Zaggs Fw 190D-9 211164 - Black <4 and his continuing scratchbuilding adventures...

Tamiya white putty, if it's the one I'm thinking of, is more of a sculpting putty like Milliput. If you don't like Squadron putty, some others swear by CA glue mixed with talcum powder, though I never tried that.

This Tamiya White is like thin cream; and terrible to work with... As for the Squadron Green, its still my favourite - super glue isnt a bad option either, but is tougher to work...

Addendum - I have rebuilt most of the groves my eagerness dug in the wing roots; at this point I have added a layer of tinted superglue, so I can see when I an getting close and back off... I HATE WING ROOTS!!!!! In the times spent waiting for filler to dry, I have got stuck in and finished boxing in the fuel cell bays and adding detail (from 0.25mm plastic) - rear bay is all but done, front bay is 50% there... Photo's to follow when both roots and tank bays are looking better...


Dan

Super glue and accelerator followed by a fine round file.....gets the job done for me Dan!

yeah I ended up doing basic shapes with Squadron Green, then a layer of Super Glue over the top (the glue seems to penetrate into the Squadron Green) - seems to have worked. Then started the edges with a round file and back to 320 and 400 grit paper once things were going... two layers of Squadron Green and Super Glue did the job; then upto 600 grit, undercoat and some 800 grit when dry... there's a few really small imperfections exposed after the undercoat and 800grit, but its almost there...

Time for pictures - yet again the Macro + Flash are BRUTAL in their assessment!

First pic just outlines known issues - they're pretty self explainatory... The paint issue has now been corrected.



The next two just show the fuel cell bay and lower fuselage as the pain in the fuel cell bays dries - yes, it really splotchy and uneven, but it one of the ways that I like to mess with adding depth and 'use' to a surface (see the engine bay and cockpit and etc) - next will come so washes. Straps need to go in; MG 151 Ammo bays need to become natural metal (and doors made); elevators need adding and finally the MG131 cover needs further thinning.



BTW, does anyone know if 211164 was a rebuilt A or not? last chance to add the changes that would covert it into an A-wing'd a/c...


Dan

Zaggy said:

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my take on things is that the wing lower surface is in the Focke-Wulf W3 Scheme (consistent with the Werk Nummer), suggesting RLM 83 front half of the outer 2/3 wing, with the whole inner 1/3 of the wing in the same RLM 83

OR it could be red-primer/putty used to smooth over a repair

The darker overspray appears LIGHTER than the other camo colour, forcing me to consider a RLM 83 rear spine and RLM 75 overspray

Im not sure exactly what the diagonal 'edge' is from the base of the Balkenkruez to the leading edge of the elevators


Dan

Click to expand...

I'll run with these for you. We do love a bit of photo interpretation!

I absolutely see what JaPo call a W3 scheme under that wing. Well spotted. I've always thought of the darker under surface colour as RLM 75 rather than one of the eighties.

I'm seeing traces of red putty where the fuselage extension has been put in.

I think the overspray is RLM 75. I'm not sure what is oversprayed. I've heard JG 6,based on the long horizontal bar behind the cross which is typical of that unit. Lorant however reckons JG 300, and that this aircraft flew to Czechoslovakia from Salzburg (or maybe Ainring). I'll leave that one to you

Do you mean where the access panel is slightly open?

Keep up the good work.

Cheers
Steve

Yeah, I got to admit, I initially thought RLM75 undersurfaces too - tis a shame we cant see the top/front edge of the wing... Oh and there is also a chance the green is RLM82, not 83, as well (or faded RLM82) - not that I'm a colour Nazi (hehe, i) no pun intended and ii) as long as the colours look reasonable, I'm ok - colour is all interpretation and all in the head), but I am a bit more festidious about patterns and markings; there isn't much open for interpretation there... As for the W3 scheme, picking the undersurface colour there is virtually an excercise in futility; the shadowing makes an intelligent guess impossible and the references out there seem to suggest it varied from an olive-brown primer (or more likely RLM81), to RLM75 or either of the 'Eighty-greens'; the only clue I can find is that this colour is reportedly the SECOND camo colour applied and supposedly the darker of the two??? So go figure (thus if the 75/76 schemes --> 75, 82/83 --> 82, etc) - but even that would then suggest that if the scheme is 75/83, 75 should be used under the wing; where as if its 75/82, 82 should be under the wing...

Haha, you could easily go insane! Maybe my green will be 50/50 RLM82/RLM83, so I can explain it away as either colour!

My theory on what was over sprayed (did I say this above?) was its a JG4 Rumpfband, oversprayed with a newer, lighter untoned RLM76 (that we also see on the fin, just below the access door and just below/fwd of the Balkenkruez on the left - HOWEVER, if it was a JG300 a/c it is possible that this overspray is in their 'lightblue'; but my understanding of that colour is that it would show up darker than RLM76). What I say could be red primer/putty (which as well all know was being used in field repairs, despite the 'primerless' quality of the official paints) or could be black, could go either way depending on films and filters - my gut says black, I think, not sure why! BUT on the other hand, at the time that I am modelling the a/c, I can be less worried... The RLM75 (as we both seem to agree) overspray shows SIGNIFICANT degradation and fading quite quickly, especially in area's that had the lighter colour applied, after some time in the elements - the earlier photos all show the Rumpfband to be a considerably more 'solid' and 'darker' colour. Thus, because my model will depicit the time as the a/c was being prepared to be abandoned, I can afford to go 'a bit heavy' on the RLM75...


Dan

ARGH!!! FRIKKEN HELL!!! I dropped it again?!?!?! What sort of retard am I??!?!?! That Oil Reservoir I spent time last night sorting out popped off and the engine arm to engine joints busted... Thankfully, its a case of just gluing the engine and tank back in, but talk about a case of butter fingers!!! Why do I only drop it when its got more than a metre to fall? Why cant I drop it 6 inches on to a pillow instead?!?!?!

Lack of sleep apparently.

... yeah, you got a point ... yesterday was one of those days for sleep-related incidents; which includes eBay On the plus side, the Oil tank looks MUCH nicer and is no longer yellow - the yellow one I had seen in photo's, looks to have been a one of 'restoration' project - so its now a slightly tarnished looking light-grey metal colour. The wing seams are pretty much sorted, the fuselage seams seem done, so its just a case of getting the seam around the nose (that my 0.4mm extension caused) done before I re-learn how to paint! I've never owned a double action, Pasche-style airbrush before about 6 weeks back, thus am increasingly keen to spend some time with it

One thing I had also forgotten was how much stuff comes 'out of the woodwork' when you think you're just about ready to paint... Need to finish a few doors, finish the refueling ports, interior of the gun cowl, etc.... Just little jobs... Will take some pics again when the thing is about right to go for paint.

Addendum - BAHAHAHAAHA, well, outcame the airbrush this afternoon, for a bit of final priming and GUESS WHAT?!??! I seem to not have an adapter for my 3/8" airhose to my 1/2" compressor connector!!! hahahahaha *shakes head*... eBay-time!

Who needs eBay, when you have BUNNINGS Warehouse! A quick visit the other day to the air-tools section resulted in the purchase of suitable compressor adapter (with a hose 'barb' connector) and a small hose clamp - chop one end off the airhose, over the barb connector, secure with a hose clamp, pressure test and voila!!! So since then, I have pre-shaded (had to test that hose and airbrush somehow) and this evening painted the bare metal under-surface (while working on the engine bay of a Ta 152C, while the paint dries)... Minor screw up this evening while cleaning up (Tamiya Flat Aluminium metal pigment just seems to get 'everywhere') in that I attempted to disassemble said airbrush - WOAH, that wasn't smart! I pulled the needle out for inspection and parts just fell out everywhere - then I had to put the jig-saw back together... hahahaha, all seems well though; the reassembly took the slack out of the trigger and has allowed me to spray a test line about 1.5-2.0mm thick - could never do that with my old single action!

I'm also pleasantly surprised at the quality of finish I am getting - yes I am moving very slowly still (checking and double checking - testing on old kits before going to the project model) and the preshading-black was mixed too thin (but did allow me to work a bit slower), but the results are great... My only concern is with the Tamiya pigment - the metallic flat aluminium (XF-16) contains some sort of metal pigment which results in a sort of sparkly finish. The actual surface finish is glass smooth, but due to the pigment/particles, looks a bit 'coarse'; time will tell however, after weathering and decals and lacquering, etc...

Despite my promises to take snaps before proceeding with paint, well, I kinda didn't... Might take some when I prep for the next colour (a slightly faded RLM76); but I do want to ask people's opinion here for a sec...

Canopies/Windscreens - whats the consensus when it comes to paint??? Obviously the 'canopy' part can quite easily be masked and painted separately (as it will be positioned open anyway), but what about Windscreen? Should I just mask and paint separately and hope that when I glue together later the seam will remain nice and clean or should I bite the bullet now - attach the gunsight, attach canopy, deal with any seam issues, mask and continue painting??? Logic says the latter is the more complex, yet 'better finishing' method...

What do the better modellers do?

Oh and slight correction on earlier posts - for some reason I had it in my head when posting that I had decided on RLM 'Eighty-Green' wing undersurfaces, over RLM75 Dark Grey... Not sure what got into me there, but just to be clear, the intent is to indeed go an RLM75 Dark Grey W3-type wing undersurface with RLM Eighty-Green (I'm still working on trying to decide if things should be RLM82 Dark Green or RLM83 Bright Green) and RLM76 Dark Grey upper surfaces (and fuselage)... I have plenty of RLM82 in the same brand as the RLM75 and RLM76 (Lifecolor - I used to use Gunze, but the Lifecolor stuff was recommended, so I thought I'd give it a go), so the scales are coming down in favour of RLM82 at the moment.

Dan

Was in the processing of masking up in order to spray the Light Blue (RLM76) when I realised I've not yet made a right-hand side, lower engine door - not a complex piece of kit, but none the less, a required door (fuselage side, rudder access and MG151 ammo bay doors are done). So I've heat formed the approximate curve in some 0.25mm card and am now cutting formers from circles of 0.5mm card and just building as we go; if it doesnt work, well I will atleast have the correct shape of the door, so the next step will be to etch a door in brass. It holds a curve a lot easier and I can etch the internals in the brass instead of build from plastic... We'll see how the plastic goes first tho...

'bout time for some pics Dan!

You're right... Am masking up for RLM76 ATM, now that the horizontals are on and the Engine door is done - am a little nervous about over spray as the Tamiya Flat Aluminium seems to have gotten 'everywhere' (will be looking for a better 'metal' colour for the 1/48 scale stuff). So once I get the RLM 76 on, will post some happy snaps.

Got a little distracted last night by my next 'DIY' endeavour - home made decals; I knocked up some test articles for Fw 190D-11 (220017 'White <<-'), Fw 190D-13 (836016 'Black <<') and Ta 152H-0 (150007 'Black 13'). Initially, the main goal will be the ability to roll out Werk Nummern and markings in black; then we'll move onto dark colours in the hope that my laser printer prints 'densely' enough to make this feasible. I also have a pair of identical Inkjets that I am looking at modifying into a 'two pass' system, by using one to print WHITE and the second to print CYMK - thats longer term tho. Back to the D-9

Addendum - well I thought for a moment I'd screwed it up after a momentary moment of dexterous deficency (double action airbrush : DOWN is airflow, BACK is paintflow), but despite the slightly heavy coat in an area or two, the Lifecolor Acrylic seems to be just forgiving enough to save me... Control surfaces still require a second coat, but as is, all seems OK. Not much to take photo's of ATM, as about 60% of the surface area is covered in masks, but all is good. Need to now paint a small piece of plastic with various colours (RLM75, RLM76, RLM81, RLM82, RLM83 and three of my 'interpretations' of the RLM84 colour) so I can decide if this upper colour should be RLM82 or RLM83 and MAYBE shedding some light on the overspray colour, the 'patch up' colour and the tail mottling... I feel the tail is mottled with RLM 'Eighty-Green' (ie, which ever green it is for the upper surface), but some sources suggest RLM81. I just want to convince myself I am on the right track

Addendum 2 - My little 'Palette Test' is drying now and I think I have totally lucked out with the results While I am missing an RLM70 - Schwarzgrün, all other colours I ham happy with. In case others are interested, I am using the LifeColor versions of RLM74, RLM75, RLM76, RLM81, RLM82 and RLM83 - of interest is how 'green' RLM81 - Violettbraun looks when you open the tubb; but it dries to a much nicer colour. My RLM84 experiment looks pretty good also; Gunze/Mr Color H74 Duck Egg Green is a really nice looking 'Cream-Green' found on some of the LATE Mimmetall D-9's; Gunze/Mr Color H314 FS 35622 is a nice 'light grey-blue' (could probably go a tone darker - maybe mix with some grey); LifeColor UA124 makes a nice 'grey-blue' (maybe a shade dark) that was supposedly found on some of the D-11's.

For this project, the Gunze H314 will be used for the oversprayed Rumpfband and small area's of repair; I am being drawn towards the RLM83 for the upper surface colours.

OK, pics as promised... First the two issues that need sorting before RLM76 coat 2 goes on... The first, I am not sure how this slipped through the net - over exuberance? lack of attention? carelessness? inexperience? I dont know... But it now stands out like the proverbial dog's pair - so it needs to be fixed! The second I have the feeling may have happened when I was masking the cockpit.




And this is where we're at : not much to see, except for the issues that need sorting out!



Thus, after pizza shortly, I'll be settling down with some Squadron Green and a variety of abrasives from 400grit and up, and see if we cant sort those issue's out and get this colour sorted

Oh and canopy/winscreen??? Any feedback??? Im thinking about doing that tonight too, before the upper colours start to go on...


Dan

Addendum - well, a good 2-3 hrs of sanding and I think I have tidied ud the scratch above the fuel panel and the RH Radiator Cowl join... I have also decided the Windscreen is going on, so I'll put the Revi reflector and etc in place, re-paint the instrument cowl and mask the windscreen!

Back to Work


Dan

Keep up the good work mate, she'll be sweet in the end!

Cheers Evan - its getting close now; I can feel it! Windscreen is on (and thus the Revi is in) and masked, so I'm just waiting for things to dry, then i'll mask up the remainder of the cockpit again and can finish up the RLM76... Then life gets interesting when we move to the RLM 75 (have to mask up the W3 pattern on the wing undersides too), then RLM83, then lightly 'tone' the RLM76 with both, then the Rumpfband fristly in Gunze H314 then an overspray of a slightly darker RLM75 (i did consider RLM74 last night, but that was just TOO dark)... The plan is coming together!

And with the Aussie Dollar the way it is (ie, $1.07+(USD), €0.81+(EUR), £0.67+(GBP), etc...), I must confess to having gone a bit crazy this last week. Another Dragon Ta 152C-1/R14 (as previously mentioned, will build up prefectly to a Ta 152E-1), two more Eduard Fw 190D-11's (Weekend Ed), an Eduard Fw 190D-9 (Profipack) and another a Dragon Ta 152H-1 - all in 1/48th... No to mention another set of Aeromaster D-9's, some clear and white decal sheet, Quickboost Fw 190 flaps and both a Jumo 213 and DB603 Engine in Resin...

Those last two purchases bug me, because you know what that means - deep, deep down in my subconsciousness, I am planning another build like this; But in 1/48th... Judging by when I bought said engines, I think I am planning a Ta 152C-1 and Ta 152E-1, which would make sense... All the pictures of E-1's I have seen, seem to have the engine covers off; and fortunately they dont have the fuselage guns to worry about. I think this proves I am crazy though!

And just to brag here, before I go paint some more, I got the Eduard Fw 190D-9 Profipak and D-11 Weekend Edition kits, plus postage to Au, for €39.00 - with current Australian Exchange rates, about Au$49. To put that into perspective, most Australian Hobby shops would sell a Dragon Fw 190D-9 (which again I HAVE to point out, is SERIOUSLY showing its age!!!) for Au$35 - Au$40. While I havent actually built any of the Eduard Fw 190's I have yet, they do look to be a seriously nice kit!

On the subject of nice kits also, my current 'chip away at it, while things are drying' project, the HobbyBoss Ta 152C-0, is an incredibly nice kit! I dry fitted the fuselage sides the other day and was amazed just how well everything inside fitted together PLUS the ingenious way the sprue's attach to the "Glueing Face", as opposed to the outside of the part. Really hoping HobbyBoss continue and release a Ta 152H-0/H-1 and even a series of Fw 190's in 1/48th...