Fw 190 A-8 | III./JG 54 Grünherz, Wehrmacht Luftwaffe

1
June 7, 2021
My kit didn't come in a box. This is supposed to be what the box art looks like.
2
June 7, 2021
I have gathered my project materials and continue my research. Finding it hard to find reference photos/drawings of the aircraft depicted (III./JG 54 'Grünherz', 5 + I).
3
June 7, 2021
Sprue A - looks pretty good. Much better than what I have built to date.
4
June 7, 2021
Sprue B - looks good too. Nice panel lines and some rivets.
5
June 7, 2021
Sprue C - The control surfaces on the elevators look a little over the top. And look, a bomb and a drop tank; the options are endless 🙂
6
June 7, 2021
Looks like they put in the effort and made nice wheel well detail for this scale. Bravo!
7
June 7, 2021
Those rectangles on the fuselage service hatch look a little over the top. I may try filing them down a bit.
8
June 7, 2021
The detail on the consoles looks primitive but will do.
9
June 7, 2021
This is the instrument dashboard...LOL.
10
June 7, 2021
A nice improvement from the previous two project's canopies. No scratches, clear and undistorted.
11
June 7, 2021
The plastic is a little think for the scale but as long as it's clear, undistorted and straight I'm happy.
12
June 7, 2021
Not much to the decals and the lack of tail crosses, crosses me 🙂 Anyway, at least they are straight and remarkably thin, and there are some stencils.
13
June 7, 2021
I found these in the same bag as the kit. I may use them; we will see how the kit decals workout.
14
June 10, 2021
The decals didn’t have tail markings 🙁
I found a decent set of tail markings for both 1:72 and 1:48.
15
June 11, 2021
Checked my references and nothing. Checked the internet and nothing. Going to have to ask the experts...
Can someone help me out? The kit builds an A6 or A8. I'm building the A8 and the kit doesn't indicate if I use C19 or C21+A5.
16
June 12, 2021
I have small hands. My fingers are especially small for a male. However, this cockpit is going to make me feel like a giant with fat sausage fingers 🙂
17
June 12, 2021
Work commences in earnest. First a spray of Tamiya XF-63 German Grey on all the interior bits. It seemed to be the closest I had on had to what I saw in other references.
18
June 12, 2021
Cockpit detailed. Only four parts and easy to assemble and paint.
19
June 12, 2021
There was raised detail on the console and dashboard so I just touched some colours on using the tip of a sharp toothpick. Worked ok I think ?
20
June 12, 2021
The dashboard didn’t look so good with flat black dials and white touches for numbers, so I dabbed on some clear glop and now I think it look better ?
21
June 12, 2021
Applied some minor wear a tear using using a couple of AK dark and aluminum pencils. Easy to use and the effects is good. Especially like the wear in the foot well area.
22
June 12, 2021
Cockpit and dashboard in place and fuselage finally together after a lot of adjustment and tweaking; the fit was not great ?
23
June 14, 2021
Picture says it all. I’m quite proud of it. Hope I don’t mess up the rest ?
24
June 14, 2021
I got to tryout the salt chipping technique again. This tine it turned out a bit better but I think the chips are out of scale at 1:72.
25
June 14, 2021
Ya this chips are too big imo.
26
June 14, 2021
Ok. The wings are on and they actually look straight LOL ?
27
June 14, 2021
Looks like you can still see some cockpit details. ?
28
June 14, 2021
Yup. Fair visibility of the cockpit details. May consider doing an open canopy.
29
June 14, 2021
Some good progress so far. Time to do some filling and filing
30
June 16, 2021
I think I mentioned somewhere I don’t have good references. I’m going off what I see online. Some gear bays are the same colour as the wings while others are dark grey. Flipped a coin ?
31
June 16, 2021
Decent quality and detail on the sprue but once it starts coming together you realize it has fit issues.
32
June 16, 2021
I think I did a good job on this hairline seam.
33
June 16, 2021
The bottom seam is a bit fo a problem...
34
June 16, 2021
Those panel lines crossing the seam are an issue...
35
June 16, 2021
Thats not going to turn out well.
36
June 16, 2021
My primer is coming out bad; chunky in fact.
37
June 16, 2021
Yup. Not good. Both airbrushes too. I’m using Stylnez and I heard it is temperature sensitive.
38
June 16, 2021
Ya the primer coat is going to have to be sanded… and what the heck is going on at the seam!
39
June 17, 2021
Before pressing on with more of the build I confront the tiny canopy windscreen and cringe; I still have to figure out how to paint this speck of plastic and not mess up ?
40
June 17, 2021
On the plus side the landing gear is looking good.
41
June 17, 2021
LOL I forgot to paint the outer side of the gear doors. Now I get creative with the masking to protect the already assembled struts, wheels, and tires. btw. It didn’t work; still got overspray ?
42
June 18, 2021
My first time doing preshading
43
June 18, 2021
I was surprised how thin I could get my airbrush lines.
44
June 18, 2021
Time to start painting. I think ?
Going to try this to soften the lines between colours.
45
June 18, 2021
Masking started. I’m not good at handling the tape ☹️
46
June 18, 2021
Turns out I picked a complicated paint scheme ?
47
June 18, 2021
Don’t know why the pic is askew?
48
June 18, 2021
I think ? I got a good shade. Mixed a grey with RLM76 to make it less blue green.
49
June 20, 2021
Painting continues
50
June 20, 2021
Camouflage is looking really nice ?
51
June 20, 2021
I didn’t like the out is scale salt chipping technique I used on the engine cowling so I tried and under coat of aluminum and chipped the surface coat manually using a dental pick. I think it look good and in scale.
52
June 20, 2021
Completely forgot about the yellow wingtips underside. No problem. Done ✅
53
June 20, 2021
OMG! Noooooooo…. ?
I didn’t mask far enough up the wing ?
54
June 20, 2021
Ok. I’m calm now. Problem fixed. Lesson learned. ?
55
June 20, 2021
I had been dreading the mottling but it turns out it wasn’t that hard.
56
June 20, 2021
I let the air pressure low and tried hard to control the flow on my 0.2 mm airbrush but it still sputtered a bit. Overall still look good.
57
June 20, 2021
Propeller assembly finally attached. Looks good.
58
June 20, 2021
Looks good on this side
59
June 20, 2021
Looks good on this side too.
60
June 20, 2021
Yup. I’m liking the look.
61
June 20, 2021
Closeup of the business end of the bird
62
June 20, 2021
The compressor option gives it a bit if a different look but not a huge change.
63
June 20, 2021
I don’t have a suitable stand or jig so I used an only battery fix the kit in place as I dealt with the blue theatre stripe.
64
June 20, 2021
The home made temporary jig worked well and allowed me free access to the entire tail. I need all the help I could get because I such at masking and this was my first attempt at this kind of marking.
65
June 20, 2021
I think it turned out great! I stepped outside my regular Tamiya pallet and tried Vallejo Air French Blue. Very nice paint good smooth coverage and behaviour overall.
66
June 20, 2021
With the theatre strip now on the livery is coming to life.
67
June 20, 2021
Yup…looking good.
68
June 20, 2021
I have to admit at this point that I should not have added the propeller and cowl yet because there is more to do and the delicate prop is now at risk as I fumble with the kit ?
69
June 21, 2021
The navigation lights turned out well. It’s just a plastic bump on the kit, but I paint clear red/green over top of bright silver and voila! Lights ?
70
June 21, 2021
The interior is still busy but a little rough, but I’m still going for an open canopy.
71
June 25, 2021
Time for dealing with some new Vallejo gloss varnish.
72
June 25, 2021
Second coat of glass looks ok.
73
June 25, 2021
Don’t like the textured look I got from the primer. I sanded it and the paint hid it a bit but the gloss varnish really brought it out. ?
74
June 25, 2021
I noticed the gloss clear coats also subdued my chipping on the wings and gear do covers.
75
June 25, 2021
I’m going to try a sludge wash I saw demonstrated online. I made sure I hit soft pastels and in greyscale because I think the bright coloured pastel are probably not as useful on war machines ?
76
June 25, 2021
For what I paid I would expect them to at least not come broken ?
77
June 26, 2021
My wife gave me one of her cosmetic containers for mixing paint. It works great for shaking up the washes! The sparkly lavender lid helps me identify it quickly LOL
78
June 25, 2021
OMG that’s dark. I hope I didn’t ruin all that work!
79
June 25, 2021
Yup that’s really dark
80
June 25, 2021
While the sludge wash dried I decided to try my hand and making my own canopy masking rather than trying to free hand it like on the previous two kits.
81
June 25, 2021
This is the first time using masking liquid. I found it a bit tricky to apply to a smooth curved surface.
82
June 25, 2021
This worked out well
83
June 26, 2021
That ‘sludge wash’ didn’t turn out well. It stained the clear coat!
84
June 26, 2021
Top and bottom the overall paint job has been darkened by the wash. Now the paint is darker than I intended !?
85
June 26, 2021
I guess it looks ok but not what I was aiming for.
86
June 26, 2021
The staining is especially bad here. And I can see a finger print! ?
87
June 26, 2021
Started attaching the gear and other protuberances that I was afford to break off!
88
June 26, 2021
Looking good so far.
89
June 26, 2021
Ok all the little bits attached and time to seal it and get rid of that ultra shiny finish with some good old fashion military dull and flat finish 🙂
90
June 26, 2021
In the next few images I am applying the flat varnish.
Forgot to mention earlier that the decals are great but that I had many mishaps during their application. I'm sure the astute modeller will quickly see the problems...
91
June 26, 2021
One of the decal issues is that one of the green hearts attached immediately to the finish and would not allow me to reposition it; that's some great adhesive. Luckily it is relatively straight but crooked enough to bug me...
92
June 26, 2021
Another issue is that one of the upper national crosses disintegrated as I was transferring it to the upper wing surface; they are simply that thin! SO I substituted from a balkencruze deck set I purchased for this eventuality. However, I found the replacements smaller than the kit decals.
93
June 26, 2021
Flat coats applied but I forgot to do the paint touch ups on things like the pitot tub, pilot's step, gun barrels, etc. 🙁
94
June 26, 2021
Almost finished. Just have a few paint touchups to do. made a rudimentary platform for it to be handled because it's relatively small and fragile.
95
June 26, 2021
I have mixed feelings about the craftsmanship. Some of the kit I am very happy with but a few things were a disappointing blunder.
96
June 26, 2021
I'm generally happy with some of the weathering. The inside of the canopy seal needs to be touched up. I am happy with the modest scratch built details I added Infront of the pilot armoured head rest.
97
June 26, 2021
Almost finished. I will have a full range of glamour shot up shortly but for now I couldn't resist a quickie out in the sun. I still have an issue with tape and masking liquid residue on the canopy of anyone has any suggestions.
98
June 28, 2021
I can see now that I lost a lot of detail to sanding down that bad primer coat. I’m glad I put the effort into the cockpit.
99
June 28, 2021
I’m happy with the detail I added in the upper rear canopy area. I just made the info plate on the pilot headrest armour out of masking tape painted silver then red with some scratches for lettering LOL ?
100
June 28, 2021
101
June 29, 2021
102
July 1, 2021
103
July 1, 2021
104
July 1, 2021
105
July 1, 2021
106
July 1, 2021
107
July 5, 2021
108
July 5, 2021
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110
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111
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July 5, 2021

Comments

46 7 June 2021, 04:41

Łukasz Gliński
Following. Struggling currently with the mottling on mine.

7 June 2021, 09:35

Bruce Huxtable
Watching with interest 🙂 (soo jealous of that canopy, compared with Revell's...)

7 June 2021, 10:36

Rui
You get a canopy for both the A6 and the A8 versions in this kit.

9 June 2021, 04:18

Mathieu
Academy 1/72 serie is really nice to build, this Focke will turn into a beauty.
Cheers.

9 June 2021, 06:30

Rui
Lukasz… I know what you mean about the mottling. I have not reached that point but I'm concerned about messing it up so I'm going to practice first.

9 June 2021, 17:11

Rui
Mathieu… ya it is a nice little kit. At this scale and price point it has nice cockpit and wheel bay detail, and a choice of canopies and ordinance. What it could use is a couple more livery options.

9 June 2021, 17:15

Łukasz Gliński
The Propagteam sets are cool (used one on my F4U), but seal them first. They are quite old and brittle.

10 June 2021, 09:20

Rui
Can anyone help answer the caption for photo 15? I'm building the A8 and the instructions don't indicate if I'm supposed to use the airflow ducts (C19) or C21 plus A5 (not sure what they are but I bet they cool the rear cylinder row). I have looked at my references and online and no conclusive information or pictures in fact. I'm kind of leaning towards the C21+A5 parts but If they are way off base I don't want to spoil my build.

11 June 2021, 05:14

Mathieu
Hi Rui, this is for the compressor equipped sub version (u7) very few birds had it. But I agree with you they look pretty cool!

Focke-Wulf Fw190A-5/U7 'Graf Special' (Hasegawa 09976, 1:48)

11 June 2021, 05:34

Rui
Thanks Mathieu. So It would not be inaccurate for me to Build an A8/U7. Here I thought subversions were all R numbers.

11 June 2021, 06:19

Neil Patrick
Rüstsätze variants (R) were field 'add-on' modifications typically involving weapons and radio configurations. Umrüst-Bausätze (U) were major factory alterations like fuel or pressurisation. Thus it's quite possible for an aircraft to have either an R or a U designation, or both. Am sure some experten will tell us of exceptions, but I like things as simple as possible. 🙂

12 June 2021, 07:25

Guy Rump
Following 🙂

12 June 2021, 08:41

HSC1932
What do the paint fallouts show? Typically they will show the right parts regarding the compressor, etc, for the right version

12 June 2021, 21:50

Rui
The paint callouts do specify things like the gun configuration and the correct canopy depending on if you're doing the A6 or the A8. The the compressor or air ducts are the only options they don't list as one or the other version. Also the paint callouts are generic (eg. black, grey, dark green, etc.). I'm going with the compressor because I haven't seen any other builds with it so we will see how it looks. As for colour guide I'm using instructions from my other kits LOL ?

12 June 2021, 23:26

Dave Flitton
Watching

12 June 2021, 23:27

Guy Rump
I agree with Roland 👍

26 June 2021, 22:46

Rui
Thank guys. Much appreciated.
Took some photos today and will upload as soon as I get them off the camera; I used my old dSLR so I hope they are decent pics.

27 June 2021, 00:36

Nelson Paulo
Good Job there!

1 July 2021, 07:35

Rui
Uploaded a few new photos today. Having trouble with my dSLR. It's a good camera (Nikon D5000) but it hasn't been used in years and I think it's a bit off in focus.

1 July 2021, 16:33

James C
Very nice looking FW Rui 👍

1 July 2021, 17:07

Rui
Looks like the issue is fixed! 🙂

2 July 2021, 04:10

Rui
I will upload the rest of the photos

2 July 2021, 04:10

Rui
I think it's time to stop fussing with it and declare the project finished. I have uploaded the remainder of the photos; wish they were better, but my camera autofocus is off. Anyway, thanks for all the great comments and encouragment.

5 July 2021, 05:26

Łukasz Gliński
Lovely, looks grand in the sun.
Reminds me I need to go back to my mottling one day.

5 July 2021, 07:28

Mirko Römer
Looks like the boxart - mission accomplished!
Lovely work!

5 July 2021, 13:52

Rui
So time to actually finish this Fw 190. Its mostly finished but I did want to do the arial cable so I ordered some rigging...

[img1]

Problem is that I have never used this or done rigging and the instructions are a little skimpy 😀

Anyway, instructions are that the internet is for, right 😆...So I look it up and it seems all I need is a microscopic drop pf cyanoacrylate ate either end of the cable.

Now the challenge is because the canopy is open determining the amount of sag on the cable. And where to attach it on the canopy. I found all sorts of images but some don't show the cable or where it attaches.

Its all bit inconsistent does anyone have any advice or relatively accurate reference. I'm afraid of mucking pop the kit.

Thanks.

20 September 2022, 04:42

Dean Harpster
I'm no expert on WWII aircraft, but it sure looks great to me!

20 September 2022, 04:59

Rui
Thanks Dean. I think this was my third build on returning to the hobby after about 30 or so years and I really enjoyed the build. I also learning a lot of new techniques; some worked well, some didn't.

20 September 2022, 06:25

Album info

Straight out-of-the-box build to practice livery. The only things added was new balkenkreuz because I damaged the kit decals trying to put them on (they were very thin), and swastikas because the kit did not include them.

This was a very enjoyable build. I did make a few mistakes that nearly ruined the project, but I was able to recover.I enjoyed doing the camouflage very much. At this scale I had to do it all freehand because masking was impractical. Some of the weather was also enjoyable, but I'm still not getting the hang of the salting technique for the chipping. Th most enjoyable, oddly enough, was painting the yellow recognition panels and the engine cowl.

Focke-Wulf Fw 190 A-8 | Academy/Minicraft

116 images

1:72

Completed

1:72 Focke-Wulf Fw190A6/8 (Academy/Minicraft 2120)

1:72 Luftwaffe 1940-45 Insignia (Print Scale 48-007)

1:72 Luftwaffe Balkenkrause (Fantasy Printshop FP 1101)

Focke-Wulf Fw 190A-6

Wehrmacht Luftwaffe (German Air Force 1935-1945)
3./JG 54 Grünherz 5 + I
World War 2
RLM74 RLM75 RLM76

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