Glad to hear you like it!

Thanks to the terrbile summer weather (around 13 degrees celcius and raining all day...), I've made good progress. Just the trim tabs left to be painted red and perhaps some more Future to bring up the gloss and I'm ready for decals.

No word yet on extensions. (I'm resigned to my fate come what may)

I think the Eduard kit will come together just fine, still...

Having to trim off the ammo shoots to make the gun deck hatch fit really disappointed me. Its clear now that Eduard never intended that to fit. At the risk of grousing I have to wonder if, in spite of all its luscious detail, Eduard over-engineered this bird. By comparison, my Tamiya A8 was a joy to build.


Cheers,
Fred

It was engineered to be displayed opened up, showing off all that luscious detail. The limitations of plastic mean that the various doors and hatches are too thick to fit the way the ones on the real thing does. Eduard had to make compomises with the kit; either make the inside bits too small, or make them the correct size and accept the penalty of fit that means that very same detail has to be carved away to show the doors closed.

For the record I approve of their decision. Since you won't be seeing that lucious detail behind the closed doors, who cares that you have to butcher it, or even leave it out entirely?

As with all models, it's about choice. Do you want a kit that falls together but only shows the aircraft buttoned up? Then Tamiya is for you. Do you want a kit that allows you to show off the insides? Then Eduard is for you. The two kits were engineered for entirely opposite display options so I can't see where they're in competition, nor am I willing to say that one is inferior to the other.

No. I'm aware of the limitations of injection molding. The kit does have a lot going for it. (although you make a wonderful argument for issuing this in a mixed media format).

I had to chop the chutes down. (either that or build engine bulkheads), because I want to open the engine hatches proper I need something substantive to rest the gun trough decking on.

It was the easiest way. Just surprised how far the gun installation protruded above the airframe profile.

Cheers,
Fred

I PM'd Mark the other day to let him know that due to the number of campaigns running and starting we will not be officially extending the campaign. I did tell Mark though that he will have the ability to award the ribbons long after the campaign officially closes so if he wants to extend it for those that are nearly finished then that is his choice as the campaign leader. Stick at it and you'll soon be finished

Still pressing on (in spite of splashing a drop of lacquer thinner in my eye when cleaning the airbrush)! Got the decals on, and painted the inside of the fuselage crosses RLM74:





FWIW, the Eduard 109E in 1/32 is the same regarding the gun cover, as it will not fit in place without removing most of the detail of the fuselage MG's (in fact it's hard to put the complete engine in place and have the cowling closed). As Jessica points out, this is not really a flaw, just the way that the kit must be designed to have it all opened up.

Keep going lads, we're almost there!

Doug

Terrific progress Doug. Your clear coat looks mirror smooth. Are you using Future? If so, what pressure setting are you using on your compressor? (It looks flawless!)

Cheers,
Fred

Doesn't look like I'll be able to scrape by and get my build finished by the finish date. Had to be evacuated due to the crazy fires going on here in Colorado. Nasty stuff. Was hoping I'd be able to finish and use this week to touch up paint and decal but sadly no go for me. Maybe next time

Too bad, Cory. I hope you are fine and your home is not claimed by the fires.

See you in the next campaign

Thanks. I'm doing good and so far house and neighborhood are safe and out of the way. Mostly a smoke and the like evac. But if you see a massive "completed" thread posted by me then it's likely molten blobs of plastic ha. But that shouldn't happen (hopefully..) Thanks again for the concern and well wishes. Always will keep on building! (Though I hardly finish them and keep starting new builds )

Thanks Fred, it's actually Floquil Crystal Cote thinned 50% with lacquer thinner. I usually use Future, but when I am using thicker decals, I use the Floquil so I can buff it with steel wool to hide the edges of the decals.

Update: Everything ready for final assembly:



Some more details in my build blog as usual.

Should make the finish if nothing else goes wrong

Doug

Hi everyone,

Not long to go, keep working on them as I am still able to provide a ribbon at my discretion for those almost there

I should have my done by tomorrow (Fingers crossed)

Due to the ongoing issues with the gallery after the server move I've decided to extend the campaign by a week (08-07-2012) to hopefully give time for the gallery to be fixed and allow for you all to upload your pictures.

I'll review the situation closer to the new end date and decide what to do then.

Keep at it guys and gals

That would be July 8th correct (in the US, that would be interpreted as August 7th since the month goes first here)?

I hope I don't need the extra time, but it's good to know it's there if something gets messed up

Everyone that is still working, now you've got no excuses, let's go!

Doug

Yes it now July 8th 2012.

Ok, made it across the finish line with some time to spare even!!

Here are some pics of the finished build:




More in my build blog

Thanks for hosting this campaign, it was great to be a part of it, and to see so many nice Fw190's built!

Doug

Wunderbar! Now it's time to enter it in the Model of the Month contest! Don't be shy, all the cool kids are doing it!

Yes! Now I know I can finish! Was able to come home a bit early from evac and just had to decal and weather (might leave that for latter ha) and was hoping to finish by tomorrow. Thank heaven for server moves ha!

I got it finished, just have to put on the fiddly bits. Was trying to correct the front windscreen and the cockpit dropped. There is no way I can get it reset unless I crack it open. That is not going to happen. I started out with two resin fuselage halves and a spare long span wing. It represents Fw's first attempt at placing a Jumo and internal exhaust suppressors. Was eventually used for the Ta series prototypes. Sorry for the shaky photo next time a stand will be used. Have any questions just ask and I will try and answer them. Trying to upload a photo into the gallery and keep on getting an error code 1. Will try later.

Still unable to access the gallery. So posting the pics here for the time being.

IMG_9845e by iflytb20, on Flickr


IMG_9847e by iflytb20, on Flickr

Tried my hand at making a base. I really enjoyed build one of my favorite fighters. Would post a pic in the gallery as soon as it is fixed. Thanks a lot for this campaign mpatman

Hey there Raj! Good looking FW there! What green did you use on the camo job? Looks like RLM? Just curious. Thanks for sharing. Russell

Getting there. I think I might have good chances to make it in time provided nothing goes seriously haywire.

Decals applied, sealed in, and some chipping done here and there, followed by a dark grey wash mixed from black and dark dirt Promodeller washes.

I really like the recessed details on the kit. Subtle, yet holds the wash nicely.

Gun barrels after initial treatment of black primer followed by drybrushing with a mixture of Vallejo black grey and Citadel boltgun metal (5:2 ratio).

The MG 151 barrels are brass parts from Master's set, while the MG 131s are Aires resin parts. I bough an A-6 barrel set thinking I'd build that kit first, but as I decided on the A-8 instead, I needed to swap out the machine guns.

Some more somewhat bigger smaller parts underway.

As I was working on the kit and looking at references and pics of finished models, it seemed to me the drop tank sat way too low in the bomb rack if built straight from the box. As if the designers only thought of the included bomb when designing the moulded-in sway braces of the rack. Anyway, I cut off the sway braces, drilled a hole in the rack for the mounting peg in the drop tank. With the drop glued to the rack, I glued in thin styrene strip to make new sway braces.
The padding on the instrument panel coaming is made from electrical wire jacket split lengthwise. I found it nigh impossible to split neatly by cutting it the usual way. Instead, inserting the tip of the hobby knife blade to the end of the wire jacket and gently pushing it through (watch your fingers!) worked nicely.

Next stop: getting the small parts done and finishing the model ready for final assembly.

Great job, Eetu and Raj!

Regards-
Tom

Looking good guys! You're almost there Eetu

Doug

I'm calling it finished oi. Lost gun barrels and other tiny bits etc heh. Mediocre build etc but I'm fine with it. Might do weathering at some latter date but for now it's DONE. Actually finishing a kit... rather rare for me ha.

Anyways here it is.