1/48 Tamiya Fw-190 F8

by Si Tomlinson

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This Tamiya kit was mostly built out of the box, with the addition of the Eduard colour etch seat belts and fuse wire for the wheel brake lines.  The kit went together like a dream, needing little or no filler; Tamiya really are the cutting edge in model design.  I chose the winter scheme of I-SG2 in 1945 because I wanted a challenge and really liked the over spray of the white camouflage.  I used Xtracrylics from Hannants for all of the external colours.  These give an excellent decal ready gloss finish, and spray very well.  I used their dedicated thinner to ensure that the paints was adequately thinned for spraying with my Iwata HP-C Plus air brush.

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The cockpit was painted using Tamiya acrylics.  The dials of the instruments were drawn in with a sharpened white artists pencil before coating the dial with Micro Crystal Clear to replicate the instrument lenses.  Once the cockpit was mated into the fuselage, it was masked off with Tamiya tape and the rest of the airframe built up as per the instructions.  The canopy was masked with Tamiya tape and then sprayed firstly with the same colour as the cockpit.  Once that had dried the main colours were then sprayed with the rest of the airframe.  The underside was sprayed first and once dry masked with Tamiya tape.  The upper surface colours went on next.  To get the demarcation lines I used rolls of 'Blue Tack' with tape covering the void.  The winter camouflage was sprayed on freehand at a low pressure and fine needle setting.

The kit decals went on like a dream, only needing a slight wetting with Micro Sol.  Once all of the decals were on the kit was matted down using Aeromaster Flat varnish.  An oil wash of black and burnt sienna was then put on, concentrating on the panel lines and areas of high wear and tear.  Mig Productions Black Smoke was used for exhaust staining and the staining on the canons and MGs as well as under the wings as staining from the rockets.  The canopy was taped in place so the correct length of fishing line could be attached for the antenna wire.  This then gave the correct length of slack when the canopy was in the open position.  And there you go, an enjoyable build and another kit in the cabinet (or as my wife says "another model box empty!").

Si 

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Photos and text © by Si Tomlinson