Fw 190 A-6 “Sturmstaffel 1” (1:48 scale) Part 3

 

This last installment on Hasegawa‘s Limited Edition FW 190 A-6 “Strumstafeel 1” is focused solely on its painting stage, using Mr Color lacquers and a variety of acrylics and oils for its weathering (that was kept very subtle).With all cockpit and construction done, the main gear was the next area to tackle. With a base colour of RLM 02, shadows and dirt was added using acrylic glazes from Vallejo. In order to increase the contrast and pickup the part’s detail, RLM02 was brush painted over raised details.

Unlike other radial engine fighter, the engine of the FW 190 sits almost hidden from sight, because of the fan mounted in front of it. So a quick paint job was done, base coating the complete engine in Stainless Steel from Mr. Metal Color range. This was gently polished with a lint free cloth, before the application of a dark wash, that shows all the detail included in the part.

The camouflage application started with the lightest colour first and ended with the darkest, as the darker colours usually cover much better than the lighter ones. During each colour application, a lightened version of the colour is applied randomly on each panel, helping to create shadows.

Decals were applied over the camouflage after a coat of gloss varnish, helping to make the carrier film practically invisible. A Decal Softening solution also helped to conform the decals to the model details.

In order to make the panel lines more noticeable, oil colours were applied over all panel lines and other details. Excess colour can be removed using enamel thinner or white spirit. To mark the control surfaces, a very dark grey acrylic was used and very diluted black acrylic ink was airbrushed near the exhaust tips, replicating the soot and oil stains, typical on these aircraft. To finish the build the tail light lamp was replicated with the application of a blob of acrylic resin. after completely curing, it results perfectly clear, as can be seen below the red tab on the rudder.

This model was the first Fw 190 in 1:48 scale from Hasegawa that I’ve ever built and its review was published in March 1013 issue of Scale Aircraft Modelling. It was such a pleasant experience that I’ve built another one during 2015.