Werdna Posted May 22, 2020 Share Posted May 22, 2020 For my next bit of self-indulgence - Eduard's 'weekend' 190 A3 in 1/48. I've accumulated enough decals to be able to finish this as Oblt Armin Faber's aircraft of III/JG2, which inadvertently landed at RAF Pembrey in June 1942, after mistaking the coast of South Wales for Northern France, following a dogfight over South Devon and the Bristol Channel. The story is well-known, but Pembrey is local to me and I've spent a fair bit of time in that area over the last few years, so if I was going to build any particular early 190, it had to be this one. This is the a/c in question. Pictured at Pembrey dispersal, apparently looking E/NE towards the Pen-bre hills in the background. Faber's 190 was not 'factory fresh', but not far off it, by all accounts. So it shouldn't need much weathering. As an early model - and as far as I can tell - from Focke Wulf's own production line, it seems this may have been painted in the standard early war RLM65/02/71 scheme, but I also know that's a source of much controversy The b/w pics don't give too much away on that issue, but there is an RAF report at the time, of the aircraft being painted in colours which seem to match the descriptions of 02 and 71 at least. Anyway... The engine - basically you can't see it once fitted, so I didn't spend too much time on it, other than to practice a bit of dry brushing.. Pilot seat, with a bit of wear added to what was presumably a leather seat cushion... And most of the cockpit tub. Primed, sprayed in RLM66, clear coated and then given a light wash to pick out some of the detail. Followed by a bit of random-ish colour. Probably needs a flat coat as well..and a bit of a tidy up.. 9 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jackroadkill Posted May 23, 2020 Share Posted May 23, 2020 I've always been interested in aircraft that were captured after landing in the wrong place. The story behind this one's quite remarkable. Imagine how gutted you'd be, when landing in enemy territory after being convinced you'd made it home. I'll watch this build with interest. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Marklo Posted May 23, 2020 Share Posted May 23, 2020 I’ve heard of this one. As far as I know the pilot did a victory roll before landing and at that time the FW190 had just been been Introduced and was outclassing the opposition. This was a massive gift to the allied war effort. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Werdna Posted May 23, 2020 Author Share Posted May 23, 2020 (edited) 1 hour ago, jackroadkill said: I've always been interested in aircraft that were captured after landing in the wrong place. The story behind this one's quite remarkable. Imagine how gutted you'd be, when landing in enemy territory after being convinced you'd made it home. I'll watch this build with interest. This has always been an interesting one for me, as I've probably stood more or less where the 190 was parked on a few occasions, without even realising! Locally, there are other stories of the landing. One story where Faber was in such disbelief after landing that he continued to speak in French to his captors for a few hours afterwards, as he was still convinced he had landed in France. Another story, where Faber was led from his aircraft shouting in broken English how Hitler was a 'madman' and 'must be stopped' - which suggests more of a defection, rather than a mistake. I think the fact that he spent most of the rest of the war in a Canadian POW camp kind of rules out the defection story though.. 1 hour ago, Marklo said: I’ve heard of this one. As far as I know the pilot did a victory roll before landing and at that time the FW190 had just been been Introduced and was outclassing the opposition. This was a massive gift to the allied war effort. Indeed - I think at the time this happened, there were orders that no 190s should be any more than halfway over the channel before returning home, so something clearly didn't go to plan.. Edited May 23, 2020 by Werdna 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Werdna Posted May 28, 2020 Author Share Posted May 28, 2020 Well, as suspected, with the fuselage closed up, both the engine and cockpit are nigh on invisible. Unless anyone has an endoscope handy, we'll all just have to imagine... Meanwhile, some work on the landing gear and internals... Undercarriage legs and doors. Not sure if this is the right look for a relatively 'fresh' aircraft, but never mind. Ironically, the inner gear doors will be closed, so the panel lining won't be visible, but I'm at a level where it's still worth practising this stuff as much as poss. The best I can say about it is that it's a slight improvement over previous efforts.. 5 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Werdna Posted June 4, 2020 Author Share Posted June 4, 2020 Another update. Seems to be going ok at the moment, despite initially completely omitting the outer wing cannons. Some blatant bodging later, and the guns are now on. Weird early war colour scheme for a 190 (RLM 02 and 71 upper camo), but that's what the plane requires, apparently. When compared to the Pembrey pics, the mottling looks a bit under-done at the moment, but I think it will turn out ok. A bit of detail painting tomorrow, followed by a clear coat, and then the decals can go on... 8 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Werdna Posted June 5, 2020 Author Share Posted June 5, 2020 So I've been staring at the Pembrey dispersal pic for a few more hours and I decided that the mottling wasn't heavy enough. Looking at the expanded pic, it really does look like the 'mottling' (if you can call it that) has been applied direct from the tin, with a sponge, and basically just spread all over the fuselage, especially between the cockpit and tailplane. So I've gone over it again, and I'm still not sure it's enough. Any other opinions welcome 5 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Parabat Posted June 5, 2020 Share Posted June 5, 2020 That's looking good. It's always a tough one. I always try to step away when I start thinking 'it needs just a LITTLE more mottle...' which inevitably results in too much! Which is tough to re-do. Remember you'll still have markings and weathering to go, I'd leave as is. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Werdna Posted June 5, 2020 Author Share Posted June 5, 2020 11 minutes ago, Parabat said: That's looking good. It's always a tough one. I always try to step away when I start thinking 'it needs just a LITTLE more mottle...' which inevitably results in too much! Which is tough to re-do. Remember you'll still have markings and weathering to go, I'd leave as is. Yep, I think you may be right. On with the clear coat then.. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Max Headroom Posted June 5, 2020 Share Posted June 5, 2020 That’s looking tasty. I agree that from the photo the mottling looks rather heavy in places to looking like a solid block of colour. As someone without an airbrush, this may be a possible future project. The story I heard about the landing was that the station adjutant drove up and parked in front of the plane, boarded it and pointed a Verey pistol at Farber! The pilot was apparently inconsolable about his gaff! Here is a similar photo of the machine, before the tail was censored. https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Armin_Faber#/media/File%3AFw_190A-3_JG_2_in_Britain_1942.jpg Trevor 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Werdna Posted June 5, 2020 Author Share Posted June 5, 2020 Thanks Trevor. The pic with the tail covered also shows that the upper wing markings appear to be covered as well. I'm wondering if this was to 'mask' the aircraft's ID from the air for some reason. There would have been good reasons for the Luftwaffe wanting to destroy the a/c to avoid any detailed inspection. Just a thought.. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Max Headroom Posted June 5, 2020 Share Posted June 5, 2020 Given that it was mobile, I’m guessing that a swift push into the nearest hangar was in order. As Farber had made a complete Horlicks of his navigation, maybe it would have been several hours (if at all) before the Germans figured out where it ended up? Trevor 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
FalkeEins Posted June 5, 2020 Share Posted June 5, 2020 On 5/23/2020 at 3:22 PM, Werdna said: Another story, where Faber was led from his aircraft shouting in broken English how Hitler was a 'madman' and 'must be stopped' - which suggests more of a defection, rather than a mistake. I think the fact that he spent most of the rest of the war in a Canadian POW camp kind of rules out the defection story though.. ..although apparently he never returned to Germany/Austria post-war Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Werdna Posted June 5, 2020 Author Share Posted June 5, 2020 28 minutes ago, FalkeEins said: ..although apparently he never returned to Germany/Austria post-war I hadn't realised that. I also read that he got a medical release/repatriation from Canada, and then returned to Germany and resumed combat flying. Again, I don't know how accurate that is. So many conflicting stories...! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Werdna Posted June 5, 2020 Author Share Posted June 5, 2020 @ParabatI think you made the right call Now the decals are on, I think stepping away from the mottling was probably the right thing to do. This is a combination of Eduard crosses from the kit, and modified (ie inner triangle removed) chevrons from a Hobbyboss 109F-4 kit representing Hans Hahn's III/JG2 a/c from 1941. Ironically, Hahn was Faber's CO at the time he went awol in South Wales. The Eduard decals seem to be enjoying the decalfix a lot more than the Hobbyboss decals, so we'll see how they look in the morning. If they crack overnight, then I'm stuffed. Assuming all is ok, then the stencils will go on tomorrow and we're almost there... 4 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Parabat Posted June 5, 2020 Share Posted June 5, 2020 Looking good! That's nicely done. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jackroadkill Posted June 5, 2020 Share Posted June 5, 2020 11 hours ago, Werdna said: So I've been staring at the Pembrey dispersal pic for a few more hours and I decided that the mottling wasn't heavy enough. Looking at the expanded pic, it really does look like the 'mottling' (if you can call it that) has been applied direct from the tin, with a sponge, and basically just spread all over the fuselage, especially between the cockpit and tailplane. So I've gone over it again, and I'm still not sure it's enough. Any other opinions welcome Well, you've done a better job than I did of my mottling tonight, that's for sure! 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Werdna Posted June 5, 2020 Author Share Posted June 5, 2020 12 minutes ago, jackroadkill said: Well, you've done a better job than I did of my mottling tonight, that's for sure! I dunno. I think I'm gonna use a bucket and sponge next time, like the mechanics probably did with this one at the time.. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Werdna Posted June 7, 2020 Author Share Posted June 7, 2020 Late night last night meant I was able to finish this today. RFI thread here: 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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