ZM FW 190 A-4

[BlrwestSiR]

Rob, the Revell kit doesn't look that bad. I haven't tried building it yet so that'll be the real test. I also have some Eduard resin sets for it. 

[BlrwestSiR]

I finally spent some time at the bench working on the FW.  

Continuing with the wings, I used the alternate lower panels as <|| doesn't have outer wing guns. 

Once dry, I filled the seam lines around the panels. 

I then glued the upper wings in place on the inner structure.

One nice thing compared to their 109 kit is that the wing is in fewer parts. 

 

[BlrwestSiR]

Next up was the tail wheel. Again, a fair bit of internal details that much of which won't be seen. 

Installed into the separate tail.

What you'll see when done. 

It's almost tempting to do another one with the panels opened up for a contrasting appearance. 

 

[BlrwestSiR]

I decided to try an experiment in painting the exhausts. Instead of my usual approach and airbrushing them with Alclad or Xtreme Metal, I dry brushed them with Ammo Drybrush paint. 

It seems to have worked out okay. 

Next time I might try it over a black base coat. 

[Martinnfb]

Exhaust looks great. Looks like everything fits together as it should.

Cheers

Martin

[BlrwestSiR]

Martin, the exhausts were a perfect fit and lined up as if on autopilot. 

 

 

[BlrwestSiR]

I finally found my bottle of RLM 02. It was back on the paint rack. Go figure. Anyways, that mean I could finally get some paintwork done and move the build forward. 

Whoops, wrong FW kit. I decided to paint that one since I had the paint loaded in the airbrush.  Let's try again. 

 

[DocRob]

Nice Carl, interesting, how lighting can change everything. On the "wrong" 190, the RLM 02 looks to dark, albeit it´s the same.

Cheers Rob

[JohnB]

This will be a nice one for sure Paul. I look forward to following along. 🙂

[BlrwestSiR]

I finally started to do some paint work on the cockpit. 

I was going to use Mr Color 116 for the RLM66 but the bottle I had was empty. I decided to use the AK Real Color version but wasn't thrilled with the colour. It didn't look right. 

Looking around at nearby shops, a Gunpla store near me had some in stock so I ordered it along with some other stuff to get free shipping. 

Once it arrives, I repainted the cockpit. 

This was much better. I gave the tub a panel wash and a light drybrushing. The consoles then got a couple decals applied to them. 

 

[BlrwestSiR]

Turns out there's a lot more decals to apply to the cockpit. They really bring out the detail that's for sure. 

I also painted the IP. I used the clear version and masked off the dial faces first. 

Then a coat of paint and I removed the masks. 

Finally more decals, this time on both sides of the panel. 

[Martinnfb]

That's awesomeness extravaganza. 

[BlrwestSiR]

I started adding the control linkages to the cockpit tub. The two long rods connect to the rudder pedals. 

The starboard fuselage side is next, followed by the rear bulkheads and lower fuselage. Since I'm not planning to have the rear section open, I didn't bother to paint any of the details back there. 

[crazypoet]

10 hours ago, BlrwestSiR said:

I started adding the control linkages to the cockpit tub. The two long rods connect to the rudder pedals. 

The starboard fuselage side is next, followed by the rear bulkheads and lower fuselage. Since I'm not planning to have the rear section open, I didn't bother to paint any of the details back there. 

Are those control links kit parts or scratch?  If they came with the kit, I’m even more impressed that I was already with the quality they build into the box 🙏

[BlrwestSiR]

1 hour ago, crazypoet said:

Are those control links kit parts or scratch?  If they came with the kit, I’m even more impressed that I was already with the quality they build into the box 🙏

They're kit parts. Everything so far is OOB. The only thing missing is seat belts. 

[crazypoet]

4 hours ago, BlrwestSiR said:

They're kit parts. Everything so far is OOB. The only thing missing is seat belts. 

Damnnnn

sweet!

[BlrwestSiR]

More work on the fuselage. The upper rear part was added next. 

The fit is just about perfect. 

A quick swipe with an 800 grit sanding stick and the joint is flush. 

The tail was next. I glided the two halves together and then joined them to the fuselage. 

There's a small gap that a lick of Mr Surfacer should take care of. 

 

[BlrwestSiR]

The two fuel tanks that go under cockpit won't be seen except for maybe the cap thingies on the topside through some holes into he cockpit floor. I painted those silver and ignored the rest. 

The aforementioned holes in the cockpit floor. 

With the fuel tanks in place on the underside of the cockpit. 

Finally the lower wing panel to cover up all that detail. 

Oh, I forgot to grab pics but the wing is now attached to the fuselage. Got carried away test fitting everything and one thing led to another and before I knew it, there was cement involved. 

[Martinnfb]

To separate the leading edge on the tail is not exactly a smart approach. It would create inconsistent seam line that is hard to scribe. As much as I love 190, I despise ZM approach in general....... with all the useless detail,,, As long as they placed mold ejector pin mark in the spent cartage ejection port.

OK. Rant's over.  

I am admiring your patience Carl, this is going to be a real stunner. Disregarding the above still the best 190 to date.

Cheers

Martin

[BlrwestSiR]

19 minutes ago, Martinnfb said:

To separate the leading edge on the tail is not exactly a smart approach. It would create inconsistent seam line that is hard to scribe. As much as I love 190, I despise ZM approach in general....... with all the useless detail,,, As long as they placed mold ejector pin mark in the stand cartage ejection port.

OK. Rant's over.  

I am admiring your patience Carl, this is going to be a real stunner. Disregarding the above still the best 190 to date.

Cheers

Martin

I hear you Martin. I thought it was a bit odd in  the breakdown as well. But they've made the parts fit so I guess that's what they're counting on. 

Definitely some(much?) of the internal detail is overkill but at least it's not impacting the build. 

[DocRob]

Nice work Carl and good to see, that ZM got the fit of the numerous fuselage panels right. That was not always the case with their TA-152, I built many moons ago.
The internal detail maybe is a bit over the top, but at least, it doesn´t look toyish anymore, like with the TA-152.

Cheers Rob

[BlrwestSiR]

Rob, ZM have definitely improved in the quality and details of their kits. I have the Ta152 in the stash but haven't gotten to it yet. The earliest ZM kit I've built was their Skyraider and the details on the FW190 and their BF109 are both so much better. 

[BlrwestSiR]

With the wing on, I started work on the firewall. 

First up was the ammo cases for the cowl guns. 

Then it was time for the engine mount. 

ZM provide an addendum sheet with an alternate approach to installing the engine. I decided to try this approach on the build. Instead of gluing the engine mount to the back of the engine first, I mounted it to the tube frame. 

While doing the test fit, I noticed that the side mounts were a bit long and the frame wouldn't mount flush like it should. I ended up trimming the mounting peg on the tube frame slightly and then everything fit as it should.