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1/48 Pro-Modeler Fw-190D-11


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For my second build, I've decided to take on the Pro-Modeler (ex Tri-Master, ex DML) Fw-190D-11.  It fits the category and I recently got the kit for free, so I thought I'd give it a shot.  I really haven't done any World War II Luftwaffe aircraft in 20 years and haven't done an Fw-190 in almost 45 years.  Not that I don't like 'em, just that I got tired of seeing so many Fw-190s and Bf-109s filling up the tables at model contests.  Seems that the trend has been moving away from that, and in fact the last model contest I went to, there wasn't one Bf-109 in sight!

 

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Got started with the cockpit as is normal... sprayed it with Model Master RLM 66 Dunkelgrau, and sprayed the gear wells with Model Master RLM 02. Since the cockpit fits in from the bottom, I went ahead and started assembling the fuselage and some of he sub assemblies while the cockpit paint was drying.

 

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Cockpit is done to my satisfaction... various instruments are painted in black, they highlighted with a silver Prismacolor pencil and overcoated with a drop of Future floor wax.  Added some Vallejo brown washes, the hit the whole thing with a shot of Testors Dullcoat.  Sadly, once it's installed in the fuselage, there's really not much to see.

 

Seat belts will be coming... Waiting  until I installed the back decking on the cockpit.

 

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Got the wings assembled and mounted to the fuselage.  This was where I ran into the only disappointment with the kit so far.  The wing to fuselage fit is terrible.  There is a large gap that needs to be filled.  While it was almost a "snap-fit" on the front to back seams, the two upper wing seems were at least a 1/32 to 1/16 inch wide.  I did a bunch of filling with Perfect Plastic putty and after a couple coats I filled the gaps and faired the wing into the fuselage without too much damage to the surrounding detail.  Maybe will need a touch of re-scribing...

 

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You needed to put a spreader bar inside the fuselage to open it up to fit. Common issue and fix on all the Trimaster/DML/Dragon FW kits, including the TA-152.

 

 This kit's also missing a rather distinct bulge in the hood to clear the engine mounts, in case you weren't aware.

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Thanks for the info!  I'll remember that for the next time I tackle one of their old Fw-190/Ta-152 kits.  The Perfect Plastic Putty did a good job of filling the gap, but I really would have liked more plastic to plastic bonding going on in that root area.  

 

As for the bulge, I had read a review on another site that mentioned this short coming.  Brett Green's review on Hyper-scale mentioned that it is fairly subtle, and I am still debating whether or not I want to go that deep into correcting what I was originally planning to be an out-of-the-box build.  But then again, that's usually what happens with my OOB builds...

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Added the canopy and after masking, shot the RLM 66 as an under coat.  While that was drying, I got to work on other sub-assemblies.  Prop is done with Humbrol RLM 70, with Testor's yellow on the spinner.  Will be painting the fuel tank when I do the RLM 78 on the fuselage.

 

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The weekend afforded me the chance to run to the hobby shop (the nearest one is 45 minutes away... amazing that in the fourth largest city in America, there are only two real hobby shops...) and get paint for the Fw-190 project.  On Saturday, after getting the wing roots to a place where I felt good about them, I did my pre-shading with flat black over the Tamiya rattle can gray surface primer.

 

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On Sunday, I started the first of the final paint layers, shooting Humbrol RLM 76 Lichtblau on the sides and tail.  I like the way the pre-shading looks under the blue.

 

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I'll give it a day or two, then I will start masking to paint the undersides with the RLM 23 Rot.

 

 

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Thanks so much!  I'm looking forward to finishing it, as it will be my first Luftwaffe mottled scheme since I started airbrushing my models back in the mid-1970s.  After 50 years of modeling, I hope my skills are up to it!  😄

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Got some more painting done over the weekend.  On Saturday, the undersides got the flat red treatment.  I was going to use Model Master RLM 23 Rot, but the color looked too pink to me.  I ended up using Tamiya flat red.  Although the photo doesn't show it, the pre-shading does show through faintly, which was the effect I was looking for

 

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On Sunday I was able to mask and shoot the upper surfaces.  This however was not the success that I hoped for.  I used Model Master RLM 74 Graugrun and RLM 81 Brunviolett, as specified in the instructions.  The Pro-Modeler instructions have always been pretty good, but this one left me scratching my head.

 

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I'm not sure if it's just me, but those colors look way too dark.  I'm okay with the RLM 81 and its olive tone, but the RLM 74 seems way dark.  In fact, it was just as dark as the RLM 66 I used on the cockpit.  So a question to the group... were late war Fw-190s that dark in their camouflage?  Most aircraft I see built by others use a much lighter gray, but then again I am not a Luftwaffe expert, as this is the first World War II Luftwaffe aircraft I have done in decades.  I really don't want to go on to doing the mottling until I am sure the RLM 81/ 74 coloration is right.

 

I welcome thoughts from the group...

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Another weekend and more progress.  I decided that I really did not like the RLM 74 gray and did a repaint, using Humbrol British Equiment Gray.  Not sure what that would translate out to in the RLM world but I liked the look of the lighter gray.  I then pulled all the tape off and dappled on the gray while I still had the mix in the airbrush.  Later came back and stippled on the RLM 81 green.  Not the best work, but this was my first try at a Luftwaffe dapple scheme, and I am relatively happy with the results.

 

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Edited by swbailey
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  • 2 weeks later...

Laid down a heavy gloss coat on the model using Future sprayed through the airbrush and after a couple days of drying I've started to add the decals.  Kit decals are very good and appear to be the work of Cartograph.  It says they are made in Italy although the sheet doesn't show the Cartograph name.  Still the quality shines through.  Just to make sure everything is settling in nicely and conforming to the curves, I used Solvaset on the undersides.  Upper side decals are over simple enough curves that I used Micro-Set and Micro-Sol.  So far, so good.

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Another weekend's work brings me closer to finished.  Got all the white stripes on the underside which was a bit of a challenge.  While the decals were of very good quality and very opaque, they are a bit thick.  I hit them with Solvaset to make them suck down onto the surface and it still wasn't quite what I expected.  The other thing about the decals is that they seemed to be for a different Fw-190D kit... some of the stripes were a little long, others were short.  When it was all said and done, there was one set of decal stripes (#69) which had no place on the model according to the instructions.  So, those stripes were used to fix up the areas that were short.  Still, a little touch up will be required.

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I also added the landing gear, exhausts, belly tank and many of the other fiddly-bits.  Next, the bird will get one more coating of Future floor wax as a gloss, then some washes and a flat coat.    Another week's worth of work and she should be done.

 

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15 hours ago, Els said:

Keeping all those white stripes evenly spaced must have been fun.

Els-

 

It actually wasn't that bad... The kit instructions had great diagrams showing the stripes in relation to the panel lines, so it was a good guide. I did use a small ruler as well to get the spacing correct.  I started with the two belly stripes and worked outward, waiting for one set of stripes to set up before moving to the next stripe.  I used Solvaset on them, so they snuggled into place pretty quickly.  I only goofed up one line and got it a little cockeyed and had to remove it.  Luckily, there were a set of stripes on the decal sheet for which there was no corresponding number on the instructions, so I used that to replace the one I buggered up.

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Getting closer.  After the decals were all on, I gave the model one more gloss coat then did some panel line washes using Tamiya black wash.  After that, a coating of Testors Dull-coat before removing the Bare-Metal foil masks on the canopy and windscreen.  Got the wheels and tires on and was very careful to get the alignment right because there are so many ways you can mess that up on an Fw-190...

 

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Still have to do some paint touch up, add the pitot tube, antennas, gun barrels, gear position indicators and the seat belts.  After that, a touch of weathering and it should be done.  Hopefully this weekend. 

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Well, I am calling this one done.  I added in the seatbelts, antennas, gun barrels and pitot tube and added some paint chips around the worked on areas.  The seatbelts came from a vendor on eBay who sells printed belts on paper.  I cut them out very carefully and close to the printed edges, then dip them in a mix of white glue and water.  They are fragile, but once placed on the model, as they dry the hold their shape and stay stuck pretty well.  If I want to remove them, all I have to do is to get them wet.  Antenna wire is clear Stren fishing line.

 

I will be doing some exhaust staining, but I discovered that when I went to add this to the model, my old pastels had been destroyed in Hurricane Harvey... so it's off to the art supply store.

 

Overall, a fun build and my first World War II Luftwaffe aircraft in decades.

 

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  • 3 weeks later...

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