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

Oh Man, TB, I realy really want the kind of bench time that you have. Your a machine!!!

:-) Joe -- thanks! Sometimes I feel like a machine with jammed gears -- I just had a quick count-up and I have 29 models in various stages from early construction through to decaling. my construction target for this year is 16, and to be on track I need five completions by the end of this month -- three of which are in this GB! It's my most ambitious year, in previous years four or five has been my total, but I realised I collected these kits to build, not keep cased up in a store room -- so let's git 'em done!

M/TB379

I am indeed very impressed. That is an awesome and lofty goal for sure. My goal is to complete one model per year and I often find myself cramming near the end of a GB.:)

One a YEAR? Ouch... With over 1200 in my stash, even 20 a year may not be enough, I gotta BUILD!

M/TB379

1200!! Hooo Doggie, now that's a stash. I've got about 100 kits that are on my definitely will build shelves. about another 100 older kits in my sell, trade or donate stash. So, at my current rate I'll get through my stash in about a hun...ooh..umm...aww crap.

Y'all gotta double yo' output, man! Seriously, try production-lining similar projects -- projects with common colour details can all be tackled together and before you know it you have the subassemblies for several models done, just waiting to get slapped together.

Thunder that's some great quality progress you are making! 1200 in the stash/???????????????? Clemens would be proud!! lol

Hell for all that matter , Bish would be proud!!!!!!

Clemens would only be proud if they were 1200 FW 190 kits.

Mustang and Joe -- I just checked my log, and including the 4 or 5 in various stages at the moment, I have 36 Fw 190s in my collection at this time. I have more Bf 109s than that, and over 80 F-4 Phantoms.

M/TB378

I stand corrected. Clemens would indeed be proud.

Man I wish I had kept track... I know its not 1200 but I bet I've done 750 easy over the years! Unfortunateil my ex got custody of all me stash! LOLOL... I've had to start over again about 20 yrs ago!HA!!!

Doug

Oh man, that hurts... It would probably have been less painful to have a "pound of flesh" amputated "from nearest the heart!"

Okay, here's the progress on the HB D-9, I wanted to be a bit further along, but... Meh. Here's the subassemblies getting mated up to the fuselage halves, and a test fit to the wing:

Then I got busy, closed her up, mated the wing and tails, added the ailerons, gun cowl and nose ring, plus the PE part for the cockpit rear deck, added the decal to the headrest and made up the PE shoulder harnesses:

Assembly really is Tamegawa quality, I can't praise Hobby Boss's engineering enough. I'm not saying they're 100% accurate, but there again I wouldn't know if they were or weren't -- I just know this kit builds smoothly where the Trimaster 152 has been a fight so far.

You'll notice there's a pronounced step at the wing juncture, but that's probably mostly my fault. I was too enthusiastic closing up the wing and thought the upper surface bonded to the top of the wheel wells -- it doesn't. If left to stand free the upper arch of the wing would have much more closely matched up to the roots. That's the price of finishing the wing before the fuselage, and not thinking about it enough in the process. Nothing I can do about it short of painting in thinned putty to soften the starkness of the step. Hey ho, I'll know next time, and I'll certainly be building this one again, more than once: one of the decal options in the box is a plane photographed on the very day WWII ended -- I have GOT to add that one to the collection! This bird is only $14.50 from HobbySpace in China!

I also ordered up their Ta 152 C-1 a couple of days ago, though I won't be attempting it for this GB, and I just received the Dragon/Trimaster D-12 torpedo plane in today's post, as well as the Italeri boxing of the Trimaster D-9 (that makes three or four of those I have). Hmm, if y'all fancy another Butcher Birds build in future, I guess I'm well stocked up for it!

Cheers, M/TB379

Man that's looking good Thunder. I can't say I've seen a manufacturer that's 100% accurate. I just have to work with what I have sometimes...................unless of course you have a spare Eduard kit floating around to rob parts from ......lol

Today's progress: Gunsight installed, shoulder harness installed, under-canopy hardware installed, leather crash pad around the instruments painted, engine intake installed, canopy on...

I know, the harness mounting plates on the rear deck should be parallel, but the superglue had other ideas...

Overview of the animal as of this point:

And a closer angle:

I might run a bead of whiteglue into the seam of the intake housing, that's as close as it wanted to fit.

Okay, other than the multiple small fittings that go on the underside, she' structurally complete, so it'll be onto masking next, and I'll do some work on the Ta 152 as well. In a perfect world I'd have four planes ready for RLM 76 all at once, but I think that might be a bit ambitious. Two and two, maybe...

Oh, the way the canopy is engineered, it slides, so I can display it open to show off the harness. I really like this kit!

M/TB379

TB this thing is just humming right along. Man that's really cool about the canopy slikding and I don't think I've seen another kit that offers that feature. As far as the seat belt mounting goes, my A-8 did that crap to me!!! I did the same as you and just left well enough alone with that. lol

Looks great TB! I'll be watching for more!

Thanks, guys! Okay, a little progress on the Ta 152 today -- lapbelts, installed the stick and finished installing the Quickboost exhausts, They were for Tamiya, and had to be modified with a scratchbuilt mount, and despite my best efforts they went in crooked. I'm hoping plenty of exhaust carbon will help disguise that fact. Here's the bits, including the prop I finished a while back:

I think there's nothing keeping me from closing up the fuselage now, and the wing is already complete, so with luck I can move this one up to the same stage as the D-9 before long.

M/TB379

Good progress Thunder! I haven't worked up the courage to do a Ta 152 yet. No room for it in the display area which is why I'm sticking to single engine bombers and fighters.

Nice work Mike. I built that Dragon Ta152 last year and it is a sweet kit for being some 35 years old! I added a Fusion Models radiator and prop to mine, as well as some other bits, and that long wing looks sweet all painted up and weathered. Keep it up!

mustang1989

Hell for all that matter , Bish would be proud!!!!!!

Proud or jealous

I have about 200ish. I think if I added another 1000, my other half would go mad, mainly at the thought of what she would do with what's left when I am gone. I do wish I could up my build rate, but if I can manage 9 or 10 a year I am happy.

TB: You're doing fantastic stuff. Keep it coming.

Joe: Psst..umm..Joe..uhh..the Ta 152 IS a single engine fighter. Just thought you might need to know so that you can build one and display it. (yeah i'm bein' a smart a$$)

She's looking good, TB. Thanks for posting your progress pics.

Thanks, guys! It's not a bad kit to work with, and in all honesty Hobby Boss broadly copied Trimaster's engineering for their Fw family, though they identified problem areas and fixed them (for instance, the cockpit bits on the 152 are weak and fiddly in the extreme), as well as refining the parts overall -- finer tolerances means easier assembly. The HB Ta 152 C-1 should be in the post soon, and I'm hoping to win Dragon's issue of Trimaster's A-4 and A-8 shortly -- well, extra copies of them for my stash!

My target for today is to complete main assembly on the 152, so hopefully there'll be pics within 24 hours...

Cheers, M/TB379

Update --  didn't get the beast put together yesterday, I had work and all sorts of real life stuff, but I got the internals installed at least. Here's the evidence:

I said it was not a bad kit to work with, but on reflection I would not choose to build this one again, it is just too fiddly and imprecise. I mean, the instrument panel attaches to a lip about 1mm wide... As Donna used to say on Dr Who, "You've got to be kidding me!" Here's hoping Hobby Boss do the H-series planes to go with the Cs and Ds...

I won 2 more DML A-4s and another A-8, and am angling for a ProMod G-2, so the stash is growing despite the work going on.

Okay, let's see if I can get the fuselage closed up without undue cussing...

M/TB379

Latest -- fuselage is closed up, wing is attached, I'm doing the under-canopy stuff right now. Here's a question for the experts -- should the streamlined main intake on the 152 have a pronounced weld seam along the centreline? My best images suggest probably no, or at least waaay smoothed out.

M/TB379

Yeesh! That's a tuffy! Probably the best folks to ask about this would be Nathan T or Rigidrider.

Thunderbolt379

Latest -- fuselage is closed up, wing is attached, I'm doing the under-canopy stuff right now. Here's a question for the experts -- should the streamlined main intake on the 152 have a pronounced weld seam along the centreline? My best images suggest probably no, or at least waaay smoothed out.

M/TB379

Not much of one by the looks of it. Ignore the screen inside, that part is not original.

I'll look for some better pics when I get home. 

Thanks, Nathan -- I milled it down smooth and the assembly is done.

Here's progress: cockpit completed with gunsight and shoulder harness.

Closeup on the same area:

Leather rim of the instrument shroud painted, too. And the intake is done and installed:

The filling and sanding is mostly complete too, next up is the canopy/windshield installation, that one small part over the nose fairing, and she's ready for masking (some small intakes and fitting to go, I think, I'll review the plans again...) I may have a wait while chasing up some RLM 23 for one of the DOR bands, and if so I'll switch to the big A-8 and get her into shape re canopy and tank rack, and maybe press on with her as I have all materials in hand.

Cheers, M/TB379

Thunder:Man you've really got the groove down with this build. I'm looking forward to the paint on this one.

Nathan T:Where is that photo taken at and is it a restoration that's now complete or ongoing?