1/48 Tamiya Fw-190 A4 , JG 2 Nord Afrika

Started by Louis Gardner · 161 · 6 years ago · 1/48, FW-190, Kasserine Pass, Tamiya
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    david leigh-smith said 6 years, 8 months ago:

    Prodigious work, Louis. I love the way you stick to your reference photos and research and strive to replicate an actual subject. Really seems to bring a project to 'life'.

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    Pedro L. Rocha said 6 years, 8 months ago:

    The Werks are at full steam Louis 😉 looking very good, any plane with 79 top cover looks sexy to me ahaha...
    Brilliant idea, to replace the A-3 fin for a later style one! Easy fix that gets you the correct airframe wanted.

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    Tom Bebout said 6 years, 8 months ago:

    Great progress Louis. Looks like you'll cross the finish line very soon.

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    Louis Gardner said 6 years, 8 months ago:

    Hello again everyone.

    Yes David I try to locate a picture or two if possible for the subject I am building. Sometimes I get lucky while other times I don't. I agree that it helps to bring the model to life. Thanks for the compliments on the Iron Werks !

    Yes Pedro, it was a very simple modification to bring the A-3 version up to the A-4 standard. In order to do this you simply sand off the molded in kit details on the early A-3 fin. Then you need to make a small antenna mount for the top of the fin. Once you complete this you will have an A-4.

    I ended up modifying two of the A-3 kits into the A-4 series. Then on one of these A-4's, I made it a late A-4 variant by adding the adjustable louvers just behind the exhaust. The early A-4's had the same open side vents that are found on the A-3's.

    I like the RLM 79 colored planes too.

    Thanks Tom, I sure hope so ... Today I spent too much time on trying to decide what color scheme and markings I would use for the A-8. I was looking for a photo of Otto Kittel and the A-8 he flew on his last mission. So far I know the Werk number and that the side number was "Black 1". He was the commander of 2. / JG 54 at the time of his death.

    So far I have not been successful. Because of this I am going to leave the A-8 kit as is for now. I was really hoping for a JG 54 machine, preferably an "Experten" mount.

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    Louis Gardner said 6 years, 8 months ago:

    Besides doing the research on the A-8, today I got some more work done.

    To begin with, I masked off the areas that were going to be painted with either white or yellow.

    Then I sprayed everything with white. White acts as a great base when painting yellow. It makes the yellow pop a little better and makes it cover nicer too.

    In these next pictures you can see the white paint after it was sprayed on.


    The plane depicted in the photo above will be painted as a plane from I / JG 1.

    This one shown below, will end up being Rudorffer's plane once it is completed.

    The next step was to spray the yellow...




    The plane in this picture will end up as one of the kit decal options. I'm going to build it as Hptm. Hans Hahn, the Commander of III / JG 2.

    The last thing I did was to install the engine, cowling and propeller on Rudorffer's plane.

    This is what it looks like after the masking tape was removed.


    Here's how the JG1 plane will look with the black and white stripes on the cowling...

    and the kit decal version from JG 2

    Getting closer !

    Now I'm getting ready to start working on the ICM He-111 ...

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    Louis Gardner said 6 years, 7 months ago:

    Today was a good day at the Iron Werks...
    I masked off the rear fuselage stripe and sprayed it white.


    Here's how it looks after the masking tape was removed.

    Then I began work on the landing gear. The main gear strut and gear door were assembled first.
    Once these parts dried just a little, I went ahead and installed them. The retraction mechanism was added next. This gave me the ability to "tweak" the gear just a little to make sure it had the proper stance. The wheels were added last...

    Here's a few pictures showing off the new shoes ...




    The main canopy was the next order of business. The roll over / armored structure was carefully glued in position. These clear parts are now ready for masking and spraying in RLM 79.

    The very last part left in the kit was the retractable entry step. I went ahead and glued it in place too. You can see the step in the center of this picture.

    Just a little touch up painting and we should have this one wrapped up soon.

    I also painted some RLM 02 on the A-3 version.




    I'm hoping to get these planes completed next, so I can open up some room on the work bench for additional projects.

    As usual,
    Comments are encouraged...

    Happy Easter !

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    Bernard E. Hackett, Jr. said 6 years, 7 months ago:

    That's a pretty A-4. Nicely done!

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    Paul Barber said 6 years, 7 months ago:

    Loving the progress on the A3 Louis - some really great subtle painting - very nicely done - scale factor and a little fade - beautiful!

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    Louis Gardner said 6 years, 7 months ago:

    Thanks gentlemen for the compliments. I sincerely appreciate them.

    Tonight I added the decals to Rudorffer's plane.



    Tomorrow I plan on spraying the RLM 71 to complete the early A-3 pattern of 71/02/65.

    Then I'll decal it too.

    Progress is progress. I'll take it for today's work.

    As usual, comments are encouraged.

    Thanks for looking.

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    Michel Verschuere said 6 years, 7 months ago:

    Very nice progress Louis, these colors are spot on! Lovely Würger.

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    George Henderson said 6 years, 7 months ago:

    Just found this build(s). A very entertaining and informative thread Louis

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    Tom Bebout said 6 years, 7 months ago:

    Looking good Louis.

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    Pedro L. Rocha said 6 years, 7 months ago:

    Looking good...both of them! Very nice build and paint Louis, thumbs up

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    Bernard E. Hackett, Jr. said 6 years, 7 months ago:

    Louis, I've always wanted to see an FW in 71/02! For the early Wurger (gets the Spitfire, sometimes) that pattern makes sense. The question then is, when did that change, with the -2, or into the earlier -3? Also, I like to see something a bit different. I remember the days when w thought EVERYTHING was 70/71/65. The wide range of Luftwaffe schemes is the attraction, particularly the local variations, over the basic scheme. That and the campaign markings.

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    David A. Thomas said 6 years, 7 months ago:

    Wow, this is gorgeous, Louis! I love the 190, and this scheme is so sharp and evocative of the desert war. Well done, sir!