Here is my first
Dora model, to which I've added the Aires Detail Set. This was by far the most
complicated model I've ever built. It was a model from which I both learned and
improved different modeling techniques (looking at my past three airbushed
models, I really think I progressed a lot).
- First time I worked with a
resin detail set, and subsequently cutting large areas from the fuselage
- First time I used PE sets to
add further detail
- Greatly improved my
airbrushing skills: achieved good results on mottling; free-hand, too!
- Used Alclad II for first time
- Spent more time researching
than building
- Used a new method of
weathering and emphasizing panel lines (although it's been used before, I
kind of came up with it without knowing its existence)
Click on
images below to see larger images
One thing which
should be pointed out first is that the Aires Detail Set is not at all easy to
fit into Tamiya's Fw 190D-9, and it requires excessive sanding and cutting. Even
though I may have had bad luck with the set I used, one should expect a lot of
extra work, if he chooses this detail set for his Dora. In the following article
(which is quite long, actually), I will describe all the issues, both good and
bad, that occurred during this project. A big issue, for instance, was removing
the resin blocks from most pieces, and can be a real challenge if one does not
own a dremel machine.
As always, I started
with the interior: I used the cockpit from Aires, due to the nice detail it
offered. The Aires seat broke when I tried removing it from its resin block, so
the Tamiya one was used. The instrument panel was replaced with the Aires PE
one. The cockpit was then painted in RLM 66. The control stick from Aires was
much longer than the Tamiya one, and after consulting some references, I decided
to go with the latter one. Lastly, the Aires PE seat belts were used, and they
went on nicely. Before placing the cockpit inside the fuselage, I had to remove
the engine cowling, which was done by drilling many holes, close to each other
and carefully getting rid of the cowling. After the fuselage and cockpit were
finally done, the firewall piece was added and the interior of the engine
compartment was painted with RLM 02. Afterwards, it was time to take care of the
wings.
The landing gear bay
piece offered by Aires was short and slightly curved outwards. Yet, no matter
how much sanding and cutting was done, the said piece still managed to leave a
3mm gap between itself and the firewall (see last picture) and a 2mm gap between
itself and the lower half of the wing. Next came the gun bays and fitting them
into the wing roots proved to be just as challenging as everything else. It was
here that I did a measurement mistake, cutting the gun bay panels (from the each
wing) 1mm more than the size of the panels from Aires. I painted the undersides
in RLM 76. the landing gear bay and gun bays in RLM 02, and left the project at
that stage.
Four months after
that, I started working on the engine, which I painted with Alclad II Steel,
giving excellent results (loved it!). The plumbing was done with copper wires
and stretched sprues. Finally, the whole engine was painted by hand with a
combination of light brown and steel (thinned 50/50) in areas where it could've
been dirty, and then it was left aside.
Three months after
the engine episode, I started to work on the camouflage scheme. The scheme seen
here is rather speculative. My first two attempts were the "Blue 15"
and "Black <||" schemes, but since the kit decals were stubborn and
broke, I had to invent my own RLM 75/83 scheme: some more mottling on the
fuselage and the "blue 1" decals. This scheme represents a plane which
could've have belonged to 4./JG6, but I doubt its actual existence. Fortunately,
this third scheme came out without problems, and the model was ready for the
last part: attaching the engine.
This last process
took 2 days to come to completion. On the first attempt, the engine, glued with
CA, went together with the fuselage almost too nicely. It took me a few hours to
later discover that the engine was glued in a forward-leaning position.
Frustrating as it was, I had to remove it from the firewall and re-glue it,
while inserting some scratch pieces to keep it horizontal. But problems kept
coming: the engine proved to be too long, so I had to cut its propeller shaft,
so I could fit the radiator piece as close as possible to its actual position.
The engine cowling from Tamiya (which I used to calibrate the position of the
radiator) proved to be longer than the Aires one (see 2nd last picture). So much
for painting the cowling parts! Also, I later found out that the ammunition
boxes between the engine and the firewall were too short and could not reach the
ejection chutes from the lower wing (see last image). These flaws were beyond my
abilities to fix and were left alone.
Lastly, for
weathering the panel lines, I drew along the panel lines with a normal HB
pencil. I then rubbed those pencil marks with my index finger, until a smooth
shade was achieved; the same was done for the cannon and ejection chutes smoke
marks. Any excess pencil marks were simply erased (preferably a clean eraser).
The kit was finally finished after 4 more days of adding final details and
assembling: landing gear, machine guns, propeller, canopy, antennas etc.
And there it is! The
project was finally done after 10 months since started (it took 2 months of
work) and no matter how many flaws occurred during its construction, the plane
is now flamboyantly sitting on the shelf. I guess having a nice camouflage
scheme and a lot of extra detail at the same time can result in a great-looking
model.
References used:
- Focke
Wulf Fw 190D-9, Volume 1, Jerry Crandall
- Luftwaffe
Fighter Aircraft in Profile, Volumes 1 & 2, Sundin and Bergstrom
And all my thanks to the all ARC
members who helped me via the Forums!
I hope you all enjoy
the pictures!
Cheers,
Tudor
Gheorghiu
Click on
images below to see larger images
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