Pete's Eduard FW190A-8

[AlanG]

Fiddly little blighters aren't they.But they make the cockpit 'pop'. Looking good Pete

[Si Benson]

That cockpit look very nice indeed, well worth the headache from the tiny etch....possibly:thinking:

[stillp]

Yes, I agree on both points Alan, one of them has already escaped!
A little more done today, the fuselage is glued at the rear, the engine is just held in by the rubber band here to act as a spacer:
[ATTACH]320666[/ATTACH]
I'll need to spring the fuse halves apart a little to get two more parts in between them, so I'm leaving it to set overnight. One of those two parts is the upper IP, shown on the white tak above. What are the chances of that gunsight staying on...?
I've also started on the wing by gluing in a rib that forms the back of the u/c bay. I might regret that later as it fixes the dihedral. The wing moulding wanted to take a different angle to that rib, so I've had to glue it progressively. Fingers crossed!
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Thanks for the encouragement folks!
Pete

[papa 695]

Looking good Pete

[AlanG]

It looks like you don't have to build the whole engine like you do on the 1/48 kits. If that is the case then please disregard my point about ensuring the engine build and mounting is done really well. I got it wrong on the 1/48 kit and boy did i pay for it later on lol

Looking good though Pete

[stillp]

You're right Alan, there's no engine. There are quite a few fiddly parts inside the wing, for the u/c bays, which don't fit terribly well and have needed trimming. Why they designed it like this I don't know, maybe just to increase the parts count.
Also an integral pitot - what are the chances of that surviving I wonder.
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Coming on though, but slowly.

Pete

[AlanG]

Why they designed it like this I don't know, maybe just to increase the parts count.

There have been quite a few complaints about the A series aircraft design and build. But they apparently sorted it out for the D series kits and they go together a lot easier. At least a pitot would be easy to scratch build should the worst happen

[Dave W]

More PE today.
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These handles on the IP are stupidly small!
[ATTACH]320589[/ATTACH]Broken one off already, but luckily Eduard include some spares.
Glad I had the foresight to leave the rudder pedals attached to the fret while I bent up the heelrest and threaded the foot strap through the buckle:
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All in place now:
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They've had a touch of RLM66 on the pedals and leather brown on the straps. Should be able to get the fuselage together tomorrow.
Thanks for watching.

Pete

Incredible detail for a1/72 kit!. Remember the days when you only got a stick for the pilot to sit on and nothing else in the cockpit?!.

[Jim R]

Hi Peter
Cockpit looks superb. At 1/72 a real credit to your patience and skill. There does seem to be a trend towards more and more ever smaller parts. You may well be right that it is to get the parts count up. How long the pitot will last - not to completion that's for sure :rolling:
Jim

[stillp]

Incredible detail for a1/72 kit!. Remember the days when you only got a stick for the pilot to sit on and nothing else in the cockpit?!.

Yes, it is well detailed, and yes, but they gave you a pilot to perch on that stick - perhaps just to fill the otherwise empty space! These Profipacks do seem to be well detailed. Shame my Spitfire had some fit issues. this one seems better, except for the bit inside the wing - the wing/fuselage fit seems perfect.

Hi Peter
Cockpit looks superb. At 1/72 a real credit to your patience and skill. There does seem to be a trend towards more and more ever smaller parts. You may well be right that it is to get the parts count up. How long the pitot will last - not to completion that's for sure :rolling:
Jim

Stubbornness and meanness Jim! I've paid for these little blighters, and I'm going to use them, even if they do break off later!

Pete

[papa 695]

Nice work Peter, I would cut the pitot tube off now, drill a little hole then fit it later.

[stillp]

Might just as well leave it Ian, if (when) it does break off it'll save me having to cut it!
Brush-painted the internals of the u/c bays:
[ATTACH]320820[/ATTACH]
Also fitted the wing cannons, which have to go in before the upper wings are fitted.

Then fitted the upper part of the IP, with some difficulty, because:
a) the locating slots in the fuselage are wide enough for the plastic panel, but not when it has two layers of PE on it, and
b) I'd stupidly assumed that I could drop it into place from above after the fuselage was assembled, but it need to go in from below, so I had to lower it into the cockpit then lift it into place with a fine pair of tweezers.
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It's in now though. Letting that set before fitting the coaming over it. You might notice that you can't see those tiny little PE 'handles' that were on the lower part of the IP. There are 3 reasons for that:
1. They're too small to see,
2. The upper IP is in the way,
3. They've disappeared. Possibly abducted by aliens, although there is a remote possibility that I'd knocked them off while fitting the upper part. However, see 1) and 2).

I'm going to fit a spare closed canopy (Eduard give you 2 designs of canopy, each one either open or closed), gluing it in with Maskol. That seemed to work well on my Spitfire, and I don't want to risk damaging the cockpit detail with foam, tissue, or whatever. A canopy will also protect that rather vulnerable gunsight.

Thanks for looking.

Pete

[stillp]

You're right Alan, there's no engine.

Pete

What was I thinking when I wrote that? There is of course, although it's just two pieces:
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Pete

[AlanG]

I knew what you meant though Pete

[stillp]

:thumb2: