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

Rigidrider

PS... Sorry My Brother Joe R but ... GO SEAHAWKS!

Yeah, that's what I'm talking about. It's very visible in the color profile I posted earlier.

Striped mottle you mean?

Thanks a lot for those pics! Is it just the lighting or are there really stripes on Red 4's tail in that pic? It looks like it is striped to me at least...

This is thought to be Red 4.

Here's some closely related D-11s to help with your camo:

You can see many of these late birds had the tail extension plug left in aluminum.

Hey Clemens: I think I have another pic of the D-11 red 4 that shows the tail...

Thanks for posting that info, Joe! I should have a few red 1 decals around here somewhere with all those 190 kits in my stash...

Another quite interesting fact about the color profile in the book:

It looks like "Red 4" was repainted at least once with the former fuselage code still being visible: "White <58"

I had a look at my 190 bible, but there's not much info included regarding Doras. It mostly concentrates on the radial versions. I did find one picture of the bird in question though:

The tail is not visible though, so I can't tell about the yellow area. At least i know that the black 1 is correct now.

I also found a really nice color profile of the Jv.44 aircraft I'm building:

The secon profile is the one from the Eduard painting instructions. They look similar, but the tail is painted completely differently. The Eduard profile shows a brownish color at the tail while the profile in my book has the tail painted with "tiger stripes" in different shades of gray. The rudder also has a few green spots painted on. The most confusing thing about those color profiles is the Werknummer: It's different in both drawings although they resemble the same aircraft...

The 2 pictures i have of this particular bird (thanks to Nathan) don't help that much either:

I think I can make out the beginning of the tiger stripes in the 2nd pic though. There's also a gray rectangular area around the 4 on the fuselage side that is missing in the Eduard drawing but present at the one in the book. I think that the profile I found in the book is more accurate, so I'll go with that one. I think those gray stripes look really cool anyway. The book's profile shows her with the "flat" canopy though while Eduard's shows the "blown" one shown in the second photo. The last difference I found was that Eduard calls out for bare metal at the fuselage extention while the books Diagram shows this area painted like the rest of the fuselage...

Ok fantacmet, all of this is according to Jerrry Crandalls book Dora Volume 1.

Here's the text on this bird. Apparently there are 3 phases to this scheme. This is the first phase,

and the scheme matches your last scheme:

PS... Sorry My Brother Joe R but ... GO SEAHAWKS!

Bill, to maybe help with your NMF question, From what I've read, As was with the most of the war (but more so towards the bitter end) the aircraft were never built nor assyembled at one point exclusively, and as the war turned against the Reich, a "Cottage Industry" mentality was relied on even moreso then ever in the past. Many of the components were mfg and shipped to an assy point by numerous points in germany. There are instances where Folks would assy instrument panels and related wireing in sheds and garages out side their homes.

Many of the underside NMF panels and wing sections were sent from their assy points in that way, because they just flat had no paint to put on them, and the upper surfaces were more important to be painted to try to conceal from the now marauding P-47s and P-51s, that had free orders to attack anything they felt was a target. In a nutshell I think thats why you see more NMF undersides. Not that it was desired, just a consaquence of the circumstance.

Doug

Got you an answer and some info.....stay tuned.

That's Wrk No 210003. Lemme see what I can pull up.

Near as I can tell Eduard did get that little detail wrong.  I can find no reference for it with those markings.  The nice thing is, you can do any of those Dortenmann birds with what's in the kit.  So I guess Eduards screwup worked out for the best with a little research.

JOE RIX

I'd like to interrupt this GB for a very important message..GO BRONCOS!!! That is all. Carry on.

I'm a bit confused now. My Eduard weekend kit has decals for a Dortenmann bird too. It looks exactly like the first one you posted, but the whole tail fin is yellow (like on the other 2 Doras). I'm assuming Eduard got that yellow area wrong?

I'd like to interrupt this GB for a very important message..GO BRONCOS!!! That is all. Carry on.

Fantacmet:Its a D-9 alright. It's Black 10 of JG26 Wrk No. 500618 operating out of Celle May 1945 just after it left III. Gruppe and was assigned to I. Gruppe.

mustang1989: What paint scheme are you going with?  That looks close to one of the ones I'm thinking on my DORA.

So I do have it narrowed down here.  I'm going to model a Hans Dortenmann mount.  the interesting thing here is that while the Eduard profipack kit appears to have all the markings for 3 Dortenmann aircraft, it only shows for one aircraft, and the scheme it shows I cannot find that scheme with any of those markings depicted.  The ones I found that can use the available markings in the kit(with one being altered which is Red 1), are as follows.

The really bad part here is, I don't know which one to do......................................   Pretty sure it'll be one of the first two.

Reagarding NMF finishes on 190s: How 'bout this one (2nd bird):

I definitely have to build this one...

I never thought you did think so. LOL Looks like I have to work on expressing myself a bit more. At least I have the excuse that English isn't my native language...

Clemens, I didn't mean to imply that I thought NMF was rare on 190's. I was curious if Joe's guy had NMF under the wings as a personal choice, repairs, panel replacement or such. Unique in his gruppe.

By the way guys, I'll be going to the "Hope it Don't Snow" model show in Rochester Minnesota on Feb 1st. I plan to show everything that I've finished in the past year: my Spitfire Mk IIb, Fw190A5, Speeder Bike, STAP (with droid if I finish him in time), and Dual .50 cal AA.

I was kind of surprised that the Rochester show isn't in the list of "Events" in our forums here. It is sponsored by an IPMS club after all

JJ: Looking very good! I need to continue work on my Staffel, but I have only very little time ATM, so I concentrate on other builds that need less attention untill I'm less busy... I don't think this GB will fade away if the end date was removed, but I think every GB has to come to an end at some point. Joe and I have been talking about hosting a German/Late war Jet GB next year though, so I expect to see most guys participating here in that one as well...

Bill: I don't know if there were any Gruppen with all their planes having bare metal panels, but such paint schemes don't seem to be that unique. Some of my 190s have NMF panels as well.

Man what an incredible lineup of outstanding models - I think this GB should change from a Group Build to a special interest section so that it never ends. I also got some more work done - not much mind, but I got some of the dreaded finicky stuff metal coated and completed the cockpit with the hood....

Holy damn, Joe, that metal finish is awesome. I must do a little studying of the metal foil application as some day I might be building my 1/32 scale B-25 in NMF. That'll be a major challenge for a bumkin like me.

Were there entire gruppes  that had metal finish on the undersides of their 190's or was the one you're representing unique?

Joe, Doug and Clemens:Thanks for the encouraging comments. I'm currently working on the landing gear painting and weathering the main landing gear actuating arms, tire and wheel assys and installing the last of the gear PE. I also masked off the canopy sections and painted them with a coat of 02 and I'll apply the top coats next.

You've achieved a truly awesome looking finish there, Joe!

Hey Joe... Morning,    Man,   That is really looking great! I love the way the paint is toned down and the weathering effect is just right! Keep up the great work !

Doug.