This is Trimaster’s 1/48 Fw 190D-9, with opened wheel wells and an engine from a derelict DML Ta 152 kit. The decals are from Eagle Cals. They went on beautifully. The spinner swirl still needs a few more applications of Micro Sol, but I believe it will snuggle down just fine. The RV bands on the rear fuselage were masked and painted.
I really like the all-black crosses on the underside !
This is my favorite part of the sheet - data placards for the gear legs !
Won’t be too long before this baby’s on my shelf !
Incredible! That’s another winner you have there Bill. I absolutely love the paint scheme on this one-fantastic work! I wish I could do that, I really do. Thanks for sharing with us,
Thank you Chris, Rick, Gilmund, Darren, jeff, and Allen !
Gilmund - no, that project is two Me 262s and a Ta 154, all nightfighters. In addition to those and this one, I also have a 1/48 Monogram C-47, 1/48 MPM P-63 Kingcobra, and 1/48 Classic Airframes Polikarpov I-153 on the bench. I like to have a full plate.
Darren - the late-war schemes are particularly attractive. This bird is from the end of the war, May of '45. The decal sheet also has markings for another one with NMF and RLM 75 wings. The RLM 76 is replaced with blue-green (sometimes called RLM “84”), and the topside colors are RLM 82 bright green and RLM 83 dark green. These two will look nice parked next to each other !
Allen - I cut open the inaccurate closed wheel well and added the engine. I ran some wires and hoses to try and get a “busy” look to it.
I wish I could find more Trimaster Fw 190D-9 kits. When DML/Dragon redid the kit w/o the white metal parts, they molded the gear legs in plastic. They’re disappointing by copmparison. I don’t care for the 1/48 Tamiya kit at all, so I need to find some more Trimasters.
Pix I am in awe of your Dora. I thought Squadron had some Trimaster D-9s in their last mailing. What are your issues with the Tamiya kit? Thanks for sharing the Dora and the night fighters.
Brian - I wish I could find a sheet of just placards. I’ve tried painting them before, but it’s difficult to get sharp corners.
Nick - the sheet is Eagle Cals #21 - “Yellow Tailed D-9s.” All four choices are VERY interesting and unusual. For Ta 152 decals, the only ones of which I know are included in the Kagero book “JG 301.” Very few were used operationally, and there’s not much info on the net besides pics of an unrestored engine/cowl and cockpit, along with wartime B&Ws. Profiles are available, but they only show one side. [:(]
ron b - I got two of these from Squadron at $40 each, which was all I could afford. They’re worth it to me. The Tamiya kit has a small, pointed spinner, pointed prop blades with a narrow chord, small wheels, and the gear legs don’t look robust enough. It also has the closed wells found only on the BMW-powered aircraft. The guns are molded to the wing-the real ones protruded through openings larger than the blast tubes. The panel lines are also very wide and deep. It makes a wash easy to do. They are popular because they’re EZ to build, though. These things may be alright for some, but in a side-by-side, there’s no comparison.
Jason I used White Aluminum, Duraluminum, and Dark Aluminum on the underside. I didn’t have any reference for it, I just didn’t want it to be all the same shade.
