After finishing my FW 190D9 for the "Get the job done" campaign I am now starting on my FW 190A8 for this campaign. I did not know if I would make this model or the Fokker D.VII for this campaign. I decided it is the FW 190 first and then the Fokker D.VII if there is time.

I have not settled for a camouflage scheme yet, but it will definitely be something with a multi coloured reichs defence band and possible also stripes on the cowling and/or spinner.

I am building Tamiya's FW190 A8. I have made all the major sub assemblies of the kit. This only took a couple of hours last night. This must definitely be the quickest buildable FW 190 on the market...

More to follow....

Hi master Tony Yoda

Even though the below is obviously a reproduction of the original paint work I would go for something like that - a tan with a greyish tinge to it. Anyway, judging from old black and white pictures paint faded quickly under the Israeli sun, so it is difficult to be completely wrong.

Yepp Yesper. I guess I allways tend to make cockpits to show some age and wear, so I have to match the body accordingly. I might go with a little more pale green than this one, just because it's an odd colour. I've also thought of a darker shade under the wings and lighter on the leading edges. It's allways darker where the sun don't shine

But, if you have the number to Natalie Portmans sister, who seems to be the local guide, I'll call her in a whiz and ask what's her opinion.

Tony

Cool Jesper ! I have never built the Tamiya 190 before , only done one of the Dragon master series . Looks like the kit just falls together ( toss paint in box and shake ! ) .

Gee Tony , this has to be one of the fastest builds I have seen you do ! I see what the guy's mean by the colour , it all comes down to your choice on what the colour would look like . You could go either way and it would make an interesting topic , I can hear all the argumentative comments now .

Right Terri! And you just decided for me. "Either way" is the way I will go Nothing can go wrong there.

But I'm still in for a bit greener shade, especially on the lower surfaces. Only thing is that when I've mixed once, I will propably not be able to repeat.

Tony

It is a real easy kit so far, Terri. My next FW 190 will one of the Eduard kits in my stash, which is no doubt more complicated but also more detailed.

Trust me, Tony. I tried to get her phone number, but no luck Sometimes it was difficult to concentrate on the aircraft. The eyes kept wandering of to one side

Got the cowling and fuse of my Bloch assembled. Scratch built a new seat and airbrushed the base coat and shading of the cockpit tub. Will attempt to finish painting the cockpit tonight and start posting pictures.

These limited run kits are such different animals from the Tamiya fare I'm used to. Not better, nor worse per see. Just different. They're so rough hewn, yet so full of possibilities. One minute I'm scratching my head as to where I should locate a bulkhead. The next minute I realize the cockpit doesn't _have_ one!!! A minute after that I'm scratch building an interior and it all feels somehow part of the plan!

I love it!

Cheers,
Fred

Here's where I'm at so far. As I said this limited run kit thing is a whole different animal. Minimalist. Miscast parts. Lots and lots of test fitting.



Final assembly is going to be tricky if initial test fits have been anything to go by. It looks like I'll need to glue the lower wing to the fuse, the each upper wing half will be attached first at the training edges. Plasticard stock will be needed for the wing roots and leading edges.


Pretty basic really. (and with few photo references its proving quite the challenge to spruce this bird up with details. I'm trying to build a photo archive for Blochs in my computer but the web is pretty finite as a resource on this particular kite. Resisting the temptation to buy an expensive coffee table book french planes but I may have to give in.



Poorly cast resin parts (Grrrr. )


Without locating pins care had to be taken in joining parts. I'm pleased with the fuse thus far. Extra attention had to be paid to the cowling, because it was molded in 2 halves and the air intake has to be glued on separately. The air intake is another bone of contention with this kit. It bears little resemblance to intakes found on the MB-155 (which should be slightly cylindrical at the opening. Since I was unaware of an aftermarket replacement, and could not come up with a correction that wasn't severely time consuming, I just accepted it (but I know its going to bug me.



Cockpit almost ready for installation. (yeah!). Its a little spartan. While I'm still looking for a few more ways to dress it up, getting it to fit in the fuse very well is going to take a lot of work so I probably won't go too nuts on the details. I was pleased well enough on how the scratch built seat came to resemble the broken resin part. The PE belts dressed it up enough that I dare say the final result is light years better than the original would have been anyway.

Well, back to it I suppose.

Cheers,
Fred

Hi Fred, i just read what you said about the limit run kits compared to Tamiya etc. I know exactly what you mean. I don't really find them harder, just need more thought, planning, care. Funny thing is, since i started on kits from Classic Airframes, Special Hobby, AZ, Mirage and the like- i now enjoy them more and look back on Tamiya and Hasegawa builds as being a bit dull! So watch out, that what can happen to you now that you've started on these kits. Seriously though, those small companies make great subjects and subject matter is a big factor for me.

And i think the Bloch cockpit looks fine.

Andrew

Excellent progress Fred ! you are doing a fine job on the kit . The cockpit looks great .

It may already be too late.
I have an Azur VG-33 I'm building along side a Tamiya D-520 for the "La Marseillaise" campaign. Worse still, I'm waiting with baited breath for a CA Macchi c.200 to show up in the mail any day now. Its apparently a newer offering from them and is chock full of goodies!

wheay hey. Flushed with success at printing USAAC cockades. Turned out really sharp.
HP Laserjet and experts choice white laser paper.
Now to take them home and see if I got my sums right to make sure they fit. and I cut
them out right! Blue/white striped wings are good choice against the red outer circle.

Just as I suspected. Attaching the wings to the fuselage is requiring copious amounts of card stock to shim the gaps. I think I'm going to be able to get the wing roots to come out correct. That's the important thing.



Cheers,
Fred

Glad that you are enjoying the limited run kit's . Like Andrew , I find them to be most enjoyable to build and a great way to improve on ones skills .

Your build is coming a long very well , looking forward to seeing more .

Ok. Time for paint. I guess I'll have to call this an "artists interpretation" of the Istraeli S-199 colours, but then again - we're all artists, right?

I went with RAL 6013 as colour at delivery, so I mixed Tam olive green with medium grey at 50/50, just to get the greenest shade a bit softer. The preshading looks through a lot on this photo, but not that much in reality.


I gave the topside a slight spray of the same, and then I mixed down another 50/50 but this time with light grey into the previous mix.


I tried to air the airbrush from behind, so that the leading edge of the wings shouldn't be completely covered, but show some light grey primer through. It's my not-completely-professional view that this paint faded fast, thus wearing off fast also in the wind.


The leading edges are not quite visible here, but the decals persistence to keep straight, and not snug down, can't be seen either. Win some, lose some. At least I learned the pros of a complete gloss coat before decalling.

Next step is the most important one. The rudder stripes. These have to be cut to shape along the trailing edge of the rudder, so I will need a new scalpel before tackling those.

Tony

Tony:

Looks great. The preshading did the job. I wish i could build as fast. I think your choice of color is as close as you can get

Kieth:
I have been watching your build on the other thread and I had to purchase on of the SEs based on it. I'm not sure exactly how you achieved the shading on the underside, but it looks fantastic.

Taylor

Very nice progress, Fred. The cockpir looks good and it seems like the kit is coming together well due to your efforts.

Tony, Your Avia looks very nice. I would have gone with more tan in the mix, but then again, we are all different artists
Are you using Academy decals?

I have made some more progress on my FW 190A8. The masking is included in the tamiya kit - a very nice addition. More to follow..

@Fred: Missed your pit, but it looks great. It seems like the casting is a bit "fuzzy" in the edges. Is that my eyes, or have you scratched beams and stuff on the wall?

@Taylor. I don't build fast. I'm a bit like Usain Bolt on a 3000 m hurdles. Into the first bend I'm well ahead, but I tend to drop after a while . There's allways coming up to stop me. Work mainly. Hopefully I can keep an even pace throug this one. One thing here is that the HobbyCraft is a very simple yet easy model to assemble, so there are few steps before painting.

@Jesper. I had my ideas of more brown/tan in the mix, but decided to go with JP's magazine and mixed as close to RAL 6013 as I could. I have been thinking about a tan wash for the panellines, but I'm not sure about that yet.
I'll keep looking at your 190 though. I tend to paint subassemblies when possible, but you seem to build as far as possible before any painjob at all. I think I might try that approach in the future.

Tony

@Tony: I've seen quite a few photos of the S.199. IMHO, your interpretation is as good as any. What I'm seeing so far looks really promising. Are you planning to go 'light' of 'heavy' on the weathering?

I think the photo the cockpit was a little hazy but I used the stock resin cockpit walls. The clarity was OK, I just spent a lot of time airbrushing, washing, and dry brushing them to squeeze what detailing I could from them.

@Jesper:That build is coming along fast. Your construction approach is novel in doing the build first. I'm not confident enough in my painting skills to do undercarriage paint work after its attached. The plus side to your method is you get to ensure a strong bond on the parts.


Cheers,
Fred


Late breaking update: Eureka! Another construction roadblock solved.
After joining the fuse halves together I noticed that the vertical stabilizer had a nasty warp to starboard side. Having to put a lot of tension on the seams to get them to line up, and having already joined the wing, I had no intention of putting it under the knife just to watch all the other progress I made blow up in my face.

I was putting the kettle on this morning for french press when I was struck by the obvious. Running the tail over the steaming kettle for a minute was all it took to pull the stabilizer back into shape.

This bird might come out right yet!

Tony and Fred, I tend to build as much as possible before I bring the airbrush out. The simple reason is that I do not like masking. So if I paint the landing gear first I also have to mask it.
Now I paint all the main camouflage colours and then brush paint the details including the landing gear afterwards.

More to follow later....

Thanks for the support in my choice of colour Fred . Sometimes I fell that we should invent the Time Machine, just to be able to solve these puzzles, but somebody would probably steal it for their own petty mysteries, like the dispearance of the dinos, Atlantis or the erection of pyramids.

Anyway, I think heavy weathering would call for more faded colours, so I will go rather easy. The faded top but greener bottom would represent a bird with maybe half a year in service (I guess).

I aim to try pencil in the panel lines and oils for some soft exhaust stains. Maybe, because they were few and flew at war, I will go a bit heavier on oil and petrol stains at fillers and under the body. I guess there were more maintenance than polishing. Waddaya think of that strategy?

Tony

Okay here we go ....

Fred you are doing a fine job on your limited run kit , most guy's would have toss it or put it back in it's box only to be found 10 years later hiding in the stash . How you have address the issues with the kit is most excellent . You definitely have the skills for limited run kits and look forward to seeing more come from your work bench .

Tony , I like the shades you came up with , as Jesper said a little tan in the mix would have giving it a more faded look , but You nailed it on the head ! It is hard to judge on how fast paint weather under the sun from airframe to airframe . Some faster then others .
As for your method on the weathering , go for it . A light wash is better then a heavy one , if you don't like it you can always add more light washes to get the effect you are looking for . You are very brave to use oils on the exhaust staining . Have you ever tried pastels before ?

Jesper , I have tried painting that way before , but with results which turned out to be a big disaster in the end ! So I admire your talents to do that way . Can't wait to see the rest of the build ..................................

I haven't been thinking of pastels, because I'm not sure what it is really. But you seem to be severely hooked Terri so why not try. Could you please take a picture of yours so I know exactly what I'm looking for.

Tony

Sure why not , just for you Tony !

There are two different types of pastels . You have oil pastels and chalk pastels .
Chalk pastels work the best . You can use them over a gloss coat or dull coat , but you want a dull coat over the model first this will provide " tooth " for the chalk to hold on to . There are a few things you will need which are on your bench already ...

1 . A few soft brushes , flat ones and round ones with fine points . ( only use these brushes for this )

2. sanding sticks or sand paper , fine will be the better choice , but medium will work as well .

3. Q-tips ! for applying and removing mis-haps

4. A small water dish and and old rag for clean up or removing mis-haps as well .

After the dull coat has dried on a piece of paper rub the chalk on the sanding stick until you have a small pile of chalk . ( make sure all figure prints are gone , will stick out like a sore thumb if you don't ! ) Take a brush or q-tip and dap it into the pile work it into the brush . tap off any access . Apply to the model in the direction of air flow . Build this up until you are happy with the desired affect . If to much is on dampen a q-tip with water and wipe it off and start over .

Might take some time on getting the hang of it but the end results are awesome .











These are the shades I use . After you are done with the weathering you can add another coat of dull to it , but it will lightly darken the shade of the pastels . Fear not though . I always mix in a little white or grey to solve this . Experiment with it and have fun .

Thanks a heap Terri. I guess I'm man enough to use makeup-ish things . I'm gonna git som' of these.

Good little tutorial too. I like point 3 the most. "For applying and removing mishaps". I'm sure I will apply a lot of those in the beginning. (Sorry Terri, I just had to smash that ball). But hey, your macro photographing skills are improving.

Now, when will we ever get a LHS in Jönköping .

Tony