1/72 Hasegawa Focke-Wulf FW-190A

by Orlando Sucre Rosales

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Steve Bamford
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Hello, fellow readers and modelers!

Here’s my last 2010 model, a 1/72 FW-190A from
Hasegawa. It’s by no means the newest tooling kit, but the 1987 offering,
perhaps one of the first Hasegawa kits with recessed panel lines. The main
shortcoming of the kit is its very basic level of detail. The cockpit just had
a seat, a pilot and an instrument panel. An oblique solid plate blocks the view
behind the seat, as if it were a Bf-109. The portion of the canopy behind the
transparency is not represented on the spine, so I scribed it. The wheel wells
are too shallow, and there isn’t a separation line for the lower portion
of the cowling, therefore the lower exhausts or the recesses behind them
aren’t represented either. The auxiliary tank is poorly represented. The
forced coolant fan is molded fixed within the front cowling ring. A good point
is that petite recessed rivets are included in places such as the wing root.

Although this is the last model I’ve finished,
it’s by no means the last I started. In fact, I started it before almost
all the other models I’ve showed here at ARC, being my first Hasegawa kit
ever. The reason why such a simple kit took so much time to be finished lies in
the choice of version and the kit’s decals for that version. The kit
provided parts and decals for two versions: an A-5 flown by Hermann Graf, in
RLM 70/71 over 65 splinter camouflage, and an A-7/R3
from JG3, in RLM 74/75 over 76 camouflage with black cowling and spiralschnauze.
The kit’s decal sheet didn’t include decals for the wing walkways
nor for the spiralschnauze,
although it did include the swastikas. I chose the A-7 version because at that
moment it was going to be my first 74/75 over 76 camouflaged model
(and still it is.) However, it meant that I had to paint the spiralschnauze.

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Construction of this model was almost straightforward
as the fit was very good, except perhaps in the outer sections of the lower
wing. I drilled a hole atop the transparency to insert the antenna at the very
end. I assembled and painted all the model, but I left the cowling
ring/propeller assembly until the spiralschnauze was finished. When I was building this model
I hadn’t read about the “scale theory of color” yet, so I
applied all the colors without fading them. I used Humbrol,
Model Master, Aeromaster and Gunze colors, mostly
airbrushed with my old Badger 200. The mottles and the fuselage camouflage were
airbrushed freehand, and the wings and stabilizers were camouflaged using soft
masks for the first time, six or seven years ago. Even the black angular shapes
on each side of the fuselage behind the cowling were masked and airbrushed.
Each shape was drawn as the mirror image of the other.

I used the kit’s decals, but I was so
disappointed with the shade of the rear fuselage band “white” that
I masked and overpainted it, fortunately before
applying the “~” symbol decals. I also had to scratchbuild
the red trim around the black fuselage areas behind the cowling with segments
cut from leftover red decals, because the kit’s decal sheet didn’t
include it. It was a difficult task, because I wanted to keep all the angles of
the black shapes on the red trim. After all the decals were thoroughly dry, a
coat of flat clear went over the whole model, and then I highlighted the
control surfaces’ panel lines with black ink applied with a
rapid-o-graph.

Painting the spiralschnauze was a Tragedy
in three acts, fortunately with a good ending. The first time I painted the
spinner flat white and I tried to draw the spiral following a mathematical
progression of points spaced 120 degrees from each
other. When I tried to refine the drawing, the flat white didn’t wanted
to be erased, and it ended in a mess of graphite and dirt. I had to research in
the Internet how to strip paint from plastic models, among other things, it all
took a long time… but nevertheless I couldn’t find enough
information on how to paint spirals on propeller spinners for Luftwaffe
airplanes.

When the spinner was free from paint and ready for the
second attempt, I decided that to make a mask would be better than to draw the
spiral. I copied the spiral from the decal of another kit and made a mask with
Scotch Magic Tape, a tape that I like because it’s transparent and one
can draw over it. However, it’s too stiff and therefore doesn’t
conform well to curved surfaces, so it was a nightmare to place the mask over
the spinner. Although I finally could put the mask, after airbrushing the black
I wasn’t satisfied with the shape of the spiral. I learned that the
choice of masking material was also important.

Before attempting the whole process again for the
third time, I found at the Internet that the spiral of the aircraft I was
building was yellow instead of white. That would make the model more
interesting, I thought. Then my choices of masking material were Tamiya masking tape and 3M blue vinyl tape. Both are
flexible, but the Tamiya is thinner and although
it’s not transparent it’s still translucent, so one can see a
drawing through it, while the other is completely opaque. I therefore chose the
Tamiya tape, although it has the drawback that it
rips a little when it’s cut with a hobby knife, so a lot of touch up work
would be needed after taking the mask apart. I started the process by priming
the spinner with a mix of flat white and flat light gull grey, and then I
airbrushed RLM 04 Yellow. Later I airbrushed a coat of acrylic gloss clear to
protect the yellow, then I applied carefully the mask, and then another coat of
gloss clear to prevent seeping of black paint, and finally I airbrushed enamel
flat black paint. Before the black was cured I removed the mask and make
initial corrections with a fine brush dipped in mineral spirits. When the paint
was fully cured I made touch ups with yellow. I finally airbrushed a coat of
flat clear to get an even matt finish.

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The model was, after a long waiting (A long and winding spiral, as Paul McCartney would have sung…) ready for final
assembly and weathering. Final assembly proceeded quickly. In fact, the fit of
the front cowling to the fuselage was so tight that when I was doing the dry
fitting I couldn’t take the part away, so I just pushed it right to the
end. Regarding the weathering, I’ve changed my mind and my methods
through the years, and now I lightly weather all my models. As another coat of
gloss clear would make the panel lines disappear, thus making it impossible to
apply a wash, I highlighted panel lines with an F drawing pencil, as I’ve
done with some of my jet models. The remainder of the weathering was done with
powdered pastel chalks. I sealed both the panel lines and the weathering, but
applied the exhaust stains behind the cowling after that, knowing that sealing pastel powder over very dark paint
like black just makes the weathering invisible. The final touch was painting
the tiny navigation lights with Tamiya clear red and
green over polished aluminum, and gluing an antenna made from human black hair.
The model was finished on December 28, Innocents’
Day in my country…

I’m very proud of my finished Würger. I
know that it took a lot of time, but I needed to improve some of my skills
before finishing it. Meanwhile, I could start and finish other equally
rewarding models, and there are still some others in the assembly line waiting
for their turn. Hoping that you’ve enjoyed both the story and the model,
I send you my greetings from Caracas,
Venezuela.

I dedicate this model to my lovely wife Omaira on her birthday. Thanks Omaira
for encouraging my model making for all these years!

Orlando Sucre
Rosales

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Photos and text ©
by Orlando Sucre Rosales