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

She's looking really good Joe! I wouldn't have noteced that you had any issues if you hadn't pointed it out...

Soo this means Mustang can put you down for another 190?...Hasegawa? Looks good btw

Well Joe, I regret that you had to tackle such issues but it appears that you are certainly making the most of it and overcoming them quite nicely. Hang in there. I have no doubts that you will turn out an excellent 190 having seen your level of skill.

Dang Joe! It's a good thing I decided to open mine all the way up. My only issue after that was the fan that you are talking about. I chose to take some off of the engine mounts though. I put WAY too much into the engine to shave anything off of mine since it was opened up. You look like you are pulling through this one pretty good though despite the setbacks. Hang in there Joe. If anybody can pull a good build off out of these issues, it's you.

Nathan, looking sweet my friend.   Scott, nice save. 

Hello all, in for a brief update.  I truly hate the Eduard 190 series.  I'm just gonna put that out there.  I found a little bench time last night so I figured I would get the frame together and primed.  Well.....5 hours later and alot of cussing, I'm here right now. 

For starters, everything was ever so slightly crooked and I could not get the root cannon bays square.  This made adding the cannon covers a nightmare.  I know this kit is better suited to open up everthing but come on.  I tried Evergreen shims, man cells, voodoo, a shaman ritual...but nothing would work.  I finally said it then jammed them in as best I could and sealed them with Tenax.  They look like s but I'm well past caring at this point. Then I had trouble with attaching the PE piano hinges for the bay covers.  They would not lay flat and as my frustraton level grew, the worse they looked.  I ended up fudging it and adding a strip of syrene above them to sort of hide it.  This area of the kit is very poorly designed.  I may go back and try to sand the high parts flush and rescribe the lines. 

The engine and cowling was a soup sandwich as well.  Nothing seemed to fit right.  I had to physically flatten down the upper fuse gun cover with my thumb to get it to match the fuselage.  I then Tenaxed the s out of it.  Reference the engine cowl fit, I got it all together and was somewhat happy, however, before I could finish congratulating myself, I noticed that fan stuck out too far.  I had to tear everything apart and chop off some of the rear of the engine so it sat further inside the cowl.  Arg!   I know I was warned about this but I unwisely decided to take my chances. 

I still have an Eduard A-6 in the stash, but this A-5 will definitely be my last....I'll stick with the Hasegawa example from now on.  I am not going to waste my good JG2 decals on it either.  I'll pick another subject from the kit options and save Mayer's markings for a Hasegawa 190.

Joe       

How Efing Cool! I had to watch several others too... Very cool. I saw one where a man had built a scale (LARGE) SR71 that had actual turbo fan jet engines in it. That was amazing! Thanks for sharing PJ...

I bet you that is a giant scale RC model. they make them now very realistic, specially when they come out in still pictures. Check this giant scale Sea Fury in the same markings as my model. Listen to the brute power of that Moki Radial motor::

www.youtube.com/watch

Looking great, Nathan!

...Hey Rix- I'm sure they're all on the internet somewheres...haha. Thanks for approval of the camo.

Oh Lord! You get laid up sick and distracted by things like a wedding anniversary for a couple two or three days and here you find at least two full pages of catching up to do. That is indeed the effect of the full awesomeness of this GB!

Scott - Very good to see you back here. And even more wonderful to see that you did not give up on the ole Airfix 190. You did an admirable job on tackling that monstrous fit issue.

Nathan - I like your use of previous knowledge coupled with some artistic license to achieve your camo scheme/colors. Looks excellent. And about that photo of yellow 10 flying. Hmm, I don't suppose you also have some photos of the Loch Ness Monster, Sasquatch and a variety of UFOs also do ya?

...and moving on to a part of the build that you CAN see...The camo:

The mottling/overspray on the tail got a little too heavy. I might tone it down later...we'll see. It was tough to try and replicate the pic.

mustang1989

plastickjunkie

Nathan T

...And sucky that you can hardly see them beautiful pedals once inside the cockpit of a Wurger

 

 

x 2!!!!!!!

x 3?

plastickjunkie

Nathan T

...And sucky that you can hardly see them beautiful pedals once inside the cockpit of a Wurger

 

 

Nathan T

...And sucky that you can hardly see them beautiful pedals once inside the cockpit of a Wurger

...And sucky that you can hardly see them beautiful pedals once inside the cockpit of a Wurger

I used a dowel approximating the diameter I needed. I just found it extremely delicate and precise work to bend them just the right diameter but mine came out perfect. Yes u need several tweezers to work certain parts. For straight bends I use two single edged blades on top of my small tile that I use as a pe cutting surface. Works every time.

Yeah, I use a toothpick for the foot straps as well, but I find bending the heel rest with a pair of tweezers to be easier. I guess it's just personal preference...

Another trick on those foot pedals is the use of a toothpick or just a smidgen larger diameter rod to butt up against the heel rest and bend it to shape by pushing against the PE with another toothpick or similar object. I have a piece of metal rod that works great for the curve form. The same trick works with the pedal foot straps! Easy money every time!

You don't need no fingers to bend them. I used 2 pairs of tweezers: One to hold the pedals and the other one to slowly bend the curved part... I even have some step-by-step pics of the pedal "construction". I'll post them as soon as I get home today.

SchattenSpartan

Yes they are easy to bend  but my fingers and eyes find it hard getting the right curb shape with those small parts.

The PE pedals are actually really easy to bend to shape. I just used my tweezers to bend the part that needs to be curved up while it was still straight and then used the tweezers to slowly bend them to a shape that matches the curve of the "baseplate".

Nathan

The Alclad looks perfect, as the rest of the camo. The mottling is fun, just thin the paint a little more than usual.

SchattenSpartan

Great work with the pe. Aren't those foot pedals a bit of a PITA to bend at the right shape?

John, I will second the others when it comes to hase kits. I know they are more costly, but there kits are usually my first choice.

Some more great progress here guys. This GB is just getting better.

Thanks for the nice comments on my PE work, guys!

Joe (Rix): I wish I could upgrade every Eduard kit with a PE set similar to this one, but I simply can't afford buying so many of them...

Scott: That's a very impressive save! Watching someone build such a damn difficult kit keeps me motivated, because I realize that the kits I build are nothing compared to the work that guys like you pull off! Kudos to you for building that kit!

Looking very good, Nathan!

I came upon a rare shot of the 2nd only known operational D-13 found at Pilsen-Bory after the war(Courtesy of Japo Dora Vol. 2:

The profile seems alittle dark overall. According to the Werk. No. this airplane was built right before Yellow 10 on the production line. Again-engine cowling Camo is speculative. It seems to be the consensus that it wore brown-violet and 82 light green, with a light color on the wing tops. I opted for 77 gray primer and mixed my own with some Gunze grays, and then sprayed 81 brown violet camo on the wing tops and a wrap around the leading edge and gear doors:

Tonite I'll start on the fuselage camo, and try and replicate the paint patches on the rudder.

Yes I agree Yellow 10 is a great rare example. Sorry, no captions with the photos, they came from scalemodes.ru and I can't read Russian..

Nathan

What did the pictures say? any reference given about the aircraft? From all I have read, the owner does not want it flown.

The following is from one of the web sources:

"Surrendered to the RAF at Flensburg and earmarked for the americans,assigned number USA 14 (self explanatory)

It was flown in mock dogfights against RAF Tempests by Major Heinz Lange,Geschwader Kommodore JG 51,who considered the two types evenly matched.

The Americans apply the number FE-118. Ferried to Gilze-Rijen in the Netherlands where,luckily for us,a Canadian airman named Ross Finlayson took a beautiful series of photographs of the aircraft.

Ferried on to Cherbourg from where it was shipped (19th July 1945) to the USA,ultimate destination Freeman Field.

Post war,sent to Dobbins Army Base in Georgia,with the wrong wings,for static display.

Freeman Field didn't it them back and the aircraft was taken by Georgia Tech.

Bud Weaver swops an Aeronca Champ aero engine,needed by Georgia Tech's flying school for two german aircraft including Yellow 10. They are stored outdoors and frequently moved,falling into a state of disrepair.

Weaver died in 1966 and the remains of the aircraft passed through various hands before being bought by Doug Champlin in 1972.

Champlin financed a retoration for static display and the aircraft was exhibited at the Champlin Fighter Museum near Phoenix for many years. It didn't fly but the engine was run,most notably in 1990 in the presence of veterans,both German and American.

Champlin financed another restoration to flying condition,starting in 2000. There was never any intention to actually fly the aircraft. It was at this time that the wrong wings were discovered. The correct wings were attached to the D-9 at the USAF museum and a swop was agreed."

In July 2007 Paul Allen of the Flying Heritage Collection purchased the aircraft.He too has vowed never to attempt to fly the aircraft.

You can see other "Doras" but Yellow 10 is the only D-13 to have survived and is unique.

plastickjunkie

Nathan

Thanks for the added reference. I like to research and double check info as I go in my builds to try to get it as close as possible to the real thing. While searching for more info, I ran across this link:  www.airspacemag.com/.../cit-stansfield.html

It's very informative and gives some insight to some of the restoration details. I'm glad that even though Yellow 10 is airworthy, the museum has decided only to taxi her and run up the engine. She is the last of a rare breed and needs to be preserved.

PJ, or anywone- You sure Yellow 10 hasn't flown at least once? Found these pics on the net:

John, try to get this kit:

http://www.hannants.co.uk/product/HA09755

The normal retail price on Hannants is 30 bucks while all the other 190s cot something around 60 bucks. The staff car is included as well.