Home
| What's New |
Features |
Gallery |
Reviews |
Reference |
Forum |
Search
|
|
|
Focke-Wulf Fw 190A-8/R8 by Jordi Farre
This model was in fact built about 5 years ago. It is an original Trimaster 1/48 scale Focke-Wulf Fw190A-8/R8 Rammjager release. Just after last Christmas I realized this kit was showing its age. It had dust all over it, broken or missing parts and a finish that was far below my current standard were some of its drawbacks.
So, having in mind all these things, I finally decided to update my "trusty" Sturmbock. The kit was originally built as an "Out Of The Box" project. I began by removing the entire canopy and landing gear. I also removed the armored glass attached to the canopy sides, cleaned the old paint with alcohol and sanded all the clear parts with fine-grit sandpaper, then with Tamiya's compound until the canopy was crystal clear again.
At this time I decided not to remove the old paint but to simply add a new paint job over the model! On completion of the new paint job, I masked all the crosses and sprayed Tamiya's XF25 Light Sea Grey with a 25% of white. The resulting color was a near perfect match for RLM76. The next step was to apply the RLM75 Grau Violett. I used Gunze Sangyo's H69 with a little white from the same brand. The remaining RLM74 was a mixture of Tamiya XF61 Dark Green and XF24 Dark Grey (1 part XF61 for 2 parts XF24). I did not mask the fuselage's "black 12" - I simply airbrushed the camouflage colors around these numbers with extreme care, once all the paint was sprayed on, I removed the masks from the decals and applied some stencils found in the spare decals box, then I sealed the kit by airbrushing Tamiya's clear in order to protect the surface from the forthcoming weathering process.
The panel lines were enhanced by applying thinned Raw Umber oil paint directly from the tube to the panel lines and immediately wiping the paint with a cloth taken from an old T-shirt. The oil paint gives a nice dirty look to the fighter. The exhaust stains were also reproduced with oil paint. This paint is great because its long drying time and product formula allows one to blend colors in a way impossible to carry out with normal enamels or acrylics. The black cowling weathering was once again done with oils. I drybrushed a mixture of Humbrol's matt black and white oil paint, then applied pure oil black and started blending the colors. With a little practice a nice color degradation can be obtained.
Model, Text and Images Copyright © 2000 by Jordi
Farre
|
After
reinstalling the landing gear and small parts, spraying a coat of Golden
satin varnish and gluing the repainted canopy and aerial in place, my
refurbished Fw190A8/R8 was ready to be proudly displayed in the showcase.