Hoss FL

Fabulous detail all around. Congrats.

Looking good. The armor plating looks great!

Looks like you're getting your mojo back...

Thanks a million. Much appreciated. Sure thing -- post away.

Following along intently. Enjoying your build, Gazzas. My ZM G-14 will remain on the shelf and move a little further down the build queue based on your pioneering work.

It's coming along beautifully, John. Looks awesome. Regarding the paint scheme, I went through a similar exercise with a 1/48 scale Mimetall Dora, Black 4 W. Nr. 500576 and ended up with the high contrast wing pattern and the brown RLM 81 under the wing leading edge, even though Jerry's profile indicated RLM 75. I also based the upper camo on Blue 12. It's always a puzzle. By the way, have you tried Mr. Color Rapid Thinner with their Super Metallics? I've been experimenting with the Super Metallics and have found that Rapid Thinner results in a very smooth metal finish. It's smoother and less grainy than when used with Mr Color Leveling thinner. Loving your build and learning a lot.

Thanks John! Much appreciated and thanks again for your wonderful step by step build logs. I really learned a lot from your 190 experiences.

Your paintwork with the rivets is fabulous! I really like your color scheme and the effect of the preshading. Loving this so far.

Thanks all for the nice comments. And thanks for the comments and encouragement along the way.

Thanks for the comments. Much appreciated.

Wow! Your preshading looks wonderful. I like that you’re applying the rivets on top of the preshading. Based on my experience, they should be more visible after painting is complete. Looking forward to more paint!

Many thanks for all the encouraging comments. Much appreciated. My rendition of Dortenmann's Black 1 is now complete. Final photos and discussion over at the Ready for Inspection area.

My rendition of Hans Dortenmann's Fw 190D-9 Black 1 is now complete. What a rewarding project. First, I'd like to thank all the LSP members for the encouragement, help and feedback during the project. I'd like to especially thank Thunnus and Duke, who are also in the middle of Dora builds at the moment for their feedback, encouragement, tips and tricks. This was my first 1/32 Dora project and I needed all the help I could get. The build thread is below: My motivation for this starting this project when I did was learning about Jerry Crandall's passing. I have several of his books and artwork and I had been planning a 1/32 Dora. And what better subject than Dortenmann's Black 1. Although it's been modeled zillions of times, it's a fantastic scheme and I needed one on my shelf. To recap, my starting point was the 1/32 Hasegawa Fw 190D-9 kit. I added the following AM items along the way: HGW riveting set Eagle cals #32-60 HGW seatbelts Eagle Editions tail wheel Yahu instrument panel Quickboost Exhaust Eduard canopy masks Aires Cockpit upgrade Quickboost gun barrels Master metal gun barrels Eduard flaps Barracuda wheels Eduard exterior detail set Henri Daehne spinner and prop kit I purchased several other AM items that did not get used due to fit or quality issues. I used Mr. Color lacquers for the main camo and colors and Tamiya acrylics mostly for details and weathering. Maketar masks were used for the main markings. The wave and stencils were all decals from the Eagle Editions set. My goal was to render W Nr. 210003 just after the February 1945 refit, where it underwent engine work, received a new blown canopy, got fresh RLM 82 paint over the original RLM 75 and received JG 26 trim -- RV band, wave staffel marking, and black 1 marking (overpainting the JG 54 red 1). As the first Dora delivered to the Luftwaffe in September 1944, and having just underwent a clean up, refit and repaint, I was torn on the approach to weathering this beast. In the end, I attempted to match as closely as possible the condition documented in the three photos of the plane at this time, and kept the overall weathering light. I'll point out some key details and takeaways along with the photos. The Henri Daehne prop kit is a huge winner. Details are included in the build thread, but this central addition is very impressive and highly recommended for anyone building this kit. I used Infini-line for the main antenna cable and 0.2mm wire bent to shape for the lead in to the fuselage. The spinner spiral was painted on using Tamiya flexible tape as masking material. The HGW rivets were applied over the primer. I was able to create multiple effects in the wear areas to highlight the rivets. They are obvious everywhere in the flesh but don't show up well in overall photos. The Eduard flaps were nice additions, but I think overall they are a lot of work compared to the value received. Especially since the kit flaps are not too bad. My main reference for the camo pattern was W Nr. 210051, which was clearly photographed from several angles. It was manufactured in the same factory only a few weeks after Dortenmann's plane and I thought it was reasonable to assume the camo pattern and factory stencil detail would be similar. Jerry Crandall's book also has close up photos of 210007 and 210015, which were also helpful. The overall camo pattern highlighted in the previous photo and the one below closely match 210051, with the only difference being that 210003 had RLM 82 painted over the RLM 75 areas at the point of depiction. The Hasegawa kit represents the Dora's lines nicely. With the HGW rivets applied to the primer, my main focus was to keep the subsequent paint layers to a minimum. As this was my first time using the rivets, I was not sure how their appearance would evolve during the painting and weathering process. I found that I could micro mesh down to expose the rivets directly after the camo was painted. In addition, I could micro mesh down to expose previous layers of paint in the rivet pattern when multiple camo layers had been applied (e.g., RLM 83 over 76). Photos of W Nr. 210051 clearly show the scalloped camo pattern on the leading edge of the wings. It's surprising that none of the profiles that I've found include this attribute. It adds character to the model for sure. I originally had planned to keep the exhaust cleaned up and light, but figured it would be OK to reflect that the plane had been on a few missions after the refit. Main camo painting consisted of laying down the base camo, adding fading and shading with lighter and darker versions of the base color, then applying a blending layer. All of the main markings were applied with masks except the wave symbol on the RV bands, which were decals. Weathering started of an oil panel line wash, where the colors coordinated with the base colors for modest contrast. Tamiya black-brown mix was applied to major panel lines, engine and landing gear areas. Spatter templates, streaking and various additional fading, shading and micro mesh effects were applied. Colored pencils and sponges were used for chips and scratches. Note that the intention was to depict the RLM 82 areas as relatively fresh. And I'm thinking that the RLM 83 and 76 and 04 areas may have received a touch up as well. I like the look of the Master gun barrels, but the prop and spinner are the show piece for this build. I attempted to match the camo and weathering shown in the two photos of the port side of the fuselage. The rest of the camo and weathering was an attempt to match the condition of this area. In particular, I focused on the visible wear on the canopy ledge, reinforcing strips, foothold, handhold, buttons, latches, and panel lines, as well as exhaust staining and general dirt and grime on the lower areas. The landing gear indicators are 0.4mm brass rod painted to look the part. The main contour modification was on the gun cover. I used the kit part but heavily modified the shape with milliput and Mr. Surfacer. The kit shape is clearly incorrect. Jerry Crandall's book has some super closeups of the proper contours for this highly visible cover. Along with the HD prop, this cover turned out to be another character building feature of this model. It was a surprising amount of work, but I'm happy how it turned out. Thanks to Thunnus for his clear and well documented technique. I was hoping the Quickboost and Eagle aftermarket parts would simplify the project but they didn't fit. The Yahu instrument panel is a very nice addition. Thanks for looking and I hope you enjoyed the photos. Comments and critiques are more than welcome.

Finished most of the weathering and started final assembly today. Here's the finished Henri Daehne prop. What an upgrade from the kit parts. I used the same magnet technique that Thunnus pioneered and it works great. The prop blades were first primed, then painted RLM 70, gloss coat, decals, gloss over decals, flat coat, buffed and micromeshed, spatter templates with six or so different Tamiya acrylic tans and grays, streaking with same colors, colored pencil chips and scratches in various wood colors. Here's the canopy set into place along with the fuselage sides weathered to match the photos as closely as possible. I also picked out the windscreen washing tube system, which is clearly shown in the photos of Black 1. The exhaust stubs were installed and staining applied. Staining was applied with Tamiya brown/black mix in varying ratios to slowly build up the pattern. I originally was planning to depict the machine completely clean coming out of the refit and repainting, but decided it would look a little better if it looked as if it had been on a few sorties after the refit. Artist's choice. The intent here was to depict the RLM 76, 83 and the cross as worn (per the photos) and the RLM 82 and number 1 as freshly applied. The black and white RV band and wave were also relatively unweathered. The DF loop antenna is made from Dr. Pepper can and the other small antenna is a brass rod. As the RLM 83 was original or perhaps lightly touched up, I depicted a modest amount of scratches and weathering to the starboard wing root area. The scratches were various colors of Prismacolor pencil and the weathering was applied with Tamiya acrylics. The RLM 82 area is intended to look relatively fresh. Here's another view of the cockpit area also showing the wing root area with the fresh-looking RLM 82. Here's the Eagle editions tail wheel. Brass rod reinforces the join between the fork and the main shaft. A brass rod is also used as an axle through the wheel and fork connection points. I was toying with the idea of whitewalls on the tire, but my main reference photo of 210051 shows no stripe, so I decided to keep to the script. The landing gear was attached using CA glue and the connection is pretty solid. I applied standard stencil decals, added the junction box, wiring and actuator spring, along with the tail wheel retraction wire and brake lines. I also drilled out the scissor holes. The cannons are Master metal barrels and they are mounted the requisite 12.5mm from the wing leading edge. The gun camera port will get a Krystal Klear window tomorrow. The antenna shown was modified by replacing the kit plastic tape with a section of wire. Here's a wider angle view showing the drop tank set up, landing gear bays and landing gear arrangement. I elected to depict the drop tank as shown in a number of late war photos without stencils, but with a modest amount of weathering. By the way, the wheels are the Barracuda upgrades, which look great IMO. The hubs were painted gloss black, tires Tire Black and weathering included a pastel wash and Tamiya acrylics as well as dry brushing and colored pencils on the hubs. Here's a view showing the installed Eduard flaps, which really look nice. This view also highlights the exhaust stain pattern as well as the rivet pattern on the side of the fuselage. That's all for now. We're almost at the finish line. Thanks for looking. Comments and critique always welcome.

Hi Spyros - Here are some more photos from Jerry's book. This one shows the bare metal gun covers and flaps. This photo shows the W. Nr. You can see the source of different interpretations. That wing camo looks pretty light to me. It must have been picture day in front of White 11... I think this may be the same photo as the JaPo book. Hope these help. - Jim