Nice progress John. Having never built a Dragon 190, it will be interesting to see the sub assemblies and how the whole thing goes together.
Yes the front end is different than the Tamiya, the dragon has no separate engine under the cowl. Not that you can see it anyway with the fan blade in the way, so not a big deal by any means.
John
Is that cowl molded as one piece?
No it’s actually 4 pieces! I don’t really like that, you have to make sure all the edges are lined up.
It looks like it was one piece on that pic you posted… Great work lining all those parts up so well! I’m about to order the A-7 together with an F-8 (Eduard). I’m not too sure about that though.
**falconmod:**Man that cockpit is coming together nicely and the mate up between the fuselage halves looks great. Haven’t ever built a Dragon kit yet. Got a couple in the ol stash but haven’t gotten around to them yet. Good job so far, Joe
**Everybody:**Well the wheels are down on the ground now so I decided to take the thing outside and take a pic of it since my house lighting sucks so bad and I’m glad I did. The light outside really showed off all the weathering on the whole plane as well as the weathering on the access panels. Here goes: 
Joe (Rix), glad to hear you think I picked a good kit. Thanks!
Joe (Mustang), thanks for adding the kit.
Your WIP really looks good. Love the exterior finish. I have a dumb question or two. Being new to so much of this, I get confused by the order of things. Most of the builds in progress I see pretty much have the exterior done in one shot. Wondering why the front section is waiting for later, and secondly curious how the joins will be blended into that gorgeous exterior finish.Perhaps pics later when you join the front end will answer my questions.
I do realise that there are probably no right or wrong orders of things, just trying to learn more about why various folks take different approaches for different challenges.
Clemens, yes I am going to try my best to duplicate the box art, or whatever painting diagrams may or may not be included. Being not very familiar with any non-civilian aircraft really, that’s the best I can attempt at this stage. [:)]
I hope you find a source for some Walthers Solvaset. There are some things I remember from my last build years (decades?) ago, and I do remember that when I managed to use it right, the results were very good. It is more aggressive than MicroSol, but I’m sure you already know that.
John, I too will be interested to watch your build. Dragon kits are yet unknown to me. I really like watching other folks progress pics. I learn a lot. Remembering what I learn is my challenge. 
Be very careful with the Walthers solvaset, it’s very hot. [:O] It’s what caused the destruction[bnghead] of the eagles head decal on my Fw190 that I’m just finishing up. Don’t get me wrong it works great, in fact I’m using it all the time now. And not using the Micro-sol. I just had the unfortunate accident of it making the decal soft enough to get caught in the bristles of my brush and it wouldn’t release and it tore the decal apart.
My own fault I suppose, just learning to be more careful with the stuff. when it’s dry the decals do look like they are painted on.[:)]
John
Joe - She’s looking fantastic! I have my fingers crossed for you when you go to fit the engine in as I know you have done a great deal of work to ensure a proper fit. And Joe, Thanks for the photos.
John - Boy, You;re off to great start. Every thing is looking very nice. I’ll echo the nice job on that cowling. Also John, here is a link you might find interesting concerning the accuracy of the landing gear on the Dragon, Trimaster and Tamiya kits and how you can correct them.
Well the answer to that question is that virtually everything on the front will be opened up. Engine access panels and cowl gun panels. Just alot of work left to do up front. I will paint the access panels separately. Same colors and same brand of paint. No sweat.
I have to make a tough decision and I hope all you guys here can help me out:
There are a lot of 190 kits on sale at Hannants, but I only want to get me 2 of them at max (saving money for a big B-17).
Here’s a list of all the kits that have a good price:
- Fw 190A-8/R2 (Eduard)
- Fw 190A-9 (Eduard)
- Fw 190F-8 Weekend (Eduard)
- Fw 190A-7 (Dragon)
- Fw 190A-5 (Hasegawa)
- Fw 190A-3 (Tamiya)
I’m thinking along the lines of the less-expensive Hasegawa and Dragon kits… I have to admit that I’m an eduardaholic though… How about a combination of both?
Great work on your 190, Joe! Are you using any AM sets for the open cowl panels, or are you going to do some scratchbuilding?
Ahah! Thanks for that.
Joe Rix: Thanks for the cudos man! The engine fit problem shouldn’t be an issue now. I’ve practically used two kits up in the making of this one! Built a spare engine , partially built a fuselage and partially built another wing assy all in the name of fit and PE wire routing.
**Greg:**No problemo dude!
All kinds of AM stuff. ALL KINDS. Every once in a while I’ll throw a small scratch built something in there but I didn’t have to scratchbuild much as this is a Royal Class kit. The panels are photo etch with outside and inside detail. Gotta fold the panel in half to get both sides but the cowl panels are definitely PE. Thanks for the good words buddy, Joe
Oh yeah and my vote goes to the Tamiya offering. Why not throw something a little easier and out of the ordinary in there.
Joe…(mustang) WOW… as you go on with the WIP, The more I want to see! Great work Brother!!! Your building a DO335? When? I love the “Phiel” I did one in the Twin Engine Bomber GB last year… IMO Absolutely the coolest looking prop plane the Germans built! Man, PLEASE keep me posted on that one!
Clemens, I have to check out the Hannants site… Too many good deals to hear you talk about it… I’ll try to find it later. And yes the Solvaset is HOT, Thats why I prefer the Micro set, But you know on some of these Mfg decals it may do a better job.
John, (falcon mod) Looking forward to seeing your ‘dragon’ come together, They do things a little different at Dragon, But I like their stuff for the most part.
Doug: Hannants has some great sales. I like Squadron more regarding their special offers, but Hannants has more products AFAIK and Squadron charges me 55$ shipping cost for a single kit… Aint gonna buy there untill they lower the shipping costs…
Just a little side note: The Do-335 is called “Pfeil” (German for “arrow”). Not being picky here, just tying to share some knowledge… I’d love to see that one built as well (Joe, your turn!)
Thanks Doug. Finally took a picture that did the ol’ bird some justice. As for the 335 I don’t know when I’ll start that one yet. Want to right now but too many builds ahead of it.
Is there any AM company that produces a “Hagelkorn” ? (<- there’s a link in case you don’t know what that is). I know that Hasegawa has a kit with a Hagelkorn, but It is really expensive. I’d love to add it to one of my Eduard 190s though…
Dont blame you Clemens… 55 dollars is way over too much to ship! Also please forgive my spelling(oops) should have looked at the kit before putting in post…Do love that “bird” though…This is one I built about a year ago, Would love to try another.
Found Hannants… I think I’m going to like their store!
Take care…
Doug