decaling the Tamiya Fw 190 A-3

My small scale Fw 190 was well received on britmodeller.com..thanks very much indeed chaps!
I don't think I'll be posting any shots of this Tamiya Würger there though.  Decals went on today, using the Kagero Air Miniatures JG 26 set. This is a III. Gruppe machine with a nice Adlerflügel or eagle wing design. The disaster occurred when I tried to use the Tamiya stencils ..the dotted walkways just disintegrated in the water and many of the other stencils and one Hakenkreuz went the same way!  Then the sun turned my Klear coat into a gloopey mess - should have stayed in the garage!

Threw on the rest of the decals - or what I'd got left - and took a few snaps for posterity. At least the Kagero sheet performed well as usual - I recommend them for your Luftwaffe subjects!  Of course after taking a few shots I realised that I still have some detail painting to do  - along with adding some replacement stencils and a swastika - and then I spotted the deliberate mistake! But I'm not going to mention it here otherwise you'll notice it immediately...I am pleased though with the stance I achieved on the landing gear..I do feel that a proportion of the Tamiya Fw 190 kits you see finished have a rather over-done toe-in appearance. Note the 'over-painted' factory codes on the fuselage..

Thanks for looking, bye for now...

Fw 190 F-8 (Revell 1/72)

Finished in SG 4 markings, Italy spring 1944.

Just finished - but the sun is so strong here today it's making the 'sandgelb' look a little 'pink'. The mottle is a bit heavy-handed (didn't turn the compressor down - I realise that now!). Exhaust staining with Windsor & Newton acrylic varnish coloured with a little 'leather brown'...note Mickey Mouse unit emblem, over-painted fuselage band and over-painted swastika, not a decal..

Tamiya (1/48) and Revell (1/72) Fw 190 (2)

Progress on two of my current batch of Fw 190s. Above, Revell 1/72nd F-8 in sand/ olive green mottle scheme of SG 4 serving in Italy in early 1944. These Fw 190s had most of their markings except for the fuselage Balkenkreuze over-painted. I was tempted to just decal and paint over but then decided to have a go at producing a mask, filling in with black and then over-painting... WEM enamel sandgeld is far too dark for my tastes and has been lightened with light grey- which makes it look a little too 'pink'. Olivgün mottle still to come should hide that! Below Tamiya 1/48 A-3 to be finished in a III./JG 26 scheme with Adlerflügel 'eagle wing'  decoration.

Modelling the Focke Wulf 190 - Airfix, Eduard, Tamiya edit December 2018

Above; my Eduard 72nd scale Fw 190 A-5

Above;  a glass of Sekt for successful JG 1 pilot Uffz. Heinz Born of 9./JG 1. Below; models by Aaron Scott - some beautiful work on an Eduard A-8 in the markings of II./JG 300..

I like to edit and update my blog pages from time to time, especially those that are 'most-viewed' so keep checking back as I add and review more Fw 190 pics.

Up-dated 'old-tool' Airfix A-8 in 72nd scale back-dated to an A-6 with 'flattened' gun cowl cover and new canopy and cockpit in the markings of night-fighting Staffel 2./JG 2. Yes, the cooling fan at the front of the BMW radial was painted blue/grey as well!

Below; another view of my new-tool 72nd scale Airfix Fw 190 in EagleCal decals for Klaus Bretschneider's "yellow 1N" 6./JG 300 wilde Sau 'porcupine..

Above; another view of my new-tool 72nd scale Airfix Fw 190 in EagleCal decals for Klaus Bretschneider's "yellow 1N" 6./JG 300 wilde Sau 'porcupine'

I like to edit and update my blog pages from time to time, especially those that are 'most-viewed'. Herewith some views of my Tamiya 190 A-3 (1/48th) and the Revell F-8 (1/72nd) finished in SG 4 colours with the cowl Mickey mouse artwork. The Revell kit is starting to show a fair bit of flash now, and is no longer the best 72nd scale late Fw 190 Anton. The Tamiya A-3 also proved a little  tricky - the cowling, fuselage and lower and upper wings all have to be brought together at the same time to get them nicely lined-up !

I have a long way to go before rivaling Jes Touvdal's Fw 190 collection, but I intend to give him a run for his money!

I've also done some more work on the massive 24th scale Airfix kit. Thanks to a couple of builds on the Airfix Tribute forum I've stumbled on the solution to the engine length problem - omit part 36, the rear of the crankcase, highlighted in the photo below. The BMW 801 is the example on display at Duxford - note the bright alu of the cylinder heads and the brownish exhausts..click on the photos for a closer view.

..and as this page - for some reason - is the most popular on this blog, here is a special treat for new visitors - above, some of the Fw 190s finished on this blog, and, below, a couple of nice pics in my collection via Fw 190 author Jean-Yves Lorant; below, Priller in his 'black 13' 'Jutta' and a rare image of III./JG 54 A-8s seen in early 1945. Below that, three views of late-war Fw 190s belonging to JG 300, the leading Geschwader in the Defence of the Reich  or Reichsverteidigung

Fw190 G-3, W.Nr.160057 (CE.No.2900). This example was one of two captured at Gerbini in Sicily by the 85th FS of the 79th FG in September 1943. It was shipped to the US in January 1944 where repairs were made and it was flown to NAS Patuxent River in February. Model is the old Airfix A-8 with replacement white metal cowl cover and vacform canopy.

Airfix Spitfire XII 1/48 - finished

Just a few additions and this one is finished. I can see where I've gone wrong here already - DL-K wasn't fitted with the retractable tailwheel for a start and I've drooped both ailerons (thank you Paul!)....oh well. Can't get through a build without making at least one (make that two or three..) major blunder(s). Finished in the markings of Sq. Leader Raymond Harries. Harries was appointed CO of 91 Squadron in December 1942. Based in Hawkinge this unit was one of the first to receive the new Griffon-engined Mark XII in April 1943.

Harries was ultimately the most successful pilot to fly a Rolls-Royce Griffon powered Spitfire, scoring 11 kills including a brace of Focke-Wulf Fw 190s on 25 May 1943. Flying Spitfire XII DL-K (EN 625), Harries intercepted Fw 190s from SKG 10:

" I was leading Blue Section on a defensive patrol. I had just returned to base, with my No 2, had just landed when the scramble signal was given from the watch office. We both immediately took off again, and saw enemy aircraft approaching Folkestone. I sighted one lone Fw 190 at sea level returning to France. I came in from his starboard side, delivering a three-second burst at 250 yards. The enemy aircraft hit the sea tail first, split in two, and sank immediately.."

The Fw 190 was thought to be Fw 190A-5 Wrk Nr 2511 of 6./SKG 10, flown by Oberleutnant Josef Keller.

"..I then spotted another Fw 190 to starboard. I flew straight over the top of it in order to identify it in the failing light. The enemy aircraft pulled his nose up and gave me a quick squirt. I pulled straight up to about 1000ft, and turning to port, dived right onto his tail, opening fire from 300 yards and closing to 150 yards. I fired a four-second burst, seeing strikes and flames all over the enemy aircraft. The enemy aircraft gradually lost height, with smoke and flames coming from it, skimmed for some distance along the surface of the water and then sank. I orbited around taking cine gun snaps of the oil patch and pieces of wreckage that were visible..."