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

Rigidrider

If any build could rival the 190 it would be the 109! Cant wait!

Doug

Yes, though of course there was one German aircraft that over shadows both

JOE RIX

SchattenSpartan

That's a god question mate! With a very simple answer: It's cheaper!

The Royal Class costs (with shipping):

• 166$ at Sprue Brothers
• 130€ at Eduard's store (=173$)
• 109£ at Hannants (=183$)

Yes it's the one with 2 kits inside. And a bunch of goodies. And a beer glass....

WOW! That's just nuts!

Though not uncommon, especially from SB. I have got a few kits from them that even with postage were cheaper than here in the UK.

mustang1989

blackdog62

   RAMPING UP FOR THE  109 GB........YAAAA.  :)

Be looking for a 109GB feeler the last weekend of August.

Going to be another good one, and should be my first ever 32nd aircraft. And yesterday I ordered that other kit I mentioned to you, just waiting to here back from the company about paying them, will post some pics one it arrives.

Another 109 GB,,,,,,,,,,  hmmmmm....................

Bish, that twin messie jet qualifies in my book. Seen it somewhere, is a cool looking aircraft.

Hey, your first 1/32nd? Can't wait to watch and hear your impressions. Been 30+ years since I did a 1/32nd.

Plea for help: I have a couple pieces left to install in my A8/R2. Looks like an ammo belt chute or something. I've looked at some installations I found on google image search and have a general idea (sort of), but am still confused.

Anyone have a closeup pic or something?

Here's the mystery part and the big 'ol hole in the wing it goes in somewhere. :)

Bish: The 262 is way to elegant. A proper "twin" has to look sluggish and big, not elegant and streamlined...

Greg: I think I have a decent photo of an open 190 gun bay in my big reference book and at least one diagram of that area I could send you, but I have to find them first. Oh AND get Photobucket working . I already send them an email and they are working on it...

Thanks Clemens. I think I'm starting to understand the value of these high dollar reference books everyone is always talking about.

Ah yes Greg, you are coming along nicely now. That little seed we've planted in your head concerning reference books is beginning to sprout. Good. Very very gooooood. Mwa ah ah ah!

Greg

Bish, that twin messie jet qualifies in my book. Seen it somewhere, is a cool looking aircraft.

Hey, your first 1/32nd? Can't wait to watch and hear your impressions. Been 30+ years since I did a 1/32nd.

Plea for help: I have a couple pieces left to install in my A8/R2. Looks like an ammo belt chute or something. I've looked at some installations I found on google image search and have a general idea (sort of), but am still confused.

Anyone have a closeup pic or something?

Here's the mystery part and the big 'ol hole in the wing it goes in somewhere. :)

You don't necessarily need expensive books, you just need the right ones! I got my 190 bible (only consists of a few diagrams and a LOT of original BnW photos with additional info in a short text below each diagram/picture) for 30€ at a local bookstore specialied in military history. It's a rather old book, but one of the best I've seen so far.

I don't want to spend a huge amount of money on reference material either, but I go  to said bookstore once in a while and have a look at what they have in stock. I usually end up buying a book or two but only affordable ones. There are exceptions of course (and the P-47 is the biggest one - i just love that aircraft)...

Greg -- just so! I've not been without this AB by my side for 25 years, the thought of trusting it to a courier is daunting! But the poor thing needs work, I see rough bits when I look through the needle channel, so it's time for an expert's attention... It'll be away on Monday, all being well, which gives me time to get some structural work done on other projects.

Oh, and the me 210 was the forerunner of the 410 -- the 210 was a project botched catastrophically, even ordered into production before it was test flown, and is one of the disasters (along with the highly compromised Ju 88 and He 177) that helped spell the end of the Luftwaffe because they entered the mid-war years without modern aircraft, everything they had was 1030s design, up against cutting edge opponents. It seems to be down to Erhardt Milch and his cronies... Read "Eagles of the Third Reich" by Samuel W Mitcham Jr (1988), currently in print from Stackpole. It's a great read but there is a caution attached -- his narrative reads authoritatively at every step but when it comes to commenting on technical details of aircraft there are passages where he is clearly wrong, because any hobbyists knows more about the planes than he seems to. If the same lack of attention to detail pertains to his political and historical narrative, it could all be suspect, but I would like to think the writer was first and foremost a historian of the people and politics and the technical aspects alone escaped him.

Really looking forward to the 109 outing!!!

M/TB379

Well Greg I would say you're on of us now the 190 is great one to start researching.

My ME-410 is also a meng model the on with the nose canon and now they have a second version out. then I spotted that revell put out there pro model of the 410 not as nice as the meng This one is really nice.  the revell dose come with the PE  for gages seat belt and for nose radar but this radar was for attacking shipping in the night out in the channel.  It looks good maybe older monogram or revell kit.

O Greg as for Messie building a twin MR Willie messerchmitt lost his job over it.

It was bought site unseen by the Luftwaffe they orders like 1000 to replace the bf-110 but it was a lame

Duck it was the 210' then.  the 410 basically same bird with the problem s fixed.

As for my 109 build I have a  Zvezda bf-109-f2  that looks like absolute gem.

Nothing from edward in 109 but the rest are academy's and airfix which are supposed to build nice either way.  the academy bf-109k-4 has turned brass gun barrels. And the academy has resin extended wing tips 

To make it a bf-109t-2 which I believe was for proposed navy/aircraft carrier duty with its extended wing /lift.

Somebody can correct me on this but may the kind to bring down the first English bomber on raiding mission in the northern coastal section over water.

BD, indeed, the 109T was the intended fighter for the Graf Zeppelin. But they were not delivered to land based units until early 1941. The believe the air battle you are referring to is the Battle of the Heligoland Bight and the first RAF bomber was probably brought down by a 109D.

Joe (Mustang), Geez, never thought of zooming in on a finished build pic. Yours is pretty clearly visible, so is Lawdog Joe's. I think I see what I gotta do now. Thanks buddy!!

Joe (Rix), well, we'll see. I might make the reference book plunge on of these days. This isn't the time for me to jump in though, due to self-imposed hobby budget restrictions. Thank goodness I bought lots of stuff last year when the restraints were not in place though!!! But no reference books. Sigh. Anyhew, this too shall pass.

Clemens, I hear ya. Thanks for sharing your take on reference books.

Mike, 25 yrs with your airbrush. Wow! Hopefully it will arrive back better than new!

Thanks for the additional info re me twins, and the book review, mate!

BD, thanks for the info, interesting stuff.

What would Sunday be without a dumb story from me?

So those covers I mentioned above that Joe told me have to be trimmed a lot to make fit? Got 'em both trimmed to fit (beautifully, thanks Joe), got sidetracked and painted something, came back to paint the covers and one had gone missing.

Spent the next 3 hours cleaning and organizing. Sigh. Maybe will turn up later, or I'll try to make one. In the meantime, she's being called finished without them.

Anyway, she is is done. Is the Eduard 1/48th Fw190 A8/R2. I'm happy to have built my first Eduard kit, and though I made too many bonehead mistakes, it'll go in the case with fond memories. I like the paint job much better than my first entry.

One disclaimer/ excuse: I had a problem with decal set discoloration. Was due to inadequate base coat. It only happened on the underside, and it is visible.

Thanks to Joe for keeping this open for us late guys, and for a wildly successful GB. And also to those of you who have stuck around to watch and comment.

Very Beautifully Done Greg!!! Your overall finish is really stunning. Do not short yourself, your mottling and overall camo work looks fantastic to me. "Not too 190 looking"??? Umm, I don't see that at all!! It looks every bit a 190 due to your excellent skills and attention to detail. Bummer about the lost cover. I know that it will turn up in time in a place that will puzzle you for eternity. That is the voice of experience speaking. I've got to say Greg, for someone who claims to know very little about Luftwaffe aircraft, you dang sure model them like you were actually there with them in living color.

Concerning acquiring reference material. I fully understand your current position and I know that in time you will be able to get your hands on some helpful material. They are indeed both essential and a luxury at the same time. The internet is definitely a blessing in that regard. You can find just about find anything you need concerning a given subject. When you couple that with what the folks here can find for you you're golden. It's just that for me nothing replaces a book. Plain and simple.

Joe, you are too kind. Thanks, buddy!

On the exterior paint job, actually I am pleased with it. The "not too 190-looking" was meant to be in reference to my first 190 I built for this GB, from last year. I have edited my post for clarity. Thx for the heads-up on that.

I credit Eduard's excellent paint scheme diagrams for most of my improvement. Even though the colors were way off on the Eduard diagrams, it helped me a lot to visualise what I was trying to achieve. So far I'd only had box art to go by. (and Clemens sent me some walkaround shots of the actual aircraft too)

I hear you re the reference material, and I will most likely get to that point sooner or later. One thing that is annoying me a bit re image searches online is when I enter "<aircraft type> walkaround", most of the hits are models!!! But usually they are well done models, and are helpful too. Not to mention having so many experienced folks here showing theirs. That has helped me a lot too, learning what Luftwaffe schemes are supposed to look like.

Thanks again for watching and commenting on my progress with this bird, Joe!

Greg that is an absolutely stunning build sir!   Top notch for certain!  Finish, weathering all done with perfection in my opinion 

Greg, I hate it when that happens. Its bound to turn up.

Other than that, holy crap that's nice. Seriously, that looks spot on to me. The mottling is first rate and I can't wait to see some more of your Luftwaffe builds. You have set a high standard, I am expecting great things from your Stuka.

Handii, coming from you, one of my mentors here, that's quite a compliment. Thank you very much!

Bish, you are too kind. Thanks so much. I do hope that cover shows up one day, and it most likely will.

So speaking of mentors, another of mine (who also happens to be a great guy) is hosting a Stuka GB here somewhere.  Hopefully I'll be off and running today. Pretty excited. (and no mottling that I can see, yippie!!!

Hey Greg, your 190 is indeed a great looking model. I don'T notice any of the "mistakes" you made and the overall finish looks spot on to me! The lost cover is a bugger, but even with you pointing it out I don'T see it missing. What really stands out to me is the antenna wire. I suppose it's EZ line? But what did you use for the thicker areas on the wire (I can't remember what they are ATM)? Mind sharing your technique?

Thank you, Clemens! ( I sure have a lot of mentors here) Most of the mistakes are with the final fiddly bits. Including the landing gears. Arrgghhh. The missing covers are inside the inboard wing bays, you can see that if you look several posts back, maybe one pg back.

Thanks for noticing the aerial 'wires'!. It is indeed EZ Line (fine). The little thicker areas are insulators, I believe. I simulated them with little globs of white glue (I find Gator's Grip works best, probably cuz it's kind of thick). On my previous two builds, I made little balls. This time I elongated them a little, and also cut back the diameters. On this one, I painted them green for fun. I think they were various colors but not sure. I assume they were ceramic, again, not sure.

I can post a close up of one if you'd like. It's be good practice for me anyway. :)

Greg

So speaking of mentors, another of mine (who also happens to be a great guy) is hosting a Stuka GB here somewhere.  Hopefully I'll be off and running today. Pretty excited. (and no mottling that I can see, yippie!!!

Sounds like a great bloke 

No, no mottling on the Stuka, just a nice simple splinter scheme

Good LORD!!! That looks awesome Greg! Man that was worth waiting for bubba and your mottle pattern turned out great. What a build!!! Which pic would you like to use in the completed builds section?

 I would like to thank you sir for being a part of this GB buddy. I knew you could turn out a good one and look what happened. Just that.

 Now git to work on that Stuka!!! lol

....and I've never done a splinter scheme either. I'll have all sorts of dumb questions......

Greg... Beautifully done my friend! Outstanding finish... Now, STUKA...STUKA...STUKA...

LOL... all jokes aside... EXCELLENT Wurger!

Doug

Joe, thank you! Pic #2, the side view, I suppose. Thanks for all your support and encouragement. And yet again, thanks for leaving this thing open past the deadline, bro.

Doug! There you are! I was worried about you earlier because I was reading a post of yours somewhere and it looked like your badge animated gif had disappeared. Was worried you'd flown the coop or something. Thanks man!

Everyone: You sure know how to make it fun and rewarding to finish a scale model. Thanks.

And I'm looking at my Stuka cockpit options (stock parts vs Eduard PE and cringing at the Aries seats (yikes!!!) as we speak. Already cut some parts off the sprues.

Greg -- let me add my congratulations on a superb model, it really looks convincing and the mottle came out so well I'm just hoping mine looks something like it!

I think I'll be last across the line, the airbrush is being packaged for courier collection today -- hopefully they might have it back by the end of the week, in which case I'll tackle the paintjob on the big A-8 next weekend.

In the meantime, I have scratchbuilt superdetailing on a panzer to complete, a Mustang to get underway, and of course a Stuka to work on -- cockpit painting is well along, it would be nice to get some harness installed and the instruments finished.

M/TB379

Hey Greg... No, I had a total computer meltdown Thursday, and had to replace the tower, and while I was at it I just called and had the service provider switch over from DSL to digital wireless, so... Im up and at it again , keeping my fingers crossed...

Sure have had my share this year... Well, still on the right side of the grass so.... NO COMPLAINTS! LOL...

Doug