Trimaster FW-190D-9 (1/48)

[BleedingBlue]

Very pleased to present my latest build the Trimaster FW-190D-9.  It is definitely my best work yet.

 

This was one of the first kits I bought when I got back into modeling last year, but I waited to build it because I wanted to get my skills up and do the camo scheme justice.  I recently upgraded to an Iwata air brush from my budget model and I was finally able to free hand the camo and mottling without any significant overspray.  I was able to get a variation in the colors, and you can see the pre-shading.  My best paint job so far.  I made seatbelts out of strips from the PE sprue.  My favorite detail is the gear down indicators that I made out of fishing line.  Finally, I made my first diorama base, which was fun.

 

I used Mission Model paints, Tamiya weathering powder, Tamiya dark brown panel line wash, and a silver pencil for chipping effects.  Finally, I have to put in a plug for Vallejo flat clear.  I have tried a couple others trying to get a completely flat look and have been disappointed.  The Mission models stuff is too glossy and has to be applied in very light coats.  Tamiya X-22 made it look dusty.  This stuff looked great and thinned easily with water.  I’m very happy with it.

 

A few comments on the kit.  It is an older, but a very nice kit.  You get two sprues of PE, brass/stainless tubing for the gun barrels & pitot tube, and white metal landing gear/exhaust.  The panel line engraving is very fine and the fit is pretty good.  I only had to put filler around the wing roots.  The only downside was the decals.  They had yellowed.  I bleached them with sunlight (you can still see some yellowing though) and thought all was well.  However, I noticed cracking so I painted them with decal film.  This made them too thick so I only used what I couldn’t replace with something from another kit.  I took almost all the stencils from an Eduard FW-190A-8 kit.  There is a bit of yellowing still visible in places and you notice the thickness when you look close.  On the plus side there are decals for 6 possible variants and they settle down very nicely despite the thickness.  I would recommend a set of aftermarket decals if the kit ones are not in good shape.

 

Apologies for the wall-o-text and enjoy the photos.

 

 

[Roberto]

Great work!

[ian1485]

I like where the wheels have sprayed mud on the wings! Very nice

[Pete in Lincs]

That looks rather good. Great paint and weathering, and the base looks great too.

[jackroadkill]

Very nice indeed, sir.

[Walter]

Yeah very nice work

[Giampiero Piva]

Very nice !

[mick]

great work

[Jackson Duvalier]

I remember when these were released, it was one of the first kits to include photo etch.  It was really expensive in the day, and the Trimaster concern folded fairly quickly, consequently I never go to see an unbuilt one firsthand.

 

You did a great job on this one.  Much like the Accurate Miniatures line, these may not be the latest and greatest anymore, but they certainly still build well (as your specimen shows), and I'm pretty sure the moulds are still in use.

 

How did you do the base, static grass and some tufts?  It's sufficiently convincing without competing with the model, a look I'd like to emulate.

[BleedingBlue]

18 hours ago, Jackson Duvalier said:

I remember when these were released, it was one of the first kits to include photo etch.  It was really expensive in the day, and the Trimaster concern folded fairly quickly, consequently I never go to see an unbuilt one firsthand.

 

You did a great job on this one.  Much like the Accurate Miniatures line, these may not be the latest and greatest anymore, but they certainly still build well (as your specimen shows), and I'm pretty sure the moulds are still in use.

 

How did you do the base, static grass and some tufts?  It's sufficiently convincing without competing with the model, a look I'd like to emulate.

Thanks for the kind words and the kit history.  I found this one on Ebay and, as I recall,  was less than $40.  I bet you can find one there, if you are interested. 

 

You're correct, my base was made with tufts and static grass.  I got the tufts off Amazon.   They are 6mm.  The static grass is 2.5mm.

[VolkerR.]

Good paint job!

[IPMS19]

- In the days these Trimaster kits wefre realesed, they were the best on the market , I remenber having built an entire Tagjagd to me alone.....

[ABeck]

still prefer these old TM, Drag/DML ones over Tam and ED.

 

[BleedingBlue]

On 8/12/2022 at 3:24 PM, ian1485 said:

I like where the wheels have sprayed mud on the wings! Very nice

I meant to comment  in this before. This was pretty easy to accomplish.   I used weathering powder for the base color then tapped on the brush from the panel line wash for the spots.  I did it before dull coat so it was easy to remove any errant spots.