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FOCKE -WULF 190 D-9 "DORA"
Kit :Tamiya 1/48 scale
Paints:Gunze-Sanyo
Decal:Eagles Cal
Resin:MDC update for FW190 D-9
KMC Moving parts FW190 D-9 Tamiya
History:
I will not start this article with the story of the Dora
,because it as been told so many times and I would not be able to give more
than all the books existing on the market about it. I am
not an expert, I am just someone who likes building models and especially
World War 2 aircraft.
The aircraft I have made is a Focke-Wulf 190 D-9
without a Werke Nummer, found in Stockheim, Germany as a wreck
in May 1945. It belonged to II./.JG2 and the pilot is unknown, this
is a good example of a late war
Luftwaffe aircraft, because we can really see all the different component
colors on the aircraft. This is
why I choose this quite difficult paint scheme for my model.
The
kit:
This is the 1/48 scale Tamiya kit. The general fit is good
although there is a gap between the fuselage and the wings and to me this is the
only bad point of the kit regarding the fit.
| Many of you know that there is some wrong shape
elements with this kit like the wheels, the spinner and the propeller
blades. This is why I decided to enhance my kit with the Wurger mechanic update resin set for the Tamiya kit.
This area
is totally wrong, but now on the
after market scene we have the great MDC update wheel wells for the D-9,made by
Vincent Kermorgant. This is to me the ultimate resin set to get to do a correct
DORA. The fit of this resin set is absolutely perfect and no sanding or
adjustment is needed just paint it and put it into place....same for the interior. |
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Building:
So for a change, you can start with a resin set for the
wheels well's. I decided to leave some of the elements unpainted (most of the
components at this time were not painted....just primed). You can let
your imagination do the rest……
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So the engine is painted with Alclad aluminium and all
the rest with RLM 66. Then some copper wires are added to it to simulate all the
connection from the fire wall to the engine. Then to give it a dirty look, a black
wash is added and a light graphite dry brush is done.
| Next was the interior. Resin parts were painted RLM
66 and some of the details have been painted with a fine brush, a dark wash has
been put on this section and again a light graphite dry brush is done.
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I decide to remove all the moving parts of the flying
surfaces and replace
them with a KMC resin set. I
started
with the tail, then the elevators and finally the wings. Now it was time to close the
fuselage, so I put the engine insert (resin component) and the cockpit inside one of the
fuselage halves and glued them with CA glue just to keep it in to place.
Then with an 5 minute epoxy glue I fixed them inside the fuselage and closed up
the fuselage halves.
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At this
point the machine gun cowling is put into place and glued with CA as well as the front radiator. The
complete canopy is masked and glued on the fuselage. The tail rudder was
glued as were the elevators. The fuselage is put aside so I could start working
on the wings. The shell ejection chutes on the underside of the Tamiya D-9
wing is wrong, because based on the D-13 wings, there is only one hole under the central wing.
This was because the D-9 in the US that Tamiya did it's model from had it's wing
mixed up with a D-13 that was also brought back from Germany after the
war. A deal has been struck to swap the wings on these two planes to get
both planes correct. So with
the MDC set, this part is replaced with great care, because when you remove
this part, the center wings become really fragile. So take your time when doing
it. The inside of the wheel well is open and the replacement parts is
glued in place. I may repeat myself here, but this
resin set is so well done that almost no dry fitting is needed.....just follow the
instructions.
The wings
are now assembled together and we can attach the wings to the fuselage.
Here we reach the main problem of this kit, because a gap appears
between these two components With a piece of sprue inserted inside the
fuselage I enlarged the width of the fuselage a bit to reduce the gap.
Then with Mr Surfacer I filled the
holes and sanded them until I was satisfied. Now comes the most exciting
part of
modelling…..AIRBRUSHING!!!!!!!!!!
Painting:
Before doing anything, the complete model is cleaned
with fine steel wool and polished
with a soft cloth. I started with Alcald for the under wing. Then
this part is masked and the RLM 75 is sprayed, masked again, then RLM 76 is
sprayed on the whole fuselage. Then the wings are primed with RLM 77 and
the RLM 83 is spayed. The side of the fuselage is masked to have a
straight line (just like the real a/c). The front cowl and the top of the
machine gun cowl is painted with RLM 83,masked,and then the RLM 75 is spray
followed by the RLM 81. The mottling is done at this stage with a very
diluted paint …up to 90 % at a low pressure (you can achieve some very goods
results) When the complete a/c is done, I painted the Reich Defense Band,
and just sprayed a gloss clear coat to sealed the paint.
Decaling:
The decals came from the Eagles Cal decals sheet EC21
"Yellow tail's D-9's" and they went on without any problems.
Finishing:
All the small parts that were put aside are now put
into place (landing gear, antennas etc). The exhausts are from Moskit and
again they must be put into place with great care as they are very
fragile. The weathering and exhaust
stains are done with the airbrush and I used Humbrol 11 for the chipped paint effect.
At last a clear satin coat is sprayed on the entire
model and the stretch sprue antenna wire is made and glued in place.
The guns are replaced with microtubes from Tarmac.
For this model, I would like to especially thank
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My
friend Vincent for the MDC resin set,
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Fillipo Rossetti for the paint
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Jerry Crandall for the scan of the real a/c.
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