Hello folks…stopping by for an update. I got the Dora decaled last night. I tend to have good luck with Super Scale decals. A little Micro Sol always does the trick. I did use the kit stencil decals which appeared more detailed than SS. These did not present any problems either and settled down nicely too. I then sealed them in Alclad’s gloss coat to await a panel line wash. I am waiting the arrival of a pre-mixed wash, namely the “Flory Models Dark Dirt Wash” which I ordered from Sprue Brothers. I’ve heard good things about this product and I will be giving it a try for the said panel line wash on this project. Stay tuned for the result.
I’m not convinced the colors are correct but it sure looks nice…[Y]
Lawdog, that’s really looking nice! I have an Eduard 190D-11 waiting in the stash. I hope it looks half that fine when I get around to it. As for the Flory wash, please be careful that you don’t “contaminate” it by exposing it to any solvent. I stirred some of mine with a plastic stirrer (some product used at the dental office where my wife works) that had been used in some sort of solvent based enamel. I thought I had wiped it off plenty good; when I stirred the clay-based wash with it, I f’ed up the entire bottle. It simply wouldn’t “act’” right after that. I contact Philip and he suggested a couple things to try but I couldn’t restore it to its prior condition and I had to replace it with some new stock. Just a word to the wise…
Gary
Thanks for the compliments guys. Manstein, I agree. As I mentioned, it doesn’ t look correct to me either. I used a Tamiya paint recipe I found in here for RLM 82/83 over 76 and I still wasnt completely satisfied with it. I think the 83 is close, but the 82…not so much. I got tired of messing with the 82 so I left well enough alone. I know nothing about late war RLM colors and this is my first subject on the matter. I only use Tamiya Acrylics for airbrushing so I have to make due, Oh well.
Gary, thanks for the tip. At 9 bones a bottle, thats good to know! I will probably buy a designated brush and stirrer for use with this wash.
Joe
Nice decal job! I use Gunze paints so I’m not that familiar with Tamiya but I’ve seen that their Nato green looks close for 82. For 83 just darken it with black or dark brown. You’ll like the Flory’s wash, it use it alot. You might have to break out another Dora and add it to the pending fw 190 group build[whstl]
Thanks Nathan! I would love to put Gunze paints into my repertoire (I hear their Olive Drab is awesome), but you can’t get them in the US anymore. Its a case of too little to late for me. I don’t like enamels so I’m stuck with Tamiya paints now. I’m in on the 190 GB. Eventhough I still have two Eduard 190’s in the stash, I think I’m gonna give them a rest for now to keep my sanity. I’m gonna try the 1/48 Hasegawa A-6. I may even build two for this GB, possibly the Tamiya A-3 also.
Joe
shes a beauty! awesome work.
I don’t use enamels either. If you are okay with ordering online and don’t depend solely on brick and mortar for your paint I would highly recommend you give LifeColor and Vallejo a try too. Tamiya sprays beautifully, I wish the offered more color choices; specifically RLM and FS. LifeColor sprays equally as good thinned with distilled water, and Vallejo isn’t far beyond.
Thanks for the suggestions Jimmy D. I was hoping you were gonna tell me there was a way to still get Gunze paints online through skullduggery on the blackmarket…lol. I’ve heard of the Lifecolor and Vallejo lines, but I’ve read mixed reviews on their performance. I’ve always had good luck with Tamiya in an airbrush, I just wish they would carry the RLM colors since I have been building alot of Luftwaffe subjects. My LHS has started carrying Vallejo Air so I may give them a whirl, at least RLM-wise.
…and why are you rubbing your telly with a cold hotdog…warm it up first…
Joe
Joe, thanks for the tip re: hotdog.
The biggest trick with LC and Vallejo is not expecting them to behave like Tamiya. You thin Val with an alcohol based thinner you would use for Tamiya and you’re going to be a very sad boy. Alcohol breaks it down turning it into a gummy mess. Distilled water or windshield washer fluid is the way to go. You’re going to want to experiment with thinner ratios, but you can get Vallejo (which I believe is a little more finicky than LC) to go down nicely. LifeColor on the other hand (in my experience) is to airbrushing what Tamiya kits are to building. It will spray itself. The velvety smooth finish it gives is the most beautiful thing I’ve ever seen. Just get it thinned up good and you’re ready to go. It also performs better at highly diluted ratios and lower pressures for fine work than anything I’ve ever used.
Biggest thing I can tell you is don’t go by others opinions when it comes to trying paints. Not buying a $60 kit is one thing, but grab a bottle for a few bucks and try it. Sometimes people will poopoo something because they didn’t try hard enough to get it to work, or stuck to routines that may work with another brand.
I’ll tell you, back when my father and I were building together and he started buying Vallejo I hated it. Why? Because the bottles were shaped funny; I dunno. Probably because I expected it to react to Tamiya methods. Finally, I found myself needing a color and there it was in a stupid little squirt bottle. I spent some time MAKING it work, it did, I learned how to handle it, and now I don’t fear it.
I like your reasoning Jimmy. I will give the Lifecolor a try. I believe my LHS does carry it too. Do they have their own thinner, or do you just use the distilled water or washer fluid?
Joe
Thanks for the good review on Lifecolor Jimmy, always good to know if I ever have to give them a try. Joe, Gunze is available on the black…I mean, non-USA market. Try Model design contstruction website in the uk, or super-hobby in Poland. Both websites are super easy to use, you can pay with paypal, and at MDC they only cost $3.50 a bottle! And shipping to the US only takes 7-10 days, so not bad. Both sites are real reputable and ship with tracking numbers. Also, try LuckyModel in Hong Kong. Gunze bottles go for less than 3 USD a bottle there. Definately worth a try. I’ve ordered all my Gunze Aqueaous paints from these 3 sites and have amassed around 60-75 bottles. Good luck with whatever you try!
So, Aqueous can still be shipped into the US? I assumed it had be banned like some of the Tamiya stuff for whatever stupid reason. I really love that stuff too.
And yes lawdog, you can use either distiller water or washer fluid to thin either Vallejo or LifeColor. I’d say LC responds better to water. Vallejo it seems to depend on which line you have, the color, the phase of the moon, etc. They both work though.
Professor- Yes I just ordered some Gunze bottles from Lucky Model about 2 weeks ago, no probs. Not sure if they were ever banned, just been unable for US distributors to stock them for retail.
That’s good to know. I hadn’t used any in years, but I had a few really old bottles left that I recently broke open to use. I forgot how beautifully they sprayed. I particularly like that they have a broad range of FS colors since I’ve been doing jets recently.
This is a beautiful bird and a beautiful build, and beautiful kit. i have to figure out which paint scheme to go with. You did a great job though.
As for the Gunze paints, I’ve done my research on it, they haven’t been “banned” perse, the issue is a discrepency in labeling requirements in the US, and the labels on the bottles. Tamiya was able and willing to do it quickly. Gunze for whatever reason hasn’t been so swift. Whether it’s due to budget, Chinese politics, American politics, willingness, small market in the US, or any combination of the above is anyone’s guess. Anyhow this is why you can’t find them locally but you can order them from online retailers such as Lucky Model.
As for why Tamiya stuff is stilltough to get in at any frequency is anyone’s guess. i hven’t been able to get a straight answer. YET. WHEN I do I will end up posting somewhere.
Nathan, thanks for the information. Fantacmet, thanks for the compliment and research. That explains alot. I just ordered 30 dollars worth of Gunze Acrylic from Lucky Models, mainly olive drab and the main RLM colors. Since were on the topic, what do I thin this with and can I get it here in the US?
The labeling stuff makes sense since that’s also what was going on with Tamiya. Can’t comment of the utter stupidity of the politics behind that though…forum rules and all. [:#]
The auqueous stuff responds really well to X-20A which is mostly alcohol. So, you could thin it with 91% just like the Tamiya stuff I would guess. Like Tamiya, you may want to throw some retarder in there. I am going to experiment with a concoction of alcohol and windshield washer fluid to see if that will help with the dry-tip and drying in mid-air problems.
I’m finished! This 190, operator error or not, pretty much fought me all the way to the end. With that said, it did introduce me to some new techniques, one way or the other, such as the Flory Wash and Albion Alloy brass tubing, recommended by other modelers (Thanks guys). The Flory Wash, namely Dark Dirt, worked great, especially on lower surface and upper RLM 82. I did however need to go with a black Detailer wash on the 83 because the Dark Dirt wasn’t noticeable. I’ll have to buy the black one now for darker colors.
Now reference the kit’s need to do battle with me. The instrument panel combing was slightly twisted and I had trouble getting it positioned so the windscreen would sit properly. Then while I was attempting to remove the inner tape from the windscreen, it cracked in my hand. After I peeled myself off the ceiling, I remembered the kit came with another one (spare?..common problem?..different variant?..take your pick), so I was fortunately able to use it instead. I then attached the drop tank to the pylon. It does not look right me. I thought it needed sway braces or something similar, but the instructions doen’t show any and the sprues where absent anything which resembled them…got me?..Oh well…
The landing gears were another area which gave me trouble. I ran brake lines with solder and then attempted to position the gears on the model. They don’t attach in the connentional sense, by means of a positive hole like other mainstream kits, but instead there’s a little “nub” (lack of better word) it sits into and then the leg rests in a grove on the back wall. I used Tenax, added the leg brace, then just kept finagling them until I though they looked right. It was then placed into a plastic tray with the front of the wheels resting up against the inner side of the tray, an impromptu jig if you will, and it was left there until the glue dried. Its not perfect but good enough. Its not like this Dora will be a contest winner or anything and I was long past caring at this point.
I used the aforementioned Albion Alloys .8 mm brass tubing (excellent stuff, thanks Matt!) for the 20 mm wing root cannons and I replaced the loop antenna on the lower fuselage with solder formed around an appropriate sized paint brush. I hit the Dora with a Testor’s dull coat, threw on the canopy and windscreen on, and we’ll call it done.
In summary, considering everything, I did sort of enjoy this build. It was however a humbling experience and confirmed that I’m not even close to being as good a modeler as I thought I was…Ha!. I now fully understand the concept of “shake and bake” kits, which make a good modeler seem great. I actually believe the Monogram P-61 and HE 111 were easier to build than this one. On the positive side, It has some of the best surface detailed I’ve ever seen. Uhm…I’m sorry, any other “positives” escape me at the moment or have been buried deep into my subconscious. I still have an Eduard 190 A-5 and 6 in the stash which could unfortunately be there for a long time. I’m going to take a crack at the Hasegawa A-6 for Mustang’s upcoming FW 190 Group Build. Here she is in the marking of Gerhard Barkhorn’s JG6 D-9in early 1945. Enjoys the pics…as always, comments welcome.
Joe
It may not have been an easy build but I think you still did a mighty fine job of it. It makes me a bit apprehensive about the one I have in my stash, but I think a challenge is a good thing every now and then. I’m sure I’ll be coming back here when I finally take my one out of the stash.