Zoukei Mura FW-190A-4 JG 54

[Uncarina]

36 minutes ago, Tolga ULGUR said:

It looks impressive indeed.

Thanks Tolga. It’s been a really fun build so far. Next up will be fitting the wing to the fuselage.

 

Cheers,  Tom

[Uncarina]

I actually have two updates: attaching the wing and attaching the engine. The wing went together nicely with the halves fitting together over the spar structure with no gaps. Before joining the wings to the fuselage the instructions have you attach the wing fillets to the fuselage first. Instead, I dry fitted the wings first then the fillets. The left side fits perfectly, while the right side had a hairline gap between the wings and the fuselage and fillet. It took me a while to find the culprit and then I saw that the tabs on the wings that attach to a notch in a fuselage bulkhead really controlled the fit, so I trimmed the right one. After that I was happy:

 

 

 

Next I attached the engine. First the ammo containers were attached to the firewall. I wish I had done a better job first sanding the bottoms since they protrude into the wheel well, but I will go back and fix this. Then the engine bearers are attached along with a pipe (which by the way has gone AWOL due to tweezer launch). Those bearers fit securely which is a good sign. Then you have two options: attach the entire engine assembly or first attach part E5 that also attaches to the rear of the engines. After trying both ways I decided on the latter option since it gives better control. Note that I had to cut a small protruding piece of the rear of the engine to make this work.

 

 

I did it this way because I had a better view of the four points of contact between the engine bearers and E-5. Even then I had to tweak the arms of the bearers into position and ensure they were inserted into E5 as far as they would go. After that I attached the engine:

 

 

 

The crux of the biscuit here will be how well the cowling pieces all fit over this. Stay tuned!

 

Cheers,  Tom

Edited December 17, 2023 by Uncarina

[Furie]

Very nice construction Tom.
You’re doing a great job.
It’s a nice model but complicated.
Very complicated.
Too complicated.
I wonder about the relevance of having so many pieces that will definitely disappear once the model is completely assembled…
Why make it simple when you can make it complicated...

*I'm just thinking out loud*

Edited December 17, 2023 by Furie

[Uncarina]

On 12/17/2023 at 10:25 AM, Furie said:

Very nice construction Tom.
You’re doing a great job.
It’s a nice model but complicated.
Very complicated.
Too complicated.
I wonder about the relevance of having so many pieces that will definitely disappear once the model is completely assembled…
Why make it simple when you can make it complicated...

Thank you Denis! I really love the way you wrote your response almost like a poem,  and it cuts to the heart of the matter: why does Zoukei Mura design kits this way?

 

From the beginning their design philosophy at least in 1/32 scale has been to emulate the interior and exterior of an airframe as much as possible so that you have the feeling of actually building the aircraft and learn how it goes together. That’s why early on they included clear fuselages and wings, (but I’m glad they stopped this and the multicolored sprues because I suspect most people paint over them anyway and the clear plastic will craze from solvent paints and weathering).

 

The downside of course is that alignment has to be perfect; any bulkhead out of place for example means the fuselage halves get a gap. Also any minute errors can accumulate into something very noticeable. I love building these kits for the challenge, education, and subjects, but they are definitely not for everyone.  I also enjoy photographing the build process so I know what’s in there after it disappears!

 

Cheers,  Tom

 

 

Edited December 19, 2023 by Uncarina

[Furie]

When I see that with just 2 pieces, I'm able to glue them askew...

I’ve already had so much trouble assembling all the cowl engine parts of my 190.
Tell me, Tom, approximately how many parts make up this ZM kit?

 

Quote

The downside of course is that alignment has to be perfect; any bulkhead out of place for example means the fuselage halves get a gap. Also any minute errors can accumulate into something very noticeable.

 

These are the kind of things that scare me and hesitate to buy this kit.

I don’t think I have the technical level to build something right.

Edited December 17, 2023 by Furie

[scvrobeson]

This looks like a really nice kit and build. Interesting to see how it compares to the most recent Border kit, even being different scales

 

 

 

Matt 

[Uncarina]

3 hours ago, Furie said:

When I see that with just 2 pieces, I'm able to glue them askew...

I’ve already had so much trouble assembling all the cowl engine parts of my 190.
Tell me, Tom, approximately how many parts make up this ZM kit?

 

 

These are the kind of things that scare me and hesitate to buy this kit.

I don’t think I have the technical level to build something right.

After seeing your magnificent work I have no doubt you would be able to assemble the 359 pieces (not all used). I’m with you about the cowl fit. I had the hardest time with my Hasegawa 190A-8.

 

 

3 hours ago, scvrobeson said:

This looks like a really nice kit and build. Interesting to see how it compares to the most recent Border kit, even being different scales

 

 

 

Matt 

Thank you Matt. I’m curious about that myself, and have to check out build logs of that kit on this forum.

 

Cheers,  Tom

Edited December 17, 2023 by Uncarina

[Furie]

Ah yes, twice as many pieces as the Revell anyway!  
Tom, what camouflage did you finally choose?
Because it seems to me that the painting stage is approaching soon!

Edited December 17, 2023 by Furie

[Uncarina]

8 minutes ago, Furie said:

Ah yes, twice as many pieces as the Revell anyway!  
Tom, what camouflage did you finally choose?
Because it seems to me that the painting stage is approaching soon!

I’m looking to use RLM 71/72/79 with a white mottle on the upper surfaces, but am not sure whether I should pick RLM 65 or 76 for the underside.

 

Cheers,  Tom

[Furie]

JG 54 winter 42-43 ?
RLM 76

[Furie]

Beautiful photo, beautiful camouflage :

 

Edited December 17, 2023 by Furie

[mywifehatesmodels]

3 hours ago, Uncarina said:

I’m looking to use RLM 71/72/79 with a white mottle on the upper surfaces, but am not sure whether I should pick RLM 65 or 76 for the underside.

 

Cheers,  Tom

I would go 76 on the underside, but that's just me. I doubt they repainted the undersides, but I could be wrong.

 

Looking great, overall! While I do share some of the same concerns over this kit as Denis, I also understand that it's a matter of personal preference. Another big PLUS for this kit is that it eliminates that dreaded seam created on most kits by the inboard cannon covers. Man, those things are a bear to clean up and probably my main complaint about the Hasegawa and Revell kits. 

 

Great job, Tom. Keep on moving!

 

John

[Uncarina]

2 hours ago, Furie said:

JG 54 winter 42-43 ?
RLM 76

Thank you Denis! I have that photo and it’s a great one.

 

Cheers,  Tom

[Uncarina]

16 minutes ago, mywifehatesmodels said:

I would go 76 on the underside, but that's just me. I doubt they repainted the undersides, but I could be wrong.

 

Looking great, overall! While I do share some of the same concerns over this kit as Denis, I also understand that it's a matter of personal preference. Another big PLUS for this kit is that it eliminates that dreaded seam created on most kits by the inboard cannon covers. Man, those things are a bear to clean up and probably my main complaint about the Hasegawa and Revell kits. 

 

Great job, Tom. Keep on moving!

 

John

Thank you John! Between you and Denis, 76 it is. I agree with you about having to remove that cover seam. With this kit it is really well engineered to avoid this kind of thing. For example, the only fuselage seam to address is a short length of the rear underside. Also, thanks for the encouragement. Cowl fit adventures next!

 

Cheers,  Tom

[Dpgsbody55]

Enjoying your 190 build a lot.  It's coming along well.  I like Z-M kits a lot.  They may be complicated but they go together very well and surprisingly not taking as long as might be expected.  I also love the way they depict how the aircraft was built.

 

Nice work, as always.

 

 

Cheers,

Michael