Doras Galoras - Unofficial GB

[Crimea_River]

Hi Dale. Good luck with your plan but sounds workable. I avoid fishing line for the wires after the experience on my Ar 234. Although the diameter was good, the bundles are far too stiff and springy to hold a tight bend so I used stranded speaker wire which is much more forgiving to work with.

 

[dneid]

Hey, Andy,
I completely understand the bending issue with monofilament. I have stranded wire as well (good old Radio Shack). I will give both a try. In the past when using monofilament and needing a well defined bend, I have used some heavy cooper wire (8-12 gauge) and my RC airplance covering heat gun. Careful application of the heat will get a nice bend in the mono and I still have something more flexible as needed.
Dale

 

[Crimea_River]

Sounds like too much work. Speaker wire is nice and easy.

 

[Zaggy]

Normally, I leave the antennae wire of 1/48 kits, as its just too fine; Most wires with a coat of paint, look too thick! But I must admit, I have been looking into ways to chemically blacken copper and nickel (ie, turn the outer layer of the metal black, as opposed to ADDING something on top of the metal) - does anyone know of anything that will do that and if so, where to get it from?

I can treat Aluminium and Steel to blacken it (or in the case of Hardened Steel, 'Blue' it), but have yet to find anything that performs a similiar process on Copper or Nickel.

As for too much work, try making a D-15 nose and deck lid fit!!! ARRGGGHH!!!! I could have built 2-3 kits in the time this thing has taken to date!


Dan

 

[Zaggy]

I havent even etched anything for this kit yet (but have been considering doing something about the cowl flaps... NO, must resist!!!)...

 

[Wayne Little]

C'mon Dan get some pics up...wanna see more...

 

[Zaggy]

But Wayne, I'm shy! And I must admit, a perfectionist; thus I am reluctant to post pics of this thing til the nose is DONE. That said, its really close (which doesn't help that perfectionist streak, which says 'get it right before showing off!!')... Despite the 0.5m gap at the rear of the deck lid, I PROMISE I will post a mock up photo once I get the last of the major fitting done; the 0.5mm gap will allow me to blu-tack the nose in place too!

Its sitting here in front of me now (alas, no time to work on it today as Ive just walked in (at about 5am) - been a long day); I have just blu-tacked the nose on and it does look cool! Measures up perfectly, sits square, just need to sort out on side of the bottom of the deck lid, just to rotate the whole thing about 2-3 degrees, so everything aligns right (yes, I do have a make shift jig, covered in reference lines, etc and I have been using things like spirit levels to make sure everything sits just right; haahaha - its the engineer in me )...

D

 

[Wayne Little]

Ok Mr. P.....I guess I can wait a while longer..

 

[Zaggy]

Mr.P??? Maybe Mr.D or Mr.Z??? unless youre not talking to me??? Regardless, things are now SQUARE and Mocked up (some pics with and some without the supercharger intake) - Its not perfect (ie, there are some file marks and evidence of 600grit sanding still) and the D-15 specific reinforcement that I THINK is external (like the other stiffeners) is not in place yet, and there is still a 0.5mm gap at the rear of the deck lid and a 1.0mm gap at the rear of the lower engine doors/centre wheel bay fairing, but things FIT and are SQUARE ...

Pics being resized now


D

 

[Zaggy]

OK, here we go - and yes, some of the panels on the nose need cleaning/scraping to get the grey crap out of them - the flash makes it look worse than it is, but I am sure we all are acquainted with that effect!

So, to the pics:

This is the goal (sans the third suspected External stiffner - yes, I am STILL researching; analysing photo's of the burnt a/c, Focke-Wulf Drawings, etc. Hance my choice to go with an angled Deck Lid panel and not the vertical one in this pic)

Overall view (sans super charger and extra stiffener) - DAMN Black-Paint + flash is CRUEL...

Head on, though not quite as centered as I wanted. Getting this thing both Square to the x-axis and Oriented Properly in the z-axis, has taken probably the largest chunk of effort and time thus far; and is likely the reason I suddnely found myself about 0.5-1.0mm short on over all length at one point. All the sanding/filing, test fit, sand/file, test fit some more, etc, took off that much plastic!

RH 3/4 view - its hard to see, but you can (only) just make out the gap at the rear of the deck lid still. Obviouly less recent sanding on this side as most of the panel lines are pretty neat, but just as obvious is the filing on the RH side and top of the deck lid; filing is the best way to keep these panels as flat and true as possible, and with a nice, fine file, you can easily go straight to 600grit or even 800grit Wet/Dry. What is nice and obvious is the LH Engine Mount fairing shape, which tends to be a bit obscured in the above pics by the colour

LH 3/4 view - Mocked up with the supercharger intake blu-tacked on; missing the exhaust deflector - but that comes later...


So, Mr.W; happy now I know Im feeling MUCH better than everything lines up and the major joins fit flush; I dont want to be filling and sanding on the deck lid and vertical fuselage seams, due to the nearby stiffener plates (which as you can see, were replaced with custom plates. The remnants of purple marker on each side, gives hint to the location of the fuselage third stifferner on each side...


Dan

 

[Zaggy]

Oh and this is what I can considerting using for the radiator fairing - after mods to i) make it fit and ii) correct the flap shapes; the quickboost Ta 152C radiator update for the HobbyBoss kit (*shudder*)

Not 100% sure yet though... We'll see what its like when it shows up!


D

 

[Gnomey]

Looking good so far!

 

[Wayne Little]

Well Mr. P for perfectionist... that looks pretty good I must say....as for that quickboost replacement, thinking about a couple myself for my Ta's

 

[Crimea_River]

Looking pretty good there Dan.

 

[woody]

Nice work guys.

 

[destrozas]

a little less to finish

 

[A4K]

Love it Sergio!!!

 

[tigerdriver]

yup looks very sharp

 

[ratpit]

1/48 Focke Wulf Fw190D-9 - Doras Galoras! Unofficial Group Build
User Name: ratpit
Name: Adam
Kit: Eduard
Scale: 1/48th.
Accessories: Eduard luftwaffe fighter seatbelts; Quickboost exhausts, closed cannon covers, and flaps (but may not use them!) and Hobbymodel gun cowl. HGW rivet set
Subject: Either W/Nr 210194 <ll of 4/JG2 (4th on EC#57) or Unknown W/Nr white 7 of 4/JG51 (3rd on EC#109)

Andy
Thanks for the invitation to join the uGB - I dug my Eduard kit out of the stash a few days ago. Some great progress by the entrants so far and what a wealth of information and advice regarding the builds and cammo schemes - all very much appreciated.
Here's my kit:

and the two decal sheets I have:

started work on the cockpit - A simple drybrushing, Eduard belts and the supplied kit decal:

Well, it's a start

Adam

 

[Crimea_River]

Sergio looks like you're almost done. Nice work!

Welcome aboard Adam. I've added you to page 1 and will edit your choice once you've made a decision. If you're interested, I did White 11, a squadron mate of one of your choices here: http://www.ww2aircraft.net/forum/start-finish-builds/1-48-tamiya-fw190d-9-white-11-iv-jg51-34729.html. Looking forward to seeing your progress.