It’s finally time to get started on this. I’m really looking forward to it based on all the reviews I’ve read. This is going to be out of the box. I’ve spent too many months on single builds lately. This seems the perfect candidate as there really isn’t too much on the tweak list for the A3 and given it’s mixed media has PE and resin parts to really make it look sharp.
Here’s the only Eastern Front option in the kit
I did just the IP the other night…then found a build review that said the PE and panel is too wide and needs trimmed. Boy they were right, I spent 30-40 minutes trying to make it fit!
Heres the kit for you guys that haven’t seen these
Last night and Tonight I got started in earnest. Primed some parts, built the cockpit and added some alignment tabs to the fuselage.
The IP has a purple tinge to it but it’s all supposed to be RLM66 which is a deep grey. Since this is OOB I mixed my 66 with PRU blue and got a decent match yet still maintaining the grey base color. I have not built a prop plane, let alone a German fighter in a long time (1 Corsair in the last 20 yrs) so I know nothing about these planes except that there seems to be a really strong following of these German fighters.
Ive left the seat out. I’m going to build it toward the end so it’s easier to cover up the cockpit for painting. I also noted the gun sight should be kept off till putting the halves together. I’d have broken it off a half dozen times already if it was on there.
Looks like a very interesting kit. I’m a huge FW-190 fan so I’ll be following along. Thanks for sharing and looking forward to your updates.
I almost got one of these on sale a while back but backed out cause of my large stash. Looks to be a great quality kit. Good job done on the pit.
Oooh, very nice. I’m watching this one.
BK
Oh I’m in on this one of course!
Moving right along [ap] Today started with alignment of the fuselage halves. After reading a couple build logs I decided to glue in the cockpit before putting the fuselage together. Yes, it would go in afterward but the struggles i had getting it to fit made me wary, plus i figured I’d break something. Lord knows I’ve done that a couple times already on this build.
Here’s what I learned. Always work 2 steps ahead on this one. With no alignment pins, by nature of being a multimedia resin kit, there’s alot of alignment that impacts other parts. Sometimes it’s not what it seems. For instance the glazing putty in the below pic. I was going to close that gap…and some of the cockpit fit work i did was to get it to close as the instructions show…BUT if it’s closed the front upper cowling doesn’t fit haha what a discovery. I was 2 steps ahead though so nothing lost here.
check out that wing root. Very tight i think and it’s only taped together in 1 spot. All the build logs said this was a problem. I think it has to do with multiple parts going together too soon if you follow the instructions to the letter.
Overall this is a well designed kit! It really looks sharp. Almost no cleanup on the fuselage seams. I just started from the tail and worked forward an inch at a time. Then i put a dark wash on it to check out the seam and fill anything remaining with CA. The more I can clean up before primer the smoother the paint is going to look.
Doing some traveling this week so there will probably be an extended absence before more progress can be made [:(]
I kinda held off on any updates till this round of dry fitting was thru. This set of shots shows the detail and fine engraved lines in the PCM kit.
first off the wing profile seemed to benefit from some support on the back half of the cord. This brought the profile up to match the fuselage and if you grab it by the wings won’t stress the glue joint in the future.
This is the wing with no weathering in the wells followed by some weathering.
Could it benefit from a dark wash to tie it all together?
Under a satin black primer the thin panel lines seem to POP. Before primer it seemed you could hardly see them. Something tells me to really go easy on the coats of paint to keep these strong.
Fuselage is an easy assembly
Now the engine is nice, unfortunately it is almost completely hidden on this model behind the fan blades and props. For that reason it’s simple dry brushing and some grease stains.
So that brings this week’s session to a close. Off for a poker weekend with my buddies. Back again next week!
Ok paint has started! This is a totally new experience for me. I picked up a ton of MM enamels at an estate sale recently for about 10 cents ea. This gave me all except RLM71 for this build and I need to keep the cost down. Already had enamel thinner so one of my club friends is giving me advice on how to paint with them. I’ve thinned this down to the consistency of milk. It sprayed pretty well i think given no details have been lost in the application 
A little hard to see it given the satin primer but hopefully it’s good enough for you guys to see how it looks. Any advice or tips is highly appreciated…
Looks great so far. Looks like the wing and fuselage went together nicely. Also looks like the cowl panels are nice and tidy. Looking forward to paint!
Let’s add some color!
I have located some RLM65 & 71 now so this can continue into the weekend. Without a local hobby shop being open that was harder than expected.
Lots more painting happening today. All the major parts are done. The markings are all airbrushed. Just the red 8 and squadron markings will be decals.
The camo is freehanded To give a soft demarcation between colors
That Model Master paint must last forever. I truly wonder how old these are 
they spray nice and that’s what matters. Later tonight I’ll dullcoat the whole thing and get ready for decaling.
now lunch and some outdoor projects on this beautiful day in southern Ohio!
So I learned that the top crosses weren’t right. Turns out I pulled the wrong mask off.
Fixed it today! Here’s a during and after shot…
some touchup to do but overall very successful. Nothing that some weathering won’t hide 
Looking great so far. Your work has inspired me to order this kit. It seems like this is the only FW 190A early version kit out there in 1/32. Looking forward to the finish.
Thanks Hoss. You’re going to enjoy it for sure. 2nd weak point, which is highlighted in the CyberModeler build review is that the gear legs don’t have a good attachment setup. I drilled a hole in the leg and inserted some brass rod. This at least gave me a solid post to place in the hole in the gear bay. The plastic post on the gear leg is really small and doesn’t lock into the hole at all.
Now that the decals are on I’m not worried about moving the model around and breaking the gear so let’s install it.
I made a jig for alignment out of telescoping brass rod pieces. Once I had everything aligned (double checked with the protractor in the pic), I locked it all down with thick CA. Fells pretty good so far but I’ll leave it for an hour or so before i remove the alignment jig.
I may be late to your “Butcher Bird” build but, I’m certainly not too late to admire your work. Really sharp construction, painting and detailing. You are doing the Fw 190 justice for sure. Those Pacific Coast seem to be real beauties. I have their Macchi c205 Veltro and Fiat G.55 kits in my stash. I’m saving those 1/32 kits for a later time when my eyesight can no longer handle 1/72 and 1/48. PC turned out some really impeccable kits and are certainly worth building. Keep up the fantastic work.
Wow thanks for the kudos Joe! I hope this final set does it justice! She’s all done. Unfortunately I lost the sun before I could take pics. I did beat the rain though [um]
Everything is straight out of the box. Every part PCM showed in the instructions made it onto the plane, including the teeny tiny seat belt bracket. Since I’m not familiar with German WWII aircraft colors I painted everything right from the PCM call-outs. This was a tremendously fun build. Kit went together great. There’s a few watch-outs I’ve come across since my last post so I’ll highlight those in this final set of pics. I am working on a base for it so may add that in here later.
These 1st 2 are my favorite pics…
Since I usually do jets this was new. Tried some scratching along the wings with a piece of foam and some silver paint. Thought it would tone down under the dullcoat but it didn’t. What do you guys think of it?
The wheel shafts were about 2mm too long. I cut off 1mm and drilled out 1mm on the wheel so that they sat in tight to the gear leg. It shows up even better in the underside pic
I used Vallejo washes and AK powder to do all the weathering.
There’s no mount for the step. If I had seen this ahead of time I would have drilled 2 pilot holes before painting. Also mount the nose guns before gluing on the cowling in front of the windscreen…or the guns may fall into the fuselage, never to return. Fortunately mine didn’t. I set them in place with canopy glue to make sure they didn’t slide into it.
Thanks for tagging along with me. Till next time, model on!
That turned out awesome. That thing is huge too. Very nice work all around and it looks stunning.
BK
Looks great! Congrats! Nicely done. I like the Eastern front camo scheme with the early 190. Thanks for the tips. I have this post bookmarked.
Absolutely tremendous build Mongoose. Your 190 looks really sharp. You did a slick job on fixing the minor issues. The sponge chipping looks righteous. I personally use that technique myself and think it produces an excellent effect. Bravo on finishing up this terrific kit.
Wow that turned out great.