Hasegawa Fw 190D-9 "Blue 12" WNr. 500570

[dodgem37]

'My model'

Very nice.  All scratched?

 

Sincerely,

Mark

[brewer]

'My model'

Very nice.  All scratched?

 

Sincerely,

Mark

 

"Hasegawa + Aires + HGW + Eagle Edition"

[Thunderbolt]

Looks great brewer! Like the photography/sunset background as well.

 

What paint did you use for the wings?

[brewer]

Not my build, I was just quoting the build info listed in Artur's link. I haven't gotten around to building my "Blue 12" yet

[Thunderbolt]

This is how the model appeared in December of 2014. I had attached the gear, painted the engine cowling, glued the prop to the radiator, and hung the engine cowling assembly over the engine. 

 

 

 

 

I was fairly satisfied with my work, but as the model sat over the months, the incorrect spacing of the port '1' and '2' (applied with a paint mask) began to bother me. Within months, I sanded the '1' off down to the bare plastic and let the model sit for another few months. 

 

 

I painted over the sanded area with Tamiya blue darkened with Tamiya black (all flat; my custom mix). I then applied the masks, this time taking great care to ensure the spacing was correct this time.

 

 

I then applied Testers Acrylic RLM 84. This paint does not spray nearly as well as Gunze and several coats were required. The paint layer began to get thick and cover most of the port fuselage rivets. I attempted to re-rivet over the paint, but it cracked in several places, leaving pock-marks. I riveted close to the canopy rail at the very top of the fuselage, where the plastic was paper-thin from my installation of the EagleParts cockpit. My MDC riveting tool crashed through the plastic, tearing a 3 mm square section off the top of the fuselage. I used scotch tape to create a backing and then filled the area in with super glue. You can just make this out in the photo below. It was successfully trimmed and sanded. 

 

 

I was satisfied with my '12' spacing, but the rivets looked to obvious; the paint too chunky. I attempted to fill the holes with RLM 84 paint with a bush and sand over them, but the appearance was still unsatisfactory. 

 

In the photos below, things actually looked decent to my eye 

 

 

 

 

I had to reapply the RLM 84 nearest to the cockpit, then my custom Gunze mix of RLM 81. As I did this, I used micro mesh to fade off the RLM 81 per what I noticed in the available reference photos. I was satisfied with this effect, but since the paintwork was so uneven, RLM81 was retained in pockets the micro mesh could not access. This bothered me. 

 

 

 

I realized using micromesh and scratching a top coat over a base layer were great ways to simulate a realistic finish. Micro mesh can also be used to tighten an edge as it easily clears the overspray but leaves the majority of the paint at the edge behind. 

 

As I began to rigorously resume work on this project, numerous flaws began to bother me: 

 

1. The port edge of the gun cowl protruded laterally to an excessive degree - this would have to be corrected. 

2. The cockpit was too colorful. Too many red and white knobs that should have just been painted black or RLM 66. This would have to be corrected. 

3. The oxygen hose was intentionally not modeled as smooth, but it is my understanding that the germans used smooth hoses. This would have to be fixed. 

4. The EagleParts seat with the seatbelt molded on is very well done, but seatbelts have come a long way since 2008 when I first installed the seat. I always wanted to give myself the option in the future to use other AM seatbelts, so I never actually glued the seat in. I removed it and set it aside. 

5. The cockpit framing I scratch built added too much thickness to the vertical frame of the windscreen. This would be highly unrealistic. The windscreen would have to be removed and the framing re-done (was too angular anyways). 

6. The paintwork overall was too solid. When I wasn't building, I studied the work of Chris Wauchop. Ralph Riese. Jamie Haggo. Martinnfb. The use numerous shades just to paint one color of camouflage to create the desired effect. I began to think I'd have to strip the whole model.

 

 

Edited February 2, 2016 by thunderbolt1988

[Thunderbolt]

WINDSCREEN

 

 

In this photo of the windscreen, it is clear how thick the vertical portion became from the addition of the acetate framing. These proportions don't match those appreciable on the real a/c, as shown in the photo below: 

 

Plan: sand acetate framing off completely, sanding way past the line created by the plastic, and glue to 0.5 mm Evergreen sheet. Cut away framing (shown below) as before. 

 

Edited February 2, 2016 by thunderbolt1988

[Thunderbolt]

Plans for the model, construction-wise: 

 

Moving parts: 

1. Rotating prop (using an all-aftermarket nose, this is harder than it sounds)

2. Hinged engine cowl doors that are positionable (but not fully closable because Aires failed to match the Hasegawa dimensions pretty miserably; everything is too small). 

3. Hinged port gun bay door (I realized as the years went by that I didn't really appreciate the way an open gunbay interrupted the clean lines of the a/c; particularly that the exhaust staining I planned to paint would be covered.) I went through great pains to fit this gun bay, tearing a hole in the lower wing that I later repaired, so I split the difference: I would make the gun bay door positionable but leave it mostly closed. best of both worlds.

4. The rear fuselage access hatch would also be hinged and positionable.

 

also: 

1. The windscreen armored glass will be tinted to the lightest of a blue-green mix to simulate armored glass. 

2. The RB productions wood stencil #2 will be used to paint wood on the prop blade tips and wooden access doors (radio and rear fuselage) 

Edited February 2, 2016 by thunderbolt1988

[Thunderbolt]

HINGES

I decided to go with hinges on the engine cowling, gun bay and fuselage hatches so that I didn't have to commit to a fully open look and to also give myself the option of posing the doors in various different ways. I also like the challenge associated with it.

 

I used Albion Alloys 0.4 mm OD 0.2 mm ID tubing (nickel alloy) with 0.2 mm nickel rod purchased on SprueBrothers. This diameter is surprisingly scale-like and if you're careful, it isn't that difficult to do.

 

 

First, you need your two doors. The edges you are hinging must be absolutely straight so that there are no gaps. I extended the front edge of the upper cowling using my scotch-tape/crazy glue method. 

 

 

Second, you need to cut your tubing. Roll an x-acto knife over the tubing gently until it breaks on its own. You'll still have to open up each hole or the rod won't pass through. I used the sharp end of a pin pressed firmly into the end of each tubing section and rolled around a few times until each end was fully opened. It's up to you, but I use at least 5 pieces in all of my hinges. You need one on each piece very close to the ends for proper fixation - otherwise the ends will separate by 1 mm or so - very unsightly. The more pieces the better. Pass the rod through all the pieces and align on the edge of your longer edge that has already been affixed to masking tape. The tape provides fixation of the hinge in the correct angulation relative to the edge of the longer door. Allow rod to stick out on both sides. 

 

 

Third, line up your shorter door with hinged long door. Ensure proper alignment and then use beads of CA glue on only one side alternating each side. You should get the following result: shown in this video:

http://vid1075.photobucket.com/albums/w422/thunderbolt2011/Fw%20190D%20engine%20related/FEADF144-8C8E-4DC9-8D22-57CA67F8324F.mp4

 

This was just a demo. I have since ripped these hinges off because they were too long and the edges weren't quite straight. 

Edited February 2, 2016 by thunderbolt1988

[Thunderbolt]

COCKPIT: 

I like the molded on seatbelts from EagleParts and did not really want to add to all of my revision work but primarily wanted the option of posing the seatbelts out of the cockpit and preferred the realism of the RB productions belts. My in-progress scotch tape/glue repair of the sidewall from punching a hole in it with the MDC riveting tool is visible...

I removed this seat and cleaned up the armor plate, stripping all the paint off in the process. I test-fitted the new seat several times and sanded off the bottom until I was satisfied with the seat height - I wanted the seatbelts to be able too hang straight over the seat without flipping over it. I think either position is correct because (I think) seat height was adjustable on the Fw 190. 

I used the following photo as my seat height guide:

My plan is to install new belt hooks using Albion Alloys 0.33 mm nickel rod and allow the seatbelts to be positionable. 

Edited February 2, 2016 by thunderbolt1988

[Thunderbolt]

GUN COWL REVISION 

 

The gun cowl was a bear to fit to this plane for some reason and the picture below shows the best fixation I could get at the time. I wanted to improve the look of this by debriding the laterally protruding parts of the gun cowl until they were in line with the rest of the airframe. The next few pictures just show that progress. I used a #11 blade and 800-grit sandpaper for this. You can see the lower edge of the port gun cowl appears dark because it's so thin to the point of being transparent. 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Lots and lots of revision going on. . .

Edited February 2, 2016 by thunderbolt1988

[Thunderbolt]

ROTATING PROP

 

I wanted the prop to rotate, but had sawed off the front of the engine and the AIRES radiator is one giant hole. This presented a problem!

 

I started by gluing the prop flush to the radiator (dead-center) and inserting its mounting pin from the rear. 

 

 

I then cut 1 mm sheet styrene to 3 conically concentric disks with a hole drilled in the center of them and then glued them around the mounting pin and aggressively glued them to the sides of the radiator sidewall: 

 

 

 

 

After the glue was dry, I cracked off the spinner base that I had lightly glued in place. I debrided the remaining glue and was able to remount the prop flush against the radiator with ease. The rubber rings ensured the prop could rotate while staying flush. Voila!

Edited February 2, 2016 by thunderbolt1988

[Thunderbolt]

next up: cowl flap attachment and nose cowling prep. Stay tuned! 

[Blackcollar]

A superb build...

[Thunderbolt]

Thanks!!

[LSP_Kevin]

Any more progress on this one, Christian?

 

Kev