Hi to everybody,

First of all, I wish you all the best in 2012! This is actually the build log of my first campaign on Aeroscale, which you may follow here. It would be easy to say that my expectation from the upcoming six months is rather simple – finished Wuerger. Since I haven’t proved trustworthy on that before, it seemed like a good idea to start a new year with some ambition.

On the photo above you may see some of the aftermarket “goodies” which I intend to use in this build. What I would like to do is a super detailed Fw-190 A-8/R-1, or simple overhauling or factory diorama. Therefore, you may expect a lot of details!

The platform for this particular build is the well known – to some people rather obsolete, but to me quite workable! – Revell’s Fw-190 A-8/R-11 in 1/72.

This is the list of the aftermarket sets:
- Aires BMW 801, which is a kit in itself;
- Aires MG 131 13mm guns;
- Master brass Fw-190 A7, A8 armament set & pitot tube;
- Airwaves Fw-190 Flying Surfaces (broken, but easily repaired);
- Goffy Model Resin flaps set (with some considerable resin flash);
- Squadron replacement vac-u-form canopy;
- Bits and pieces from various and previously used PE sets.

Besides, I have some rather detailed reference material, and a lot of patience and modelling verve. The interior, which will be mostly visible for a viewer, will be scratched, including the cockpit. So, that was my intention in brief, and I will keep you informed about the advance by posting here and/or in separate build log. I wish you all pleasant and enjoyable time here! Let the plastic muses dance!

My first attempt was to scratch the main fuel tanks compartment bellow the cockpit. This was built from styrene and braced with some self-adhesive lead tape. Everything started with careful measuring against the model itself, and using some scaled down reference material. I have some aces up my sleeve, and I don't want to reveal everything to you... Nevertheless, you'll guess what am I up to very soon... so here are the first shots.

(To all of you who knew Mrs. Panda from my previous builds, I must inform you that she has fallen a victim of our vacuum cleaner, and hopefully rests in peace! Dr. Mouse - no allusion to Dr. House - has replaced her with the spare of glasses and trusty credentials!)

So, this is what I did yesterday:













All the best!

I built this kid myself, its a verry nice kit on its own. but i wonder what you gonna make of it after superdetailing it.

Thanks, Leon! I agree that the kit is just fine, besides that nasty molded canopy. However, we are (hopefully) gonna improve that...

So, here is a glimpse of what I have in mind. As the title says, it is time for the...



.... Wurger Cuts! As I intend to open the fuselage in order to install all of the details, first I had to cut the fuselage in several parts. This was done by Radu's Ultra-fine saw, which I always use for such delicate surgeries. As you may see, the cuts are very clean if you work in light, one-directional moves from you. The patience is required, unless you don't want to discard the cut pieces. I wanted to keep mine (because I will need them latter), therefore I was extra patient while cutting through the thick plastic.

Here are the photos of the fuselage halves before...



... and after the cuts were made.



You can also see the access hatches outlined in red (which will be removed latter), and the sawing procedure will be the same for the other half. I will keep the cut parts in separate plastic zip bag and will use them at some point later. As I said earlier, I won't reveal much, because I have to entertain you for almost six months from now... Will much appreciate your comments and support throughout the build! Stay with me and Dr. Mouse, who is diligently observant to take the place of Mrs. Panda.

All the best!

PS. I just couldn't fine 50 Euro Cents for size comparison, so I decided to cut one Euro in half, which seems very appropriate at the moment...

Ok, so the fuselage halves are cut, and it is time for Dimensional Check, which marks the end of the first part of this build...



All the best!

Hi Entoni. I will be following your build here very closely as I have a couple of builds planned for the near future which will entail a degree of "surgery" like yours.

Your work here so far is very clean, thanks for sharing so much detail.

Cheers, D

Hi Entoni,

a very ambitious project with a promising start! I stay tuned

Servus,

Sebastian

Thank you my Goodfellas... Well, those who know me better are familiar with my obsessiveness for detail. Dr. Mouse was a bit reluctant to suggest corrections of the old fuel compartment plug, but I could see it in his eyes. Therefore, I took initiative and rebuilt the entirely new fuel compartment set. Was it necessary? Well, yes and no! Whatever the case, I decided to better engineer the plug, so that I get the entire front fuselage floor up to the firewall, and in the same time the first bulkhead behind the cockpit.



By doing this, I have good platform for cockpit detailing, and it will alos enable me to add some detail behind the cockpit, where the radio set and other equipment is going to be installed. This is important, I think, because the bulkhead that is immediately behind the cockpit also holds the auxiliary fuel tank with all the piping and other small gadgets. You'll see when we get to that point!



The fit of the new fuel compartment plug is far superior to the old one, but there are still small areas that need to be puttied and sanded nicely in order to conform to the beautiful fuselage geometry. I don't know about the rest, but I am really attached to the nice lines of the Wurger! It is truly Venus de Milo of the WWII aircraft. Sorry, but I just have to be pathetic

Stay tuned for more!

Next to the Giant Euro is Gerateblock FuG16 and Main Compass, which is a leftover from previous, but never completed build. These are really small and will be soon installed in place... I think this is all for today...



Stay tuned for more... All the best!

I have a hard time remembering that this is 1/72, and not 1/32! Marvelous work, my friend- cheers!

chuk

Ok, my dear friends... I don't have much time to write in detail, but here's the quick photo update of my progress with the kit:

















Thanks for watching!

Entoni,

Excellent work! I look forward to your future posts.

Thanks, Chuck! I am also glad that you managed to fix that landing gear... Once again, brilliant work

This really looks amazing, i wonder what its gonna look like when its finished.

Hi Antoni,

WWWOOOAAA! What a great job on this plane....at scale 1/72 !!!

Will look forward

Cheers
nico

Looks like you're off to a great start, will be watching with interest!

Doug

There was not much work for me tonight, since I have to prepare for the business trip tomorrow. I discarded the kit's instrumental panel mainly because of the missing Neptun radar screen. The kit's part is regular A-8 instrument panel... But there were also other reasons as well





Thanks for watching!

I made some progress today, after returning from a business trip. I doubt that there will be any modeling for me during this weekend. However, I scratched the auxiliary tank behind the cockpit from a leftover P-51 wing tank. I also added more details, and I am almost done with the plug. I still have to finish the seat and few more details; this will be followed up by adding some structural detail to the rear fuselage, but you will see...

So, here are the pics:







Thanks for watching!

Today I made another dimensional check before priming the cockpit. I was quite satisfied with the result. The photo says it all...



Thanks for watching!

You're moving right along, especially considering the complexity. Looks great.

Regards;

Automaton

@Automaton: Thanks for the kind words... Unfortunately, I don't have much time to invest in this build, but we will see in the end...

Just a quick update:





Thanks for watching!

Hi, friends... Just a quick update about painting the pit. Everything was done using the Xtracrylics RLM02 and RLM66. Small details were picked up with 10/0 brush, and the weathering is done with the pastels. Everything was sealed with a coat of Vallejo Matt Varnish. Although the zoom and the lighting did kill some of the details, I can agree that the weathering is a bit exaggerated for this scale. The painting was never my favorite part of the build, but I am satisfied in the end. Most of the effects won't be visible in the end, but who cares, anyway

So, here are the photos:











Thanks for watching... Comments are welcome!

All the best,
Entoni

Beautiful work Entoni, the scratchbuilt Eagles Nest looks great, and the detail you have put in considering the 1/72 scale is amazing.

Looking forward to the next episode.

Cheers, D

@AussieReg: Thanks, Damian! It is really amazing how small this aircraft is; therefore, the challenge is sweeter I will post some of the info today... I encountered first real problem, but I managed to solve it!

Thanks for watching!
Entoni

The quick fix:











Thanks for watching!

A really fine build and in "my" scale as well, is there more to wish for ?

I am following with great interest!



Magnus