Airfix 1/24 Fw190A-5 of III/SKG10 Tunisia - **Finished**

[Volksjager]

This is my first topic over here at the LSP forum & I didnt think I would make one for this kit but it has surprised me. 

 

So I am usually a 1/72 & 1/48 scale modeller but last year I just got burnt out with the whole process. I entered my first model comp and won a couple of gold and was proud of myself, but after that I decided I needed to step away and have a break. I dont know if it was the fiddily small bits, or the posting on forums/facebook, or just the high demands I put on myself but I just kept making excuses as to why I couldn't go down to the bench anymore.

 

Anyways a couple of months ago I decided to change it up & (with possible influence from this forum) I decided to start a large scale kit. My victim was the Airfix 1/24 Fw190A, a kit which has a reputation for being a dog. The difference was going to be that I didn't mind how it turned out, I wasn't worried about posting it or taking pics along the way, I decided I was just gonna have fun. So what changed you may ask, why am I posting? Well I just layed down the camo over the weekend and I am quielty surprised at how this kit it turning out and though some of you guys might get a kick out of it.

 

I have had this kit for at least 20+ years, was a present when I was a teenager and I have always paniced when I got the box out because I didnt want to stuff it up, so it went back to the stash everytime. This time, being such an old kit, I told myself what does it matter any more, I will use it as a learing curve, the bits are huge, so scratch building should be easy and hey, at least it will be a fun ride. My kit had it all, dead flat bottom wings, warping on the underside & nose, tons of flash, etc. I did my research on the pitfalls of the kit and set away on the build. 

 

Unfortunately because I didnt intend to post this build I never took andy pics of the engine or cockpit, but I built both up as per instructions. I read that the engine protrudes out of the front of the cowl by about 5mm but I was able to build it fully without leaving out any parts, I just took about 1mm to 2mm off of the engine bearers and it seemed to do the trick. I think by building the cockpit up fully and placing it into the assembled fuselage helped with the engine placement. I didn't superdetail the engine at all as the FW is going to be buttoned up, but I did add the ignition wiring. What pics I can get will come once the masking is removed.

 

While I was doing to bodywork to the main kit I did decided to build up and paint all the other bits and pieces

 

Starting with the prop, I sanded down some of the length of the cooling fan ring attachement to the spinner as it was just to long, then assembeled the hub and inserted the props into it. The props had some pretty big sink marks in the back of them 

 

 

 

Landing geard was next, all stock kit parts other than the addition of the brake lines and the bolts holding the gear door to the leg. Still more to add but will install the wheels/gear before the remainer of the brake lines go in. Also threw on some Airscale cockpit placards to add detail

 

 

 

As this brid will be an A-5/U4 I will be adding a bomb to the centreline ETC rack, so I built up the kit bomb. I added a slight texture to the main body with thinned down Tamiya putty, added the attachement hook, replaced the fin supports with brass rod & made some fuse covers & a nose cap from wine foil punched into small discs. I decided to paint the bomb in RLM65 to represent a pre July 1942 bomb that was sent to North Africa. Markings were masked and painted on.

 

 

 

 

Finally I will be using the kit guns (as they came up alright) but I do have some turned barrels fror the 20mm cannons.

 

This all leads me to were I am right now with the kit. As I mentioned earlier, I had a dead flat bottom wing so to fix this I bent it back to shape with some boiling water and then epoxy glued in a wooden dowl as a main spar so it would keep it's dihedral. I also had to use the boiling water on the underside of the fuselage to bend the rear wing connection back into something resembling a propper shape, all held firm with some epoxy putty once glued. To tackle the bad connection up front, I assembled the 3 top cowl pieces first, taping them to the bottom half while it was still setting off, then added the front cowl ring to conform the shape. Yes there was a ton of dry fitting and finessing before commiting to glue but after all the hard work I was left with a pretty good fitting kit. I also cut and opened the cooling gills & lowered the tailwheel as it sits to high.

 

Please excuse the poor pics, the kit is just to big for me tiny light box, maybe time for an upgrade!

 

 

 

 

Still need to block in some of of the camo but it's taking shape. Camo is the classic RLM 74/75/76

 

 

With the RLM 76 I did add some Grey green to the mix, just to bring some warmth to the colour otherwise I just felt it was to cold. All the camo colours are under a silver base for a natural look and I tend to post shade my colours. I also have build up the gear bays. The kit only supplies the rear main spar and the covers over the centre fuselage. I scratch built the rest. Not 100% acurate but it gets the job done 

 

 

 

Finally the sliding canopy. It's been a pain and the first time I added the glass the liquid glue ran under the tape and marked the plastic so it had to be removed, sanded and polished before a re attempt. Least it looks right this time around.

 

 

And this is where it stands at the moment. @airscale has answered the call for some aftermarket wheels to replace the crappy rubber kit parts and they are little works of art, cant wait to see them in person. I will look to cut some masks for the markings this week and will hopefully start to paint them in over the weekend as well as the MTO markings (white band on the fuselage & white wingtips), yellow underside of the nose and the black over the exhaust cooling plate.

[Shoggz]

Great and inspirational build.. I have two of these in the stash, and like you I've never dared to start one!

 

I'm definitely going to take heart from your sentiments and have a crack at one.

[LSP_Kevin]

Wow, this is a super build of this old kit!

 

Kev

[MikeMaben]

Looks quite nice so far 

[Volksjager]

Thanks for the kind words guys. It's been really exciting so far and a great confidence boost.

 

Looking forward to some more bench time over the weekend

[Hardcore]

Would be very popular in a contest for sure! 

[Bonkin]

Wow looking great Volksjager! Fantastic skills there - and I love the mottling and the extra detail you have put into the undercarriage bay. Makes me feel like I need to crack on with mine .

 

 

[Volksjager]

7 hours ago, Bonkin said:

Wow looking great Volksjager! Fantastic skills there - and I love the mottling and the extra detail you have put into the undercarriage bay. Makes me feel like I need to crack on with mine .

 

 

Many thanks Bonkin  

 

Yes, would be great to see you complete your FW. Looking forward to seeing another update from you. 

[Jim Barry]

I love the 1/24 projects. It can be forgiving with regards to part size! Great work with the corrections there! 

[airscale]

Love it

 

These kits are fantastic for those willing to put in the effort. looks really, really good and reminds me of one I started but never finished at the end of the last century

 

Peter

[Volksjager]

Managed to get some more time at the bench over the weekend. I spent last week designing and cutting some homemade masks for the markings on my little Cricut Joy and was able to test them out over the weekend on the kit. I finished post shading the camo first, then applied the masks. Everything went really well, though I did have some paint come away just on the fuselage crosses. It was a curious issue as I use SMS Acrylic Lacquers and don't ever have paint adhesion problems.

 

The aircraft I have chosen is a machine that was found in the boneyard at El Aouiana airfield, Tunisia in May of 1943, Wk Nbr. 2676.

I have managed to find about 12 pictures of this machine on the interwebs from a few angles which have helped a lot. I am a huge fan of making aircraft that aren't always in the limelight, the lesser known machines, so this one fits the bill perfectly. 

 

The code letters might be a touch big but they do tie in with the crosses well. I am also glad I went a bit heavier on the mottle as the codes and crosses draw most of the attention. I do love painted on markings though, so much better than decals, especially in this scale.

 

 

I cant find any evidence of the Wk Nbr. being listed on the starboard side of the tail so I have left it off for now, can always add it later. 

 

For the underside, I had a shot showing the underside of the port wing, so I was able to size the codes roughly to scale. I am happy with the turnout, though I probably should have moved the wingtip codes in a touch

 

 

 

With the main painting now done I was able to demask the engine. It's a pity I didn't take any shots of it before it was buttoned up but at least I can still see the front. I added the ignition ring, which was made from brass tube and the ignition wires from copper wire. 

 

 

Two other small additions I made were the removal of the solid, kit molded in exhaust tubes on the underside and the making of new exhaust tubes. There have also been a ton of complaints that the fan sits too far forward out of the cowling. I haven't found this to be a problem, but if you open up the shell ejection ports you will find the bulkhead molded on chutes don't line up. I cut these off early on and made up a pair of chutes from some ticker wine bottle foil. Once I was ready, these were pushed from the outside in, then used CA to secure them. I left them to protrude 1mm above the surface as I have seen this arrangement in a picture before. 

 

 

 

This detail is reflected inside the wheel well. I purposely left these unpainted as I preferred to use them as detail. 

 

 

 

I will blend these into the wheel well a little more once dry. From here, it's time to test out the old Airfix stencils (as I don't have any other choice here) and then pinwash the aircraft. I also have the etc rack to paint and detail (which is undercoated and ready) and I will have to start looking to get the undercarriage in place.

 

Edited July 10, 2023 by Volksjager

[Bonkin]

Outstanding work Volksjager. Bravo . Looking superb and like it could be an award winner already. I will surely draw inspiration from your work.

 

Love how you've done the shell ejection ports and I'm looking forward to seeing how you tackle the undercarriage - as I think getting the angle, gate and wheel alignment right is going to be a challenge with this kit.

[LSP_Kevin]

This is some seriously nice work!

 

Kev

[Volksjager]

2 hours ago, LSP_Kevin said:

This is some seriously nice work!

 

Kev

 

Thanks Kev, very much appreciated. I have really enjoyed this kit so far

 

6 hours ago, Bonkin said:

Outstanding work Volksjager. Bravo . Looking superb and like it could be an award winner already. I will surely draw inspiration from your work.

 

Love how you've done the shell ejection ports and I'm looking forward to seeing how you tackle the undercarriage - as I think getting the angle, gate and wheel alignment right is going to be a challenge with this kit.

 

Thanks Bonkin! Yes, the undercarriage might just be next on the list I think. I had envisioned being able to slip them into place after the main painting had been finished as complete units but space is really tight. I might trim the main gear peg in both length and width so I can get them to clip in but with play to get the angle right. The good thing about having the doors on already is being able to use them to adjust the rake. 

 

Another question popped into my head last night, thinking about the stenciling. The walkway markings on the wings, which are included on the Airfix decal sheet as light grey, are they on every FW190? I have 2 decent photos that show the top of the wings of this aircraft and I can't see any trace of them. I would prefer to leave them off but is there a rule about them at all?

[Volksjager]

Small update with some progress from last night.... she has legs!

 

So @Bonkin got me thinking about setting the gear in place and once I got home from work I wanted to test a few theories out. Early on I reduced the length of the pin from one of the main gear legs as I knew getting them into the built bays would be tough. Here is what I am starting with

 

 

I also decided to then cut the bottom of that pin off on a 45 degree angle so I could have the legs come forward, as I believe Airfix didn't get the rake correct. So after my alterations, I am left with

 

 

All that was left was to mix up some 10 min epoxy and wrangle them into place. The hardest part was getting them to twist into the locator hole with the gear doors in place, as there just isn't a lot of wiggle room. With a bit of brute force, they clicked into place but with enough play to adjust the rake forward and back. The downside was the gear doors, which I found made the leg twist slightly inward as I bought them forward to the right position. The secondary arms also twist the legs inward as they don't sit flush against the leg. Between these two forces at play, it made for a rather annoying couple of minutes. I ended up cutting the connector pin for the secondary leg from the main gear leg on the port side, because of the pressure it was applying. Ended up drilling & pinning this later on. 

 

After all of the finagling, I was left with

 

 

 

 

 

I am pretty happy with the rake of the gear. It's about as far forward as I can get them within the confines of the bays themselves without serious modification. The flat spots on the legs are almost perpendicular to the ground which is great & the rear of the door is pretty much level with the leading edge of the wing. As you can see the pegs for the wheels are not horizontal with the ground but I can work with that. The last picture shows how much of a twist the secondary arm has on the leg. Ended up pinning it with the kit's pitot tube as it was the right diameter.

 

Speaking of the Pitot tube, I also made a new one from Brass tube

 

 

Next on the list is stencils, followed by the start of the weathering as well as finishing the ETC rack 

Edited July 12, 2023 by Volksjager