1/48 Tamiya Focke Wulf Fw 190D-9

by Tudor Gheorghiu

--------------------

 

Here is my first Dora model, to which I've added the Aires Detail Set. This was by far the most complicated model I've ever built. It was a model from which I both learned and improved different modeling techniques (looking at my past three airbushed models, I really think I progressed a lot).

  • First time I worked with a resin detail set, and subsequently cutting large areas from the fuselage
  • First time I used PE sets to add further detail
  • Greatly improved my airbrushing skills: achieved good results on mottling; free-hand, too!
  • Used Alclad II for first time
  • Spent more time researching than building
  • Used a new method of weathering and emphasizing panel lines (although it's been used before, I kind of came up with it without knowing its existence)

Click on images below to see larger images

  

  

  

One thing which should be pointed out first is that the Aires Detail Set is not at all easy to fit into Tamiya's Fw 190D-9, and it requires excessive sanding and cutting. Even though I may have had bad luck with the set I used, one should expect a lot of extra work, if he chooses this detail set for his Dora. In the following article (which is quite long, actually), I will describe all the issues, both good and bad, that occurred during this project. A big issue, for instance, was removing the resin blocks from most pieces, and can be a real challenge if one does not own a dremel machine.

As always, I started with the interior: I used the cockpit from Aires, due to the nice detail it offered. The Aires seat broke when I tried removing it from its resin block, so the Tamiya one was used. The instrument panel was replaced with the Aires PE one. The cockpit was then painted in RLM 66. The control stick from Aires was much longer than the Tamiya one, and after consulting some references, I decided to go with the latter one. Lastly, the Aires PE seat belts were used, and they went on nicely. Before placing the cockpit inside the fuselage, I had to remove the engine cowling, which was done by drilling many holes, close to each other and carefully getting rid of the cowling. After the fuselage and cockpit were finally done, the firewall piece was added and the interior of the engine compartment was painted with RLM 02. Afterwards, it was time to take care of the wings.

The landing gear bay piece offered by Aires was short and slightly curved outwards. Yet, no matter how much sanding and cutting was done, the said piece still managed to leave a 3mm gap between itself and the firewall (see last picture) and a 2mm gap between itself and the lower half of the wing. Next came the gun bays and fitting them into the wing roots proved to be just as challenging as everything else. It was here that I did a measurement mistake, cutting the gun bay panels (from the each wing) 1mm more than the size of the panels from Aires. I painted the undersides in RLM 76. the landing gear bay and gun bays in RLM 02, and left the project at that stage.

Four months after that, I started working on the engine, which I painted with Alclad II Steel, giving excellent results (loved it!). The plumbing was done with copper wires and stretched sprues. Finally, the whole engine was painted by hand with a combination of light brown and steel (thinned 50/50) in areas where it could've been dirty, and then it was left aside.

Three months after the engine episode, I started to work on the camouflage scheme. The scheme seen here is rather speculative. My first two attempts were the "Blue 15" and "Black <||" schemes, but since the kit decals were stubborn and broke, I had to invent my own RLM 75/83 scheme: some more mottling on the fuselage and the "blue 1" decals. This scheme represents a plane which could've have belonged to 4./JG6, but I doubt its actual existence. Fortunately, this third scheme came out without problems, and the model was ready for the last part: attaching the engine.

This last process took 2 days to come to completion. On the first attempt, the engine, glued with CA, went together with the fuselage almost too nicely. It took me a few hours to later discover that the engine was glued in a forward-leaning position. Frustrating as it was, I had to remove it from the firewall and re-glue it, while inserting some scratch pieces to keep it horizontal. But problems kept coming: the engine proved to be too long, so I had to cut its propeller shaft, so I could fit the radiator piece as close as possible to its actual position. The engine cowling from Tamiya (which I used to calibrate the position of the radiator) proved to be longer than the Aires one (see 2nd last picture). So much for painting the cowling parts! Also, I later found out that the ammunition boxes between the engine and the firewall were too short and could not reach the ejection chutes from the lower wing (see last image). These flaws were beyond my abilities to fix and were left alone.

Lastly, for weathering the panel lines, I drew along the panel lines with a normal HB pencil. I then rubbed those pencil marks with my index finger, until a smooth shade was achieved; the same was done for the cannon and ejection chutes smoke marks. Any excess pencil marks were simply erased (preferably a clean eraser). The kit was finally finished after 4 more days of adding final details and assembling: landing gear, machine guns, propeller, canopy, antennas etc.

And there it is! The project was finally done after 10 months since started (it took 2 months of work) and no matter how many flaws occurred during its construction, the plane is now flamboyantly sitting on the shelf. I guess having a nice camouflage scheme and a lot of extra detail at the same time can result in a great-looking model.

References used:

  • Focke Wulf Fw 190D-9, Volume 1, Jerry Crandall
  • Luftwaffe Fighter Aircraft in Profile, Volumes 1 & 2, Sundin and Bergstrom
And all my thanks to the all ARC members who helped me via the Forums!

I hope you all enjoy the pictures!

Cheers,

Tudor Gheorghiu

Click on images below to see larger images

Photos and text © by Tudor Gheorghiu