Fujimi Focke-Wulf Fw-190D-9
Comments
7 February 2017, 14:24
gorbyNow this is more 'my thing' Gary. Looks like you have made an excellent job out of a mediocre kit. The sepia shots are particularly effective.
7 February 2017, 16:10
Gary BrantleyThanks gorby! I'm glad it's to your liking. Yeah, the kit is known far and wide for being a real dog. Of course, I didn't know that when I bought it. 😉 After a lot of futzing about with it, I think it looks okay too. Heh, heh, I do love playing with those tinting effects. Like a kid in a toy store I guess...🙂
7 February 2017, 17:36
Gary BrantleyThank you Razvan! Thanks for having a look and leaving a comment, that's much appreciated sir! 🙂
7 February 2017, 20:39
Gary Brantley@gorby: When you said, " this is more 'my thing", were you referring to WWII builds, or Luftwaffe birds in particular?
7 February 2017, 23:19
gorbyBoth, but particularly Luftwaffe. Even when I was a kid I was more into Luftwaffe aircraft. My mates were all collecting as many allied models as they could, and I was collecting the oppositions stuff. I would say Axis, but in the 1970's Airfix didn't really do Japanese or Italian WWII aircraft.
It came in useful, because during the school holidays we would cart as much as we could to a friends garage and wage 1/72 scale war. It those circumstance, it's usually helpful it there is two sides.
Don't get me wrong, I'm not into the nazi thing (I won't even dignify it with a capital 'n'), I think the whole ideology is appalling, but German technology of that era, particularly in aviation, was astounding.
8 February 2017, 09:58
wilkyI was into re-enactments myself until I set fire to my arm. Then I scored a heap of old fire crackers from a school friend. Fireworks had been illegal in Australia for some years (still are) and I finally found a use for the ship kits and aircraft I wasn't really interested in. Build them with the cracker inside and the wick sticking out. Much better than setting fire to yourself with petrol for the lawn mower
8 February 2017, 10:05
Razvan Coman@Gorby, not only technology but also the elegance of the lines. That era planes are beautiful. German fighters, Romanian IAR`s, a few of the Yaks, some yankees like Kingcobra and the Lightning, and the Hurricanes, even the Italian Folgore were top in the visual range....Just awesome.
8 February 2017, 10:29
gorbyI couldn't agree more Razvan. I used to be more interested in bombers when I was young, but now I appreciate the beauty of the fighters and twin engined aircraft. Don't forget the Mig 3, Pe 2, Ki-61 Hein, Ki-46... I could go on all day.
The Luftwaffe aircraft I always think have a kind of brutal beauty, but being British, I don't know if that is just a cultural thing.
In my opinion, the most beautiful aircraft of all time is the Bugatti 100.
8 February 2017, 10:55
wilkyIt's a pity that the Bugatti wasn't completed in time to compete. I didn't even know it existed until I saw the Planet models kit
8 February 2017, 11:20
Razvan ComanDisagree on the Bugatti (matter of taste), but yeah i forgot the ki-44 nakajima and Mig 3
8 February 2017, 11:28
gorbyWilky: A couple of years ago in the US a reproduction was built, but unfortunately it crashed, killing the pilot.
8 February 2017, 11:33
Gary BrantleyThanks for stopping in Michael! I appreciate your comment. For such a crappy kit, it doesn't look too bad when finished. It'll have to do as my FW-190D until I build a better kit. 😉
World War Two was such an incredible "incubator" of technology. Just look at how much the science of aviation advanced from the mid-30s to the end of the war. Bi-plane fighters gave way to jet-powered aircraft, ballistic missiles came into fruition, air to air missiles were in use...well the list of examples is long. There were so many beautiful designs I would be hard-pressed to name a single favorite. My collection is small and I have no Italian fighters other than the Cr-32, and none of their graceful WWII designs. Similarly, my collection of Japanese aircraft is very limited as well. Limiting one's model building to just WWII would be a life's work in itself! Thanks to all of you for the great discussion! 🙂
8 February 2017, 12:16
gorbyWhat staggers me Gary, is that from the first powered flight, to something as remarkable as the SR-71 Blackbird was just over 60 years! What an astounding rate of progress! It's just unfortunate that that progress was fuelled by war, or the preparation for war.
8 February 2017, 14:39
Gary BrantleyYes, that is sadly true. I find it staggering as well that the SR-71 was built on 1950s technology! But yes, war gave great impetus to expanding technology. National survival does encourage development of the best, and the latest, technology. President Lyndon Johnson was famously quoted as saying, "I for one do not intend to go to sleep by the light of a Communist moon." Beneath that statement lay the fear that our "enemies" were taking the high ground and our survival as a nation depended on denying them that advantage. The result? The American space program began a feverish race to the moon. Since then, all of our human adventure in "space" has occurred about 250 miles above the Earth. Perhaps now, a new incentive is needed?
8 February 2017, 15:40
Alistair GrahamNice model, I also like the vintage sepia processing. I agree with the above sentiments on the amazing technological advancement in the war years. Ive often wondered where we would be today if there was no WW1 and WW2. I guess I would nit be commuting to work around tge globe like I do. Unless by paddle steamer! The rate of aircraft advancement can be appreciated by looking at the career of Sir Sidney Camm, involved in the design of Hawker biplanes at the start of his career and on the Harrier jump jet at the end. Amazing
8 February 2017, 19:57
Gary BrantleyThanks Alistair! I appreciate the comments, and yes I agree. Camm's career is amazing in it's breadth. My meager collection of 1/48 models includes several Hawker aircraft, starting with the Fury I, and including a Typhoon and a Hurricane, as well as a Sea Fury (that one in my albums here). I guess I should toss in my AV-8B Harrier due to its lineage too. 🙂. Thanks again!
8 February 2017, 20:23
Eugen P.I love every Dora 👍 But look for weighted wheels. Your wheels looks like an edge of a knife on the floor.
8 February 2017, 22:25
Gary BrantleyThanks. Those tires are just over-inflated! 😉. I've struggled with getting the flat section "timed" just right to sit flat on the ground. Mea culpa. 🙂
8 February 2017, 22:31
Album info
I bought this old Fujimi 1/48 kit at a model close-out at a Michael’s crafts store many years ago. Since I only paid a few dollars for it, when I finally got around to building the plane, 15-20 years ago, I decided to try a bit of customizing. The exhausts were originally molded into the fuselage sides. These were cut out, the opening squared and cleaned up and the small vertical braces added. The exhausts were taken from a Pro-Modeller Me-410. I rather clumsily opened up the cowl flaps and added the deflector above the starboard exhausts and fabricated another small scoop for the upper fuselage and the retracting footstep and radio aerial. The “down gear” indicators were also added to each wing, and brake lines were added to gear legs. The cannon barrels are hypodermic tubing from the farm and ranch store. The decals are from AeroMaster Reich Defense Pt.VI-Doras 48-109.
I added a bit of detail to the cockpit, including cutting the characteristic hand-holds on the sides of the instrument panel cowl, added se