Anyways, I've posted some photos and a brief description of the build below. Enjoy
Cockpit Interior:
(Seat belts were spare photoetched parts from a 1/32 scale kit. Although not quite the correct type or scale I thought they would have the right effect...)
Diorama Photos
(I don't have a model of Priller's BMW 327, so a Kubelwagen had to stand in
)
The historical photo of Priller's FW-190A-5, upon which this model is based:
The historic aircraft was painted in the standard Luftwaffe day fighter colors of RLM 74/75/76 with RLM 04 on the tail and underside of the engine cowling and the spinner RLM 70 green. While FW-190s typically had a patch of RLM 75 gray painted on the forward part of the upper engine cowling, from what I could determine looking closely at the historical photo and some color profiles, Priller's aircraft had the RLM 74 green running all the way to the end of the nose.
The model was painted using a mixture of different paint brands, including Vallejo RLM 02 Grau for the wheel well and gun bay interiors; Vallejo RLM 04 Gelb (yellow) RLM 76 Lichtblau (light blue), for the base and undersides; RLM 74 Graugrun (gray-green) for the green camo; Testors RLM 75 Grauviolette (gray-violet) for the gray camo as the Vallejo RLM 75 was too close in contrast to the RLM 74 green, Testors RLM 70 Schwartzgrun (dark green) for the propeller, and Tamiya German Gray for the cockpit interior. The paint was then sealed with Klear (thinned future floor wax). The decals were then applied using Micro Sol to conform them to the surfaces as much as possible, then sealed in again with Klear.
For weathering, I gave the plane a "sludge wash" to highlight the panel lines and darkened the lines in places using a colored pencil. The paint chip effect was done using the dry-brushing technique with Tamiya flat aluminum. I made the exhaust, propeller paint chipping, and fluid stains using Tamiya weathering powders. Once I had things where I wanted them, I sealed everything with Vallejo Acrylic Matte Varnish.
The canopy opens, flaps and control surfaces move, prop spins, wheels roll and the gun bay opens. I glued the gun bay shut, however, as it kept popping open and leaving a gap that looked terrible. I don't open the gun bay often on my Merit FW-190, so its no big loss. The lack of retractable main gears on the Hobby Boss kit are disappointing, but the struts are significantly thicker than on the Merit model and with careful handling should hold up just fine...
I would definitely recommend the Hobby Boss kit as a somewhat affordable and easy build for an FW-190A.
