**** DONE: GB-36 1/48 FW190A-5 - Axis Manufactured Aircraft of WWII

very good

Thanks guys. Before adding the home made resin cannon blisters, I had to fill the incorrect panel lines. This took two sessions of priming and sanding to hide them completely and here's how they looked before scribing the new lines:




To scribe the new hatches, I created templates of Tamiya tape that were cut to a scale drawing. The template was lined up on the inboard and rear panel line which I could reuse and the other edges defined where to cut new lines. For these I used a flexible steel template and a sewing pin clamped in my pin vice.





The resin blisters were then glued in place and the area shot with primer. This initial result is not to my liking as the blisters need a bit more shaping so they don't stick out so high at the edges. A length of stretched sprue forms the hinge at the forward edge.




In the meantime, I started the cockpit assembly. Not bad for detail with a PE back armour plate included.




That's all for today. Hope to see some more work done tomorrow and I post some progress pics if that happens. Thanks for looking in.

Good work Andy, especially on the blisters. The joints around the edges could be filled with a mix of clear varnish (or grey enamel) and talc, which can be built-up with further applications if needed, and then gently sanded back.

nice job Andy, will look good one its tidied up

I agree with Terry. It was usggested by me as well.

Coming along nicely Andy

Thanks guys. Terry, Wojtek I considered that but can not make the blisters any wider and longer than they are now which would be the result if I did what you suggest. Rather, I will need to file down the edges to feather them in to the wing surface where they currently sit.

what a clever technique for altering the details of the wing. Who would have thought it possible. I also learnt something about how to fill in confined spaces.

Amazing stuff.....

Crimea_River said:

Thanks guys. Terry, Wojtek I considered that but can not make the blisters any wider and longer than they are now which would be the result if I did what you suggest. Rather, I will need to file down the edges to feather them in to the wing surface where they currently sit.

Click to expand...

I see.

Thanks guys. First round of adjustments done and new primer drying. Pics later.

Another issue with the kit I realized is that the wheel well openings are wrong for the early 190's. I went looking for the small doors at the centerline and found them to be missing. I thought this was going to be a quick build but I'm wrong again.

Andy, note that the small, inboard doors were often removed, due to fouling from dust, mud etc., the probable reason they were deleted on later variants.
I also recall, from dim memory years ago, that they were troublesome, and didn't always close fully, if at all, causing buffeting, another reason for their removal, possibly..

Yeah, they also didn't work with center stores either and I knew they were removed in many cases. However, my subject had them.

OK, where to start. The list of incorrect details keeps growing for this kit. So, the bottom blisters are wrong for the A-5 as we know. I am still tweaking the finish on the resin ones I made here so stay tuned for that. Next we have the aforementioned incorrect wheel well detail at the centerline and the associated doors which are missing. Two more things were discovered today: 1) the kit only comes with the wide paddle blade props seen on late 190s and 2) the wheels are wrong for the A-5. I need the spoked type and the kit has the later flat hub type. Most irritating is that of 4 spare pairs of FW190 wheels I have NONE of them are the correct type. Looks like this build will give me plenty of practice for my scratch building skills.

Anyhow, on with the build. The interior surfaces of the fuselage were painted the appropriate colours (66 in the pit and 02 in the tail wheel well) and black was used in shadow areas. The cockpit was painted black initially and then got a dose of 66. I always take advantage of left over paint to practice mottles and squiggles in areas that will be covered up.



The engine cowl comes in 4 pieces with alternate intake air bulges. At least I did get to chose the normal type as the kit contains the alternate high altitude intakes as well which I won't be using.





The fuselage was glued together and reinforcement added with CA in some troublesome areas.




As for the prop, the kit paddle blades, at right below, will be relegated to the spares box as fortunately I had a complete spare set of the correct blades, cooling fan and spinner (at left) which were left over from my Tamiya A-8 kit and which are nicer than the Dragon ones. DML's spinner is slightly larger and more cylindrical and the fan blades have flash all over them so these won't be used.




A few days ago I had assembled and painted the wheel well before realizing that I'm going to need to modify it now that the ejection chutes for the MGs will be prominent when I open up the well in the lower wing for the doors. I then also realized that the details are wrong. I think DML tried to represent the struts for the inner gear doors - nicely moulded but completely wrong in both detail and location, the latter being right where the missing ammo box bottoms should be. I will be modifying this area now, adding the ammo boxes and fabricating chutes from brass sheet. I'll also need to address the inner gear door actuator and, while I'm at it, throw in some wiring, tubes and cables.




The engine is represented by a very basic face moulded into the oil cooler housing which is fine as very little will be seen through the fan blades anyway. Consequently, I gave this area just a rudimentary splash of aluminum paint.




I finished the day by dolling up the Tamiya prop. The hub was painted in Alclad Dull Aluminum, the fan blades and spinner gloss black, and the previously painted blades were touched up with RLM 70.




So that's it for today. Lots of scratch work to look forward to. Thanks for stopping by.

All stunning Andy, but I particularly like the prop and spinner assembly

Good progress Andy.

Andy, still at work without time and resources to check for wheel differences. Could you post some pics? I've got several 190 kits at home and I can check for the wheels when I get home Tuesday night. Same goes for the inner gear doors. If I have them and won't be using them they are yours. Off the the mines..................................

Very nice indeed Andy.

good job andy good job