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

Clemens, had no idea all the aftermarket stuff was avail for your B-17. I enjoyed reading your rundown and reasons pro and con.

It occurred to me, at a very strange moment last night, that a quarter is not at all common object for you, or to the many non Yankees here. Senior moment on my part. :)

PJ: I'd second Mustang. Squadron books aren't all that great on color accuracy. Jerry Crandall would be the man here cause he helped restore the real deal. Here's what Eagle Cals says:

falconmod

Well here's Fw190A-7  number 2 on my list, just started it this weekend.

I will not be using the slipper tanks, I just need a A-7 for the snake head decals.

John

Yes, I do know about them. I looked at all of the Eduard sets and here are my thoughts on them:

PE flaps: They look really sharp, but the kit supplied detail looks very nice as well and I'm not going to spend 80€ on flaps, no matter how nice they look.

PE bomb bay: Not much in the set, so not really needed.

PE engines: The kit's engines look so damn nice that it is absolutely pointless to add anything to them except some wiring...

PE exterior: Same as with the bomb bay.

PE undercarriage: Looks very nice as well, but I don't feel the need to spend any more money on those areas...

PE seatbelts: No. I don't really like PE seatbelts and only use them if they are supplied in the kit (Eduard profi packs for example)

PE/fabric seatbelts: I'll definitely get those for my B-17! I really like fabric seatbelts and this set seems to have a pretty fair price.

PE cockpit: A definite yes. The interior of this kit is (like with HK's B-25) pretty nice, but the floor is lacking any structure for example. The PE set provides you with plates to glue on the floor with all the structure on. It also adds a lot more detail to all the other areas.

PE front interior: Same as with the cockpit set. I'll say "yes" to this one as well.

PE radio compartment: You basically pay 20€ for a few tiny PE bits and pre-painted plates to go on the radios. It can't be that hard to paint those radios and to be honest, the windows in that area are not even large enough to most of the added detail.

PE waist section: again, 20€ is a bit too much for that little amount of detail.

PE bomb racks: If I decide to build her with opened bomb bay doors, I'll hang some bombs on those bomb racks, so there won't be much visible of the adde detail...

Masks: They really are worth the money. Masking all thuse turrets and the rounded nose section is going to be a royal pain in the *** without them.

Brassin guns: Looks like a nice alternative to the Profimodeller barrels. The set costs about 26€ while the Profimodeller barrels are 40€. The brassin guns themselves and especially their mounts are a nice improvement over the kit parts, but the 2-part brass barrels (Profimodeller) just look way better than the resin barrels - and the barrels are the most visible part after all.

Brassin engines: Some nice stuff, but one of 4 engines sells for 25€ and the kit's engines with some added wiring look really good already, so I don't feel like getting this set at all.

Brassin wheels: Great looking wheels at a very good price. You can't really say no to this set!

Clemens, You are aware that there are also Eduard PE sets for the waist section (EDU32780), the radio compartment (EDU32779), the undercarriage (EDU32342) and for the exterior (EDU32340).  I mean, heck, let's go all in here.

I actually have a real US quarter left from my trip to the states! Pestering me won't help you because I still have to look at the kit parts and decide what AM goodies I wnat to get for this beast. Then I have to order them and wait for everything to arrive...

I think I'll get these goodies:

• Eduard Brassin wheels
• Eduard masks (there is no way I'm gonna mask all those turrets with normal tape)
• Eduard cockpit PE
• Eduard nose section PE
• Profimodeller gun barrels (expensive but way worth it in this scale)
• HGW seatbelts
• Kits-World stencilling decals (there are none of them included in the kit)

Clemens, in that case it might be helpful to include some common object in some shots. Maybe a quarter for smaller stuff and subassys, Maybe one of your finished 1/48th 190's in the bigger stuff shots. :)

We'll probably be pestering ('pestering' is sort of like bothering but more good-natured and friendly, btw.) you to start it so we can watch. :)

plastickjunkie

Mustang

I'm certain several had half paint jobs at near the end of the war due to shortages in materials and time but you figure that a Squadron book with all the tech info in it would be a "bit" more accurate. It's always good to double check your references.  

That B-17 is huge indeed! It's wingspan is almost 1m!!! Mine will arrive in 2 weeks or something like that. My LHS only orders them at request because they are so expensive...

No worries, guys. I'll post a WIP thread of this monster as soon as I start building it! I won't be able to compare it with an 1/48th B-17, because I simply don't have one... I thought aqbout getting the old Monogram/Revell kit with lots of AM goodies to spice it up a bit, but then I saw that 1/32 kit... I could compare it to something else though...

Mustang

I'm certain several had half paint jobs at near the end of the war due to shortages in materials and time but you figure that a Squadron book with all the tech info in it would be a "bit" more accurate. It's always good to double check your references.  

plastickjunkie

FOLLOW UP..... But then I looked at the picture Nathan posted of yellow ten under captured markings. The gear covers appear to be painted and you can see a demarcation line possibly a very dark color from the leading edge to almost half the wing and the trailing side looks to be shiny as if natural metal? So maybe Eduard did get it right

mustang1989

You should do like a mini kit review and lay all of the stuff out along side a 1/48 scale B-17 for size comparison out in the open in the aircraft section. I myself would be a big fan of looking at that!!

I was going to ask you Clemens, to please, please do a WIP thread when you get around to the B-17. Joe's size comparison idea would be quite the treat!

John, great you are moving on your next one. Look forward to following your progress for sure.

Well here's Fw190A-7  number 2 on my list, just started it this weekend.

I will not be using the slipper tanks, I just need a A-7 for the snake head decals.

John

Yup, can definitely see the half paint, have nmf under that wing in that pic!

WOW  all the kits are way nice. that b-17 has got to be huge.

Nathan

Thanks for pointing out the extra line detail but it so happens that I got me a Squadron #10 Dora walk around and was noticing that last night. I corrected it by using Bondo Glazing  Putty then sanded it. I painted it that funky green and will post pictures once I finish the spiral.

As to the T34's superiority over the big kitty cat, the only thing going for Ivan's ride was simplicity for mass production, reliability and lots and lots of replacements. The Tiger was more complex and took many man hours to complete but was a deadly adversary. The T34 was no match for the Tigers, hands down.

As to the Squadron book, its listing  D-13 yellow 10 with the undersides being all RLM76 and not the mix of natural metal and paint as in the Eduard color reference. It also lists the upper wings as 83/77 with 81/82 overspray.  The only parts in natural metal are the landing gear covers.

FOLLOW UP..... But then I looked at the picture Nathan posted of yellow ten under captured markings. The gear covers appear to be painted and you can see a demarcation line possibly a very dark color from the leading edge to almost half the wing and the trailing side looks to be shiny as if natural metal? So maybe Eduard did get it right

You should do like a mini kit review and lay all of the stuff out along side a 1/48 scale B-17 for size comparison out in the open in the aircraft section. I myself would be a big fan of looking at that!!

Thanks, mate!

Holy Cow, that B-17 is gonna be HUGE. Your LHS will love you, lots of paint. :)

Happy belated birthday, buddy.

Yep, I love getting good (or in this case great) model kits as presents! Combine them with this monster I giftet myself and I should have plenty of work for next year:

I wanted to buy that beauty since I saw it the first time, but I never had a reason that was good enough... 

Now that is an awesome pic and story. The Tamiya 1/32 Spitfire and the !/32 ZM Mustang? Woo Doggie, now there some excellent projects for ya. About 3 yrs ago in the Spitfire GB Doogs ATX built the 1/32 Tamiya Spitfire and it was amazing.

It might not be the most elegant design, but it still looks great IMO

But you are right, the Jug is a brute. And it is indeed big! That's the 2 things i like most about it

I found the pic i was talking about BTW:

The Spitfire is a very sexy plane as well! I just got the Tamiya Mk. XVIe (1/32) for my birthday yesterday, as well as another sexy aircraft, the Mustang (1/32 Zoukei-Mura). The latter is on its way to me (coming from the states - they are not available at a acceptable prce in Austria) while the Spit lies right next to my bench. It looks like a great kit!

Clemens, Indeed, I do appreciate your affection for the P-47. Although to me the Spitfire is Sexy and the P-47 is a big, bad brute.

There is a pic in Squadron's "Thunderbolt in Action" book that shows a shredded Thunderbolt on an airfield. One of the 500lb bombs hit the runway while the plane was touching down and exploded. The plane was a total wreck behind the rear armor plate and the nose was in a very bad shape as well, not to mention the wings. The pilot survived all of this with nothing more than a few bruises.

So you could say that the Thunderbolt's "crew" had a better chance surviving a 500lb bomb than a Tiger's crew

Joe: Hey, look at my avatar and signature, mate! There is nothing I like more than the big 'n' mighty Jug! That plane was simply made to take a lot of punishment and as soon as it's payback time, rip everything apart, plane and tank alike...  Not to mention that it looks pretty damn sexy

Clemens... I heard that same story somewhere The Military Channel I think, ans what a great story that was, I believe inb the end, about a week later the tank commander was killed in an ambush but still...

Joe R... You got us there bud! LOL... I dont think there were too many survival stories after a ThunderBolt strike! Of course that was a flying tank!

Yeah , That's all well and good but, do you hear stories of a Tiger surviving 252 hits from a P-47 Thunderbolt or Hawker Typhoon? Huh? I don't think so.

I found an even better story:

http://forums.tripwireinteractive.com/showthread.php?t=6655

This Tiger (assuming the story is true, and I do think it is) got hit 252 times (although most of the hits were AT rife rounds), but the crew survived and the tank was even able to drive a short distance on its own after all of that. That's what I call a beating!

And make sure to read the comments as well. One guy mentions a Tiger that got hit by a 152mm round (most likely HE) and the crew survived! A friggin' 152mm HE shell!