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

C'mon in Mike. We hope to live up to RD III!

Greetings,

Some wonderful work going on here, with all those PE cockpit parts and brass barrels. And some challenging fit "issues" being battled. I'm also glad to see so much activity here, as the forum in general has gotten quieter the last few months..

For my part, the A3 is nearly done. Here's a teaser:

Decals are done. It was an Eagle Strike sheet and they went down almost perfectly, though I've got a couple of tiny spots of silvering on some stencils I may still try to correct. Pinwashed with raw umber, then a flat coat with MM acrylic.

Despite my recent struggles with the MM acrylics, I've usually had pretty good luck thinning the flat with the MM brand of thinner. I did the same this time, but added a few drops of alcohol just because it worked so well on the color coats. Went down nice and smooth. This may have ended up as my cleanest finish, with virtually no dusting or roughness at any point, from primer to flat. The more I use my new Iwata, the more I like it.

I've got most of the fiddly bits accounted for, though, of course, there will still be much gnashing of teeth to come when I start on antenna wires.

Hmm, what else could I have left to do? I know, I could finish the landing gear. Oh wait, I don't have the wheels I ordered two weeks ago and which I thought had been shipped from 70 miles away early last week. I was blaming the Postal Service, but it turns out they hadn't been shipped, after all. I ordered four things, and three of them were in stock. He was waiting for the fourth item to arrive before he shipped it all together. Except he didn't tell me that, and eBay indicated it had already been shipped. I've been promised I'll have it all in a couple of days, but in the meantime, I'm pretty well stuck. Oh well, we've got a death in the family and we'll be tied up with that until the weekend. If I get the wheels in hand by Saturday, I might be able to finish up then. Otherwise, it'll be next week.

I'm trying to be philosophical about the mix-up. Stuff happens and I've had good experiences with this vendor in the past, so it'll work out. Just wish I'd had a heads-up 10 days ago.

Anyway, once I wrap it up, I'll post a bunch more pics.

Man your A3 looks fabulous Stout!! I love the finished look of the camo and mottle!!

Nice job. I like the looks of those JG 1 badges. Can't wait to put mine on. Painting turned out nice for your first Luftwaffe? Antennas seem hard, but just have some thick CA and accelerator handy. Fw190As are easy, as the wire is always taught. Now the darn Doras with the blown canopy on the other hand...

Thanks, Nathan. I'm pretty pleased so far. And I meant to compliment you on your painting. What you posted looks great. How close are you to finishing?

Looks great Stoutfella!

Doug, Your camo came out simply fantastic. Your patience and practice has definitely paid off.

Hey Nathan, Now you've got me thinking concerning the antenna wire on the blown canopy for the A-8/F-8. And that is are they taught when the canopy is closed and slack when open? Let me know if you have a take on that. In the meantime I'll check some of my references as it may be something I want to address early on.

Joe- from what I understand, the armor headrest type on the blown canopy couldn't allow for the taughtning mechanism, so any 190 with the "blown type" would have the antenna slack when opened.

Just remember, most A-8s still had the standard canopy and head armour, while most F-8s and A-9s had the blown type.

Stout- Thanks for the compliment. All main camo is done, now it just needs to dry a bit then I'm ready for gloss, but I still have all the little stuff left, like drybrushing the main gear and wells, masking the tailwheels, painting brake lines and dry-brushing gun barrels...etc...

Got the RLM 74 on last night. I decided to feehand the A-8, which seems more appropriate for late war, and I used some raised masks on the A-4.

I cut out a pattern on tracing paper and placed some blu tack on the underside:

Then placed on the model:

I only used the masks for the tops of the wings and tail. Everything else is freehand:

Masks removed:

A-8:

OooOoo, looks like you nailed those cowling stripes Nathan!!

Nathan T

Joe- from what I understand, the armor headrest type on the blown canopy couldn't allow for the taughtning mechanism, so any 190 with the "blown type" would have the antenna slack when opened

I was afraid you were going to tell me that. Well. I'll just settle with that when the time arrives.

As for your paint job Nathan, Absolutely Fabulous! Man, not only did you nail the cowling but flat nailed the whole dang camo. That is simply a magnificent paint job. 

Thanks for the painting approval Eric and Joe. Wish I could do more work tonite but with Valentines Day and all, I think I owe someone a date....

Man Nathan! The cowling stripes, the Defense of the Reich bands, hell the whole dam thing! It all looks awesome. Nice job on showing the camo technique. Never thought of that one.............

Stout fella & Nathan... Looking great, Cant wait to see the finished pictures!

Thanks Doug.

Ok you guys are giving the D-9 bug! I've spotted a 1/48 Tamiya D-9 offering and am looking at the Aires 4019 detail set for it. Lord only knows how long the AM list is gonna be!!  Well looks like I've got my next build lined up!!

Hey Mustang, you'll love the longnoses! You'll need a heck of a long list of AM for that Tamiya kit though. I know they can be tricky, but I'd recommend an Eduard Profipack anyday. Eduard just got it right as far as accuracy, and with the pe for the pit, the only aftermarket would be small stuff, like prop and exhaust...wheels if you're a true AM nut like me. If you can handle this A-8, you can dig the Dora.

...or might I suggest the Ta152????

Hmmm, The Wonderful Wife gave me an $25.00 Amazon gift card for Valentines Day. I can get either an Eduard 1/48 D-9 Weekend Edition for $0.99 or a D-9 Profipack for $15.96. Very tempting indeed.

Nathan T

You'll need a heck of a long list of AM for that Tamiya kit though. I know they can be tricky, but I'd recommend an Eduard Profipack anyday.

I will add that Ta 152's are grabbing my attention as of late too.

stoutfella

Started decaling this morning and nearly screwed the pooch. Put one of the wing crosses on with some Microset and decided to hit it with some Microsol. So I took the lid off the bottle, dipped my brush in and was *this* close to covering the decal when I happened to notice the bottle said "Microweld" not Microsol.

Sheesh that was close. I've had a couple of close calls like that but it was with paint.  As far as your 190 goes, it looks great. I only hope my finish comes out like that. I have a couple of new ideas to try on that mottle.

JOE RIX

Hmmm, The Wonderful Wife gave me an $25.00 Amazon gift card for Valentines Day. I can get either an Eduard 1/48 D-9 Weekend Edition for $0.99 or a D-9 Profipack for $15.96. Very tempting indeed.

Will get through it though

Ordered the Aires detail set for the D-9. Lucky model had it for 46 bucks with free shipping. It was a no brainer! Will be ordering the kit within a week or two. Had to go with the Tamiya this time against sound advice but have the corrections that need to be done from Brett Green in his review of the kit. Gotta have a change from the Eduard way of doing things after this A-8.

Speaking of which I managed to tweek the lower wing and fuselage together at the rear of the bottom wing. Will have to do a little sanding/ filing but shouldn't be too awful bad.

Sounds like a sweet build Joe. What did Brett Green do to his? Did he use the MDC set?

Time for a bit of catch up. I've only made the odd brief visit to the forum in the last few days. Been trying to concentrate on building.

Mustang, thats looking good.

Stoutfella, close call with the Micro. Really glad you caught that as she looks stunning.

nathan, nice work on the paint job. That Ta 152 looks really nice. I long the long nosed aircraft, but those long wings really catch my eye. I have a dragon 72nd 152, but after seeing the issues Archangel had, that could be a scary build.

Archangel, thats a real bummer. Hope you have better luck with the airfix.

blkhwkmatt, you got to love those eduard cockpits. Thats looking nice.

Eric, another great looking pit.

Hope i haven't missed anyone. Some great work here guys. Now for what i have been upto.

I got the wings attached and most of the sanding done. I then had an issue with fitting the front part of the canopy. When i trimmed the plastic at the front of the cockpit i over did it. So when i fitted the PE shroud it was to wide so the front screen wouldn't fit. So i had to remove the shroud, re fit and do a bit of filling. When i put the front scren on, there were a few gaps under that so a bit of filling there as well. I replaced the kit canopy with a Squadron Vac Form.

The white nose was painted on Wed, so time allowing i will be masking this tomorrow and painting the yellow underneath and the thin black ring at the front.

I have also added the rack for the fuel tank. I had to remove the mounting pins as these were lined up for the A-8 and the A-6 had it slightly further back.

All in all its been a pretty good build. There was a little filling on the wings. The majpor issue was the front of the cockpit, and that was all my fault. So thats two Academy kits in a row that have gone together well. 

Thats a sweet little build Bish. Looks like all fit perfectly. Those pe flaps looks yummy too. Whats the deal with the two little fairings at the front of the gun cover? Looks like fairings to cover up the MGs like on some Sturmbocks? But this one will have the upper mgs right?

Well I just got my Eagle Cal decals for the A-8/R2, and according to JC, it didnt' have the upper mgs (faired over), didn't have the outer MK108s(faired over), and it had a wooden VDM larger prop?? So I have to rob a prop from a dora or an A-9, and just screw the rest? Too late to fair over the upper guns.

Bish... Man... I still cant get over the amount of detail you can pack into that 72nd scale. I can barely see the instructions! LOL... Great work man...

Bish, Very nice work so far. The PE flaps are indeed a nice touch.

I thought I was done carving prior to gluing the fuselage together when I took notice of the solidly molded air cooler shutters. So, since I was in the carving out mood I set to them with a scribing tool and a large needle chucked in a pin vise. I regret that the photo is poor at best but try as I might this was the best I could get. Hopefully it gives you the idea as the effort really enhanced the realism of those shutters. Oh yeah, I still need to carve out the ones on the otherside.

i848.photobucket.com/.../8b1163e9-3302-4a71-b37d-bcafe2ecbd6c_zpsa9832f9a.jpg

Sorry, forgot to use rich formatting.

Way friggin nice Bish! I've said it before and I'll say it again, "My hat goes off to ANYONE who can off detailing a 72nd scale aircraft and make it look like it should have been 48th in pictures". Nice job and that goes for you too Rix. Good job to both of you, Joe