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Checkerboard Nose...


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Hi All,

 

I'm moving along on my 1/48 Eduard Fw-190 A-6 build, into the painting stage.  I've decided to do the paint scheme depicted in the box art (https://www.eduard.com/eduard/plastic-kits/profipack/aircraft/1-48/fw-190a-6-1-48-1.html), which is a black and white checkerboard nose, despite the fact that that level of detail scares the heck out of me.  Eduard has provided decals for this detail, clear decal film where the white checks are (thus needing to paint the nose white) and black decal for those checks.  I've not gotten to the point of decals yet, but I'm getting nervous about it.  I used gloss white Gunze paint where the decals will go, and the paint laid down beautifully.  I'm sure that several of the black checks on the periphery of the nose may need to be at least partially painted, as I can't imagine the decals going over some of the surface details in those locations.  So we'll wait to see.  I've seen some folks use 100% painted checks, using patterns made in a Silhouette Portrait cutter.  I have one of those, but even after a year of owning it, I still haven't unboxed it, remaining intimidated by the setup and 'how to make it work' aspects.  Silly, I know, and some day I'll break down and set it up.  But for now, I"m going to rely on hand painting, manual masking, and decals for this checkerboard pattern.    

What have others done regarding checkerboard patterns?

Edited by Curt B
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On 3/7/2021 at 2:37 PM, Curt B said:

 

...What have others done regarding checkerboard patterns?

 

I used decals exclusively on the nose of my Thunderbolt. What I did was cut along the line separating each "row" back to about the second "column." Doing so helped the big decal lay down over the complex curves of the cowling. Then I made sure the last black squares along the forward edge of the cowling overlapped a white square, for the sake of opacity. 

 

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As you can see, it worked out OK for me.

 

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Hope this helps. Good luck!

 

Cheers,

-O

 

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Thanks, guys!  I think I'm going try to use the decals, but judiciously.  I'm sure that there will need to be some paint touch-ups, on top of the decals, but I"m not too worried about that.  But I guess there is just no easy way around trying to do checkerboard patterns on cowls, unless some manufacturer decided to provide a pre-painted cowling, and even if that were the case, I'm sure it would look too toy-like for a scale model. 

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On 3/14/2021 at 4:54 PM, Rob Mignard said:

Curt, here's my Eduard FW-190A-4. I painted everything. Worked out OK for me.

 

Rob

A-4-97A.jpg

Rob, 

 

FABULOUS work!  You are, though, a much more accomplished modeler than I, and so I would expect nothing less than perfection from you!  I'm still planning on using the decals, until/unless they end up being completely messed up.  I still have the major body/wing colors to finish before I work on the cowl.  I'm trying a custom mmix of Gunze lacquers for the darker 'grey' on this 190, so we'll see how it turns out.  It's kind of a dark grey with tints of blue/green.  It may not be accurate, but it WILL be distinctive!  

 

I've been working on my 1/35 Meng T-90a modern Russian tank in between working on painting the Fw190.  I gave up, for now, the work I was doing on the 1/48 Tamiya F-16, as I got frustrated with it.  It just didn't seem to be going as smoothly as I had hoped.  I'll get back to it, I'm sure, but it's back in the box for now.  It's looking like my favorite airplanes are the Fw190s and the Hawker Tempest. both of which as 1/48 Eduard kits.  I may end up getting all the Fw190 variants before I'm done!

 

Let's do lunch again, soon, eh?  

Edited by Curt B
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  • 3 weeks later...

Well, it turns out that I TRIED to use the decal method, and it failed miserably.  While the Eduard decals are admirably thin and they lay down very nicely over details, they do not have any natural inclination to stick in the spots where placed, even with the use of the various decal setting solutions.  At least in my experience.  I tried laying down one of the single black squares on the lower rear of the cowl, and while it sat nicely, it took next to nothing to move the decal off its final spot.  Then, I tried to place the 'ring' of black/white squares on the most forward part of the cowling, and that effort failed miserably.  I guess it's just more proof that decals and I simply don't get along.  So, while the adrenaline was flowing, I just bit the bullet and manually, by eye, started cutting masking tape pieces for the white squares, set them in place, and as carefully as possible sprayed flat black Tamiya paint over the cowling.  Glad I didn't give myself too much time to sit and ponder the plan for too long.  As it happens, the results were pretty good!  Not as good as my friend Rob's plane, which he posted above, but not hugely far off, either.  No point in posting pictures of a similar looking cowl, but I will post photos of the plane once it's fully completed.  Thanks again to everyone who gave me their thoughts and encouragement!

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