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This is a build of IBG's lovely recent Dora tool. It was originally built under the FW190 GB banner, but after the entertainment of construction, interest lagged a little and I never quite got round to putting the final touches on it before the deadline (WIP below). Not being a particular fan of 190, nor late war Luftwaffe schemes, the quirky maritime what-if scheme appealed to me, although clearly I had issues with the wiggly lines when the time came. The kit has come in for both praise and criticism from what I can see. It's certainly fiddly, and perhaps over-engineered depending upon taste; and the surface detail, while exquisite, is significantly be-rivetted, which will skew opinions as it always does. From my point of view, the build itself, while a bit nuts, was a joy; and while all that engine and PE detail is probably unnecessary for the scale, it did make the process very enjoyable. The fit was excellent, but I can easily imagine that it might not be so for every build. Your mileage may vary! The kit could really benefit from a build with a little more care and attention (scratch pipes between the engine and firewall for example), and expertise when it comes to the paint scheme. This build was mainly using Gunze lacquers with some Tamiya XF thrown in here and there. The blue (C328) turned out very vivid, likely due to under-mixing. Clearly, I had issues with the wiggles, but opted to blunder on rather than let the build stagnate. I couldn't find a paint marker that 'sat' unfortunately. Bit of chipping over Tamiya LP38 for fun, and some rather unenthusiastic washes and weathering with oils and Tamiya powders (I hate that bit to be honest). At the time of writing, this kit and its earlier release brethren seem to be on discount at Hannants, so do check it out if the kit is of interest, I really think it was a cracker and a steal at the price. Cheers for looking in, Andy WIP:

I'm not really a 190 person, and am generally pretty ignorant to the type and its history. Still, I've always admired the lines of the Dora, and when IBG released their all-singing, all-dancing new tool last year, it ended up being a day one purchase for me for various reasons. Firstly, I was impressed by their ship kits, and anyone who makes an obscure little Hunt type II has my eternal gratitude. Second, it seemed like a good way for a recently returned modeller to have a go at the recent 'hyper detailed 1/72' kits, and IBG had clearly gone way out there with the detail and construction. Third, the quirky 'what if' boxing suited my maritime sensibilities. So here it is, and seems to have come in for equal measure of praise and derision from what I can see; lauded for it's detail, sharp moulding and fine rivets but panned for it's fussy fit, over-engineering, reliance on PE for structural parts, and of course, its fine rivets. A full frame by frame rundown seems unnecessary as better versions will exist on t'web. I've just highlighted a few things that caught my eye. The surface detail looks exquisite to me. Jury's still out on the riveting (having not built a recent tool eduard for instance), but I'm cautiously optimistic that it can be made to look nice. Interior parts look nice. The DB603 seems is reasonably comprehensive given the only view of it will be through a tiny gap in the wheel bay; there's no open cowl option without scratching. The main spar is part of the cockpit assembly and hopefully will tie it all together nicely. I'm going with this scheme, being both attractive, interesting (I hope!) to paint, and also it includes a torpedo! What's not to like? Bonus points because it allows for another joyful RLM83 debate (as the navy blue is called out here). I thoroughly enjoyed @Procopius's lovely double build last year (rather more than he I did I think), and have been several other similarly stunning examples on the boards. This won't be that, but hopefully it won't be so horrific that I can't get some enjoyment out of it! Lots of suggestions and alternative build orders IIRC will be necessary, so I've some research and re-reading to do. I'll be busy with the SSD GB to start with, but the plan is to slowly progress this one a little in the background until hopefully I'll have more time to devote to it once that build is finished. Cheers, Andy