W.I.P. pics of new projects....

[matrixone]

Thanks NARSES2 and Logan.

NARSES2,
The 109 will be using nearly the same colors as the Dora so I decided to go ahead and build it too, besides I really like the old Heller/Airfix 109 kits. Unlike the Dora, the 109 will be real world and not whiffed.

Logan,
Cool looking Oscar!


Matrixone

[matrixone]

The highlights and pre-shading I did were toned down with a thinned coat of RLM 76, the effects still look too strong right now but after the rest of the camouflage is sprayed on and the weathering is done they should look just right...barely noticeable.


Parts of the undersurface of the Fw 190 wing will get masked off and sprayed with Alclad II, after that I can start painting the uppersurface camo.

Matrixone

[matrixone]

The Alclad II has been sprayed on, not only were the wings undersurfaces painted but also one half of the lower engine cowl. After the Alclad set up for a while I put on some dampened salt on the cowl and sprayed German light green undersurface color over the salt and when the paint was dry I rubbed the salt off the cowl to expose the Alclad. The effect I was after was not just chipping but large sheets of paint that had flaked off.



Matrixone

[Gondor]

The Alclad II has been sprayed on, not only were the wings undersurfaces painted but also one half of the lower engine cowl. After the Alclad set up for a while I put on some dampened salt on the cowl and sprayed German light green undersurface color over the salt and when the paint was dry I rubbed the salt off the cowl to expose the Alclad. The effect I was after was not just chipping but large sheets of paint that had flaked off.

Looks to me as if you have achieved the desired result Matrixone

Gondor

[matrixone]

Thanks Gondor!

And yet another in-progress pic...here you can see I added the white highlights to the wings uppersurface.

I usually don't bother with adding any sort of pattern to the white highlights but I combined my weekly airbrush practice time with painting on the highlights, who knows this might actually look good after the rest of the paint is on.


Matrixone

[TallEng]

Ah! Late war German paint and camouflage doesn't it just do your head in?
I can understand that the paint Might have different shades, depending on
How it was applied, over what it was applied, who mixed it, how much pigment they had, verses what they should
Have used etc etc, what I can't understand is the bare metal areas, under the wings.
Even if only the front 1/3rd of the under wing was painted, surely you are going to see on the
Bare metal parts were the rivets where filled/smoothed to aid the aerodynamics?.
Mind I'm not entirely sure that they were bare metal underneath,
It's a black and white photo, how are you going to tell for sure?

Regards
Keith (ever willing to to learn)

[matrixone]

Keith,

We know for certain that many (but not all) late war Fw 190A-8s and D-9s were built with either partly painted wing undersurfaces or in a few cases the entire bottom of the wing was BMF.

How do we know this?

1. Captured RLM directives ordering the aircraft industry to delete painting the undersurfaces of aircraft to conserve paint and reduce weight. The order said only steel, wood, or fabric, parts of the airframes were still in need of painting, the rest was to be unpainted.
2. There are a great many photographs of overturned fighter aircraft (mostly Fw 190s) that clearly show the rear half of the wings in BMF.
3. Stacks of Fw 190 wings were captured on rail road cars on their way to aircraft assembly centers, most, if not all of them had the rear of the wings undersurfaces unpainted.
4. Surviving war relics that have been in storage for decades and are in original condition.

Why were the front half of the wings undersurfaces still being painted you might be wondering...the answer is the Fw 190 design had a rather tall stalky landing gear with the nose pointed at a high angle and it was found in the first experimental batch of Fw 190s with unpainted lower surfaces that at sunrise or sunset there was a lot of reflection of sunlight which made it easy for low flying Allied planes to spot the aircraft and thereafter only the rear half of Fw 190 wings were to be left unpainted.

My Fw 190D-9 model undersurfaces are painted to match one of the last Doras produced by Fieseler at Kassel and was captured by U.S. troops before it could be flown to an operational unit, there is a clear photograph in the second Dora book by Jerry Crandall showing the undersurfaces of the wing.

Even though there was a directive from the RLM to the aircraft industry about leaving the undersurfaces unpainted (whenever possible), the directive was never strictly enforced and up to the last hours of the war a few subcontractors continued to provide some aircraft or aircraft parts that were painted on the top AND bottom.


Matrixone

[TallEng]

Ah, Thanks Matrixone, for clearing that up
Another peice of information to add to the Superhighway of data meandering through
The Dust and fluff that is my Brain

Regards
Keith

[matrixone]

Keith,
For the past thirty years my other hobby has turned into a quest to find out all I can about the colors used on Luftwaffe fighters. My very first reference book was William Greens ''Warplanes of the Third Reich'' and since that time became very curious about how those machines pictured in the book were painted.

More progress on my two models...the uppersurface colors have been painted on the wings and the paint has nicely toned down the highlights and pre-shading. I did add some lightened versions of the two uppersurface colors on the wing roots to represent some wear and paint scuffing, this area will get paint chipping later on.



Matrixone

[matrixone]

The painting on the 1/32 scale Dora continues...




Matrixone

[matrixone]

More progress on the Dora, the KG(j)55 RVD band was masked and painted, I like the contrast of the band against the bland camo colors.




Matrixone

[NARSES2]

Yup that band does stand out 

[Cobra]

matrixone, You're Doing a Superb Job on Both aircraft Hope to see More of Your Top Notch Work Dan

[matrixone]

Thanks again NARSES2 and Dan!

No in-progress pic today but I did do more painting on the little 109, its looking good and all thats left to do is paint the fin/rudder. The fin/rudder will get a totally different color than the rest of the airframe and I have to wait a little while before I can safely handle the model because the paint is still drying.

Not something that I usually have a problem with is deciding what to build next...lots of choices in front of me.


Matrixone

[matrixone]

The little 109 now has all its paint on it, here you can also see the propeller and spinner is built, painted , and weathered.



Matrixone