Focke-Wulf FW 190 F-8 - 6./SG 10 - Revell 1/32

[Furie]

Hello everyone,
I've set my sights on Revell's 1/32 FW 190 F-8.
As it's unobtainable in France, I was obliged to buy it on the German eBay, in fact it's the online sales site of a model store. 
Price and postage are correct, the box is new and was delivered in good condition, except for one or two parts that were loose in the box.

Nothing to worry about.
Initially, I wanted to make an A-8 from this F-8, as the differences between the two aircraft are quite minimal.

I wanted to do a colorful camouflage like the JG 301 A-8s.

 

 

But in the end I opted for simplicity and simply did the box camouflage, the white 70, which is quite spectacular.

 

To make it even better, I'll be using Reskit wheels, Eduard Brassin landing gear, Eduard PE cockpit and harnesses, and MRP paint and varnish.
Following this very interesting conversation, the underside of the wings will be aluminum + RLM 76, the top of the wings RLM 81 + RLM 77, the fuselage RLM 76 + RLM 75 + RLM 81, rudder yellow (or not).

 

Wish me luck...

 

---------------------------------------

 

Here we go with the engine.
Revell's parts allow me to make something credible, especially as it won't be very visible because a fan/turbine/cooler will almost entirely hide it.
So I only added the spark plug wires for the front cylinder bank, and painted the whole engine, not forgetting the exhausts.
Here's how it looks :

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

These were photos without the spark plug wires, here's how it looks now:

 

 

Edited September 20, 2023 by Furie

[Woody V]

Off to a good start! 

It's a nice kit, my first after returning to the hobby.

[Furie]

Thanks Woody.
Yes, it's not bad and there are lots of aftermarket kits to improve it.
I hesitated to buy a kit for the flaps and the inside landing gear well  but I'd leave them as is.
Is this kit still on sale in the USA? 
In Europe, it's no longer available in stores, what a shame...

[Furie]

I set about engraving all the rivet lines on this FW 190...
Wow, what a long job!
They're all over the wings, the fuselage, straight rivet lines, angled rivet lines, short rivet lines, long rivet lines...
Anyone who's done the sport on this plane knows what I'm talking about.
At a guess, I'd say I've done 80~90% of these rivet lines, as it's extremely time-consuming.
2D plans are compulsory to know what to do, and it's imperative to tick off the rivet lines that have already been done, otherwise you risk getting lost in your work. 
But hey, it's done!

 

 

 

 

 

 

[Woody V]

26 minutes ago, Furie said:

I set about engraving all the rivet lines on this FW 190...
Wow, what a long job!

 

I'd kill to have your patience. 

[Furie]

The cockpit: I bought an Eduard kit for the cockpit + an Eduard kit for the pilot seat harnesses/straps.
I'm still wondering why these 2 kits aren't combined in a single part number...
My experience in cockpit detailing is limited to "3D decals" such as Quinta's products.
They're very easy to install and don't require a great deal of experience or unusual skill.
That's why I was so apprehensive about this PE kit.
Because PE, CA glue, my 2 left hands and fingers as thin as frankfurters don't give me much cause for optimism...
Yes, it's quite difficult to set up, because I have to sand off the excess PE after detaching each piece from the PE cluster.

Then you have to be as calm as a neurasthenic oyster to grasp the piece correctly, place a little CA glue on it (I always use 10 times too much...), position the piece correctly and wait for the CA glue to dry...
I didn't even bother with parts that were much too small, because I knew from experience that I was going to (delete as appropriate): break them by detaching them from the PE kit/twist them like the Hunchback of Notre-Dame de Paris/see them fly off into another parallel dimension/stay glued to my fingers while searching for them under my desk for 30 minutes...

In the end, the result is pretty good (but you tell me) and I have to congratulate Eduard and MRP, because the RLM 66 on Eduard's already painted parts and MRP's painting are almost identical.

 

And as usual, it all starts with a BB'ing:

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

And of course in order: MRP white aluminium paint + a coat of hairspray + RLM 66 + water + toothpick + MRP matt varnish (excellent quality and it didn't stab-in-the-back...).
If you know what I mean... 
I think I did pretty well despite the difficulty of this PE kit.

Edited September 21, 2023 by Furie

[LSP_Kevin]

Looks great, Denis!

 

Kev

[Loic]

Been there, done that on the old hasegawa with all the raised details... I can feel your pain 

[Furie]

Thanks Kev and Loic.
In retrospect, I have to admit that these pre-painted Eduard PE parts offer much more detail than the 3D decal cockpit sets.
The final result is very rewarding.

[mc65]

Hi Furie, great choice! imho this kit (and other recent Revell ones) have an excellent quality/price ratio, giving the possibility to experiment and possibly make mistakes without too much anxiety compared to the starting model. ultimately the greatest value of these models is the time and effort we dedicate to them, I think.

 

also, beautiful colors, I have to decide to try these MRPs. and, if I may, I would suggest you try the Yahu instrument panels and the HGW seatbelts, in my opinion they are a step ahead of the corresponding Eduard products.
 

and, speaking of the IP, I have the feeling that the ones installed will be too high and the upper one will conflict with the glareshield: in the real aircraft the upper one was partially overlapped and offset towards the pilot compared to the lower one, I think.

 

here an interesting pic, I hope it will help.

 

Keep on going! Cheers, Paolo

Edited September 22, 2023 by mc65

[Borsos]

Very nice start on that FW-190.

i especially like the chipping in the cockpit.

Andreas

[Furie]

@mc65 :

 

Hello Paolo and thank you for your message.
It's true that Revell's models aren't very expensive and make it possible to practice at a lower cost in 1/32.

With a few aftermarket sets, the final rendering is very convincing.
I decided to buy Eduard's PE set because it featured the long PE plate behind the pilot seat, and it's a very visible part. What's more, as you can see, the details of the 2 horizontal brackets on either side of the pilot seat, as well as the 2 instrument panels, are particularly detailed, with lots of fine detail.

The Quinta set didn't offer as much detail (judging by the product photos) and that's what made me choose Eduard despite it being made entirely of PE. 
Concerning the position of the 2 instrument panels, you're absolutely right, but the photos I've posted are misleading in that I've positioned these 2 pieces approximately, so as to make a photo where they appear together.

Their shifted positions are well taken into account by Revell.

 

Eduard set :

 

 

 

 

Quinta set :

 

 

 

 

And here's what it looks like on my FW 190 with Eduard:

 

Edited September 25, 2023 by Furie

[Furie]

@Borsos :

 

Thanks Andreas, all this work isn't very complicated to do, but it does require a lot of layers of paint: aluminum + hairspray + black + white + RLM 66!
When you understand how all these layers work together, it's quite fun to do.

[Cheetah11]

Hi Denis

 

This build is looking great. Well done

 

On 9/21/2023 at 6:30 PM, Furie said:

That's why I was so apprehensive about this PE kit.
Because PE, CA glue, my 2 left hands and fingers as thin as frankfurters don't give me much cause for optimism...
Yes, it's quite difficult to set up, because I have to sand off the excess PE after detaching each piece from the PE cluster.

Then you have to be as calm as a neurasthenic oyster to grasp the piece correctly, place a little CA glue on it (I always use 10 times too much...), position the piece correctly and wait for the CA glue to dry...

 

 

 

I also like the Eduard coloured photo etch and have found a way to ease the pain as I am more ham-fisted with old age.. I use super glue to glue a piece of .25mm plastic card to the back of the photo etch and once trimmed it is glued with Tamiya thin, allowing for some adjustment. 

A pity the undersized top IP was not corrected by Eduard (or Quinta)

Cheers

Nick.

 

[MikeMaben]

I like it Denis , looks good