SPA Modeler

Thanks Bruce! Hopefully IMGUR is more reliable than PB. I spent the last couple of days fixing the previous posts in this thread. I wanted it complete before I resumed the build. Now that I've accomplished that, I can move on with this build. Good timing actually because yesterday, I got the flap replacement from Eduard. Kudos to Eduard for their top quality service.


I was able to assemble both components with more confidence since I had the experience with the redundant set




The insides of the wings have already been thinned out prior to receiving the replacement flaps. Now that I've assembled the flaps, I can go on to painting them and then assembling the wings after that.

Lots of little things unraveling for me. My car died on my last night and I had to get it towed to the repair shop. I'm waiting for the call to see how much it is going to cost to fix. I went fishing this morning to relieve some stress and lost my camera... Canon S95... which I use for all of my in-build pictures. What next?

As a result of the lost camera, I've also lost a few in-progress pictures of the painting of the flaps. I pressed an old Rebel XTi into service as a temporary build cam and here is what the painted flaps look like right now.



I am starting to put the wing together. The wheel well insert gets glued in first.



I just found out that IMGUR also prohibits 3rd party linking in their Terms of Service. I'm not sure how long that clause has been there for or what that means for the future but they don't seem to enforcing it at this time. Perhaps I need to look for another host.

Happy 4th of July Spammers!

Yikes... after a day like that I'd find some activity that has less monetary liability if things go wrong for the rest of the day. But your progress looks great. Nice to see paint on those flaps.

Happy 4th of July to you and your family!

Oh man. I know that feeling. Fishing does help and the quiet and solitude is purely bliss. The wings and wheel wells looks fabulous.

Just the perfect amount of weathering in there on those flaps. Looks great!!

Thanks fellas! Not a great weekend but hey, that's life right? Got the car fixed and am looking at replacing my little Canon S95 with something similar. The XTi was too bulky to keep in the workshop so I dug up my old fishing camera... Pentax Optio W20. Photo quality is noticeably poorer with this cam but it'll have to do until the replacement arrives.

With the completion of the Eduard flaps, I can start assembling the major components. The wing halves have been glued together and I've cleaned up the glue seams.



The tail assembly has been glued onto the forward fuselage. I made sure that the mating surfaces were square to each other to make the joint as tight as possible. There is a very small gap on the lower edge of the port side that needs to be filled with White Milliput. Other than that, the seam looks pretty clean and will not need much attention.




The cowling flaps are glued into place. Some extra painting work was spent trying to create some depth on this flat piece.


Here's a look at the fuselage with the tail assembly in place. Starting to look like a Dora now!


I noticed something I missed while inspecting the fit of the cowl flaps. The short shroud over the first exhaust pipe has a thick edge that needs to be trimmed down. Port side...



Starboard side... After the camo painting, the area around the exhausts will be painted black per the early WNr 210xxx Doras. This should make the shroud edges look even thinner.



Next, the radiator face is glued into place.


The Eagle Editions resin radiator cowling is tested for fit. It sits nice and snug even without glue.



I also took this opportunity to check the fit of the wings. It's a very good fit, which is a relief since there is always the chance that the aftermarket cockpit or flaps could throw things out of whack.




A good time to check the view into wheel wells. I think the additional wiring adds a lot of depth and complexity to this area.



There is a bit of a gap at the bottom. Big enough to consider shimming it with plastic sheet instead of just relying on putty.

Good to see this one back on course!

Hey John, I am relieved your car is fixed! My trusty iron, aluminum and plastic steed gave me a lot of grief in December and January; it was one of those times which try men's souls, apparently. I hope you had a good celebratory 4th of July. I was thinking about you yesterday evening when I unboxed my 1/48 Trimaster Dora! Such a pretty kit, I enjoyed how it called to me through the clean lines of its wings and fuselage!

I watched a documentary on the 190 series to finally begin understanding how these planes were designed and manufactured. I felt I was watching your build log....

I tried to enjoy my long weekend despite the Photobucket thing, the car trouble and the loss of my camera. The wife noticed me moping around the house and dragged me out to watch a movie. It was a flick called Baby Driver. I didn't like it but it was good getting out of the house, munching on popcorn and doing something other than stewing on unfortunate circumstances. So... the car is fixed and I pulled the trigger on a used Canon S100 to replace my S95. Soon my modeling operation will be back to normal!

The Fw190D-9 is my favorite aircraft so I'll be looking forward to seeing your Trimaster build when you get around to it, Bruce. Any thoughts on schemes?