Today I managed to get some more done on the Butcher Birds...
Prior to gluing the lower wing half in place on the F-8 kit, I did some research. I have been planning on building this one as an A-8 version, which can be done out of the box. I found out that some of the 190 A8's did not have the square wing bulges in place on the upper wing. The kit instructions would have you open the holes in the upper wing to install this part, shown below in this picture:
Here is where the square bulges would normally go. I am pointing at the location with a wooden pick. If I decide to add the square wing bulges at a later time I still can do it. This way I have options...
After deciding not to install the square upper wing bulges, I opened the hole for the ETC 500 fuselage centerline rack.
Once the ETC rack was glued in place, I installed the lower wing halves on all four planes...The A8 / F8 is on the right side of this picture below.
Next step was to build up the cowling assemblies. The early A3 / A4 planes had a different cowl and oil cooler that was mounted on the very front. The oil cooler looks like a big round ring that goes completely around the engine opening.
The later A8 / F8 had an armored oil cooler, and the cowling latches were configured a little differently. Tamiya captured this rather nicely. It a very small detail, but if you look close, it's there.
Here's a close up of the early A3 / A4 style cowl, shown in this picture below.
Followed by the A8 / F8 version:
Lastly, here's a picture showing the four FW's as they look at the moment. The cowls have simply been pushed in position for painting and are held on by friction.
The A8 / F8 plane is in the upper right hand side of the photo.
After a few swipes to clean up some glue that squished out of the seams in a few spots, these guys are ready for the spray booth... No filler was needed.
Please stay tuned for future updates.
As usual,
comments are encouraged.
