Fw 189-A

[Ralph Haus]

While not a 'true' start to finish build, a gifted kit from Don (were you wondering what happened to it?), it arrived in a box. The BILEK image was grabbed from the web. The 'as received', sans plastic cups, has all the parts. Although one part, the elevator piece had a serious break, overcome, a bit ugly, but will pass. Not sure what material BILEK used, perhaps it's the age, but it introduces some challenges into the build. Looking at other kit mfg's offerings, this one, while somewhat accurate, is missing some finer details. But for the price, and the fun in the build, it will be a great addition to the stable.

The package image:

As received package:

With the total absence of ANY cockpit detail I just had to add the figures supplied. 1/72 guys are hard to detail!

And the current progress

I did dry fit the major parts and it seems that the gaps will be minimal. We'll see once the glue is applied!!

 

[Wurger]

Nice.

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**** DONE: GB-53 1:72 Focke Wulf Fw 189 - Eastern Front

Username: Bustedwing First name: Graham Category: Advanced Manufacturer: Airfix Model Type 1:72 scale Focke Wulf Fw 189 Add Ons: Some scratch built cockpit details. After market decals. Resin props and wheels. Vacu=form canopy. PE cockpit set. An oldie but a goodie. Built this kit about 45...

ww2aircraft.net

 

[Ralph Haus]

Nice.

View attachment 715211

You may be interested in this ...

**** DONE: GB-53 1:72 Focke Wulf Fw 189 - Eastern Front

Username: Bustedwing First name: Graham Category: Advanced Manufacturer: Airfix Model Type 1:72 scale Focke Wulf Fw 189 Add Ons: Some scratch built cockpit details. After market decals. Resin props and wheels. Vacu=form canopy. PE cockpit set. An oldie but a goodie. Built this kit about 45...

ww2aircraft.net

Still working on the seams/roll over flash. One of the booms has the raised detail on the top but not the other. I don't have any thin strip material to create those so I'll just build without. If this were a GB entry it would be more important. But most that will see this will not have a clue as to what it is 'supposed' to look like. I know, it should be correct, but this one is a just-for-fun build. On the lower sides of these booms I had to sacrifice the raised rivets to smooth out rather deep divots caused by the moldings so there was no restoring..

 

[Wurger]

Copied.

 

[fubar57]

Clear parts are already scaring me. Awaiting the glue Ralph

 

[Ralph Haus]

Clear parts are already scaring me. Awaiting the glue Ralph

May sound twisted, but I'm starting to find masking the clear parts somewhat relaxing. No pressure, just patience required. As for gluing. I have been using ZAP canopy glue with great results. Holds well. Cures clear. I even use it to fill between the ill fitting canopy parts and fuselage where required. The latest Bf 109 (GB 57) that has the open canopy, that's what is holding it on.

 

[Gnomey]

Good work so far!

 

[Crimea_River]

Looking forward to seeing how this turns out. Those decals might be for the bin but hopefully not.

 

[Ralph Haus]

Looking forward to seeing how this turns out. Those decals might be for the bin but hopefully not.

My concern as well. I do have, and have used once, Microscale liquid decal film. It did work, allowing some old 'crumbly' ones I had bought to get stuck on. If I remember, they turn out a bit thicker than Tamiya decals, but they are in one piece. I'll sacrifice the swastika ones before using the film; I have a full, new, multi scale sheet of swastikas to replace what is lost. The green/white/red can be airbrushed on. I have another sheet with squadron emblems and plenty of sheets with with numbers. So, I am covered. I think?

 

[T Bolt]

Looking good Ralph

 

[Vic Balshaw]

Look simple...................BUT!!
Nice start Ralph, so how is it going.

 

[Ralph Haus]

Look simple...................BUT!!
Nice start Ralph, so how is it going.

Sloooow. Between two different Easter weekend gatherings (long explanation) and the just recent eye surgery (seems they fixed it correctly this time!) I have gotten to fitting the wing/boom sections to the cockpit fusalage assembly. Looks like some filling will be needed. But first I need to get the canopy glass masked and fitted. Those little pilots are to exppsed. Thanks for asking. May have a couple of pics shortly. Eye contact bandage off in a week. Yay!

 

[Ralph Haus]

Still can't see details worth a crap, but these things I can! Must be really bad?

There will be some 'pot-hole' filling on the wing fits when I can see a bit better. Seeing the gaps is not an issue, but finishing the filler needs some finesse. One frustration. In trying to get a smaller wing fit gap I have created misalignment issues with the upper and lower gun port openings. I struck a balance and will hopefully be able to sand my way to something that is presentable.

Another issue, which begs for opinions. The upper trailing edges of the wings fall short of meeting the lower mating piece. Looking at the molded detail, it seems that this was purposeful? The same bad molding on both sides?? Although the right element does seem to have a fill issue, and does have the 'radii' lead in at the root as the left one. Opinion?: should I just gap fill these to create a solid trailing edge? Try and modify the right one to match (yeah, after gluing!!)? Looking at the really poor printed instructions, there appears to be a 'step' in this area, although I can't find that detail anywhere else in the documentation that I have gathered? That and the boom bands are in sore need of patching.

 

[Wurger]

Ralph, there wasn't any step at the trailing edge. The problem is caused by the thickness of the kit top part of the wing. Just the moulding machine wasn't able to fill the area with the polystyrene fully. The lack of the plastic happens quite often especially for the older kits. The Fw 189 had a solid trailing edge there with a narrow board of duraliminium as the reinforcement at the bottom side as there was one long flap at the bottom. So if you are not going to open the flap there you should fill the looses there and level it to the top surface of the wing.

the source: the net.

 

[Ralph Haus]

Ralph, there wasn't any step at the trailing edge. The problem is caused by the thickness of the kit top part of the wing. Just the moulding machine wasn't able to fill the area with the polystyrene fully. The lack of the plastic happens quite often especially for the older kits. The Fw 189 had a solid trailing edge there with a narrow board of duraliminium as the reinforcement at the bottom side as there was one long flap at the bottom. So if you are not going to open the flap there you should fill the looses there and level it to the top surface of the wing.

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the source: the net.

Thanks. Kind of intuitive, but having the (almost) identical error on both sides had me wondering. Plenty of paste left in the tubes.

 

[marathag]

Large enough for some two part epoxy before using your favorite putty

 

[Crimea_River]

Yep, that's known as a short shot where the plastic didn't go all the way into the mould. Some filling needed there Ralph. A few ways to do this but my preference would be to fill the gap with bits of styrene card glued in place and filed/snaaded to the right contour when cured.

 

[Ralph Haus]

Large enough for some two part epoxy before using your favorite putty

Actually the Tamiya putty white filler has done well for me in the past. May have a few small divots but these are easily filled with Vallejo plastic putty (water on a Qtip wipe). The Tamiya sands well after a days cure.

 

[Ralph Haus]

Yep, that's known as a short shot where the plastic didn't go all the way into the mould. Some filling needed there Ralph. A few ways to do this but my preference would be to fill the gap with bits of styrene card glued in place and filed/snaaded to the right contour when cured.

Just an eye-ball judging, it looks like the max thickness to build will be less than 010". To thin to futz with a filler piece. Thanks though. Let the putty flow!!

 

[marathag]

Actually the Tamiya putty white filler has done well for me in the past. May have a few small divots but these are easily filled with Vallejo plastic putty (water on a Qtip wipe). The Tamiya sands well after a days cure.

Hate shrinkage from solvent putty that's any thicker than a skim coat. So I got pretty used to the green stuff epoxy that shapes really well with a bit of water. For the Vallejo putty, is that the tube or the thick stuff from the bottle?

That gap did look bigger though: putty may just work. Been more a fan of Gunze white, since Squadron White is no more