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

Dayum, Greg, that's a winner sir!  She looks great and you did a fantastic job on the paint work.  Congratulations!

Gary

Greg - beautiful job!  Like the others' comments, your paint work is fantastic and that's a great job on the antenna (including the tensioner)  Great attention to detail.

Man, I hope my schedule eases off so I can get some bench time.  You guys are keeping me motivated for sure!

Allen

Yeah, everything's alright here. I'm just a bit busy atm...

Greg...buddy... what can I add but Beautiful! Sorry, Ive been out of town for about a week and just got back in this morning. Again...note to self...quit taking off for a few without checking in... WOW,,, what a rush of great work from all!

Back to you Greg... Itold ya in the begining this group was contagious and we would gitcha! Looking forward to your next build my friend... and I agree, the Wurger is addictive...

Take care!

Doug

Joe (Rix), thanks so much! I used the Flory (clay-based pigment) Wash again on this one, so I did make an attempt at the panel lines. But your observation is correct, not much to see. I figured it was a combination of the delicate panel lines on the Hasegawa kit, way too heavy on my gloss coat (still struggling with that), and perhaps the Flory pigment being a bit coarse for the tiny panels lines???

Could I still do that pin wash at this point? Would I need to seal it with (yet another) light coat of matte? And do you mean an oil pin wash or something else? I have a lot to learn about washes and panel lines. I simply haven't figured out how to control oil washes except for the occasional success with detail washes, in cockpits and wheel wells and the such.

I really appreciate your observation, I am here to have fun AND to learn, and by noticing something and mentioning it, that only helps me to progress! And, it is just plain fun to be able to build with you too, Joe!

Nathan, thank you for your kind words, and all of your support and encouragement along the way, Please keep posting, you have a lot of experience to share, and I like your style of doing so.

PJ, thank you, mate! Your work is also an inspiration to me and your help and encouragement mean a lot to me.

Clemens, thanks my friend! You've been quiet, hope real life is going ok and you find some more bench time soon! Thanks for all you encouragement, as always.

PJ: Great work, as always! The scratch-built Mg-hood is a great addition, as are the different tires and the gear indicators!

Joe (Mustang): Your Dauntless is looking ace! I'm glad to have you in my Carrier GB!

Joe (Rix): It's great to see some pics from you and I can't believe how much patience you are showing with this build!

Greg: That's some very impressive work, mate! I'm glad you liked the Hasegawa kit. I second Joe's tip with the panel wash, but otherwise she looks simply awesome!

Joe (Lawdog): Very nice work on your side as well! I can't wait to see more of your Eduard 190!

It looks like I'll get some bench time tomorrow and maybe on Sunday as well, so I might be able to finally finish those damn cockpits...

Mike (thunderbolt), thanks so much for your kind words. To clarify, it is my second build since back. Like so many others here, I built as a kid, and found myself building a kit early this year after a 40 or so year hiatus. Thing is, I've learned more here in 8 months than in all those years as a kid.

I would very much like to watch your 190 come together. I'd like to try a 1/32nd some day, and it would be great to be able to watch your build!

Mustang Joe, thanks my friend! And also for all your help and encouragement along the way. Now I get to add my badge. Yippie!

Greg

Dude, what can I say but    . Excellent work and time well spent on a great build. The paint looks fantastic, nice soft feathering and realistic weathering done just right.

Nice, Nice Greg. Great work on your first 190. The paint job looks great. Nice and smooth and feathered out. I like the dusty look on the tires, and great work on the antenna aerial. Build another!

MAGNIFICO GREG!!!! That is a seriously well done 190. Greg, You have done an excellent job all the way from assembly, to painting, to detailing, to weathering. I do have an observation. From your pics it appears that you have no highlight or wash on your panel lines. Is this indeed the case? If that is the case, that would be my suggestion to you. A pin wash would simply enhance the weathering and appearance. I am certainly glad you are choosing to do another as it just plain fun to build with you.

Greg:  That is one awesome looking 190 and you pulled that mottle effect off flawlessly!! This will fit proudly with the rest on display on the intro post!! Looking forward to seeing the next one your'e talking about!

Update: Just thought I would edit this post to reflect that I now have that good looking bird of yours on the wall of fame. Good job Greg!

Thunderbolt: I've been looking forward to your build! Glad to have you with us buddy.

Greg -- your second build? That is absolutely brilliant! I've wanted to do Red 10 myself for a long time, and must go back and study your approach!

I'm delighted to see this GB extended as I would still very much like to get that 1:32 Bodenplatt bird done, I have received the preprinted seat harness etch set, and as soon as I can figure out how to do it I can crack on and assemble the rest of the beast.

Mike/TB379

Joe got me off my butt. :) This is the 1/48 Hasegawa Fw190 F-8 with BT700 Bomben Torpedo Limited Edition.

No excuses. I spent more time on this than I planned and for my second build back I am pleased with it. (Was supposed to be a quick build just to try my first airbrushed camo not to mention mottle attempt). Didn't quite work out that way. :)

As always, higher res image avail by clicking on image.

This was a SOOB build. Many thanks to those of you who recommended one of the Hasegawa kits for my first FW-190. It went together very well. And also for all the help, great tips, and advice along the way as always!

And yes Joe, I'm hooked. There is another FW-190 in my very near future. As soon as I figure out which one, I'm back in. :)

Oh, one last thing. Thanks to you who invited (prodded??? :) ) me to join the group. Frankly I had little interest in the 190's but wanted to join in this great group. Now I'm hopelessly hooked. Super cool aircraft.

Sweet Greg! I can't wait to see some pics. And to hear what 190 you're building next.

BD, I actually wrapped it up yesterday. Haven't gotten around to a final inspection or taking the pics yet. Keep waiting for a spurt of energy. :) Thanks for asking!

greg     I was gone for a bit last I seen on your build you was decaling it. did you finish it up ?.    

thanks greg I read that some builders use it to clear coat for decals also.. this batch should last awhile  it around 1/4 of a bottle.

Joe, thanks for the info on reusing the silly putty. Good to know! I was afraid I'd have to go to Toys-R-Us and buy a case of the stuff. I tend to be a bit of an inventory fanatic. :)

Nathan, that's interesting about gear indicators, thank you.  Odd it wasn't more widely used. Simpler is always better, and that seems a straightforward solution to "Is my gear down"? I think I'd tend to trust it more than three green lights.

BD, that's the stuff. It is the old label. If you ever want to buy a new one for some reason, let me know and I'll track down a pic of the new label so you don't waste a week buying the wrong stuff, returning it, etc. as I did! :) Glad to hear you got what happened sorted out.

greg and lawdog..... sry I ment to get back to the both of you.  . this is the future I used its about 3 yrs old. it worked fine on my sample canopy (f-84) and fine on the rest of this canopy. about a 1/4 way up from the bottom of the front screen was a seem in my tamyia tape that's were the issue was. so I brushed a bit more on just to see if it would help it did clean the smudge up but blerd the rest

so im thinking maybe I rubed to hard on the seem or something because there was other seems in my mask..

Also found on MiG-17s, not sure about the MiG-15.

Greg

PJ, that is some awesome detail work, mate! Never seen or heard of the gear indicator thingies before. Were they at all common? Was that a Luftwaffe-specific thing? I assume they were simply a spring loaded rod pushed up when some part of the gear physically retracted?

Fairly common on most if not all Soviet A/C in WW2. Yaks, Lavochkins, Shturmoviks.

Zero's too mabye?

Thank You Gentlemen for the compliments and encouragement. I have the next round of putty mask on and will be spraying on the RLM 83 tomorrow. I should begin to move right along here as this is my last day at the used bookstore prior to the closing of it's doors. This will afford me an extra day and a half to spend at the bench.

Greg: In regards to using silly putty after it's been used as a mask, it is quite reusable. Just wad it up and knead it for a while and the old paint just becomes incorporated in to the putty and tis good to go for another round. I have one batch that I have used for masking on three models and it's still usable.

Nathan: Currently I am planning on staying in here with ya'll with the Tamiya 1/48 fw 190F-8. Yet, that may change as I may opt to tackle something I know that I can finish in time to enter in WestFest next April.

Oh goodie, lots of action today!

Joe (Rix), coming along nicely. I appreciate each and every pre-shading and puttty-masking pic, as I have yet to try either. Rookie question: Once the silly putty (or equivalent) has been used as a mask, is it junk or is it reusable?

Looking forward to seeing this one progress. I seem to be happy with my interior detail work that ends up all but hidden, still struggling for the fantastic exteriors I'm seeing from y'all.

Blackdog, regarding Lawdog Joe's question to you about which Future did you use, that is why I asked you the same, or what kind of floor polish you used if not Future. I suspect you missed my question. Specifically regarding Future, their new labeling is confusing, and it is tricky to find the right one for what we want to do. If you are using some other brand of floor polish, that might be very iffy.

Joe (Lawdog), I can hardly wait to the the exterior on this one come together. That is a truly cool (and challenging-looking) scheme, looking like you have all well under control (as usual) so far. :)

PJ, that is some awesome detail work, mate! Never seen or heard of the gear indicator thingies before. Were they at all common? Was that a Luftwaffe-specific thing? I assume they were simply a spring loaded rod pushed up when some part of the gear physically retracted?

Never thought of using the alligator clip extra-hands thing to hold awkward parts for gluing. Brilliant, thank you!

The landing gear came together beautifully. Cool idea on the two tire types!

Joe Rix: Glad to see you posting progress pics again. i know you have literally be to Hell and back with this thing and hope the progress forward is smooth sailin' for you on this thing.

Everybody: Thanks for the comments on the SBD. I should be wrapping things up pretty soon with that and concentrating most of my spare time efforts on the holidays. I didn't want to take up a whole lot of space here on this build with it but was just letting you all know why I haven't been continuing with the D-9 build so far. Will be returning to the D-9 after the holidays. I'm getting bit by the Luftwaffe bug as we speak.

Nice work PJ! That scratch built hood was worth the effort. 2 things I noticed on the pic of the real yellow 10. Lots of oil staining on the spinner, and the allies obviously removed the wing guns and motor cannon, and taped over the holes.

Lawdog- Glad you haven't completely lost your *** on this build. The A-5s didn't come in the early scheme per se, they left the factory in 74/75/76, then received an overspray of the early greens, 71/70, as you can see the 74/75 peaking through here and there around the tail. JG 54 apparently tried to paint their planes to match the vast Russian countryside in the summer.

Gunze's 70/71 are pretty close. I do add just a touch of black to the 70 to darken it, and then add some 70 to the 71, just to give them less contrast.

Joe Rix- Great perseverance on the Wurger! Hope you get things nailed down perfect this time! Bet you can't wait to finish her up...and start another one...

Greg and BD...You are both welcome.

Joe Rix.... Thanks bud. Hey that paint job is coming along. Great masking job.

Lawdog...You are welcome. Great job in matching the yellow color. Ivan wasn't afraid of the yellow but it was an identification aid, which apparently the bright yellow was visible in inclement weather. It made it easier to curb friendly fire cases.

I hade some minor silvering smack in the middle of the black fuselage crosses so had to mix  the mottle colors and perform surgery with my Renagade AB that shoots hair thin lines. What ever overspray got on the black portion of the decal was easily removed with a small brush and thinner.

I'm adding little details such as the antennas , the longer one that Edurad did not provide an attachment point in the wing so I drilled a small hole for it, and a small antenna behind the loop which I added from thin brass.

I secured the foil hood using those multi hand thingies I got at Harbor Freight for a couple of bucks. I have several of them and come in handy as in here

I drilled out two spots on the wings for the landing gear indicators, stretched some sprue  and painted them red and white, trimmed them to size and glued them on

added the mismatched tires

starboard ribbed

and port smooth

I also found a picture of the actual plane when captured showing the difference in the tires

www.asisbiz.com/.../Focke-Wulf-Fw-190D13-JG26-(Y10-+-)-Franz-Gotz-Germany-1945-03.html

Blackdog, by any chance did you use Future on that canopy?  If so, thats likely your problem.  Unless you have an old bottle, the new formula is and wont cure.  Nice work by the way.  PJ, thanks for showing me how to rig the landing gear.  Mustang, One of tne sweetest SBD's I've seen.  I love the tri-scheme.  I have the Accurate Miniatures SBD waiting.   Please post a build thread.  Clemens, thats is looking fantastic. 

Anyways, I have a quick update.  My OCD did win out and I decided against better judgement and sanded the doors flush as best as I could then tried to rescribe the lines.  This was ackward and difficult like Das Fuhrer himself .  After it was all said and done, I think they turned out ok.  I did decide to save my Mayer decals for later and will to go with the cover subject, Walter Nowotny's JG 54 mount from the Eastern front.  Besides, I'm dying to try out Gunze's version of RLM 70 and 71 for which I bought but have yet to use.  Apparently Nowotny's 190 had an early scheme.     

I preshaded the panel lines and then added all that Eastern front yellow.  The was Flat Yellow cut with a tad of Flat Red untilI thought it matched the decals.  I'm curious, as I recall my recent 109 G-2 from the ETO, were the Russians overly intimidated by the color yellow?  The Luftwaffe planes in that theater certain had alot of it. 

The instructions call for RLM 76 on the lower (I thought it should be 65 actually...considering the top), which is next.  The yellow will be taped off soon and the scheme started.

Joe

I came across this to day in my research  and thought it interesting. and maybe others might also it explains a lot of the fw 190 labeling. if anybody needs I can try for a better pic in the sunlite..

pj thanks again for the info im going to try the bands also'.

greg your welcome.

joe I cant wait to see the finish. im not sure what rout im going to take on my my paint I was going to try free hand.

Woohoo! Lots of great building going on gents. Really nice stuff to see.

Clemens - You are doing some real nice PE work. Keep it coming.

Blackdog - Sorry to see the issue with the canopy. Hope the recovery goes well. the rest of your work looks great.

PJ - Really sweet detailing on the landing gear. And overall, just outstanding.

Joe - Absolutely marvelous work on the SBD. Thanks for sharing that with us.

Thanks for all the wonderful builds gentlemen. There really is just some honestly great exhibition of talent and skill here. 

With that all said I am pleased to say that I have indeed made some progress. Better yet I have some pics. I regret the quality of my pics but, I seem to be having issues with my camera. Yet, I believe I will get the idea across. The first pic is the mask on the initial coat of RLM 84 (again, Gunze Duck Egg Green). The second is the coat of RLM 75 and the start of the last round of masking prior to the RLM 83. It all seems to be going well so far but all will be revealed once all the putty is removed.