1/32 Hasegawa Fw 190D-9 White 12

[Hoss FL]

On 4/17/2023 at 4:21 PM, VintageEagle said:

Absolutely stunning and one of the best D-9’s I have seen! I like the subtle weathering and the use of positive rivets. It’s interesting to compare them with rivets added with a riveter tool. Although the rivets are less visible after paint is added they look more realistic. Would be interesting to see the result in person to see if they can hardly be seen or if they are well visible. I need to decide what kind if rivets to use on my Me 262 kit soon.

 

Roger

Thanks Roger. I really like the look of the positive rivets and they are fairly straightforward to apply. If you decide to use them, I suggest taking a look at the HGW website video demo, which outlines the process. 
 

Two “watch outs” I learned this time:  

 

1) I would use Mr Mark Setter (blue bottle) instead of Mr Mark Softer (green bottle). The Softer is too hot and burns through the paint and primer where it pools under the decal, which I found difficult to prevent due to the size of the decals, reflections and low contrast of the rivets and film vs the primer. 
 

2) It’s important to position the rivet decals without distorting them, which is easy to do when trying to smooth them out and remove bubbles under the decal. Distortion will obviously cause the rivet rows to curve or extend beyond the intended position. 
 

I found that applying them on top of the preshading worked perfectly. After thin layers of base camo paint and some thin fading and shading, I sanded back the paint in the high traffic areas to expose the silver color of the rivets. I also wet sanded the final flat coat with 8000 micro mesh to the point where the rivets were visible (where intended) but perfectly flush with the clear coat surface. The unexposed (non silvered) rivets are below the paint surface but still visible due to the washes, highlights, dry brushing, etc. And the model surface is really smooth but optically flat. 
 

I’d also recommend experimenting using a paint mule using different paint sequences or effects to see how it looks. 
 

Hope this helps. Looking forward to your build and seeing how you tackle the Me 262 rivet challenge. I have a 262 in the queue and am contemplating the same question. My understanding is that 262 rivets and panel lines were at least partially puttied and sanded smooth, so the riveting would be more on the subdued side. More research needed in my case. 

[Hoss FL]

9 hours ago, Thunnus said:

What a beautiful Dora!  Wonderful work, Jim!

Thanks John!  Your spectacular Doras are tremendously inspirational and were helpful guides for my build. Thanks again. 

[Jboldt007]

astounding work - not enough FW-190 builds. love the heavy exhaust, which we all know is prototypical. did u use stencils?

[ROM]

Stunning!

[nmayhew]

A lovely looking Dora - as very pleasing combination of colours on this scheme which you have executed wonderfully

 

Those rivets do look very cool

 

for me two nitpicks:

you may want to look at the gummed up panel line on the cowl just underneath that small intake on the starboard side

the wheels look too clean

 

but those are just tiny things - the overall feel is really really good

 

thanks for sharing

 

Nick

[Cicciuzzo]

É molto bello. Ottimo lavoro 

[Hoss FL]

21 hours ago, Jboldt007 said:

astounding work - not enough FW-190 builds. love the heavy exhaust, which we all know is prototypical. did u use stencils?

Thanks Jboldt007 - much appreciated. I did the exhaust stains freehand using photos as a guide. My first layer was black-brown, followed by brown, then finally black in the center region. Thanks again. 

[Hoss FL]

17 hours ago, nmayhew said:

A lovely looking Dora - as very pleasing combination of colours on this scheme which you have executed wonderfully

 

Those rivets do look very cool

 

for me two nitpicks:

you may want to look at the gummed up panel line on the cowl just underneath that small intake on the starboard side

the wheels look too clean

 

but those are just tiny things - the overall feel is really really good

 

thanks for sharing

 

Nick

Thanks Nick. Thanks also for pointing out the two nitpicks. When I took a closer look -- you're exactly right -- I couldn't "unsee" them.

 

I cleaned up the panel line by installing hinges on both sides of the engine cover panels. They're supposed to be there anyway and I missed installing them during the build. 

 

And then I added a wash and some more dirt around the wheels and landing gear covers. Great catch. Thanks again. 

[LSP_Ray]

On 4/18/2023 at 7:44 PM, Hoss FL said:

Sure thing. Thanks!

Article is posted!

Awesome finish!

[Sasha As]

Great work.

[Reuben L. Hernandez]

Love the paint scheme you've chosen, and those rivets really look nice. Very nicely done.