1/32 Hasegawa Fw190D-13 Yellow 10

[Thunnus]

17 hours ago, Citadelgrad said:

Can't wait to see this in paint, John.  I'm drooling here.  

 

Thanks Bill!  I'm almost ready to start the painting.  But I also have a trip to Hawaii scheduled next week so I'm wondering if I should start now or wait until after the trip.

 

 

 

16 hours ago, Jerry Crandall said:

Of course it is your choice and you have to decide what pleases you. We are good friends with Japo and share material from time to time. Here is my argument for my color choices. I first saw "Yellow 10"in 1965 when there was some original color along with stenciling and markings still visible as the thin coat of the gray the U.S. had applied after the war had weathered away. As a modeler studying German colors even at that time ,along with a couple of modelling buddies, we  wrote down and photographed what we saw. Through the years and with the different owners I was able to find areas that had color in crevices and places that were protected. I was given some parts that have still have samples of original paint. So the bottom line is Japo, Eduard or whomever never saw "Yellow 10" before it was restored ,they are all guessing at the colors. Since the top camouflage colors were applied in the field it is almost impossible to correctly guess at the true colors. 

   Cheers Jerry

 

Thank you Jerry!  It must've been quite an experience seeing Yellow 10 for the first time and then learning that is was a rare D-13 and not a D-9!  As I stated, the color choices are my own and I'm not exactly following the JaPo recommendations either.  Most of the "base" camo will be covered by the field-applied greens anyway.  And as you say, it is almost impossible to correctly guess the true colors.

 

 

 

12 hours ago, MikeMaben said:

 

I like your approach 

 

Thanks Mike!  There's always a bit of that personal interpretation when it comes to modeling and one of the reasons I especially enjoy the late war Luftwaffe subjects.

 

 

 

3 hours ago, Vincent said:

Just remember to leave the bogus "Kommandor" decal out

 

 

Vincent

 

Yup, no Kommandor.  Or Kontroliert.

[Thunnus]

First steps in the painting process... the ailerons were given a black mottle pre-shade and then sprayed with Mr Hobby Aqueous RLM76.  The pre-shading on such a small area is really not going to be noticeable but I wanted to maintain consistency in my work flow.  Note the red-colored masks in the wheel wells.  I have previously used these pieces of foam when I built my JV44 Dora.

 

 

 

After the ailerons were masked off using custom cut masks from the Silhouette Portrait, a coat of Tamiya Black was laid down as a base for the metal finish.

 

 

The primary metal color was AK Extreme Metal Aluminum, which is very similar to Alclad.  Again, using a custom cut mask for the small panels and ports, a contrast was introduced using Alclad Dark Aluminum.

 

[Troy Molitor]

A JV44/JG26.  It could've happened.lol.  .  My favorite part.  I really admire your painting practices.  

[Thunnus]

Thank you Troy!

 

The forward portion of the wing bottoms were masked off using Post-its to prevent damage to the aluminum color and sprayed with Mr Hobby Aqueous RLM 74.

 

 

Hmmm... I should've done my normal pre-shading all at one time instead of doing the bottom-only first.  Now I'll have to do some masking work before I can continue.

[Thunnus]

Since I've gone this far, I may as finish off the wing bottoms now.  I painted the simplified black crosses on the bottom using masks.  When cutting masks using the Silhouette Portrait or other craft cutter, it pays to inspect the masks very closely before using.  Every once in a while I'll find a wobbly line or shape which will require re-cutting.  

 

 

I'm going to mask the bottom areas and move to pre-shading the rest of the model.

[Scale32]

I like it a lot John....... such eclectic paint schemes!

 

Cheers Bevan 

[Citadelgrad]

Very nice, John!  I started painting my markings when i got back into the hobby via 1/35 armor, and i really prefer painted markings over decals.  I may bug you with specific silhouette cutter questions, but there is no rush on that.  
 

Looking good!

[Jeff T]

Nice John!

 

Looking very good.

 

Cheer's,

Jeff.

[LSP_Kevin]

Great progress, John!

 

Kev

[Thunnus]

Thanks guys!

 

After the painting of the bottom wings, I proceeded with my normal preshading routine.  First, I trace all of the panel lines in black.

 

 

In order to provide some tonal variation in the camo finish, I augment the panel line preshade with a random mottle pattern, also in black.  In the beginning, I used to freehand these mottles but I thought the results were not random enough.  After playing with a few spraying templates, I started using thinned pieces of green scouring pads.  Spraying through this results in a nice random pattern with both soft and hard edges and seems to work a little better as a preshading treatment.

 

 

I know it looks a little odd at this stage but the good thing about any preshading technique is that you have total control over the effect and I can dial this back all the way to zero, if I wanted to.

 

 

Next will be Light Blue, RLM 76.

[Thunnus]

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...

[Scale32]

Wow looks really good.

 

Cheers Bevan 

[Beaconroot]

Stunning paint work! You don incredible work. Thanks again for sharing it with us.

Jim

[BiggTim]

Just incredible work, John!! If you bring that to NATS in Vegas, please let me know ahead of time, so I can leave mine at home!

[Thunnus]

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.