Hello all. I’ve had a hankering for a Fock Wulf FW-190 for quite some time now, especially one of the newer 1/48 Eduard kits. I heard they’re nicely detailed, but finicky and will bite you if you’re not careful. I recent procured a used A-5 off E-bay where I was going to have a go at Egon Mayer’s JG2 machine. Unfortunately the kit had been started, namely the engine, and the rear exhaust assembly(s) were missing. I would normally just do without or scratchbuild, but it appears they are needed to assemble the engine and I have nothing to use as reference to build them. Oh well, sometimes you get the bull, sometimes it gets you. So while I wait for the replacement parts from Eduard, I decided to have a go at their Dora D-9, which I’ve had in my stash for a few years. All Honesty I prefer the lines of the A model over the Dora, but that’s just a personal preference (not unlike how I think the Corsair is the ugliest thing to ever fly, regardless how fantastic it was). I’m leaning towards Barkhorn’s machine from JG6 in 1945, but this may be subject to change.
On opening the box, I must say it is an impressive kit!. That said, I couldn’t help but notice how flimsy the fuselage plastic was when I removed them from the sprue. I don’t know if this is common for Eduard kits but I hope it doesn’t affect build-ability. They just seem very delicate. Heck, It may even help.
So far I’ve built up the cockpit and front fuselage area, which in this kit consists of the machine gun area and what appears to be the back of the engine and supercharger. I normally build my models closed up, so the only reason I built this up was because I have a strong feeling its an integral assembly needed to make everything fit right. I just painted it black for the heck of it, no need for me to waste time on this. The cockpit seems sort of basic, which is probably why the kit is supplied with colored photo etch. Other than seatbelts, which are nice, and sometimes the instrument panels, I normally pass on these which always seem to be the wrong color. I had to paint my cockpit almost Neutral Grey to get it to somewhat match Eduard’s representation of RLM 66 on the instrument panel(s) and side consoles. After a postshade and a wash, I think its looks halfway decent (I think I’m still spoiled by that Tamiya P-47 cockpit). Fortunately the190 has a small cockpit once finally closed up, so only the seat will be readily visible. Here’s were I’m at so far.
Nice! Great start! I’ve started one of these but shelved it for the time being. Very touchy fit trying to get the rear engine assembly to behave with the lower wing. All that detail will be visible from below through the gear bay so the fit is important and if the shell chutes aren’t lined up it makes getting that lower join painful.
Sweet start. I built this kit a year ago and even though it gives you some fits, the end result is stunning. The toughest part is getting the rear engine/gun deck/exhaust pieces line up inside the fuselage. I hint I got off eduard’s website is to only glue the aft bulkhead infront of the cockpit to the fuselage. Dont’ glue the engine bulkhead or the exhaust holders, just let them sit free inside the fuselage as you close it up and they will self align. Can’t wait to see more, makes me want to start on another one!
I just thought I would drop in for a update. I know its been a while, but this Butcher Bird is causing me some serious anxiety. I’ve banished it to the box twice already. Lets see…read instructions…dry fit…re-read instructions…dry fit. When you think you have it and then add glue, you discover it just will not fit together right. Something is out of alignment…but where! The preceding was a week of my life that I will never get back. Ya see, when I closed the fuselage, it was too wide at the top for the gun cover to fit…UGH! I just couldn’t get the gun deck and lower (exposed) engine to sit properly. I tried all the tricks I’ve read about, here and elsewhere, but nothing worked. Out of frustration, I ultimately damaging the engine assembly beyond repair (read between the lines here), so I took a break. and contemplated building something else, say the nice 1/48 Tamiya Spitfire Mk1…
I am however persistent and the more I read about the D-9, the more appealing it became. I knew I had to slay this demon of a kit. During my further research on the long nose 190, I read a rather interesting article (Aircraft Resource Center if I remember correctly) that said the exposed engine through the gear bay on the D-9 was an “Internet fad” and most early Doras did indeed have full covered bays. Apparently towards the end of production, when metal was becoming scarce and shortcuts were taken, the later Doras (D-11 and D-13) apparently had these deleted which, somewhere along the line had been misinterpreted as a “design feature”. This was supported by the fact that it wouldn’t make sense to leave this area open for all the dirt and grime to get into the engine and gun compartment ultimately affect performance and reliability. Well, this made sense to me, especially since I thought the exposed engine kind of looked stupid anyways.
I remembered the kit came with a gear roof, probably for an earlier variant, so all hope was not lost (for those experts who disagree with the above, don’t turn my model over…it should be common knowledge by now that I don’t worry about such intricacies). I then decided to try and assemble this turkey in the conventional way, by gutting the ennerds and use only the needed parts for structure. This primarily meant the gun bulkhead where it meets the cockpit. I was able to finesse the gun cover down under pressure and glue it place from underneath with Evergreen shims. I did manage to shoehorn in a set of Quickboost exhausts which are a vast improvement over the kit parts. The gear bay was then built per the instructions and painted Tamiya RLM 02. I must say this is one of the nicest looking gear bay I’ve ever seen. I heeded the warnings from others and was precise in its assembly. Other than some minor trimming and sanding, I had no trouble putting the wings together. The remainder of the assembly posed little trouble. I did have to reinforce the front gun bay joint with Evergreen stock to force the bay straight (See photo) so the covers would fit. The seams have been sanded and other than some minor touch ups (the slight gaps by the wing trailing edges need filled), she will be ready for primer soon. A test fit of the front cowling and engine over does not seem to present ant foreseeable issues. It would appear the storm clouds are passing and I may now be able to enjoy the build of this awesome fighter. Here’s some pics.
It’s looking really good. It’s great to hear that you haven’t let it beat you; mine surely has. Keep us up to date. From here on out should be pretty straightforward I hope.
Nice recovery, If I remember right on my build, I added a small spreader bar on the inside of the upper gun cover, and this made it line up with the fuselage perfectly. I guarantee that even after all this trouble you will want to build another one. These Eduard doras are addicting!
I can feel your pain as I’m working on the very same kit right now. I’ve got a WIP thread that has been pretty dormant, and I need to update it.
Just before starting the D-9, I finished an Eduard A-8; that kit was a nightmare in my experience! I got the firewall wrong and everything just went south from there. So this time, even though the D-9 is different, in terms of fit problems it’s the same. I’ve had better luck this time and will update my WIP with some observations - probably won’t help you too much but might be interesting all the same.
Good work though! It takes courage and strength to keep persevering on a model that feels like a total loss at one point or another.
Hello all, dropping in for a quick update. I got alot accomplished over the last few days, to include adding the rear stabilizers, ailerons, rudder, intake scoop,and any other exterior bits I failed to mention. I primed the airframe, fixed a few seams here and there, then primed it with Alclad Micro filler. I must say that once primed, the detail is a sight to behold. Too bad this kit is so quirky and its a miracle we even got to this point. I’m still not completely happy about the way the fuselage gun cover fits. Its a tad cockeyed and it still bugs me. Oh well, hopefully the paint will help disquise it a bit. Its all about smoke and mirrors. I preshaded the panel lines in NATO black before getting into the paint scheme.
I personally prefer to paint fuselage bands or wing stripes when possible. I just think it looks better and the panel lines through them are easier to wash later. I did decide on Barkhorn’s JG6 Dora from the Super Scale sheet. I painted the general area white then red (Tamiya acrylic) with a touch of black to prevent it from appearing pink. I then cut out the Reich defense decal at exact width (dry still on the paper- I thought I would specify). With the decal as a reference guide, I then taped off both red srtipes. I then painted the middle one white and taped it all off to be removed at the end of painting. Since Tamiya paints dry so quick, especially when cut with 91% Alcohol, the band painting only took about a half hour or so.
According to Superscale, Barkhorn’s Dora carried a RLM 81/82 over 76 paint scheme. Apparently his D-9 was absent the NMF sections common on these. I then sprayed Tamiya’s recommended mixture of RLM 76. This was then lightened with white and I streaked it along the airflow for weathering. Once I was satisfied with this, I used dilluted red brown and NATO black and accented the panel lines,especially around the engine area. Heres where I’m at so far:
I love your streaking more than my fat momma loves chocolate covered bacon. She’s a beauty and coming along nicely. Thanks for detailing your method. I’m going to have to try that.
Nice airbrushing so far. Beware of the Superscale instructions, Most sources say Barkhorn’s dora did not carry the red/white/red defense bands as JG6 was not an official home defense unit, however crashed 109s of JG6 during Bodenplatte were found to carry them. I’ve read sources that state his aircraft was painted in the two greens; 82/83, but nothing is 100% certain…
Thanks for the tip Nathan. A little late though…Doh! Oh well, I’ll just leave it. I have been tinkering with Super Scale’s alleged 81/82 colors with Tamiya paint mixes. It just doesn’t look right to me. Furthermore, I have checked other builds on all the usual sites and have not seen one Dora in 81/82 over 76. I then did a Google search on Barkhorn’s Dora, and most of the images appeared green as well. I’ll admit I know absolutely nothing about late war RLM colors and was trusting that Super Scale had done the proper research. This is actually my first late war Luftwaffe subject so its a learning experience. I may mix up some 82/83 and see how it looks…
No prob Lawdog. Your build is still stunning, Late war luftwaffe colors are hard to determine because in black and white they appear similar. 81 brown violet is actually a darker hue than 82 light green. I like to compare dora photos to me262 photos because I know the 262s are 81/82…cept for the early 74/75 ones…[:S]
Well, figured I’d stop by for an update. Progress is now moving along quick. I ultimately decided on 82/83 over 76 which research indicated was the likely scheme used on JG6 planes. It has been pointed out that late war colors are tough to decipher, so just about any of them could have been used. I mixed up the 82 and 83 with Tamiya paints using a formula I found on a thread. The RLM 82 consisted of XF-5 flat green with white. Once on the plastic, It seemed too minty green to me, sort of like my Grandfather’s old Ford Maverick, so i added a little Khaki to brown it up. I still think it looks overly green, but I decided not to mess with it anymore since I figured someone came up with this formula for a reason. For all I know, 82 is supposed to be this green. I then weather streaked it with the same color lightened even more with white. I used “blue tac” as a mask since I wanted soft edges (See pics). Then I sprayed the RLM 83 (XF 61). This seemed to blackish-brown, so I altered it with buff slightly. This was then lightened even more with buff and streaked not unlike the 82. Truthfully, I know diddily squat about these colors so I went with what looks right to me. After the scheme was down, I dialed the air pressure way down and mottled the fuselage while loosely using the Super Scale sheet as reference. I just finished the clear coated with Alclad Gloss Coat and its almost ready for decals.
