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1/72 Fw-190 A3... AKA I'm finally finished!


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Great recovery on the stripe Squibby, good job :)

 

10 hours ago, Squibby said:

I used warmish water for most of the bigger decals might try something a bit hotter. Problem is it cools down too fast

I was put onto these wax melters by another BMer - keeps the water nice and warm!

 

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Lovely camo, looks like you got the skills.:hobbyhorse:great save on the paint lift too. :yahoo:. Micro set / sol has always been good for me. Be careful using water that is too hot, I used really hot water on some Academy decals and the little buggers shriveled right up like a crisp packet in the oven.:o

 

she's turning into a real winner this one. :clap:

 

Johnny.

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Progress coming thick and fast now, well for me at least :D

 

I've given the plane a pinwash with various enamel panel liner colours. For those not in the know a pin wash is where you tap a tiny brush loaded with wash to the panel lines and let it flow through capillary action. Means less cleanup than smearing a wash all over and more control over the colours.

 

I used a custom Tamiya 'Dark Grey' panel liner mix I made from their black and grey ones all over generally, Possibly a bit too dark for the underside but it's not too bad. I then used black for the control surfaces and small holes, indents etc, and finally came through with some dirty brown (AK panel liner for brown and green camo) strategically applied to the panel lines hit by the exhaust plumes.

 

I also tried a new technique, loading up a mix of grey oil paint on a turpentine wetted brush, rubbing most of the paint off and then applying it over the wings to form rain / dust streaking.

 

Once this was all dry out came the W&N Matte and off went the glossyness, I applied the flat haphazardly around the centre of the panels to create a bit of interest.

 

Here it is after all that:

 

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I then went through and tried to distress the paintwork a  bit more by painting on some paint chips / scuffs using some grey paint and a variety of implements... Some of the scuffs were added using a coloured pencil.

I'm really crap at this part though, no matter how hard I try I can't replicate some of the amazing work done with coloured pencils by some others on here.

 

Once all was said and done the areas I worked on were sealed with some more flat coat.

 

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Only the exhaust stains still to go...

Edited by Squibby
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Tackled the exhaust staining today. While it's probably unlikely a high ranking officer and ace would let the plane get that grubby, I want to represent the fairly distinct dark exhaust stains I've seen on photos for a bit of character.

 

All to be airbrushed on. I used a raised mask (about 5-10mm off the surface) to establish the curve and I blanked off the front of the cowl to prevent any overspray. First came the brown. I used Tamiya XF-52 Flat Earth for this, thinned heavily and lightly applied. Once I had some paint on I removed the raised mask and freehanded the edge to mess it up and soften it a bit.

 

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For the subsequent colours I just freehanded it (with the front cowl mask only) spraying inside the existing outline. Second layer was some flat black...

 

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And finally some grey to represent the lead staining, I normally would use something like deck tan or buff for this but both paints were mysteriously gone... I used RAF medium Sea Grey (Tamiya XF-83) instead (oh the irony...)

 

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Oddly enough, despite only using flat colours I had a nice gloss going :wonder: so I had to flat down again afterwards to get that chalky look.

 

Once it was flatted down I went through with some light dust pigment and added some at the very start of the stain for more streaky lead staining, and I was all done (after another flat to seal the pigments of course :D).

Potentially way off the mark here but I also added a short stain to the underside, from what I know a few collectors discharged under the cowl so should have stained it a bit. Though I couldn't really find any pictures to confirm this. Oh well what's done is done....

 

To put the finishing touches on the fuselage I went and hand painted the little red trim tabs and dusted some pigment around the nose guns, and exhaust chutes on the underside. And we just have the little bits to go.

Not sure whether I overdid the stain a bit, but I do like the effect. Thoughts?

 

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So for the last week or so I've been beavering away on the various little bits and bobs that will complete this plane.

 

While waiting for some of the paintwork to dry I went and gave the plane another all over weathering pass using dust and dirt coloured dry pigment powders. I accentuated the paint wear and fading on the top surface and gave the underside a bit more grime. I also added some more paint chipping and damage onto the wings.

 

The exhaust staining was also bugging me, it was far too dark for my liking so I toned it back with some blended RLM-76, can't take it right back of course but it's a bit less glaring now.

You'll also note I've added the gun barrels (which have been carefully drilled out) and unmasked the canopy as well.

 

Not sure if it's too visible in the photo but the plane is much more worn than before...

 

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and here are the completed landing gear parts, I added the brake lines from really fine copper wire. I also flattened the tires with a file, It'll be interesting trying to line these up afterwards.

 

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Here is the completed prop and rear canopy section. The rear canopy section frame has a short length of monofilament thread fitted inside it for the continuation of the antenna wire (can just be seen in the photo). The prop was painted in RLM70 (Tamiya XF27 Black Green) and weathered with some painted on chips and light dust pigment.

 

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Not much to go now, Just get the various bits fitted and thread an antenna wire. Hopefully I'll get it all done and dusted tomorrow.

Edited by Squibby
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And we're all done and dusted...

 

I put the various bits together, and as predicted lining the flattened wheel bottoms was tricky, I used extra thin to stick them on which gave me some working time. I used a small ruler as a flat surface and jiggled it around until it was more or less pointing down. The second wheel was easier because I aligned with the one already fitted.

 

The prop and canopy went on easily enough and I got on with fixing up an antenna wire. Using a tiny cut slice of brass tube and monofilament thread (I think it's 0.006 inch or something, super fine smoke coloured) I created a small turnbuckle which I stuck into a small hole in the tail fin I drilled during construction. This would serve as my tensioning anchor.

 

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Then I fixed a second length of thread into a small carefully drilled depression on top of the canopy (I used medium CA glue to fix it, I was careful not to actually get any on the glass). I then threaded this through another slice of brass tube, through my turnbuckle and back through the brass tube to form a loop. I then pulled the loop tight to tension the antenna, fixed it with some CA and carefully snipped off the excess. I added some blobs of PVA to round out the insulators / turn buckles as seen in photos, I'm still waiting on the PVA to cure before I slosh some white onto them.

 

So here we are finally, after 2+ months of glacial building. I'll post up a proper RFI soon.

 

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Hope I did the subject justice!

 

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She looks ruddy ace! I love the little details. The paint job you have done is so good. I'm super impressed, loads better than my one.:thumbsup::rambo: may I ask how you held the canopy on while painting? Was it pva or similar? I've been having some trouble getting bits ( plastic/dust) in my pit after all the shouting is over and I have to ping the canopy off in some kind of wild panic.

thanks for any help. Love the staining too btw. :)

 

jont

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Cheers all,

 

I'm really happy with the way this one turned out, I'm actually keen to rip into more Luftwaffe subjects in future, I like their paint schemes they're quite varied and interesting to paint, more so in the later war years. I also found free handing the camo quite fun vs the drudgery of masking RAF schemes.


@The Spadgent I just held it in place with a low tech bit of blue tack in the back end. I also protected the main cockpit opening by running some tiny strips of masking tape on the inside faces of the cockpit and around the inside edge of the front glass bit. It helped secure the back bit and added a bit of extra overspray protection. In the end it did help because there was a tiny line of overspray on the tape that worked it's way between the glazing bits (accidentally painted the inside faces nicely though :D).

 

Otherwise just be aware of your spray angles, avoid spraying perpendicular to the gap between the cockpit and glass too much.

 

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