(Red) One more done before the snow!

Modeling Subjects Aircraft
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Talk about squeaking this one in under the wire! As I was taking these pics, it started to snow (first time in Michigan)! Therefore, they might not be of the best quality, but they’re good enough.

The kit is Airfix’s 1/72 Fw 190 D-9 (I’ve been getting quite a few Airfix kits lately… hm.). Decals were provided for the aircraft “Red 1”, and of course I couldn’t resist building it. The mottling may be a bit large, but I used a Paasche VL to apply it, and it’s admittedly not the more accurate airbrush out there, especially for the scale. Also, the sides are a bit dark, but that’s mostly due to the exhaust stains.

It’s really a suprisingly nice kit. The interior is only so-so, and you can’t pose the canopy open without a LOT of work, but the finished model turned out rather nice.

OK, enough yappin. Here’s the pics:

Any serious critiques are more than welcome. I’ve gotten to the point where it helps to be nit-picky, so don’t be afraid to pipe up if you see anything I can improve. Don’t worry. I can take it. [;)]

This may be my last finished aircraft model for a while. After this I’m going to begin work on a scratchbuilt docking trolley for my Bv 222, made from plastic sheet and angle stock, bits from my spares box, and whatever else I want to use. I was able to get some decent plans in 1/72 off the internet for it, and apart from a few areas, it doesn’t look like it’ll be too difficult to do. (Very angular, very few, if any, compound curves.) Finding wheels will be a challenge, but we’ll burn that bridge when we get there.

I also need to get some more work finished on my H-4. It’s been languishing in limbo for a while, and it’s about time I get back to getting some serious progress going. The rudder’s almost finished, and I can start wiring the wing.

Thanks for looking! [:D]

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Nice work on the Luftwaffe bird, but “That ain’t no Spruce Goose”. I think it is just a tiny bit too small and short an engine or two.

Darwin, O.F. [alien]

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Well I think it looks just fine. You have already mentioned the the mottling so you covered that on your own. Build wise looks pretty darn nice. A major WELL DONE is in order!

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[#ditto] Nice job man

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Looks great Lucien. I’ve always liked that scheme. Any tricks to painting it so nicely?

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Not bad for an elderly kit. As you mentioned, the mottle is not great. You should be able to get a much tighter pattern with a Paasche VL. It’s actually one of the best AB’s available in it’s price range. Until you have to clean it [:D].

Regards, Rick

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Mike, looks good. The exhaust stain’s not too bad. You might just have to start building conventional stuff more often!
Rick (and Mike), I have a VL as my main A/B, and I’m pretty happy with it. It is a big pain to clean, though! Mike are you using the small needle or the medium sized one? Over the winter you may want to save some scratch and bite the bullet and pick up the small needle and accesories that come with that type of thing. It’s well worth it.

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Nice looking build .

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I’m happy with my airbrush, too, and I’ve used and completely cleaned it so often (every time I use it, in fact) I’ve gotten to a point I can clean it pretty well in about 15 minutes. I only spray acrylics, so Windex and water is all I need.

I use the meduim sized needle exclusively, mainly because I don’t do much tight mottling, and the general consistency of the piant I spray works well with it. I’ll have to try the smaller needle and nozzle if I ever do any more tight mottling like this again, but I’ll have to get a new needle. I think I may have bent the tip a little bit. [:(]

The upper wings were “soft masked” with silly putty. I left a small lip on the putty and sprayed from a distance, so instead of a hard line I got a soft, but defined line. I think it came out great.

The exhaust stains are admittedly too large. It darkened the sides up WAY too much, and blended it too much with the upper mottling. Something to note for the future, I guess.

Basically, this kit was more of the same when it comes to my recent builds. It showed me how far I’ve come as a modeller, and at least one more thing I still have to learn.

(RANT WARNING!!) I’ve noticed that the more popular a subject is, the more people look at the details (is this because I mentioned something, too? I don’t know…[;)]). Compared to an unknown prototye, where there are no expectations, a more common build has a certain set of these expectations that can affect the preception of the outcome of the build. I’m not saying something one way or the other, just stating an observation. This is another reason I like building unknown stuff better than the more common stuff. There’s less pressure on the final outcome. Okay, RANT OVER!

Don’t take any of that the wrong way, guys. All of the wonderful comments are completely welcome, and if nobody pointed out my mistakes, I wouldn’t learn anything (that’s part of the reason I asked you for a blunt opinions. Thanks for those). Every comment here is greatly appreciated. Thanks.

Well. That was longer than I intended it to be! Thanks to those of you who read it all! [;)]

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WOW Very Well Done Build

Bud

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Very nice Dora model !!

Are you being “politically correct” by not adding the Swasticas to the rudder ?

emo07

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I’ve built a large number of German aircraft, and rarely do they come with swastikas. I like to use the kit decals, so as a result, many don’t have the tail markings. One of these days I’m going to break down and get a whole sheet of swastikas from squadron and update my entire fleet, but until then, they go swastika-less.