% Iso alcohol.  I won't give up on Gunze just yet, along with the RLM stuff, I bought their Olive Drab for which I intend on trying out on an upcoming P-38 J.  Its good to know that the Gunze is supposed to behave in this manner.  I'm gonna try your suggestion of less thinning. 

Joe 

Nice work Lawdog. The paint looks awesome. I kinda like Gunze for their translucent like coverage. It helps show the pre-shading. Aren't you thinning your Tamiya paints with Mr. color Lacquer thinner? If so, that makes them go on real translucent too correct?? I've found Gunze paints thinned with the hobby color thinner (must be close to the same thing as X-20A) cover better than that Tamiya mix-Maybe 3 coats or so. You can use Mr. Color Lacquer thinner with Gunze aqueous, and it will behave just like the Tamiya/lacquer thinner combo. They go down silky smooth, but go on very translucent. I'm talking like 5-8 coats if you thin it wayyy down. Try thinning the Gunze with less x-20 and see if it takes less coats. It should still spray nice.

Damit boy! Youre really knocking that one out of the park lawdog!!!

Mustang, wow, that DB mill looks real.  I can't wait to see the rest. 

I'm in for an update on my A-6.  I was able to get the upper RLM 74/75 paint scheme and gloss coat down last night.  As I said earlier, this was my first experience with Gunze Aqueous.  I can honestly say I prefer Tamiya paints.  I just don't like the glossiness of the Gunze and it seems to take forever to get the paint/thinner ratio to where it sprays without being translucent.  It seemed like I was adding paint forever.  It could be due to the thinner I used, which wasTamiya X-20.  On the positive side, I was able to add XF-2 Flat White to lighten it for weathering and to my eye, Gunze really nailed the RLM colors.  They look dead on.  I will continued to experiment with these, at least for my RLM needs.  Sometimes its hard to teach an old (err...middle-aged) dog new tricks

I left off last time after I sprayed down the RLM 75. I used the instruction sheet as a reference and rolled up Blue Tac that outlined the camouflage pattern on the wings.  I prefer this method because it will leave a soft demarcation line, which just look better to my eye (I even do this on Spitfires and the like which have hard lines apparently).  Once done, I dial the air pressure down to about 5 or 10 psi (to reduce overspray) and I built up the color. I added the fuselage mottling at this point as well, again, using the the instruction sheet profile as a general reference. 

I then lightened the 74 and streaked the color to simulate condensation on the upper wing.  I then removed the Blue Tac and returned to the original RLM 74 at which time I added more mottling until it looked like the profile picture (well....close enough...not an exact science here). 

All masking tape was removed and I was pleasantly surprised on how the headless eagle exhaust area (don't know how else to describe it...lol) turned out.  Like the cowl, It looks much better than a decal.  A post shade was then added, primarily around the control surfaces, gun breaches, and anywhere else subject to dirt to add an extra dimension. 

I put the engine into the cowl then added it to the front of the airframe, temporarily attached with a glob of Blue Tac (I use this stuff for everything).  Everything fit fine.  I still don't understand the fuss about cowl fit on this kit.  Maybe I'm mistaking this kit for another one. 

The whole thing was sprayed with Alclad II Clear Coat to await decals.  I hate Hasegawa decals so other than the fuselage 5's and maybe some other plane specific decals, these will be pieced together from my spare decal box. 

Thanks for looking. More to come soon.

Joe