Thunderbolt

You really made the overlying white look convincingly hand painted! Well done.

Let me know if you have questions. You might inspire me to pull mine off the shelf of doom.

You kind of have to make it up re cowl fitting. I have done this and can take you through it. (I have also fitted the HD prop to this assembly). Thunnus is correct that the EP front cowl is a bit undersized relative to the rest of the kit. Thinning the inside will help but the cowl flaps won’t fit perfectly because they have a larger circumference to match their incorrectly sized kit counterpart. If you don’t elect to place individual scratch built cowl flaps, I can share how I mated the kit flaps to the EP cowl. With respect to the Aires resin, much of the front end of the engine will have to be removed so as to not protrude into the propeller assembly when articulated with the radiator. Getting the depth of the radiator in the cowling right, and then ensuring that the assembly is at the proper fore aft distance can be achieved by making sure a few things occur: 1. Obtaining the proper depth of radiator in the cowl: When the propeller and its blades sit flush on the radiator hub, the blades should *just barely* clear the fore edge of the cowl. 2. Setting the fore-aft distance of the cowl: A. The aft “open bowl” end of the radiator assembly edge should be nearly touching the fore square end of the exhaust stacks. B. You can use the gun cowl as a single piece attached to the engine cowl to get an overall sense of distancing for placement relative to the windscreen. HTH TB

Welcome. I’ve had a Dora on the shelf of doom for 13 years with this resin engine. I’ll be following with interest.

Thanks Tom. I have identified a few challenges with the fuselage code letters: I'm not sure what the original codes were, as they do not seem to be recognizable patterns (last image below) In the image below with the pilot pictured, there only seem to be splotches of a color lighter than RAF OG with the S superimposed. In the last photo, there is clearly some sort of broad shade painted under the 'S'. The Montex masks are about 33% undersized in the horizontal plane, so some clever manipulation/augmentation of the masks will be necessary. Getting the placement of the original, underpinned codes right relative to the newer SK will require that the SK be painted first and strategically masked off thereafter. There is no evidence for what the 'N' was painted over so artistic license will be required. Regards TB

Got it. I do not yet own the kit so do not have a good sense of the length of the parts. That was your measurement with digital calipers?

That moustache is epic! Love the thought that went into this. Great job!

Made some progress on the undersurfaces as shown below. I used AK Real Colors for the MSG and a custom mix of Tamiya paints for the insignia which were painted using Montex masks. I primed with Tamiya white primer and then applied black selectively to areas as a pre-shade. I avoid cross-hatch preshading and instead placed it aft of the casing ejection ports, etc. I then applied a coat of the AK MSG, then varied it with a mix of AK off white and AK MSG. The insignia is difficult to get a hard edge on, as Wolf Buddee pointed out in his spectacular build, because of the bulge directly underlying the mask. I held the edges down with sharp tweezers in my non-dominant hand and am pleased with the result. I deliberately sprayed lighter versions of the blue and red so I would have better control with darkening washes etc. I had another question for the experts though: what was the color of the base of the mast, part L7? Not sure if it’s a brown or RAF DG. Per the picture of this plane, the base is an island of its own color amidst the RAF OG. Seems to match the nearby DG, but a quick search seems to suggest a shade of brown may be more correct. Thanks in advance!

5 cm? that seems long.

Tom, what was the difference between the relish and kit nose? Since the Relish correction is no longer available, I am now wondering what it would take to correct the supplied kit nose. As well as turret, if you don't mind sharing. Thanks, TB

Hi all, Up until a few days ago, this highly useful link worked: https://www.ipmsstockholm.org/magazine/2004/11/stuff_eng_fw190_01.htm any thoughts appreciated thx

Ah, so when these kits I’m watching disappear suddenly, I know who it is!!

hard to know if they were removed or never installed in the first place... nevertheless this is one of my favorite a/c and this picture is an excellent find

amazing work. how do you find all these kits that are now out of production?

Yes just as well the photos above were likely taken before D-Day given his heavy RAF shearling jacket. So the question concerning the very dark shade near the roundel remains pertinent. I may just use a darker shade of RAF DG in that area....

I guess I was implying a delay in application since there would have been only a week to do it. Thoughts?

It's interesting to note that the invasion stripes were ordered for fighters on June 4 1944. This fighter was lost on June 12th 1944. It probably never had the stripes in the first place? Certainly, it did not go through through the process of stripe application and removal/cover-up as other fighters did.

Right. This was exactly my confusion when making this model. I’ve sanded and filled the stub area.

Great discussion, gents! I had found this website as a source months ago; it’s where I sourced my pictures from. https://www.absa3945.com/Pertes Bretagne/Cotes Armor/12 juin 44/moffat_wilson-GB.htm

Can’t wait! Thank you

Interesting. Could you show us what the chisels look like and describe the technique a bit more?

How did you produce all those scratches?! Incredible work.

Haha, will do! I will fix the title shortly. No offense intended that I knew, but the protruding cannon fairing doesn’t look like that early MkV cannon fairing so they must have put later fairings on earlier wings? Mike, Thank you for your great points all around! The tone of the prop sealant, if it is sealant, appears to have a hue that matches the tape over the guns and I’m thinking it could be a reddish color. Will render the ice/snow block in black. Regarding the invasion stripes, was there a point during which they would have been painted over? I would have thought the stripes would have been beneficial to keep until the very end of the war. Was the goal to completely cover them such that the darker green overpaint would extend all the way around the bottom where the medium sea grey was originally applied? Or was some version of MSG applied by hand to the underside as well to cover the stripes? feeling much closer already to having a painting plan thanks to you guys. Thanks a lot TB

I am now wondering, did this aircraft, have the later tall tail or the standard tail? Most of the renderings of this A/c I've seen have shown the latter.

Thank you Dennis. In the photo, even the wooden plug is missing, which is why I'm a bit mystified. Looks like a Mk. V wing.