SPA Modeler

Well it looks as though my current build, an Eduard Bf 110C, will be complete in a few days, so I will put my hand up for the Fw190 GB over on Britmodeller. I have chosen the 1/48 Eduard A-5 and I will do Egon Mayer's aircraft:



The sprue shots:





As I build at glacier like speed, I will build this one all closed up. AM will be limited (at this stage) an Ultracast seat, maybe Ultracast wheels and an MDC gunsight is all I can think of at the moment. Eduard scribing template and some Airscale LW cockpit placards if needed. The aftermarket:



Regards,

Welcome back,

Having settled on a scheme and with crap weather for spraying the Bf 110, I thought I would get a start on this. I set about building the forward gun area. The fuselage was taped and the gun mounts, fire wall and associated were dry dry fitted. The gun feeds were cut from the ammunition cans to clear the upper gun cover. This is where I deviated a bit and actually applied Tamiya Extra Thin to the pieces, setting the forward section of the fuselage. Once this had set up, I attached the upper gun cover and cemented it into place. It does not need to be a "perfect" fit as the real ones weren't but it all matches up reasonably at this stage. A dry fit with the lower wing shows promise as far as alignment is concerned. The rear of the fuselage is not glued so that, in theory, I can prise it apart to insert the cockpit tub. I have done this successfully on a couple of dry runs of the tub alone. Hopefully it will not come back to bight me once the tub is fully assembled and painted .









I put the engine support rods in and it wasn't too bad, the rear engine plug is now installed and the remainder of the engine just needs to be attached. I may have more difficulty with cowling mounts that extend back to the MG mounts but I may leave them out and rely upon cementing the join closed:







The engine is almost complete. It will be a very basic build and paint as almost zero will be visible once closed up except for the frontal area. Really it is only there to support the prop and the exhausts:





I did some more work on the cockpit tub:







Regards,

That's all for now, thanks for looking.

Good luck with that 190, I hear they are quite fiddly.

Did the same bird with same markings two years ago. If you know how to handle them these eduard 190's are great kits.
I mentioned some of the challenges in my WIP right here on SPAM.

Enjoy your build!

mostrich wrote:Did the same bird with same markings two years ago. If you know how to handle them these eduard 190's are great kits.
I mentioned some of the challenges in my WIP right here on SPAM.

Enjoy your build!

What a great build! I agree with the thought about the kits. I think they got a bad rep because people weren't used to the engineering which has very little tolerances. There are some pitfalls such as the gun compartment but if you take your time and test fit, the result is well worth it.

Informative and a very nice result! I will be referring back to it. In the kit instructions, Mayer's aircraft appears to be the only one with outer armament. I am thinking MG FF? That would be great as I found a Master Barrel A2-A5 set floating in the stash last night. MG 17 tips, MG FF barrels, MG 151 barrels and pitot.

Regards,

This is a very entertaining WIP, with a lot of pics & close ups and text!

Like it!




- Kari

I ran an Fw190 GB a couple of years ago on FSM and having built one of these myself as well as watch numerous other builds I have to agree that these are very doable kits. There are some things to watch out for in regards to wing root gaps and fuselage fit issues but if they are taken time with and the builder has good planning all of these issues can be overcome. Great work and progress so far. I don't think I've ever seen a better cowl machine gun cover fit than you have here. Excellent fitting.

Given half a chance I'd take another one of these on.

kahunaminor wrote:(...)Informative and a very nice result! I will be referring back to it. In the kit instructions, Mayer's aircraft appears to be the only one with outer armament. I am thinking MG FF? That would be great as I found a Master Barrel A2-A5 set floating in the stash last night. MG 17 tips, MG FF barrels, MG 151 barrels and pitot.

Regards,

Thank you, Kent. It had indeed MG FF in its outer stations. Most of the pilots passed on them due to weight reasons.
There are some pics to find of Mayer's A-3 and A-4, also of his A-4/U7 but I only managed to find this one of his A-5 in a German publication:

source: Focke Wulf Jagdflugzeug, Peter Rodeike; Rogge 1998

Thanks one and all,

I continue the build phase, preparing sub assemblies to minimise time painting. The complete engine has been attached to the engine mounts with a good dose of prayer and crossed fingers to get the alignment correct:





I then set about the much maligned cowling assembly. Dry fit showed promise and again I muttered some words to a significant deity. First the central upper was aligned and secured, then each side in turn. I use Tamiya Extra Thin in small doses and adjusted where I saw fit, testing against the fuselage and assembled engine. When I was happy, I set the last two ring pieces and then gave everything a swipe with Mr Cement S ( thanks to Spencer Pollard and his The Kit Box blog for the tip on different glues):




A dry fit with shows promise. It will line up better once I install the cockpit assembly and close the fuselage up. I then sprayed the engine MM Flat Black and set it aside:





I then turned my attention to the wings. Eduard supply but don't tell you about pieces I3/4 which are the wing root cannon lower assemblies to use if you are going to close the wing root cannon. I stole the idea from someone else, whose recent build escapes me, so I cannot take credit. Looking at the pieces, they have supports for the covers to assist in placing them. I assume they will hold the covers in the correct position once you have chain drilled the upper wings:



That's all for now.

Regards,

Tough kit, I've done few.. Looks like you have it licked though. I did Mayer's A-5 with the Hasegawa kit a few years ago. He was a great pilot.