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

falconmod

I've got one of those old badger type compressors with no pressure adjustment or tank.  I do have a water trap/pressure dial that I was going to add to it,  will the water trap act like a small air tank?

When I get home tonight I'll have to look at it and make sure its not a pressure regulator.

Don't mean to interrupt the interesting compressor discussion, but thought someone might get a kick out of this.

My 1/48th Hasegawa fw-190 arrived. Just opened the box. Bear in mind my point of scale reference is the 1/48th TBM Avenger I am finishing up. That and a 1/32nd F-15 Eagle, my last and only surviving model build.

I panicked, thought there was a mistake, Hasegawa had packaged a 1/72nd kit in the 1/48th packaging. I actually checked the physical specs of both aircraft online. I had no idea what a monster the TBM was. Or that the 190 is so small. Or whatever.

I have a question; the manual references some "RLM" colors. I've seen RLM colors tossed about here, have no idea what they mean? Also, my Academy kit called out colors from several mfgs. The Hasegawa just has the colors. Whatever RLM means, I assume they are not paint mfg specific?

TIA.

Edit: Oops, forgot about Google. Figured out RLM. D'oh! Every one is available from Gunze in their Aqueous line, which I cannot get over here. Grrrr. :) Off to check if Tamiya has any RLM colors......

Tamiya will not list (usually) RLM. Some kits recommend "blending" colors by percentage to achieve the desired color. RLM (I would also have to look up even though I've read it a thousand times) were the colors approved by the Reich war ministery. The colors I use mainly are the Model Master acrylics which are already blended to standards,(also available in enamels) I think a lot of Tamiya kits of coarse recommend their own close match paints and are very good paints. Several other kit mfgs will send along a chart showing which paint mfg blends (Mr color, Humbolt, etc...) will work best. It can be fun experimenting, but just remember to mix enough to do your project as I'm sure you know you can rarely ever blend again and get the exact color.

LOL, yes, after doing a 1/32 and an Avenger to boot, I'm sure the 48 did look a tad small! LOL I generally like the 1/32 but have done a few 48s for people recently, and find I have to re-train myself all over again due to the size diff.

Hope this helps...Take care

Doug

Hey, thanks Doug! Didn't realise Model Master had RLM colors, I just bit the bullet and ordered some Vallejo Model Air RLM colors from Squadron.

Good advice re mixing enough. I did my first ever custom mix for the Avenger, due to mistakes mixing, thought I mixed up way too much. Ended up almost running out of one, proves how right you are!

Honestly, I didn't realise how small normal 1/48th WWII fighters are. Amazing how my sense of scale got lost over the gone years. And here I was thinking 1/32nd would be far too big. Yikes.

And regarding the three crew TBM, oddly, during my entire build, even though I saw the interior right in front of me, the obvious large size of the aircraft never really occurred to me. Odd.

I now have a rather burning desire to see a refurb in person somewhere.

RLM stands for Reichsluftfahrtministerium. That is German for "Reich" aviation ministery. It was a ministery for everything regarding aviation in the 3rd Reich (civil and military).

"RLM-colors" are basically numbered standard-colors used to paint aircraft. RLM-66 for example, is standard-color nr. 66, which is a particular shade of dark gray.

And yes, the Avenger was a monster compared to some other planes. Don't forget the fact that it had a 3 man crew compared to the single pilot the 190s had...

I hope I could help you out!

Cheers, Clemens

Clemens, thanks buddy! That all makes sense now.

A bit embarrassed, I went brain dead and forgot about googling my question. But it's more fun annoying my new friends here anyway. :)

Not every 1/48 fighter is small. The Thunderbolts I am working on ATM are at least 4 cm longer than a 190A. And 1/32 models of those flying milk jugs are huge buggers... Th 190 is just one of the smaller fighters of WW2...

No worries, mate. You can ask me any question you want about German names and stuff. I am also gladly offering my service regarding translations of German stuff.

Wait till you build a 109! Those things were tiny!!

Thanks for the further info Clemens and Eric.

Interesting to know that the 190 were one of the smaller fighters, and now Eric I'll have to build a 109 just to see! I can see the fun of having a 1/48th fleet from the standpoint of seeing the relative sizes.

Clemens,,, Park the 190, or the 109 next to our next build the Do335! All single seat fighters but wow what a diff! Many years ago I saw a JU88 in a muesum... What a monster that is!

Eric: I have a 1/48th 109 in my stash (E-3 by Eduard) and it is indeed tiny... I don't think I would fit into one of those little machines... (I'm 1.83m)

Doug: That would make a nice picture! I'm so going to do that!

Greg: Yup, that would be a nice project. Building every single-seat fighter of WW2 and lining them up sorted by size would be really interesting. I'm pretty sure that the Spit and the 109 would be on the "tiny" end of the row and the Thunderbolt and 335 on the "frickin huge" side... I'm still impressed by the size of the Jug (its engine is as tall as an average human...) and the 335 is even slightly larger...

Hey, even the Spitfire has quite a bit of heft compared to the 190. Those damn 190s were just an engine with guns, man. The Spits had a much greater wing surface area. Probably explains how a Spit would kick the 190's butt in a turning fight.

Here's a side by side pic of my 1/32 scale Fw190A-5 and Spitfire Mk IIb.

SchattenSpartan

No worries, mate. You can ask me any question you want about German names and stuff. I am also gladly offering my service regarding translations of German stuff.

John

Good morning folks! Managed to get up this morning and shoot some mottle pattern on those unfinished "blister panels" as well as the nose of the bird and  install the nose piece. The one thing I DIDN'T account for was the warped piece at the L/H lower part of the nose. Simply put , I'm going to have to live with that one because I'll do more damage to the plane than repairable if I try to fix that now. This build is going to go down in my model building history as one of the more difficult ones. Moving forward now. Here is the latest with the nose piece installed.

Looking nice Joe!

May I ask you guys on how to do that mottle-pattern? (This is my 1st attempt at a German aircraft...)

That looks great! puts mine to shame.  I agree with Clemens how did you do your mottling? love the engine open panels, that's something I can't do.

John

I crank up my air pressure to about 30 psi and adjust the needle (I have a medium needle) to where paint just barely comes out. Thin the paint to milk consistency and start spraying and keep the brush MOVING. Don't stand still or you'll end up with a bunch of dots. Move close to get it started and back off to fade the mottle. I use Vallejo acrylics so they go on really easy.

falconmod

That looks great! puts mine to shame.  I agree with Clemens how did you do your mottling? love the engine open panels, that's something I can't do.

John

Thanks for sharing your technique, Joe!

We measure air pressure in "Bar" here in Austria, but luckily my compressor has it's pressure indicator in Bar and psi! I use a 0.4mm needle and I think that is "medium size". Adjusting the needle should be easy for me, as my AB has a screw at the rear which can be used to limit how far the needle can be pulled back.

mustang1989

falconmod

That looks great! puts mine to shame.  I agree with Clemens how did you do your mottling? love the engine open panels, that's something I can't do.

John

Thanks John. Don't kid yourself about the open panels. You can do that stuff. Like I was saying about the engine. Just build each piece as its own model. This includes each cowling and so on. Just takes a little patience. It all comes together in the end.

John

I think it has an Iron Cross and 2 kits + 2 big-ed sets in the box.

And some special decal options and parts from an actual 190...

Actually its got a piece of the plane that I'm building. It was shot down in the Battle over the Ore mountains and became a lawn dart. The pilot bailed out and survived but the plane buried itself. It was dug up ( or at least parts of it were) and the pieces were divied up and some of them wound up in the Royal Class kits. That'll go on display right there with the plane.

Joe, another thanks for sharing your mottling technique. That looks sweet. Sorry about the warped part.

Curious, I've read that spraying up close + high pressure = disaster. Yet can visualize how very low paint flow and keeping the brush moving would counter that.

Which Vallejo? Model Air I presume? What do you thin it with? (I have some Model Air on the way, never tried it, clueless re thinning it),

And finally, does your airbrush have a preset handle? Reason I ask, my relatively new Iwata does not. My retired plastic Model Master airbrush did, and I miss it. On the flip side, have read comments stating that with acrylics, the preset handles don't work because of the drying acrylic constantly fouling the tip. I've been on the fence about getting a second airbrush for a couple months now, so appreciate any comments on subject. (from anyone, of course). Clemens, you mentioned your airbrush has a preset handle. Usage comments?

Greg

Curious, I've read that spraying up close + high pressure = disaster. Yet can visualize how very low paint flow and keeping the brush moving would counter that.

It depends on the consistency of the paint. Very thin paint causes a mess, but if you spray thick paint, it should work fine.

Greg

Which Vallejo? Model Air I presume? What do you thin it with?

I suppose Joe uses the Air series of paints. They are great for both brush-painting and spraying. You can either thin them with Valeejo's thinner or with water (thinner works a tad better)

Greg

Clemens, you mentioned your airbrush has a preset handle. Usage comments?

I use a double-action AB by Harder&Steenbeck. It has no preset handle, but something which is even better. There is a screw in the rear end of it. When you tighten it, the way the needle can move back is limited to the point where it hits the screw. That means that I can use it like any other AB, but limit the amount of paint that can flow through the AB. Here's a link to the AB I use, called "Evolution Silverline". Keep in mind cthat only the silverline has that screw.

Here's another link to a video regarding the Evolution Silverline.

I have the 2 in 1 set, which means I have 2 different needle sets (needle, nozzle and nozzle-cap). The great thing about all Evolution ABs is that they are really versatile: You can swap the needles (and their nozzles) within  seconds without using anything but your fingers.

Greg

Curious, I've read that spraying up close + high pressure = disaster. Yet can visualize how very low paint flow and keeping the brush moving would counter that.

Clemens and Joe, thanks very much for the helpful feedback. The more I think I'm getting airbrushing figuring out, the more I think I'm not.

Clemens, ironically I have had the Harder and Steenbeck Evolution Silverline bookmarked as "I want one" for a couple of months. I think for me, the adjustable stop would be good for me, and I like the concept of the interchangable needles/tips. Most interesting to learn that you own one and like it. Might be about time to bite the bullet.