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Another Hasegawa FW190. I FIXED IT!


Woody V

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2 hours ago, Wolf Buddee said:

Are you sure you want to permanently glue the canopy closed? Is there no provision to have it slide? It would be a shame to obscure all that beautiful detail.

Yes, canopy closed and flaps up. This is supposed to be an easy build and the plan is to make it factory fresh and emphasize the lines of the aircraft. I'm a little burned out after weathering the SBD and will put most of my emphasis on a clean finish. 

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It's always painful to bury the details (like these, then!) under a closed roof, but in this case you can't even think about leaving it open: the geometry of the clear part changes from open to closed, and the antenna has that complex system of tensioning ...

 

keep on going, please! So far it's beautiful, and I'm pretty curious about the riveting!

 

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  • 1 month later...

No, I haven’t died, just sidetracked with business and other interests. Been piddling with it a little here and there but nothing worth posting.

 

Did manage to get the engine glued into the cowling - pretty uneventful and the highlight of today’s installment.

172193520.jpg

Say goodbye, because this is the last time the engine will be visible without a flashlight. Glad Hasegawa made this simple, unlike the Revel kit.

 

And then things started going badly. This build is suddenly shaping up to be quite the challenge. Doesn’t look too bad from this angle, does it?

172193521.jpg

 

But then we come to this:

172193522.jpg

I’m not sure if it’s the kit or if it’s just me. I had a heck of a time getting the tops of the wings on in some semblance of alignment. I started gluing the trailing edges working my way around to the front and ending at the wing root - the vortex of every conceivable fit issue. And this isn’t the only problem, there is a step where the upper wing contacts the wing fillet that’s going to a real challenge to fix. Notice how the gun port halves are off center while the panel line is dead on. Is this typical of this kit?

 

And this is only on the left side. The right side is fine, a little judicious sanding and a little filler is all that’s needed. However I’m still getting the same problem with the gun port misalignment, but that’s an easy fix.

 

Excuse my lack of enthusiasm today but considering my every intention was to make this build about one thing, basic construction, this is extremely discouraging, so right now I’m pretty bummed realizing that this is going to take a whole lot of carving if I hope to salvage this mess.

Edited by Archer Fine Transfers
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45 minutes ago, Archer Fine Transfers said:

No, I haven’t died, just sidetracked with business and other interests. Been piddling with it a little here and there but nothing worth posting.

 

Did manage to get the engine glued into the cowling - pretty uneventful and the highlight of today’s installment.

172193520.jpg

Say goodbye, because this is the last time the engine will be visible without a flashlight. Glad Hasegawa made this simple, unlike the Revel kit.

 

And then things started going badly. This build is suddenly shaping up to be quite the challenge. Doesn’t look too bad from this angle, does it?

172193521.jpg

 

But then we come to this:

172193522.jpg

I’m not sure if it’s the kit or if it’s just me. I had a heck of a time getting the tops of the wings on in some semblance of alignment. I started gluing the trailing edges working my way around to the front and ending at the wing root - the vortex of every conceivable fit issue. And this isn’t the only problem, there is a step where the upper wing contacts the wing fillet that’s going to a real challenge to fix. Notice how the gun port halves are off center while the panel line is dead on. Is this typical of this kit?

 

And this is only on the left side. The right side is fine, a little judicious sanding and a little filler is all that’s needed. However I’m still getting the same problem with the gun port misalignment, but that’s an easy fix.

 

Excuse my lack of enthusiasm today but considering my every intention was to make this build about one thing, basic construction, this is extremely discouraging, so right now I’m pretty bummed realizing that this is going to take a whole lot of carving if I hope to salvage this mess.


@Archer Fine Transfers Hi Woody! Lovely build so far, one I'm following with interest. Looks like you've just found the weak point of the kit ;) I had the same experience/issues at the leading edge/fillet, and trolling other comments over the net it seems its the same....I remember having to fill the gun ports with round stock and re-drill, and had quite a bit of fettling/carving/filling at the fillets. It's a pain, but definitely doable. I remember using a shim inserted between the fuselage halves at the bottom of the firewall to push the bottom sides out a bit to make it more managable, but still a fair bit of work involved.

PXudQs.jpg
That fillet/leading edge is pretty thin from all the work done to it......
All the best

Iain

Edited by IainM
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2 hours ago, IainM said:

All the best

Thanks for your comments, they set my mind at ease knowing it's not just me. The gun port trick is on my list and something I've done before. It's a sure fire way to avoid the seam too. That's an outstanding build you have there and an inspiration. 

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Hi!

I am also having problems with my F-8 kit, mainly fitting the top wings, but akso with the engine. Indeed, the assembly if the engine parts appeared foolproof but the axis didn’t line up perfectly and the fan wouldn’t fit when the front ring was in place. The fan was too far forward when comparing with photos. Check my build thread (Hasegawa Fw190 F-8) for the solution to the engine problem.

I was also hoping for a simple and great fitting kit, but suddenly found myself with short-run like problems!

 

Alain

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That's an issue I faced with my Trumpeter Corsair a few years back. And while I'm sure you've already plotted the path forward, Woody, here's how I fixed it.

 

The problem:

 

mP4UuL.jpg

 

First step is to make the holes bigger to accept some suitable styrene tubing:

 

b1oxSB.jpg

 

Tubing added:

 

JuNgh6.jpg

 

Faired and ready to be drilled out to the correct diameter:

 

8BlYQO.jpg

 

Apologies if I'm teaching grandma to suck eggs here!

 

Kev

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Woody, i know this was supposed to be an easy, low stress build, and its certainly not been that.  But a guy i look up to recently showed me this

169956417.s50MF0rj.chief_dan.jpg

 

It pushed me forward, and it seems to fit here.   Its not falling together, but its looking very nice.   Continue to march.   You’ve got this.  Baby steps.  Think, plan, attack, repeat.  

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45 minutes ago, dodgem37 said:

PXudQs.jpg

No inner wheel well doors?

 

Thank you.

Sincerely,

Mark

@dodgem37 No, removed on this specific aircraft per references. When the ETC501 rack was installed in the 190, there wasn't really enough space for the doors to function correctly, so they were removed in the field  - and if the aircraft was operating in a muddy/snowy environment, removed as well. If you look at the MLG outer doors, you'll see an extension at the bottom - this was an addition to the normal straight-bottomed doors to improve aerodynamics in lieu of the missing inner doors.

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  • Woody V changed the title to Another Hasegawa FW190 A-8. Let the carving begin!
13 hours ago, Alain Gadbois said:

The fan was too far forward when comparing with photos. Check my build thread (Hasegawa Fw190 F-8) for the solution to the engine problem.

I was also hoping for a simple and great fitting kit, but suddenly found myself with short-run like problems!

 

Thanks for the heads up! For as many builds that you see of the Hasegawa FW's one is lead to believe it's a box shaker, as I did.

I had less problems building the Trumpeter Wildcat.

 

Having built the Revel F8, it's a MUCH better kit and the price is right. 

Edited by Archer Fine Transfers
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  • 3 weeks later...

WHY EVERYTHING TAKES FOREVER AROUND HERE #32

I have too many interests to distract me so I decided to take a break from the build and try something I’ve been wanting to do for some time - focus stacking and image compositing. Great way to make the world go away by staring at a computer screen for hours. Finding (free) high resolution photos to use for backgrounds is a challenge so when I found an actual photo of Wake Island I figured it would be a good way to put my Wake Island Wildcat to use. Execution needs some work, but I’m still learning. Getting the shadow "right" is the hardest part.

 

172235686.jpg

 

Okay, enough procrastinating! Let’s get back on track with this build.

 

172198933.jpg

My choice for filling gaps and seams is sprue melted with Tamiya Extra Thin. Being styrene, it sands and scribes like styrene. The only downside is that it does take time to “dry” especially when applied in a thick coat like this. It hardens from the surface down so as the surface dries it takes more time for the bottom gasses to get through the already hard surface. Regardless, because my projects spend a lot of time between sessions, this isn’t a problem for me.

 

172198934.jpg

Using files and sanding devices of different shapes I like to rough in the filler, looking for places that need more filling. At this stage I try to keep a little gap between the filler and the model. No sense in removing any plastic from the kit parts until I’m confident there are no low spots that need more filler.

 

172198935.jpg

Here you can see where I found it necessary to add more filler.

 

172222099.jpg

Okay, this side is roughed in good enough for now, but the 800 pound gorilla in the room remains - the misalignment between the cowling and the shark fin shaped area just above where I just finished. There’s no way to get around it - I’ll have to build it up to match the cowl assembly. I have a plan, I think.

 

172220730.jpg

Oh, and no build of mine would be complete without breaking off the antenna mast. GAK1

 

 

Edited by Archer Fine Transfers
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  • 2 weeks later...

After a lot of thinking about how best to fix the cowl/fuselage alignment issue this is what I came up with.

 

172261094.jpg

I figured that in order to retain the hard to re-scribe panel lines it would be best do all the blending in areas easiest to re-scribe so I added a piece of .010 styrene to build the upper fillet to act as a dam for the filler as well as providing a clean panel line. Again, not wanting to sand the cowling down to meet the low fillet I cut that part off and glued to flush with the cowling and blend at the easy to access areas. (The white tube is temporarily attached so I could securely hold the part in place.)

 

172261095.jpg

As seen from the top

 

172261337.jpg

Here’s the roughed in finished repair including the only re-scribe I had to do. The white tube in the background is for the gun camera.

 

172261313.jpg

Here it is from the top.

 

 

My next step will be a coat of primer and I’m sure a lot of sanding, touch up, more primer, and more sanding followed by more of the same until she’s ready for paint. I had made up my mind that if I couldn’t pull this repair off, the whole project was headed to what some guys call the “Shelf of Doom” but I call the trash can. This was supposed to be a quick, fun build and perhaps if I had known about the kit’s “idiosyncrasies” ahead of time it would have been so, but I waded into this build all fat-dumb-and-happy. As of now, I’m encouraged and looking forward to moving on.

 

I also did a couple minor things while I was waiting for putty to dry but no pictures of that stuff today.

 

All comments and critiques are welcome.

Edited by Archer Fine Transfers
White, not wire
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