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FW-190A-6 -- I knew it was wrong, but I built it anyway!


opus999

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FW-190A-6 | Hobby Boss | 1/72

Oberstleutnant Hans-Joachim "Hajo" Herrmann Stab./JG 300, 1943

 

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Finished this on September 18, 2020.  This is a completely incorrect paint scheme for Hajo Herrmann's aircraft. It was the popular idea of what his aircraft looked like until some new research in the past 10 or so years.  It is now known that it was the standard Luftwaffe day fighter scheme.  There is a photo and discussion on the Falke Eins blog, and the true scheme has been used by Eduard.

 

I really hate to be incorrect, especially when there is photographic evidence... so why did I do this? When I got the Aero Master decal sheet for my FW-190F-8 build, I was looking specifically for the profile I used on the F-8 and didn't pay much attention to the other profiles until it arrived in the mail.  When I saw this profile of Herrmann's A-6, I recognized it immediately from when I was a kid!  I don't know if it was in one of my dad's books or if a friend had built a model of it, but it was very familiar to me and I remember liking the paint scheme a lot.  So I was torn... after I did research that showed it was incorrect, I thought about doing the correct scheme, but the childhood memory of the incorrect scheme kept coming back.  So in a fit of nostalgia I painted it as you see here.  Call it a "What If" I guess. (Oddly, I decided to paint the Green 1 that they now think the aircraft had, and also the victory markings which can be seen in the photo I linked to above.  So it is a mix of incorrect and correct).

 

The Hobby Boss FW-190A-6  really is an A-7 because it has the large bulges for the guns just ahead of the canopy (and decals they included were for two FW-190A-5s!).  I couldn't build it as-is and so I filed the bulges down and shaped it to match an Eduard A-5 I have in the stash.  The small bulges found on the A-6 were made from epoxy putty.  I did the best I could but they weren't perfect:

 

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They look just fine on the shelf.  At arm's length they look just OK.  Close up they won't fool anybody. ;)  It's a shame because the rest of the kit was pretty good.  Unusually for a Hobby Boss kit, there was very little seam work -- everything fit well.  So this was a 8  day build and could've been a 5 day build if I didn't take my time! The only other modification needed was to fabricate a new pitot tube because the one in the kit was too short -- it looked like an additional gun.  I used the pitot tube from a Hasagawa FW-190A-7 in my stash as a template to make a new one.

 

Paint: Mr. Color RLM 74/75/76 > Mr. Surfacer 1500 black with Hataka RLM 66 marbleing

Decals: Aeromaster's "Defending the Reich Part 3"

Aftermarket: Eduard steel photo etch seat belts.

 

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This was the first time I have done a black paint job.  I used a dark gray oil paint as a pin wash.  I think it turned out pretty well:

 

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Since this profile and my FW-190F-8 profile were both wrong (this one was just paint, but the F-8 was paint and type -- they listed it as a A-8), I wondered if any of the profiles on the sheet were correct.  After a lot of searching on the internet, I found one that was listed as the correct type and for which I found pictures.  Turns out it was the least interesting on the sheet :D. But, since I haven't done an A-8 yet.... ;) 

 

Thanks for looking!  Questions, comments and constructive criticism always welcome!

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Right or wrong, your 190 looks splendid!

If you enjoyed building it and you are happy with it, as it is, then all the boxes are ticked!

 

congrats!!!

 

JR

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Regardless of everything, it looks spectacular indeed! Well done :thumbsup:.

1 hour ago, jean said:

If you enjoyed building it and you are happy with it, as it is, then all the boxes are ticked!

 

I agree absolutely.

 

Miguel

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5 hours ago, jean said:

Right or wrong, your 190 looks splendid!

If you enjoyed building it and you are happy with it, as it is, then all the boxes are ticked!

 

congrats!!!

 

JR

Totally agree!!!!!!

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