Thunnus

Great touch with the rivets on the ammo bin!

Initial paint looks Awesome, Tom! But you want a slight feather on the edge?

This is gonna be sweet to watch Chuck! Especially with all of the aftermarket goodies!

Wonderful Brian! A nice change from all of the monoplanes that we see here on LSP! I still can't see the silvering issue.

Thanks Mike! As a Dora Nut, this is one of those schemes that I felt I HAD to do. Thanks Kevin! I appreciate it! Thanks Troy! The pleasure is mine! Thanks! Thank you John! Since they were side by side, the contrast between the decals and painted markings needed to be reduced so I did some extra work to get the surface details to show up through the decals. Thanks Jeff! Still lots of work to do but the build has certainly crossed over the hump and it should be relatively simple from this point on. Thanks Anthony! Hopefully, I'll get re-started on the Tempest as well. Or.... I may just start something completely new. Thank you Michael! After the decal work was completed the decaled areas were sprayed with a coat of Alclad Aqua Gloss. The next step is to apply a wash over the model. I made three batches of liquid wash from pastel chalks... a very dark brown/black for the upper surfaces, a lighter brown for the lower surfaces and a light grey to highlight the rivet areas within the black markings. The wash is spread over the model and then allowed to fully dry. Once dry, I used moistened static-free wipes to wipe off the wash, leaving a residue of contrasting dark (or light) wash in all of the recessed areas. A closer look at the effects of the panel wash... It pays to hold off sealing the wash with a clear coat UNTIL you've carefully inspected every inch of the model. It's ok to leave some subtle streaking of the wash on the model as long as it is consistently in the direction of the airflow but unwiped blobs of dark wash should be removed.

Thanks so much for the comment guys! I really appreciate the input and encouragement! The last two days have been spent applying decals. Since the green mottle covered much of the stenciling, there wasn't a great number of decals to put on. But since I could not get the Portrait cutter to replicate the very fine black outlines on some of the markings, notably the big yellow "10", decals were used. I spent the majority of these two days patiently trying to get the yellow 10's to conform to the rivets and panel lines. First Microsol and then Solvaset was used and I still couldn't get them to sit down, so I resorted to a knife. The panel lines within the yellow areas are a bit ragged and I'm trying to clean those up as much as possible. I don't think they'll be an issue after the panel wash but I'm taking the extra time now as decal solvent won't work after a clear coat is applied. A view of the bottom, which is patiently waiting for the next stage in the build which will be the panel wash.

Cockpit looks wonderful! Those little cylindrical molding pips that are sometimes attached to small kit parts can be fashioned into a 190 throttle if you don't have one handy!

Awesome... just awesome! This is one model where high resolution photography is essential for viewing.

Very cool! I hope you got to see a bunch of cool aircraft! Thanks Brian! Seems a bit of shame to cover almost all of the factory paint scheme with this relatively messy mottle but it's gotta be done! Thanks Troy! Thank you so much, Jeff! Thanks for the input guys! Got on a roll and was able to get the fuselage mottling done! First, I applied the masks over the fuselage markings and taped the black and white tail band. Then I applied some light green RLM 82 mottling on the fuselage. And then the darker green RLM 83 was sprayed on. The tape covering the tail band was removed and the top of the black and white band was covered with RLM 82. Here is what the model looks like after this final painting stage. A gloss coat will be applied as we moved on to the decal stage.

FYI... all of the fish were released! I usually don't keep any freshwater fish for eating. Saltwater fish like tuna... that's another story. Just another lifelong passion that I happen to have. Thanks for the comment! Thanks Jim! Honestly, my time on the bench in these summer months will probably be a bit spotty but hopefully I'll get a few projects done. Good luck fishing in Goergia, Troy! Just being outside in the sunshine is a blessing in and of itself! As I mentioned before, I've kept the leftover markings masks to protect the markings as I apply the green mottle. I've placed the narrow white cross masks to the upper wings and applied the lighter RLM 82 mottle patterns. The dark green RLM 83 is then applied. I'll do a bit of touch-up work and then move on to the fuselage after masking the fuselage markings and tail band.

It's been a while hasn't it! Fishing season kicked off for me with a mid-week hooky session at my favorite lake. So much fun! I ended up with 61 largemouth bass topped by a 5.75 pound kicker... With the fishing stuff at the forefront, the modeling stuff kept percolating in the back of my mind. I finally pushed myself to sit at the model bench and get started on some spraying. The D-13 is sitting in a post-factory state and the task before me now is to put on the field-applied mottle of dark greens, which I've chosen to be RLM 82 and 83. I thought a good way to re-introduce myself back into the game was to try my hand at applying these greens onto the horizontal stabilizers, which are still removable. Here are the stabilizers, with a base coat of RLM 74 and 75. Using the color profiles found in Crandall's Dora Volume 2 as a rough guide, I sprayed some random patches of the lighter RLM 82 (Mr Hobby Aqueous). After that, the darker RLM 83 green was sprayed on. I gave the stabs a light coat of clear gloss (Alclad Aqua Gloss) to even out the paint job for the photos. Not much but it is a start, right? I'm going to use the leftover masks to cover the markings that I've already sprayed to protect them from inadvertent overspray. I think I'll be tackling the wings next since the painting should be very similar to the stabilizers.

Thanks John! Just a guess as there are no clear photos of the upper surfaces of the horizontal stabilizers. The panel on the vertical tail fin surrounding the stabilizers were in a dark color and I just extended that idea to the upper stabilizer surfaces, seeing no clear indication of a mottle pattern.

Thank you! You're no slouch yourself, Dennis! But I do understand getting inspiration from other builders here at LSP! Thanks Martin! Man, I wish it were flawless but we are all probably our worst critics so it's better to just say thank you and give a polite bow! Thanks Richard! I actually adjusted my mottling technique as I worked. It started off much more controlled and predetermined and I found that relaxed and random strokes produced better results. Thank you Kagemusha!

I saw that too and did the same! Would it be ok to post those photos here? Might be a good reference for those that do a search on this aircraft here at LSP.

Really? Even if you assume the tail swastika is black?

The only photo that I've seen of 500645 is of a partially burnt-out tail with an Allied soldier posing on it. This photo, along with a speculative color profile, can be found in Crandall's Dora Volume 1. The description with the profile reads:

Thanks guys! Hawaii was great but it is nice to be home! Hardly any paint on the jig because I rarely spray with the model on the jig. I prefer to hold the model with left hand while spraying with the right.

Excellent! Always excited to see another Dora build! Black(Blue) 3 is a very interesting bird with a good collection of archive photos to draw inspiration/ideas from. Do you have access to JaPo's Fw 190D Camo & Markings Part II and/or Jerry Crandall's Fw 190D-9 Volume 1? Both have detailed analyses of Black(Blue) 3 that you might find helpful. Definitely a Fiesler-built 600xxx machine, which should give you a basis for a likely factory-applied camo scheme. Crandall's book includes still from color film that show yellow on the lower engine cowling. Regarding black vs blue, it should be noted that both JaPo and Crandall describe the fuselage cross as being white with the background in the dark camo color, not black. A more appropriate tonal comparison would be using the the tail swastika, not the fuselage cross. And... based on the photos, it looks like the gun cover has no bumps or flares.

Thank you Troy! I grew up in Hawaii (Kaiser High School Class of 83) so going back to Hawaii means lots of different things to me. No fishing this time. I brought no hobby-related equipment with me besides my camera so that I could spend more time with the family. Thanks Chuck! I really appreciate the input! Spending time in Hawaii was great! Thanks Matt! That is a word that I think about alot when modeling... depth. Depth and complexity. I try to impart an impression of depth and complexity in my builds, even on smaller sub-assemblies such as props, landing gear, wheel wells, etc. Thanks so much Andy! Thanks Kagemusha! I have a hard time achieving consistent results with the hairspray method and this time was no exception. The wing roots were sprayed with Tamiya AS-12 Silver decanted into my airbrush and thinned with Tamiya Lacquer Thinner. Over this I put several coats of hairspray (Garnier Fructis Full Control in a green aerosol can). I was pretty generous with the hairspray application as the wing root would be impacted by multiple layers of paint (pre-shade black, RLM 74 or 75, and the fuselage RLM 76). After the fuselage and wing colors were sprayed on, I started attacking the wing roots with water and a trimmed stipple brush. For some unknown reason, the starboard side gave way to the water/brush treatment MUCH easier than the port side, which was the opposite of what I wanted since I'm assuming that the port side, with the boarding ladder, would experience more wear. So I stopped very early on the starboard side and worked overtime on the port side. The port side required some manual removal of the paint using a tip of a toothpick. And so the chipping patterns look very different. I'm not too worried it about since chipping wear on Yellow 10 did not seem to be a major issue. Thanks for checking in Gaz! Thanks Jim! I have returned from my Hawaii trip relaxed and rested. I usually experience a loss of motivation when I pause from my builds and I've not yet worked up the mojo to start again on Yellow 10. I put her in the light box today just to get sense of where I left off. She's nice and clean with the exception of some post-shading work that I started on the bottom. When the build resumes, I will start on the field-applied mottle of RLM 82 and 83. Hopefully SOON!

Thank you! I've always considered this the "awkward" stage of the build where you're questioning the color choices you've made in your mind because it looks a bit different in person. I'll have to trust in the overall plan, which won't come to fruition for a few weeks as I'm leaving for a short trip tomorrow. Thanks for the tip Mike! Another advantage to the thin coat is how thin and nice it sprays. Goes along nicely with the rivet work that I've done. Thanks Matt! That is just a heavy-handed attempt at replicating something that I'm seeing in reference photos. I'll probably have to diffuse it a bit because it stands out too much. Thank you Vincent! Always an honor to receive your comments! Thanks! Weather in Hawaii is a little cooler than normal right now. My sister says you can even get away with wearing jeans. Thanks Jim! I'll be back soon to resume the build! As a final step before the pause, I've committed the Henri Daehne prop to glue. A view of the mounted HD prop on unfinished and unweathered airframe... Goodbye for now... see you guys in about a week!

I finished off all of the pre-green markings. The Werk Numbers were sprayed on the tail fin using masks. I decided to paint the fuselage crosses now. Using a scan of the Eagle Cal decal sheet, I traced the fuselage crosses together with the bar markings as was depicted on the decal sheet. This keeps the orientation between the elements uniform. Due to very thin black borders, the yellow 10 and the black interior of the bar markings will be depicted using the Eagle Cal decals. This will be a good point to pause the build. When I resume, I will use place masks over the markings, including the black/white fuselage band as I cover the aircraft with field applied greens (RLM 82 and 83).

Not having any other reference, I used Radu's template to re-shape both the fuselage spine and the kit canopy on my K-4 build. As Radu says, probably not the most accurate but it was a slight improvement, nonetheless.

Thanks Kev! I'm going to be taking a one-week break in a few days while I visit Hawaii so I'm not going to start the field-application of greens until I get back. Still, there are some things to work on until that point so here are a few things to report. I've decided to add the white wing crosses and the black and white JG26 bands at this time. The wings are masks from the Silhouette Portrait and the bands were masked with a mix of Tamiya yellow tape and flexible white tape. A bit of mottling was added to the tail fin. I'm almost at that stopping point and I'm debating whether to add the fuselage crosses now or later. I'm planning on protecting all of the masked markings with the leftover mask shapes so that I can be more free when I apply the 82/83 greens over all of this. I will then, selectively, chooses spots to introduce some overspray. Some close-ups of the painted surfaces. Since there is another coat of painting coming, it is not too late to do some last minute repair/fill work.

Thanks guys! No model shows for me so feel free to bring your wonderful D-13 to Vegas, Tim! Ok... time for the top colors. I've chosen to paint the fuselage colors differently than the wings. It gonna look kinda odd but this did happen with Doras as major components were often assembled and painted in separate factories. The lighter color will be RLM 82 and that is applied first. Mr Hobby Aqueous version of RLM 82 is used. The second color is RLM 81 and for this shade I am using AK Real Colors RLM 81 Version 1. The "factory" paint scheme is just about done. I am going to add some of the markings and then the field-applied green colors will be sprayed on.

Time to put the Light Blue RLM 76 on. I am using Mr Hobby Aqueous RLM 76 mixed 50:50 with White. In order for the preshading to work properly, I want my paint mix very thin so that I can control the build-up of the color slowly. I thin the paint at a 2:1 thinner to paint ratio. I start at the bottom because I'm paranoid about the tape mask on the metal paint and want to remove that as quick as possible. Once the bottom is done, I can flip the model over and start covering the sides with RLM 76. The key is to keep the airbrush moving to prevent pooling of the watery paint. I work sections at a time and apply paint until the preshade pattern is hardly noticeable. Since there is a lot of thinner in the mix, it will cut into the preshade so it is always important to give the finish a few minutes to stabilize before determining whether an area is finished. It takes some time to build up the color but its important not to rush. Too much paint and you'll lose the preshading effect completely. After the RLM 76 is done, the wing colors (RLM 74 and 75) are applied to the top of the wings and horizontal stabilizers. Again Mr Hobby Aqueous is the paint used and the same thinner ratio is used. A small amount hairspray chipping was done at the wing roots but it will be mostly covered by the final round of camo painting. Next will be upper fuselage colors...