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Building the Tamiya Fw-190D-9 by Jeff Herne |
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The model is nicely packaged and is of usual Tamiya quality. Noted for its ‘Shake and Bake’ kits (toss a tube of glue in the box, shake, and out comes a completed model), the Tamiya kit went together smoothly with no major issues. Overall fit was good, with the exception of the underside wing/fuselage joint at the trailing edge. Here, for some odd reason, the wing was a touch too long, and needed to be sanded to fit in the fuselage. The model was assembled with Tenax 7R and Zap CA. The Cockpit: Having been out of serious aircraft modeling for awhile, I ended up on Hyperscale asking some questions about cockpit colors. When I left aircraft modeling (1990), the standard was ‘everything is RLM 02’…which is obviously dated information. I painted the cockpit RLM 66, using Tamiya German Dark Gray. I applied a black wash, then drybrushed raised details with gunmetal. The instrument faces were done in black, and I added a drop of Future Floor Wax to each of the faces. I had intended to get a resin aftermarket cockpit set, but since the instrument panel sits so deep into the cockpit, and the canopy opening is relatively small, I decided to stick with the kit supplied cockpit.
The cockpit fit well, and the fuselage
halves were closed up and sanded smooth. The only tricky part of the
fuselage assembly was cleaning the seam on the dashboard, as taking too
much off to fix the seam could affect the windscreen. Some putty and light
sanding with a needle file fixed this problem. Once the major assembly was
complete, the model was masked and painted. |
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I sprayed the RLM 76 first, and allowed it to dry 48 hours. I masked off the wings, and sprayed RLM 75. I sprayed the fuselage with RLM 75 freehand, since I wanted the soft, blended effect. I used Testor’s Acryl paint, thinned with Tamiya thinner for the RLM 75, 83, and 76. I allowed the 75 to dry for 48 hours as well. I masked the wings yet again, this time with 3M Parafilm, and sprayed the RLM 83. I cannot stress enough the use of a low-tack mask when using these Acryl paints…I had a bad experience earlier on with the RLM 75 on the wing peeling with the mask removal. Fortunately, the acryl paint is easy to remove before it’s completely dried. Again, I free-handed the paint on the fuselage. This was especially easy due to my new airbrush, an Iwata HP-BCS. Paint flow control is excellent, and overspray is minimal. At higher pressures, it’s almost like using a pen. Since I was depicting an aircraft from JG.301, I needed to add a red and yellow stripe to the fuselage. Having encountered this problem before (in the old days) I decided not to even try the decals, but rather, to spray and paint the stripes. The fuselage was masked, and I sprayed Tamiya Light Gray over the area to prime and cover up the camouflage colors. I then sprayed Aeromaster Red and Japanese Chrome Yellow over the gray. Results were much nicer than could have been achieved with the decals. With the model painted, I allowed everything to dry for another 72 hours. After some experimenting on some derelict models, I decided to try Future Floor wax as a clear coat. I sprayed thinned Future and Tamiya thinner over the model and allowed it to harden…impressive I must admit, especially from a skeptic such as myself. Once everything was dry, I applied a wash of India ink and Tamiya thinner to the panel lines. I allowed it to dry, then removed the access wash with a cotton swab soaked in thinner. Be sure not to apply too much pressure or thinner to remove the wash, as it will attack the Future underneath. Once the wash was complete, I added some exhaust stains and powder residue stains to the guns using pastels. With the model decaled, I faced a dilemma. Do I dullcote coat with Testors, or try some other clear flat? I snooped around the internet looking for information, and stumbled across a reference to using Tamiya X-21 Flat Base with Future Floor Polish…bingo, problem solved. I clear coated the entire model, and was very pleased with the results. It’s also considerably cheaper than buying Dullcote…one jar of X-21 ($2.49) and one quart of Future ($3.29) and I’ve got enough Dull-Cote to last awhile. As the model was drying, I set to work on the landing gear and gear doors, the prop and hub, and canopy. I’m not a believer in attaching the canopy, then masking and spraying, so I masked the canopy off the model, sprayed it with Future, then the fuselage color, then attached it with Krystal Kleer. Once dry, I painted the Krystal Kleer to blend in the canopy. I built the landing gear and painted them RLM 02, then applied a wash and drybrushed the base color over the top. Everything was then attached to the model. I made the antenna wire from stretched sprue, another departure from my usual technique of using fly-tying tippet or nylon quilting thread. Since the antenna and lead were untensioned when the canopy was opened, monofilament didn’t work since it lacks flexibility. With the gear added, and all the small detail parts, the model was ready to mount to the base. While reading through a FineScale Modeler issue, I noticed an ad for Osprey’s ‘Modeling the Bf-110’ by Brett Green, and noticed the cover photo had a 110 sitting on a planked base. I decided to use the same approach on mine, so I cut strips of balsa wood into strips, and glue them to the base. I stained the balsa before hand, then used Woodland Scenics ground foam to simulate grass. I added some oil stains with an India ink wash, and sprayed the entire base with Dull-cote. Once that was dry, I attached the model to the base with CA at the landing gear. The model took about 40 hours to complete, and I’m very happy with the results. I was especially pleased with the finish, since that’s an area where my techniques have been dated. I managed to achieve the effect I wanted, and this model will serve as the experiment that worked.
Jeff Herne |
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