Hasegawa FW-190D "Late Version"

[Rampenfest]

Hello all,

 

First off, I want to say that I have been browsing here for a few months as I am dipping my toes into 1/32 scale. There are so many amazing resources, builds, and craftsmanship here. I decided to join in on the fun.

 

I recently bought Hasegawa's FW-190D late version which has the larger TA-152 style tail. 

I could not resist the elegant look of the box art and decided to buy it. I think it is pretty well known that the molding and fit is pretty good so I will skip all the "box opening" sprue pictures.

 

 

 

 

I know that it is well known that the kit has a few shape issues. As this is my first dive into 1/32, I am going to keep it relatively simple. I am just going to be building it as is with the exception of some scratch built detail, Eduard masks for the canopy, 1man army masks, and some aftermarket seatbelts. 

 

First off, one detail I decided to add are the cowl flap actuators. To do this I first cut off some very small pieces of styrene rod.

 

 

 

 

Next, I drill out holes in the cowl flaps for the styrene rods to sit in.

 

 

 

 

 

I then take some Tamiya Extra Thin and place some in the holes, then place in my piece of styrene. 

 

 

 

 

 

After every piece I did a quick dry test fit to make sure the rods sat where I wanted at a correct angle while the glue dried. I found a few had to be longer than others.

 

 

 

 

And the final result! 

 

 

 

 

 

 

I think it adds some visual interest to the cowl area, especially in this scale. It may not be 100% accurate as far as the arms go, but I think it is better than having nothing there!

 

Thanks, and more to come.

Edited March 5, 2023 by Rampenfest
Pictures

[Uncarina]

Off to an impressive start!

 

Cheers,  Tom

[MikeMaben]

Looks like a fun project. Have fun  

[mc65]

UuuUuuh!!! 
 

that's what I call a good start! Having just finished a similar kit (by the way, where did you find it? It seems to be disappeared, from on line shops!).

 

If I may suggest, consider to address some attention to the very few shape issues, they are quite simple to adjust, and will reward you with a definitely better rendition of this beautiful aircraft!

 

my two cents, obviously.

cheers, Paolo

[Rampenfest]

Thank you!

 

It was at my local store actually! I had no idea it is hard to find anymore. The pressure is on to do a good job now!  Haha

 

Oh absolutely! I think it is one of those things that the more you read about the shape issues, the more you want to address them haha. I have been looking at the Eagle Editions resin cowl as that seems to be the biggest and most noticeable shape issue (and easiest to fix) I just have to go look at my references and see wether I need the early or late style cowling. 
 

Cheers!

[Rampenfest]

Hi all,

 

Little update to the Dora.

 

As mentioned earlier, I wanted to apply rivet to the entirety of the model. I debated about HGW transfers but opted for a riveting wheel instead. This is my first time doing any sort of riveting, so my technique will hopefully get better the more I do it. I bought an RB Model Riveter from my local hobby store. I like that it came with four different wheel spacings. On the model, I opted for 1mm spacing, while my test run were with .75mm.

 

I am using some scrap styrene from an old V1 project to test out my riveting skills.

 

 

 

First off drawing some lines to follow. I just used a flexible ruler that I can place and bend around curves and a mechanical pencil.

 

 

 

Just freehand, I followed the lines and applied pressure, but not so much as to get white knuckled or bend the plastic. One thing that is nice about this tool is it seems once you get the movement going, it stays straight and does not stray or wiggle resulting in nice straight lines.

 

 

 

Anyways, I did that a few more times and decided to dive into the underside of the Dora. This way, if there were any disasters at least it would be on the bottom while I try my hand at this. 

 

First off, drawing all the lines. I found some rivet plans online just scrounging around. I elected to just go for an overall look of the rivet placements and by no means am I rivet counting or measuring out exactly where the rivets go. I am mostly eyeballing and free handing the placement but using the drawings as a guide. 

 

 

 

 

Luckily, my flexible ruler is long enough that I can have it match both sides of the wings which helps with making everything even. Now on to the riveting! 

I used the 1mm wheel and made sure to place some foam underneath the plastic so that way I would not be deforming it under pressure. Then I place the wheel, apply pressure and roll! The tool works great, and using it freehand was not a problem. I am pretty happy with the results, and went over the rivets with some 8000 grit paper afterwards. They are subtle enough to show when light hits them right, but not too pronounced. Now to keep them after painting!

 

 

 

 

Thanks for looking, and now I have to rivet the rest of the airframe...

 

Cheers!

Edited March 5, 2023 by Rampenfest

[LSP_Kevin]

That's some pretty impressive riveting work!

 

Kev

[Rampenfest]

Thank you! 
 

[Rampenfest]

 

 

More riveting continues!

 

Got the upper wings all done yesterday. I also have finished up the fuselage halves and tails, but will have to take some pictures later. I may go back and add some more rivets on the upper wings, but for right now I am calling them done in that regard. All the parts will get a quick wipe with some isopropyl to remove any residue from my fingers. Now I just have to decide if I want to still prime before painting. I don't want too many layers of paint, as I feel the rivets may get covered up with more than a few coats. Thanks for looking!

 

 

 

The RB Riveter does a great job at keeping straight lines.

 

 

 

 

[Rampenfest]

While I stall taking some more pictures of the finished riveting process, I decided to dry fit some cockpit parts. It is a decent kit cockpit, but I did order a set of Quinta studios decals for the kit mostly in part because of the seatbelts that come with the Quinta set. I have still not decided if I will use the rest, as I usually like scratch building and painting kit parts on cockpits.....so we shall see. One thing I also will add are the seatbelt attachment points above the setback. However, the kit's seat seems to sit high compared to reference photos so there is a not a lot of room to add brackets above the seat. I'll have to address that later on in the build. 

 

 

 

 

 

 

So one thing I did want to address were the holes in the pilot storage bin behind the cockpit seat. This was also an access to the radio equipment according to some walk-around pictures I have found. All the pictures I found, show these holes "open" into the compartment below. The kit part, while it had holes on the door, was molded solid below them as you can see in the below picture.

 

 

 

To give the effect of it being open, I simply drilled out two larger holes that now allow the holes on the door to go "through to below" Now, when viewed at any angle, and once the fuselage is closed up, will give the appearance of a compartment below which you can see in the first two pictures of the cockpit. Thanks for looking!

 

 

[KiwiZac]

Lovely work on the riveting!

[Rampenfest]

3 hours ago, KiwiZac said:

Lovely work on the riveting!

Thanks!

[mywifehatesmodels]

Just catching up... Excellent work, so far! Riveting looks great and I like that you are doing the cowl flap actuators, also. I've been contemplating something similar on my own Dora build over the last few days. Keep up the great work. Very inspiring!

 

John

[Rampenfest]

1 hour ago, mywifehatesmodels said:

Just catching up... Excellent work, so far! Riveting looks great and I like that you are doing the cowl flap actuators, also. I've been contemplating something similar on my own Dora build over the last few days. Keep up the great work. Very inspiring!

 

John

 

Thank you very much!

Surprisingly, the process was not as fiddly as I was expecting.  

 

Your build is coming along nicely as well! I really like your cockpit painting and weathering and may not use the Quinta Set I have after seeing how the kit one turned out on yours! Looking forward to seeing the rest of your build! 

 

Cheers!

[Rampenfest]

Small update. Not much time at the bench as of late. But I did try out some new putty from AK to fill in the hollow area on the kit's coolant tank. Really enjoyed using it, and it is not smelly like Tamiya's. Due to how large of an area this was to fill, it took a couple minutes to let the putty "settle down" before adding more and smoothing it. I think this may be my new go to for filling gaps! More updates soon!

 

Edited March 8, 2023 by Rampenfest
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