Revell Fw 190D-9

[LSP_Kevin]

Hi everybody,

 

I'm fairly new here, but have been following along in awe for a few weeks now. At the risk of embarrassing myself, I thought I'd post a work-in-progress of my current build: Revell's old Fw 190D-9 in 1/32. I've seen Chris the ripper's cutaway version on here just recently, almost inspiring me to place mine gently in the bin! However, I'm persevering with what is my 4th build after returning to the hobby at the end of last year.

 

The kit:

 

 

Thanks to Lynn Ritger at Hyperscale, I got up the courage to correct the inaccurate tail profile:

 

 

I sanded off all the rivets and attempted to rescribe for only the second time. Still struggling to reproduce some of the rounded hatches without the aid of any dedicated templates. Here she is before priming:

 

 

Here's what she looks like at the moment (though the model has moved on slightly since I took these photos):

 

 

Modified undercarriage:

 

 

Thanks to Nick Anderson who sent me some left-over decals from the newer Hasegawa and Revell kits, I'm planning to finish her like so:

 

 

I'm not going for 100% accuracy here (I'm no rivet counter), just having some fun and learning as much as I can along the way. Plenty of 'firsts' in there for me already.

 

Apologies for the dodgy photography and thanks for looking.

 

Kev

[JCote]

Hi Kev,

 

Have to take your word for it that there are many "firsts", because judging by the pictures, none of them are in evidence. The primed model looks nice and crisp and the mod you did to the undercarriage is very effective. Welcome to LSP and I'm looking forward to your next updates.

 

Cheers,

Jean

[LSP_Kevin]

Thanks Jean, I appreciate your encouragement. I've actually been building models for about 35 or so years now, but in a very on-and-off fashion, with a definite emphasis on the latter. I've never had the time, tools or skills to do more than simple kit assembly up until now, but the stuff you can learn on sites like this these days means you can't fail to get better.

 

I've patched a few more surface flaws and fiddled with a few details since the original post, but I've run out of Mr Surfacer (that stuff is a godsend!) so the finishing stage is on hold until I can get some more.

 

Kev

[LSP_Kevin]

Another quick update, though I have spent most of the week so far scribing, patching, scribing, filling, scribing, sanding...

I tried to add some detail to the cowling by scribing the latches, and also the panel line that separates the forward section from the aft:



You'll also notice in that photo the replacement reinforcement straps on the aft portion of the wing root, after all my sanding destroyed the moulded-on ones.

The next photo shows my attempt to scribe the prominent under-fuselage hatch. I have drawings showing this as both a near-perfect circle, and a more squared-off shape with rounded corners. Since I wasn't sure which interpretation was more accurate, and the circle option was easier to do, that's what I went with:



The 'rivets' look like they have raised lips in the photo, but have in fact been sanded flush. I'm hoping it will look substantially better after some more Mr Surfacer and some paint and weathering

I had earlier attempted to replicate the prominent fuselage hatch around where the national marking goes, but was really unhappy with it:



I'd tried to form the shape with Tamiya masking tape, but it wasn't stiff enough to keep the scriber on track, resulting in a rather wobbly line. I filled it with super glue and sanded it down, and tried again, this time with a template I'd cut from styrene sheet. Here's the before and after shot:



It's not perfect, but a substantial improvement over my first attempt. Again, hoping Mr Surfacer and a couple of coats of paint and weathering do the trick.

Thanks for looking.

Kev

[DaveJ]

Nice work Kev!

 

You're off to a great start on this bird. I've had no luck finding Mr Surfacer in my area but it seems as though I need to try harder.

 

I look forward to watching this build progress!

 

Dave

[LSP_Kevin]

Thanks Dave. I've only used Mr Surfacer 1000 out of a rattle can so far, and have found it invaluable. The only real downside is that the rattle cans can be quite wasteful. I've got a can of 500 in the drawer, but I'm saving that for a couple of 1/48 Otaki/Arii kits I have in the stash. Anyone who has seen or built one will know why! In the meantime I need to get hold of another can (or two) of the 1000 before I can move to the painting stage on this one. Not sure if I'm game to try the bottled stuff, thinned and shot through an airbrush, but it would probably go a lot further.

 

Kev

[LSP_Kevin]

Another quick update while I wait for Mr Surfacer. I keep finding more things to scribe - either stuff I had originally intended not to (due to degree of difficulty), or stuff I hadn't noticed before. I added some hatches to the starboard side, and scribed the forward cowling and spinner:

 

 

The only other scribing I intend to do is the tail wheel inspection hatch on the port side of the tail (though I have drawings that suggest it was on both sides - anyone know for sure?). There are lots of panels and hatches I haven't done, but I'm happy enough with how it looks now.

 

I've also attempted to replicate the prominent bracing structure behind the pilot's head rest. It's nothing like 100% accurate, but I feel it's an improvement over the kit's interpretation, which is only valid for the early Ds (without the blown canopy). Both the spinner and the rear canopy section are just sitting there, posed for the photo.

 

The other new thing in the photo is a lazy susan I got from Ikea today (for our Aussie viewers, $16). It's really solid with a smooth action, and will make a great painting aid for airbrushing when the time comes. It's also large enough for a model quite a bit larger than the 190 pictured, and if you're precious about its finish, you could always tape some paper over it. The only downside is I don't have anywhere to put it when I'm not using it! Anyway, I've been looking for something like this for a while, so it's nice to finally find one, and I thought maybe someone else might find it useful too.

 

Kev

[bcauchi]

Great work Kev. Nice to see someone else tackle the old revell models when all this new stuff is on the market. You are doing a great job. Keep it up and keep those pics coming. When you will be going through a hard time just visit my thread with the work I did on the old 109G and I'm sure you will go on, just like the song says. You are well past the turning back point and your work is clean and very nice looking indeed.

[LSP_Kevin]

Wow, thanks Brian - I really appreciate your interest. I've been going over all the old threads in the Member Builds forum, and I've been blown away by your stuff (and many others' too). I was especially interested in your build of the old Revell 109, as I have exactly that kit in the stash. I'm toying with converting mine to an 'F', as I bought some 'F' decals by mistake. Did you finish yours?

 

Kev

[AngoMango]

Excellent stuff here Kev!

 

I always love seeing people putting in the hard yards on old kits that need some improvement. It's a sign of true modelling dedication. Love all that shaping and scribing work you've done here, because even though it's not a particularly glamorous part of model building, it will set this build up for a wonderful finish.

 

Keep up the great work mate

 

Cheers

Ango

[bcauchi]

Still working on it Kev. Many areas require a lot of scratchbuilding and this takes time. I shall try to update when I get a decent camera. My pics are all unclear lately.

[RWKennard]

Hey Kev

 

Great looking 190 so far!

 

Rescribing is something I'm not looking forward to doing but you sure look like you got the hang of it!

 

The under carriage looks the biz aswell!

 

Great paint scheme you've chosen too!

 

Thanks for sharing

 

Richard

[LSP_Kevin]

Thanks everyone for your feedback and encouragement! Believe it or not it really helps with the motivation.

 

Things are bogging down slightly but at least I've got hold of some more Mr Surfacer, though I probably won't get the chance to use it until the weekend.

 

I've scribed the tail wheel inspection hatch using a template made from styrene sheet, and I'm extremely happy with the way it turned out. I made the hinge from stretched sprue, and will sand it down to be less prominent before attempting to score some detail into it.

 

 

This next shot shows how grungy she's beginning to look. I've added a stretched sprue hinge to the hatch in this shot too. The photos makes them look bulkier than they actually are!

 

 

I can't wait to get another coat of Surfacer on there to 'de-grunge' it and get a real look at where the remaining problems are. I still need to add the prominent, oddly-shaped strengthening strips that run along the fuselage above the wing roots, and there are some panels on the wing underside that I didn't bother to scribe and am now reconsidering! Will it ever end?

 

Hopefully the next update will show some more substantial progress.

 

Kev

[LSP_Kevin]

I've done a bit of work on the Dora in recent days, but mostly more of the same. I've also started working on the propeller, but my attempt to apply the spinner decal proved disastrous. Here's what I mean:

 

 

I fought with it for nearly 10 minutes, and eventually had to settle for what you see above. I couldn't get it to start in the correct position, which has compromised its ability to conform to the shape of the spinner - hence the weird crease bubbles. I also managed to scratch some paint off with my thumbnail while wrestling with it (near the bottom, in line with the toothpick shaft), and to top it off the decal itself is slightly translucent.

 

Admittedly the decal is meant for the Revell/Hasegawa kit (it comes from the sheet in the Revell boxing), but I'm on a bit of a downer about it now. I'm tempted to just strip it all off and start again, this time masking and painting the spiral, but before I resort to that, is there any salvaging what I've got now? Will the decal begin to settle and conform if I keep applying decal solvent to it? I suspect I know the answer...

 

Kev

[LSP_Kevin]

OK, some good news on the spinner. I decided to strip it and use the mask-and-paint method, with help and inspiration from Floyd Werner's Masterclass DVD and an article on Radu's website.

 

The decal was removed with tape, and then the entire spinner soaked in Windex for 5 minutes. The Tamiya acrylic dissolved beautifully, leaving the original coat of Mr Surfacer untouched. Here's the result after masking and painting:

 

 

It's not perfect, but a major improvement over the one in the post above, and I'm definitely a convert. There is some visible tape residue on the white areas that I'm not sure how to remove yet. I had to touch up a few areas of the white, and brush-painting gloss acrylics is definitely not for the faint-hearted (Gunze gloss off-white is all I had).

 

I'm sure you guys all do it this way already and this is old news, but I've never tried it before and I'm chuffed that 1) it came out pretty well and 2) it wasn't as difficult as I'd feared. I think next time I'd use a flat enamel for the white, and then use the tip of a toothpick soaked in Windex to clean up any stray black acrylic.

 

Kev