Hasegawa 1/32 Fw 190D-9 Brown 4

[jkim]

Thanks guys! Pushing forward a little bit more on this Dora. Here are the Eduard brass ammo chutes glued into place and painted.


With the engine plug complete and temporarily in place, I can also dry-fit the cockpit tub.



I'm now ready to glue the fuselage halves together. There are three sub-assemblies that go inside the fuselage. The cockpit slides into place after the fuselage is together so that will be last.


I'm not sure if I showed the painted Eagle Editions resin tail wheel strut so here it is...


The tail wheel is glued into place with CA glue. I had to trim the corner of the tail wheel base to allow the tabs of the horizontal tail planes to fit.


The engine plug is glued into the starboard fuselage side first.


The joint along the base of the supercharger intake was treated with multiple applications of Mr Surfacer 1000.


The little scoop on top of the gun cowling is not ready for attachment but I've hollowed out the end using an x-acto blade.


The fuselage halves are now fused together using Tamiya Extra Thin cement.


Double checking to see if the engine plug is seated correctly.

[Stikpusher]

Man I always like the shot you take of the engine rear installed with all the plumbing. Hard to believe that it does not run for real.

[Duke Maddog]

Agreed! I'm sure of you put a drop of fuel in that, it'll fire right up!

Just like your cockpits: I always feel I can slip in and start pushing buttons and flipping switches!

[jkim]

Thanks guys! Yeah, I like that engine shot too... it gives a good look into the work done in that area before it gets covered up by the wing structure.

A small detail to attend to... earlier, I had placed a section of brass tubing in the wheel well to accept a piece of wiring so that the wiring run doesn't just end at the edge of the plastic part. I've cut and bent small pieces of copper wiring so that they will continue the wiring run into the engine compartment. These parts can be painted dark grey and added afterwards.


The interior of the radiator cowling pieces have been painted. RLM02 Green Grey (Mr Hobby Aqueous) and Black (Tamiya) are the primary colors used here. The radiator face has been dry-brushed with Testors Silver to highlight the mesh. You can see that the hole for the prop is a bit wonky... the result of trying to enlarge an existing hole to accept the Henri Daehne prop shaft. No worries though... there is a plug glued to the rear with hole that is perfectly centered.


While the fuselage seams are being cleaned, this is a good time to check out the fit of the external fuselage components, including the re-shaped gun cowling and the large, Ta-152H-style tail unit.





The Fw190D-9 canopy, made of flexible plexiglass, narrows as it slides open to the rear. In order to replicate this effect, I've glued some tabs to the inside edge of the canopy. These tabs are simply pieces of photoetch sprue that I found in my spares box and glued into place with CA glue.


You can see how the tabs catch the fuselage sides, mimicking the pinching effect of the real canopy.




Next, I'll be doing some work on the landing gear parts. Mostly kit parts augmented with a pair resin/metal composite legs by Strategic Ordnance Works.

[jkim]

Working on the landing gear components, I've added a spring to the actuator arm using lead wire. I've also added a small junction box and electrical wiring. The black stem is the post from which the tail landing gear retraction cable will be attached later.



Brake lines have been added to the main landing gear legs, made of copper wiring and held in place by small sections of brass tubing. The last length the brake lines were fashioned with a slightly thicker gauge of wiring and will be added after the gear legs have been painted.


These components will be primed with Mr Primer Surfacer 1000 before painting.

[BlackSheep214]

Oh my...

[jkim]

I've started painting the landing gear components. Base color of RLM02 (Mr Hobby Aqueous) over a coat of Mr Primer Surfacer 1000.


While that paint dries, I am going to modify/improve the various external antennae including (from top to bottom): the FuG16ZY loop antenna, FuG16ZY morane antenna, pitot tube and FuG25a IFF antenna.


Generally speaking, the kit representations for these parts are too thick and can be easily replaced with other materials. For the IFF antenna, I simply drill a small hole in the bottom of the base and glue a piece of stretched sprue. I like stretched sprue in this instance since it is not as easily bent as thin wire. Note that I have kept the molded antenna intact to make the base easier to hold.


The molded antenna is then snipped off.


The modified antenna is now more to scale.


The FuG16ZY morane antenna tip is snipped off and replaced with a piece of copper wire.



The tip of the pitot tube is similarly replace with a section of brass tubing.



The loop antenna is snipped off of its base. I like to use the thin aluminum from a soda can for this replacement.



A pin vise is used to hold the small base. Two holes are drilled out using the tip of an x-acto blade for the new loop.


The thin strip of soda can material is wrapped around the shaft of an appropriately-sized paint brush to get the circular shape.


One end is attached first with CA glue. Since there is a bit of springiness in the loop, it's best to let the glue cure before attaching the other side.


After attaching the other side, you can gently adjust and re-shape the loop to your satisfaction.


Four quick and easy modifications!

[Stikpusher]

Might be a bit more challenging to do those mods in smaller scales. But in 1/32, they looks quite simple to pull off.

[BlackSheep214]

Might be a bit more challenging to do those mods in smaller scales. But in 1/32, they looks quite simple to pull off.

[Floki]

Quick and easy but increase detail a ton