Focke Wulf Fw 189 A2 (1:48 GWH)

[Mike]

I broke open this one just prior to new year, and have been fiddling with it on & off in between finishing off the Global Hawk ever since. So far I've constructed the main part of the interior, which was pretty simple to do, although the seams between the wing-root insert and main fuselage have been a bit of a PITA to hide. I'm about to start laying some cabling here & there though, so any remaining wobbles should soon disappear. The small rear windows have been added, and after trying the provided masks, I decided to cut my own, as the supplied masks were a bit out of shape. Hoepfully the rest will be a better fit

I also removed the moulded in dome on the fuselage/wing underside with my Dremel, then scraped it level with the surrounding lip, onto which I've glued the included clear part, centring it on the teardrop shaped opening that was left. It looks a bit daunting at first with all that detail around, but as long as you take your time it's really not a problem.

The outer & inner wing upper panels were joined after a little fettling, the seams given a bead of Vallejo putty, and the excess smoothed off with a wet cotton bud. A quick blast of primer over the seam, and all is well.

[Dads203]

starting to look the part Mike, looks like you did a good job in blending

That interior fillet piece.

Dan

[Mike]

Cheers Dan... it's not perfect in there, but the wiring loom should hide the icky bits

[_H_]

Great stuff Mike. Really looking forward to seeing this come together.

Howard

[andy hood]

Very good work , look forward to seeing the finished model

[Mike]

Me too! No time to do any work on it today, sadly I do have lots of refs to help me with the detailing of the cockpit though

[stringbag]

Looking impressive even at this stage Mike. Those rudder pedals look particularly well defined.

If you need any further info, give me a ring.

Chris.

[Mentalguru]

Looking forward to seeing more of this !

[Mike]

Finally a bit more progress.

I set about detailed the cockpit a bit, and was pleased to see that what's there is actual detail, not some fabrication. There are some items missing, as well as some wiring, but from my searches, the following have been added:

• The wing spar that passes through the cockpit forward of the wing mounted cannon ammo boxes. I made that from a piece of styrene rod topped with a piece of brass sheet bent to shape.
  
• Throttle levers. Two on the main console, with a further one on the sloping forward console, and a "turret" with controls at the tip. The latter parts haven't been added yet for fear of breaking them off.
  
• Some detail was missing from the side of the pilot's console.
  
• Rudder hose running back up towards the fuselage
  
• Bottle strapped to the left pedal boom
  
• A small shelf above the pilot's console. it is there, but very 2D.
  
• Some wiring to the panel above the pilot's console.
  
• Narrow document case next to the observer's seat.
  
• Flares for the flare rack on the wall behind the observer's seat.
  
• 6 more flares beside the downward facing camera.
  
• Various boxes & wiring next to the downward facing camera (not finished).
  

I also lost the control column, so had to make a new one, which needed some additional detail added.

There's a bit more to do before I call it a day, but it's starting to look more busy

[Dads203]

Looks like you managed to clean up the nasty wing fillet Nicely Mike,

Good work mate.

[Mike]

Looks like you managed to clean up the nasty wing fillet Nicely Mike,

Good work mate.

starting to look the part Mike, looks like you did a good job in blending

That interior fillet piece.

Dan

Couldn't you come up with something more original?

[POMPEO]

nice progres mike, this kit looks great, and you have made a great job on scratch, looking ahead for more

cheers

[sammy da fish]

I am watching with great interest, as I have ordered kit before Christmas hope to have soon. Good amount of extra detail going in their. Will be keeping an eye on your superb build, keep it up.

Simon Fisher :good job:

[Mike]

A little more progress - hopefully the end of the cockpit work. In addition to the bits & bobs I'd added in the last photo post, I've now added the following:

• some radio gear in a rack behind the pilot's seat
  
• more controls at the tip of the pilot's side console
  
• some more equipment near the camera including a control wire leading to the camera
  
• instrument rears & wiring on the main IP above the pilot's head - all bundled to the centre, to run back through the cockpit centreline & down the frame behind the pilot's seat
  
• O₂ hoses to the rear gunner's position. There's probably more, but I gave up at that point.
  

You probably can't see the PE belts on the tongue depressor, but they're there. I've also got to glue in the spare mags for the rear MG, which go on the pegs in the rear fuselage. There's also a sort of canvas "bag" attached to the roof of the cockpit in between the glazed areas, that I think was used to collect used mags. I may or may not add that if I remember or can be bothered

Here's a question for the knowledgable ones - according to common understanding, Focke Wulf started WWII painting their cockpit interiors RLM02, but moved to RLM 66 after around '41? Now RLM 66 is a very dark grey, almost black, and yet all of the pics of models I've seen in my search for refs have been painted a mid-grey. Can anyone help before I apply paint to the cockpit

[Jens]

I recently read that aircraft with large areas of glass around the cockpit (e.g. Fi156 and Fw189) had RLM66 cockpits.

Jens

Edited January 14, 2011 by Jens

[AnonymousAA74]

RLM66 Mike.

[Mike]

Thanks guys - That's what I was erring towards, but RLM66 is VERY dark grey, isn't it? Where's everyone been getting this mid-grey from then?

[KLP Publishing]

Thanks guys - That's what I was erring towards, but RLM66 is VERY dark grey, isn't it? Where's everyone been getting this mid-grey from then?

It shouldn't be that dark Mike, though it does tend toward the dark end of the spectrum. It also tends to have a blue-ish cast, but I'm not sure if any extant model paints reflect this. I use the Gunze version, and it doesn't to any discernible extent.

Kev

[Mike]

Thanks for the additional info Kev I've put a dark undercoat on, and will shade it tomorrow if I get time - the airbrush has clogged up good, so I'm calling it quits

[Mentalguru]

Thanks for the additional info Kev I've put a dark undercoat on, and will shade it tomorrow if I get time - the airbrush has clogged up good, so I'm calling it quits

You INSIST on using dodgy paints

[Mentalguru]

Here's a question for the knowledgable ones - according to common understanding, Focke Wulf started WWII painting their cockpit interiors RLM02, but moved to RLM 66 after around '41? Now RLM 66 is a very dark grey, almost black, and yet all of the pics of models I've seen in my search for refs have been painted a mid-grey. Can anyone help before I apply paint to the cockpit

Mike- you are seeing a similar effect to grey (with a little blue in it) the one that really messes people up with old US Navy jet cockpits. They are SUPPOSED to be Dark Gull Grey, and probably are painted in that colour. However, they always look lighter, and when one looks at photo's taken in museums etc, they tend to be bleached by the flash (for want of a better word,) which tends to pull out the lighter tones of reflectivity hiding in the paint mix. This pheronome also tends to screw interior greens very badly.

If we start to consider that under differing light conditions, different components of the paint may reflect light in a different ways, we can start to understand 1) your pain, and 2) why I keep getting into trouble on certain colour related threads.

So now, if one adds scale "brightness of lighting condition" (ooh- thats a new one eh) one can see how it is far more pleasing to have a highlighted cockpit etc, that may actually have little to do with the paint as taken directly from the tin, jar, bottle or tube.

So IF I were you, I would indeed shade with tinted highlights way lighter than the colour as supplied.

[Mike]

I unclogged the airbrush this morning, and found some gloopy Klear was the problem. I reloaded the brush with the paint & added lighter grey paint to the mix (all Lifecolor btw), and doodled some in between the ribs & exposed areas. Once that was done, I lightly dry brushed the ribs with a lighter grey, dabbled some white on the side console, which I covered with red & yellow for a more vibrant finish. I hand painted the rear-gunner's "blankie" with a mid-brown, then dry brushed the highlights on. The instructions only have you add 2 mags to the front of the cockpit, but I added all 6 that were provided to decorate the rear sidewalls, which hid any remaining wobbles in the filler job nicely

I need to pick a color for the flares on the walls, and add the seat straps once they've been bent to shape and painted up. once that's done, I can close up the fuselage and then work on the glazing.

Think I'll also add some wear to the cockpit with a bit of scuffing & chipping.

[Shar2]

Looking very nice Mike

[Mike]

Cheers Dave - bit more work before I can close up, but it's getting there

[Paul A H]

Wow, there's some lovely detail packed into that 'pit!