I will shortly be building Revell's Fw200C-4 Condor for someone and need to check on something. I need to know the interior colour used in all the crew areas, from the cockpit back to the rear gunner's position. I know these were in operation in 1942 and by that time interiors should have been RLM 66 but not being an expert on Condors, I was wondering if perhaps they were still having the interiors painted RLM 02.

The interior etch even includes curtains for the side windows! What colour would these be?

The box art and pics of the completed model look like the bombs are in RLM 02 - should they not be in RLM 70?

thanks
Mike

Hi Michael,

Thats a lot of questions
Here's my food for thought:- all interiores backwards the cockpit should be 02 as this was more or less the standard in bombers & transports. As rule of thumb, check out some well known photos available in the internet... To me it sure seems a lighter shade than 66!

Bombs were painted in several shades, so choose either 02/70/65 for 250 & 500 kg. Greater loads had more restrainted hues available (have to check sources).

As for the curtains, can't help you , but personally some Tamiya buff coulour allways fits

Sincerly hope this helps,

Cheers

Hi Mike,

Just saw your post. As it so happens, I'm nearing completion on that very kit.

I will not claim to be a Condor expert but I did do quite a bit of research in an attempt to answer those same questions. So, what I will do is tell you what I've done on mine.

First, the interior. The cockpit proper and area just to the rear are RLM 66. From there back, RLM 02.

For the bombs, the best "official" color information I found was that they were probably dark green (no RLM reference). I painted mine RLM 71 using old Aeromaster enamels. I'll scuff and dirty them up some before attaching to the plane.

If I couldn't find specific photos or references to things like curtains, tables, etc., I used my best judgement based on Revell's color callouts. I painted the curtains a medium brown and gave them a burnt umber oil wash. For table tops, bunks, and seats that may have been plain wood, I exercised some artistic license and applied a wood grain effect using oil paints over a Tamiya Dark Yellow base.

The thing is, once you close up the fuselage and insert the upper panels, all the interior detail pretty much disappears. About all that is visible is what can be seen through the main canopy and the side door, if you leave it open.

Below are a few photos of mine.

I hope this helps.

Cheers,
Eric

Thanks Guys!

Eric:
I was leaning towards RLM 66 in the cockpit and RLM 02 everywhere else. Brown seems a reasonable choice for the curtains etc too. I'll not be gluing on the panels for the upper gun positions as I've got the full interior etch. So if I don't glue down them panels, the interior could be seen by lifting them off.

thanks
Mike

Hi Mike,

Glad I could help.

I hope you'll post some pictures of your Condor as you progress.

I decided to glue the fuselage panels on this one, since it's a straight OOB build, but I have a C-8 yet to build which will receive the full etch treatment, inside and out. On that one, I'll definitely keep the panels loose.

Cheers,
Eric

The Condor I'm building is for a customer in Australia and I'm somehow going to have to do it without gluing the main wings on. The reason is that if i stick the main wings on, the box will be too large for international post.
That and the fully detailed interior will make it a challenge. There will be pics on our website when its done .

http://www.mjwmodels.co.uk/home

thanks
Mike

If you've not discovered this for yourself, I've got some good news for you. The fit of the wings to fuselage is excellent though a little sanding and trimming may be needed as the fit is tight. I did all the camo masking and painting on each section separately as this makes for much easier handling. Very little touch up was required after attachment. These pictures below show the wing roots before any attention was given to the seams. All I did after this was run some white glue alone the seams to fill them a bit, wipe off excess with a damp rag, and sand down a couple tiny spots. Some strategic masking and careful airbrushing completed the task.

If your customer has any modeling experience, they should have no trouble attaching the wings.

I've book marked your site and will watch for postings of your Condor.

Cheers,
Eric

Good news indeed Eric and thanks for the info. That should make life easier.

It'll be a while before the Condor will be on there but we will be updating it soon with pics of my recently completed 1/48 Ta152C-0, 1/72 F-86F Sabre and Ju88G-6.

At the moment I'm building a 1/48 P-51D Mustang and Spitfire XII as well as a 1/72 Roc and Canberra PR9. The Condor will be in the next batch of model following that.

We'll also be updating the website with pics of our recent trip to the Norwegian Armed Forces Aircraft Collection at Gardemoen as well as our pics fromt he Flying Legends 2011 show at RAF Duxford. We've got the Southport Airshow in a few weeks too! So plenty to watch out for! Enjoy!

thanks
Mike

Eric,

Taking advantage of Michael's post, I also seek 2 particular infos regarding the Kondor.
One project that was I due in the Anti-Shipping campaign was Trumpeter's 1/48 scale mammoth, but the sheer amount of details scoping the insides was a bit too far to handle in just 6 months, so it got stranded in the workbench.

2 of the details I lack regard:
A) the upper 151 Mg turret & B) those beam Mg 17 (??) that your model sports.

Can you help in any way (photos; technical books from FW, etc) regarding details on these firing positions??

Thanks in advance
Pedro

Hi Pedro,

Ah ha, you noticed the beam guns! I decided to build my model with the gun ports covered as is usually the case in most photos I've seen of the aircraft on the ground. Revell provides a nice pair of Mg 15s for that area but the instructions show them only in the deployed position. The option of having the covers in place is indicated but nothing showing what to do with the guns.

Unfortunately, none of my references show this area or mention how the guns were stowed. It seemed a shame to just toss them in the spares box, and I didn't feel like filing off the mounting stubs on the fuselage inside, so I have exercised some artistic license and by cutting and rotating the mount, I placed them in the upright position you see in my photos. I have no idea if the real thing was anything like that. Besides, now that the fuselage is closed, only one gun is barely visible through the side door. :-(

As for the Mg 151 turret, if you can find a copy of Heinz Nowarra's book, "Fw 200 Condor - Battle Companion of the U-Boat", there is a good detail photo of the turret and gun mechanism. It's not a large or expensive book but there are quite a few useful photos. Nothing showing those beam positions though!

http://www.amazon.com/Fw-200-Condor-Battle-Companion-U-Boat/dp/0887402356/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1310687377&sr=1-1

I hope this helps.

Cheers,
Eric

Hi Eric,

Thanks for your reply, it sure helps.
The Trumpeter kit has no provision whatsoever regarding the beam guns, although several cutaways mentioned them, and if memory serves me well in the same upright position you've modeled yours.

As for Nowarras book, given the price asked, I'll take your advice.

Cheers