jean Posted January 9, 2023 Posted January 9, 2023 Hi Everyone, I am throwing my hat in the ring with the Revell FW 190 A-8/R-11 night fighter. Because I don't want to build a night fighter and because I don't have any after market decals, I am going to use the decal set from the Airfix FW 190 A-8, with the red and yellow snake on the side... Why not, as I really like snakes. I will post some photos tomorrow. I believe this kit is supposed to be an easier build than the Airfix one. Not a great hardship, really! Cheers JR 6
JOCKNEY Posted January 10, 2023 Posted January 10, 2023 10 hours ago, jean said: I believe this kit is supposed to be an easier build than the Airfix one. Not a great hardship, really! Cheers JR I really really hope so Bon chance Mon ami Cheers Pat
jean Posted January 10, 2023 Author Posted January 10, 2023 Hi, here are a couple of photos of the Revell kit. Excellent surface detail, but then the same was true of the Airfix kit... Surprise possible. Hopefully it will be a quick build... JR 6
Marklo Posted January 10, 2023 Posted January 10, 2023 I like the radar array, just that little bit different. Welcome to the GB
jean Posted January 22, 2023 Author Posted January 22, 2023 A very modest start to this kit. Glued the IP and splashed some RLM 66 into the cockpit. I realized I had cannibalized the stick for my Airfix FW 190 (typical Airfix plastic, the stick broke when trying to remove it from the sprue...). So now I have to make something looking remotely like a control column... But as the cockpit is so narrow and dark, it should not be a problem. This kit has a lot of flash, so cleaning is a bit tedious, but the detail looks good. A photo to prove I am not lying too much: Thanks for watching. JR 9
Casey Posted January 23, 2023 Posted January 23, 2023 ... In such peril, I might have used rolled blu-tack - painted and held together by paint and hope mostly. Like some cars I encountered on roads, it works fine 1
jean Posted February 11, 2023 Author Posted February 11, 2023 (edited) Hi everyone, I decided to leave aside for a short while my P-51D in the KUTA GB and focus on the FW 190. It all started with a small scale disaster when I really stuffed up the seat belts... Had to scrap and clean the mess away and repaint the seat. Ready again to add seat belts! Here is a photo without the seat: All the mobile surfaces show exaggerated inner structure, so I went mad with the tube of putty and removed the offending (in my eyes) details. Much cleaner and closer to the reality. I opened as well the bullet casing' ejectors. I was a bit heavy handed with the scalpel on one of them, so I will have to play with very thin plasticard before I can call it done. I am dealing as well with all the small parts, that need cleaning and priming. The propeller still need tidying up. The hole I drilled at the tip, once cleaned, primed and painted will be the right diameter. A lovely kit, but a shame there is so much flash to remove. I guess the molds have aged. Don't we all? Have fun and thanks for watching. JR Edited February 11, 2023 by jean 7
jean Posted February 18, 2023 Author Posted February 18, 2023 Hi, I have at long last put the airframe together. It does now look like a 190. So quite a bit of sand papering, puttying, etc. to make it ready for the painting. Here are a couple of photos showing the progress: I found myself with 0.5 mm gaps at the wing roots, hence decided to insert some thin plasticard shims. Once cut off, the gaps will be a bad memory. These trenches seem to be a constant with this Revell kit. Oh well... Ejectors duly cut out and tidied. The plastic is quite hard, so I quickly regretted having gone down this road. But eventually I was happy with the result. The Revell IP is not too bad, or should I say there is a lot worse around. The instruments are recognizable as such, and I am happy with my scratchbuilt stick. I stupidly forgot to drill the two oblong holes on the IP cover. Will drill them later or just mark them with a black felt tip. I will install the seat with its safety harness and then the canopy can be glued. Still not sure what got into me, but I decided I would try and replicate the non-existent exhaust stubs with some flattened micro-tubing. Only then did I realized that the tubing I had was a tad too thick, and as a result I can only display 3.5 stubs instead of 4... Not to mention that they are a bit cockeyed. All part of the learning curve. I have made my peace with the universe, so they will stay. Once painted black, they will be all but invisible. So it is a good training exercise and I now know what stuff ups not to make the next time. Anyway, I am still excited to build this kit and I am enjoying it, so all is well. Have fun! JR 10
Marklo Posted February 19, 2023 Posted February 19, 2023 15 hours ago, jean said: Only then did I realized that the tubing I had was a tad too thick, and as a result I can only display 3.5 stubs instead of 4... Not to mention that they are a bit cockeyed. All part of the learning curve. I think they look quite good actually. If you’re a scratch builder like me you get into this kind of situation all the time it’s all part of the fun. 1
81-er Posted February 20, 2023 Posted February 20, 2023 I think those exhausts are more than passable, especially at 1/72 James 1 1
jean Posted February 26, 2023 Author Posted February 26, 2023 Hi, modest progress: worked on all the seams and just sprayed some Tamiya primer, outside despite heavy rain and wind, courtesy of cyclone Freddy. Everything went fine and now I will go through every seam with a fine-toothed comb. Then fitting of the canopy (I haven't heard any good thing about that) and paint. Here is one photo of the state of affair: Have fun. JR 7
jean Posted March 18, 2023 Author Posted March 18, 2023 (edited) Hi Pat, I haven't had a great deal of time for modelling these last couple of weeks... I am finishing my P-51D and should resume the 190 this coming week. Canopy should not be long in being fitted. Cheers mate. JR Edited March 18, 2023 by jean 1
jean Posted April 1, 2023 Author Posted April 1, 2023 Too much else to do.... The story of my life. This is why I have only now declared the cockpit finished. Next, the windscreen and canopy. Here is a photo of the progress. Thanks for watching. JR 8
jean Posted April 2, 2023 Author Posted April 2, 2023 As is the norm in my builds, disaster struck yesterday. Not sure what got hold of me to use Tamiya green top to fix the windscreen... I should have known better looking at the tight space. Needless to say it instantly smeared the inside of the clear part. I used micro mesh and it looked quite promising ,Decided to brush some clear varnish all over to give it some semblance of clarity again. Then dropped the blasted part on the dusty floor... The stroke of genius followed: I cleaned the varnish off with turpentine to remove everything and start again. The clear plastic turned a nice foggy white. A great moment of solitude ensued. The fit of windscreen and canopy was rubbish anyway. I am just trying to cheer myself up, of course. Then this evening I had an epiphany: I fit tested the canopy of the Matchbox FW 190 A-3/A-4, and it is not as bad as I expected. There will be need for quite a few thin plastic shims under the canopy, but it is doable if I pay attention to what I am doing... So I will sleep better tonight and there is a fair chance it will end up looking pretty good. And this hobby is supposed to be relaxing. Have fun! JR 3 2
81-er Posted April 3, 2023 Posted April 3, 2023 That sounds like quite a nightmare of a time, but it's good to hear you have a solution James
Marklo Posted April 3, 2023 Posted April 3, 2023 Happens to the best of us. My D-14 canopy cracked when I took it off after painting. Thankfully I had a spare. At least with the FW190 the front windshield is a pretty easy scratch build. 1
TimJ Posted April 4, 2023 Posted April 4, 2023 Good to hear that you've got an answer to the canopy problem.
jean Posted April 9, 2023 Author Posted April 9, 2023 Hi, I have finally fitted the Matchbox canopy to this Revell kit. Not a good fit, but neither was the original canopy. Shims under the windscreen and thick CA under the canopy. I only smeared a tiny bit of CA once... Could have been a lot worse. Quite a lot of tidying up to do (panel lines to be re-scribed, gun locations to be drilled, aileron tabs, etc.) and then a good clean-up of the model as it is really grubby. All fun modelling. All the other small bits are already painted, so airframe painting should start in the not too distant future. GB deadline is kept in mind. Thanks for watching. JR 11
jean Posted April 23, 2023 Author Posted April 23, 2023 Hi everyone, time has passed since I said I was close to painting my 190... But better late than never and it is now all tidied up, primed and today I painted two coats of RLM 04 ... I will call this progress, because I suspect nobody else will! Tomorrow masking of the yellow and first coat of RLM 76. So these two extra weeks of GB will be hopefully well used. Have fun. JR 8
stevehnz Posted April 23, 2023 Posted April 23, 2023 My, haven't you had some fun. In spite of which you're on track for a good result. I'll look forward to seeing this in the gallery. Steve. 1
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