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1/144 Focke-Wulf Ta 183


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My first entry in the group build will be a JACH 1/144 Ta 183 in a what-if splinter production scheme. It is very close to being done, so I can do it in the downtime of the finishing touches of my two other group build models.

I bought it at the end of 2012, worked on it for the next six months, and then stopped. I scratchbuilt a cockpit and extended the intake pipe and added a wire loop antenna. The color scheme uses late-war German colors, but in a combination not used on actual aircraft. The idea is to make a Ustashe Croatian version, so I used brighter selections to match the countryside.

There was no cause for putting it back in the box - I just felt like working on something else. I do that a lot.

I need to paint the landing gear bays, the front landing gear, and maybe some yellow identification blocks. Otherwise, it's just decals and other finishing.

u5Q2OnI.jpg

The box comes with two models, but the other one is further from being finished.

Edited by spejic
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Very cool! Did the kit go together well?

Yes. The kit has excellent fit and detail. There are no positioning pins, but they aren't really needed. There were sink marks near the exhaust. The main problem is that it doesn't have a cockpit.

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  • 2 weeks later...

I painted the landing gear bays. I also noticed that I didn't properly deal with the seam line on the bottom near the exhaust, so I refilled it and repainted it.

I've painted the landing gear doors. They and the wheels will be going on tomorrow. I have to touch up the paint in the intake and exhaust before the gloss coat.

9Fr7cAH.jpg

I designed and printed out the decals I'm going to use, but I ran out of the decal coat spray. I have to go get some more.

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Looks like I chose the wrong angle to show off the landing gear wheels and bay covers I installed.

I didn't actually have time to go to the distant model store and get the decal spray. I instead did some experimenting with things I own to see what else might work. While Testors decal spray smells like their Gloss Cote, a decal covered with Gloss Cote wasn't waterproofed and ran. I then tried the waterbased Liquitext High Gloss Varnish. Brushing it on caused the decal to run. Airbrushing it produced a flat, fogged finish. But brushing a thin coat after the airbrushing coat dried looked good, and it was also waterproof. The hardest part was cutting out the decal shapes.

So long story short I installed the home printed decals. I will install the detail decals soon.

HFNwOm7.jpg

The decals look better in real life, but I still might experiment with washing the edges of the decals to hide the white edges.

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It looks a lot better with all the decals on. But the numbers that come with the kit are so small they look wrong. The "7" is from a modern Japanese jet - it's the only decal I have that looks reasonable and I looked at all of them.

d8gxQHX.jpg

I'm going to try an oil wash for this. My attempts with other techniques don't produce reliable results. I need to print out some coupons for Michaels and get the stuff.

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Looks fantastic! What markings are those?

It is the "Zvonimir Cross", which were the markings used by Germany's ally Croatia during WWII. I figure Croatia would be the most likely ally to get advanced fighters in a 1946/47 hypothetical - they got latest model Bf 109s and they protected Germany's south against British fighter/bombers from the Mediterranean.

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I added a yellow rudder. I tried twice to use decals, but they didn't work out so I masked it and painted it white and then yellow (or mostly yellow with a touch of orange).

The panel-line wash was done with watercolors and dishwashing soap. I experimented with oil washing on a scrap model, and it kept failing horribly. I did find out that wiping with a coffee filter worked really well - it didn't go into the panel lines and it didn't leave fibers.

The pictures show some dust I need to pick off and I'll give it another dull coat when I'm dull coating something else, but I'll count this as done now.

5BtNv5a.jpg

XS4HTHz.jpg

OGr2IUG.jpg

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Congrats on taming that monster!

I've had better luck w/ watercolor than oil washes, too. I used Windex to cut the surface tension. Now, I find Vallejo washes work best for me. I'll have to try the filter idea, as that's still an aspect I want to improve.

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