Hasegawa 1/32 Fw 190D-9 Late "Brown 4"

[themongoose]

OMG this is incredible!

[daHeld]

On 10/23/2022 at 7:29 AM, Dpgsbody55 said:

I've read that planes were painted in whatever colours the factory or units could lay their hands on, and this build certainly shows that to good effect.

 

Not quite, we can definitely see a pattern in every manufacturer's paint schemes.

 

They were delivered with the standard paints by certain paint manufacturers. Due to the dire ressources situation in late '44 and '45, those paints varied in hue, often quite considerably. 
That's why internal Focke Wulf factory documents call RLM 81 dark green, while Dornier called the colour olive brown and Messerschmitt brown violet. Depending on what factory got delivered by which paint manufacturer decided much of the paint schemes' outcome.

 

Furthermore, the aircraft manufacturers were obliged to use up existing stocks of the old colours first, before using the new ones. The dark camouflage colour had to be replaced with the dark new colour and the lighter one with the lighter new one. Thus, combinations of RLM 81/75 and 74/82 were accceptable (although I don't know if the latter one was ever in use, but the former was definitely in widespread use from late 1944 onwards), before the intended RLM 81/82 could be used. 

 

On top of that, we have the tendency of Luftwaffe units to alter the factory paints schemes in the field, that they had shown throughout the war. The Fw 190D-13 yellow 10 of JG 26 or the aircraft of JG 54 are very good examples of that practice.

 

Combined with the fact that 90 % of all availlable photographs are in black & white, that can produce formidable headaches. But it also makes the topic so very exciting and interesting, at least for me. 
 

And you get a bit of leeway in you paint schemes because of all the possible variations.

It's all very fascinating.

[Thunnus]

Thanks everyone!

 

Slow, sporadic progress during the work week.  I'm still in the process of applying the data stencils using the 1ManArmy masks.

 

 

The 3-color fuel triangles needed some thought.  I thought it would be difficult to line up the masks since the material isn't transparent.  So I decided to cut custom masks for the triangles using the translucent Oramask 810 material.

 

 

The large triangles are placed on the fuel port covers and the white is applied. All of the masks are removed after the white is dry.

 

 

The smaller triangle masks are carefully placed over the painted white triangles. Since the Oramask is transparent, I can make sure that the borders are even and the yellow is sprayed over the white.

 

 

The fine text comes from the 1ManArmy mask.  These masks are not transparent so placement is tricky!

 

That wraps up the painting of the data stencils.  There are a few decals that I'll need to apply before I can move to the weathering stage.

[alaninaustria]

Magnificent work! I love the stenciling and attention to detail!

Cheers

Alan

[LSP_Kevin]

Magnificent indeed, John!

 

Kev

[John Stambaugh]

Yes, very impressive. 

[Gazzas]

Great work, John.  The masking and painting all looks delightfully crisp and of one-layer

.

Edited October 27, 2022 by Gazzas

[Uncarina]

John, you have some serious skills!

 

Cheers,  Tom

[66misos]

John, superb built.

(Dark) Brown RLM 81 seems to be lighter than Light Green RLM 82. Also some corrections/demarcation line between brown and late war RLM 76 seems to be darker. Did you lighten the original brown?

 

[Thunnus]

Thanks everyone for the positive comments!

 

On 10/27/2022 at 9:59 AM, 66misos said:

John, superb built.

(Dark) Brown RLM 81 seems to be lighter than Light Green RLM 82. Also some corrections/demarcation line between brown and late war RLM 76 seems to be darker. Did you lighten the original brown?

 

 

I lightened the RLM 81 (AK Real Colors Version 3) using Off-White at about 2:1 ratio.  Not exactly scientific but I was trying to emulate the shade of brown that can be seen in this video of Blue 12 (500570)...

 

 

 

And yes the correction areas including the demarcation were either lighter or darker than the original application due to slightly varying combinations of RLM 81 and White.

 

Only two decals were used on the exterior.  One was the handpainted glycol stencil on the port side of the engine.

 

 

The other was the small rectangular manufacturer plate under the fuselage cross.

 

 

The models was given a gloss coat and I prepared three batches of pastel wash (black, dark brown and tan).  Very simple... just scrapings from pastel chalks + water + dab of dishwashing soap to help suspend the chalk pigments in the water.

 

 

Dark brown will be the primary color that I will use to highlight the rivets and panel lines.

 

 

The wash is applied to all of the rivets and panel lines using a paint brush.

 

 

After it dries, the excess is wiped off using a clean damp paper towel, leaving the darker pigments in the recesses.

 

 

This step is very important in the weathering process as it transforms the holes and grooves of the rivets and panel lines into dots and lines, visually "flattening" the exterior surface.

 

 

During the pastel wash application, I noticed that a seam near the tail wheel had popped open, requiring attention.

 

 

Tamiya Extra Thin cement seeping onto my fingertips made the small repair just a bit bigger.

 

 

Spot repairs like this can add to the visual depth of the build if you don't match the paint EXACTLY.  This started as an unintentional thing but I started liking the look of the slightly mis-matched paint and this build has many small areas where the paint shade varies.

 

 

After the repair, the pastel wash process continues on the top side.

 

 

 

 

 

Edited October 30, 2022 by Thunnus

[IainM]

That is some REALLY crisp work there!!! Magnificent!
Those painted stencils make a huge difference as well

[LSP_Kevin]

Just brilliant, John!

 

Kev

[Jim Barry]

You've done it, John. You've made a kit MORE accurate than the real thing.   

[Thunnus]

Thanks guys! 

 

Here is the model after the pastel wash.  The rivets stand out when you are close to the model but they fade away as you get further away, which is the effect that I want.

 

[MikeMaben]