SMA BSC #1: 1/48 Tamiya Fw190D-9 JV44 “Red 3″

a Butcher bird ey? I'm in for this one, Always loved the Focke Wulf (especially the Ta152 series), it got very cool looks. Nice work so far...I've build only one plane so far, one of the reasons being all the filling/sanding often required. Seams like you got the hang of it :)

Cheers
 
Another big weekend update! Oh where to begin…how about the office? Eduard’s set is pretty nice because it’s the whole tub in photo etch. Thick and sturdy pieces for sure and they fold perfectly. The dashboard and horizontal side panels are really nice, too. I used the famed Glue Looper to drop very small amounts of super glue to hold them in place. Once they were secure I dripped some Micro Clear Gloss onto each dial to mimic a glass covering. Surprisingly, Tamiya’s instructions to use XF-63 were really close to Eduard’s color, but just a shade too light and a hue too warm, but close enough since most of the tub will be in shadow. Even all the little handles and dials are a nice touch with this PE set. To get the whole tub secured into the fuselage half I added a couple little strips of styrene.

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Once the tub was in place, it was time to join up the halves. I figured that I would leave out the chair and pilot until later. Same with the instrument panel hood, etc. There are a few seams that need a little TLC, especially along the bottom side of the tail. A dab of putty (or glue) and some sanding should do the trick.

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I did build the PE for the chair though. It’s a nice bit of detail for the pit. The track for the canopy opening mechanism was a little tricky to bend what with it being so long…and it’s a detail you can’t see once the canopy goes on. But I know it’s there…

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AND…the wings attached. THESE were a bit more tricky. A little sanding and scraping was needed to get the port side wing root to sit flush but alas there will be a little putty needed on both sides.

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And the PJ Productions pilot is damn nice.

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Next step in getting the office ready to close up is getting the pilot to fit properly. While the detail is really nice on the PJ pilot I had to shave a bunch of it down to get him to fit. Turns out the left arm is sculpted to hang over the edge with an open canopy! Luckily there was a spare arm in the parts bin. I also did a little more research into “Red 3″ and found this page: http://asisbiz.com/il2/Fw-190D/Fw-190D-JV44-Red-3-Wubke.html. A nice little bit of history to think about during the build. Anyway, the pilot sits nicely now.

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While the pilot is in the process of being painted I figured this was good time to start with the canopy. I recently picked up some Tamiya polishing compound and really wanted a chance to use it. However, instead of going through the 3-step process of course, fine and finish, I went straight for the finishing compound mix because there were no scratches on the canopy parts to begin with (and they were pretty crystal clear…). A little buff and polish doesn’t hurt. I didn’t future coat it yet either…instead I’ll wait until after the flat coat. I think I will have to future the inside though so the super glue doesn’t fog it up.

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And 2 other big steps: putting a little more putty in the seams…which weren’t terrible but I wanted to make them better and adding the brass barrels and pitot. They really make a difference with the final look. I did mount the barrels a little further out than they’re meant to be but it’s because I want to show them off just a little bit.

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