Fw 190A-8R "Big Bad Wulf"

[D Bellis]

Since Flugwerk started reproducing full scale Fw 190A-8Ns, I've wondered how long it would be before someone turned one into an Unlimited pylon racer. It hasn't happend yet, so I decided to build one myself in 1/48. Playing with a 3-view from the web in MS Paint allowed me to add & remove ideas to nail down an overall vision that appealed to me, and was mechanically feasable. Here's the end result (but it's not set in stone):

The base kit is the old, but not 'bad' Arii/Otaki Focke Wulf Fw 190A-8. Originally, the plan was to graft a Monogram 1/48 A-26B/C cowl to the forward fuselage. ARCer 'parche' hooked me up with a pair of A-26 cowls, both for this project and another racer project of the late "Super Corsair". Unfortunately, the A-26 cowl diameter is too large to reasonably graft to the 190's fuselage. The good news in that the A-26 cowl will work for the Super Corsair project, but that'll be another story later. Another ARCer, 'umgriz' kindly donated a full set of 1/72 C-130 props to this project. Thanks a million, guys! MUCH appreciated!

No effort was made to accurize or add detail in order to focus on the rather extensive modifications. The kit cockpit was assembled, painted Light Ghost Gray, and a few details picked out in various colors. Next, the basic airframe assembled. Once assembled, the following areas were removed:

1) Wing tips and ailerons clipped back to the first panel line. These will be blanked off with sheet styrene later.

2) Horizontal stabilizer and elevators clipped back to eliminate the rounded tips.

3) The fin clipped at the tip. This will be replaced by an extended fin tip made from sheet styrene.

4) The rudder was cut off completely. This will be replacedby an all new unit, also of sheet styrene.

5) The whole cowl hacked off all the way back to the forward wall of the cockpit. Building the new, larger cowl will be the hard part of this project.

Here's where it is right now:

Hopefully, tonight I'll have some time to experiment with ideas for creating the new cowl.

D

[ChernayaAkula]

Now that's a really cool project! :unsure:

[parche]

Sweet project D, can't wait to see it progress. Glad to help, sorry the -26 cowl didn't work for it...how much smaller does it need to be? I've got bundles of random stuff, drop a line if need more bits and pieces...

Cheers,

Dave

[D Bellis]

Thanks Moritz!

Dave,

Thanks! The A-26 cowl is about 3/16" wider than the 190's fuselage. I thought about quartering it, and removing slices to shrink it down, but shelved that idea pending further experimentation. Thanks for the offer of raiding your parts! But, I think I've got something workable.

On that note, I did get a cowl 'core' made of sheet balsa framed up this evening. The idea is to attach the cowl ring from a Monogram F4U-4 (inverted so the scoop's on top) to the front of the core, after covering the core with either very thin aluminum or sheet styrene.

The core needs a bit of tweaking to make all of the lines work, but it's close. Also, I may shorten it up a little (front to rear) to prevent a "hose nose" look to the finished model.

D

[Sabre Freak]

Neat project!

Got me thinking...With a name like "Big Bad Wulf" it could be the villain air racer.

[martin_sam_2000]

Thanks Moritz!

Dave,

Thanks! The A-26 cowl is about 3/16" wider than the 190's fuselage. I thought about quartering it, and removing slices to shrink it down, but shelved that idea pending further experimentation. Thanks for the offer of raiding your parts! :) But, I think I've got something workable.

On that note, I did get a cowl 'core' made of sheet balsa framed up this evening. The idea is to attach the cowl ring from a Monogram F4U-4 (inverted so the scoop's on top) to the front of the core, after covering the core with either very thin aluminum or sheet styrene.

The core needs a bit of tweaking to make all of the lines work, but it's close. Also, I may shorten it up a little (front to rear) to prevent a "hose nose" look to the finished model.

D

That seems liek it would be really easy to do and with a nice big engine in there..it would be a real contender at the races.

I have an idea for your cowling. Couldn't you use a block of balsa and then sand it down to shape?? This would minimize the hassle of covering the structure you have created now and make fine tuning of the shape a bit better.

Just my $0.02 tho.

I can't wait to see this thing finished.

Sean

[D Bellis]

I have an idea for your cowling. Couldn't you use a block of balsa and then sand it down to shape?? This would minimize the hassle of covering the structure you have created now and make fine tuning of the shape a bit better.

Sean,

Thanks for your input and kind words. However, using a solid balsa block wouldn't easily allow the exhaust exits and side vents that I'm planning to do. Hopefully, there'll be some progress today, and what I'm refering to will become clear. :)

D

[parche]

Waiting in rapt anticipation...

[D Bellis]

The first vent test was almost a complete success. I say "almost" because I broke the metal part along the bottom bend by being overzealous and cutting the pre-bend scribe line on the back too deep. But, the test still proves that the process will work:

The lower wedge on the part in the pic snapped off while messaging the gentle curve into the long face so that it meets up with the fuselage and cowl correctly. The next parts will not be scribed as deeply, but I'm certain that the material will still bend crisply.

The cowl itself will overlap the vent back to the line marked on the top of the horizontal slabs, about 1/4". The 4 exhaust pipes per side will be nestled between the vent and the cowl wrap, allowing for about 1/32" of protrusion.

The metal used is known as "Flashing" here in the US, and is primarily used for sealing edges and corners when roofing houses. It is just inexpensive, thin aluminum with a protective clear coat on both sides. I have a bunch of scraps of it left over from making patterns for hot-wire cutting foam wing cores and fuselages for R/C airplanes. I had planned on using a flame to produce blue heat stains on the vents, but the clear coat on the parts just turns brown. I tried removing the clear coat from one piece with MEK, Acetone and Laquer Thinner, but all they did was make the coating sticky without removing it. Oh well. The heat stains can be painted on.

D

[parche]

Looking sweet D, she'll be done by Turkey Day at this pace... I tried the flashing you gave me for my Foxbat exhaust cans, but it was bit much for me. I do think I'll use it for detail stuff on other builds though...should be pretty useful. Glad to see some in use on your end. Are you gonna make decals to match your profile, or do you have scraps from another project to piece together for this one?

Cheers,

Dave

[Bill]

That is going to look very good.

[D Bellis]

Hmmmm, I doubt it'll get done that quick. But, I'm hoping to have it done before heading south.

Working with metal is certainly a different ball of wax from plastics. Like any material, it has its good and bad points, and also it's own working technics. For this type of modeling, I try to look at it as though it is a big chunk of blank PE - cut, scribe and bend to suit.

I'll make my own decals. Since the base color will be mostly white, it makes most of the decals pretty easy to do. Although, I may raid my car kit decals for some small sponsor decals. Not sure about that just yet. Found a nice image of "Coors Light" logos off of a sticker company's website that will form the basis of that artwork. In fact, I roughly tinkered with that image, and then used those logos on the profile above to get an idea if they'd work or not.

Still finishing up with the Sunday chores, then I'll be spending some quality time with my daughters. Hopefully, I'll be able to get more done on the Wulf this evening.

D

[martin_sam_2000]

AHHH...I see how you are doing this now..I wasn't aware that it would have that style of exhaust.

This looks like it will turn out great. I can't wait to see what it looks liek when it is finished.

Sean

[D Bellis]

Stopped working the cowl in order to smooth out the airframe. Gotta have that done before gluing the new cowl parts to it. Lots of sanding, filling, sanding and some sanding, too. After that, a little sanding and then some sanding. Did I mention sanding?

Progress has been made, but nothing really pic worthy at the moment.

D

[D Bellis]

The smoothing is over! Finally got some work done on the vents. Both vents are done and glued in, but I only had time to get one side's exhaust stacks done. A couple, quick, fuzzy pics:

Working this evening, then celebrating Thanksgiving with my family tomorrow. Should be able to get back on it this weekend, though.

D

[parche]

Looks awesome, D. Hopefully I'll get to see it in person shortly. Have a Happy Day-After-Turkey-Day Turkey Day :(

Cheers,

Dave

[CorsairMan]

The first vent test was almost a complete success. I say "almost" because I broke the metal part along the bottom bend by being overzealous and cutting the pre-bend scribe line on the back too deep. But, the test still proves that the process will work:

The metal used is known as "Flashing" here in the US, and is primarily used for sealing edges and corners when roofing houses. It is just inexpensive, thin aluminum with a protective clear coat on both sides. I have a bunch of scraps of it left over from making patterns for hot-wire cutting foam wing cores and fuselages for R/C airplanes. I had planned on using a flame to produce blue heat stains on the vents, but the clear coat on the parts just turns brown. I tried removing the clear coat from one piece with MEK, Acetone and Laquer Thinner, but all they did was make the coating sticky without removing it. Oh well. The heat stains can be painted on.

This is fantastic! I am particularly interested in how you formed this. One of my projects (potentially in 2009) is to make Super Corsair and for that I need to do similar side exhausts. Can you tell me a little more?

Thanks!!

[D Bellis]

Thanks Dave! And, I hope so, too.

Corsair Man,

Sure, I'll try to put together some explanatory images for you over the weekend. This method will go into my Super Corsair build as well, also sometime in '09. Should be interesting & educational for both of us.

D

[D Bellis]

Ok, some quick info on working with the metal. The example provided is the method for the vents as done here, but the basics should apply to most anything made of the stuff.

Flashing is available in rolls from places like Home Depot and Lowes. The last 15"x10' roll I bought cost about $8. Most any scissors will cut it, even small cuticle scisors. It scribes easily with a regular Exacto knife.

First, plan it all out in your head. Pay close attention to how each part will have to interact with the surrounding parts and materials. In this case, the vent is to be patially covered on the forward end to allow attachment of, and depth to, the exhaust pipes. To achieve this, the front of the vent part was made 1/4" longer than the hole it will fill, and the depth measured to allow a small gap between the cowl itself and the pipe ends.

Measure the area of the piece as shown below. Again, in this case the depth (D), height (H) and length (L) directly corrolate to the desired effect of the exhaust pipes.

Carefully tranfer the measurements onto the sheet of metal with a very fine pen or marker. The smaller the marks made by the writing instrument, the more accurately the part can be made.

Cut out the basic outline of the part with scissors. Use care to avoid bending the part with the scissors - it will want to curl away from the cutting edges. Allow the material being removed to do the curling by holding the part against one cutting surface or the other. Your mileage will differ here, so experiment and have fun.

Scribe along any straight lines that are to be bent at sharp right angles. Be sure to scribe on the side that won't show on the installed part.Be careful not to scribe too deeply as the part will fail along that line. Also, be sure to scribe deeply enough to allow the part to bend crisply. Again, experiment and have fun.

If the part is to have agentle curve to it, such as these vents, roll it back and forth over a round object on a hard surface. I used an Exacto handle on a cutting board. The part was laid on top of the handle and pressed with my fingers while rolling it back and forth. Once any radius of bend is achieved, it is fairly easy to adjust the radius to match your needs.

Bend the right angles along the scribed lines. I use a pair of smooth, needle nosed pliers for this. But, any bending method applied to PE can be applied to this stuff.

That shoud do it for creating metal vents. The exhaust pipes are aluminum tubing from the K&S rack at the local hobby shop. For these, four made from 3/32" tube filled the gap perfectly.

HTH,

D

[CorsairMan]

This is great, thanks! To be honest, this was the part of the Super Corsair that was scaring me the most. Well, that and somehow coming up with that racer canopy!

[TaiidanTomcat]

Sweet!

[parche]

Awesome technique discussion...thanks D, can't wait to see more.

Cheers,

Dave

[D Bellis]

Thanks guys!

Corsair man,

The canopy will indeed be a challenge, on this build as well as the Super Corsair. Probably start by carving the required shape from either the stock canopy or a chunk of balsa, then heat & smash clear plastic sheet over that. Unless I get REAL ambitious and finally build the vac former I've been planning and collecting parts for for so long...

D

[parche]

Thanks guys!

Corsair man,

The canopy will indeed be a challenge, on this build as well as the Super Corsair. Probably start by carving the required shape from either the stock canopy or a chunk of balsa, then heat & smash clear plastic sheet over that. Unless I get REAL ambitious and finally build the vac former I've been planning and collecting parts for for so long...

D

I vote for you to get real ambitious (that way I can see what you did and copy it )

Cheers,

Dave

[D Bellis]

I vote for you to get real ambitious (that way I can see what you did and copy it )

Cheers,

Dave

Sorry. I've given it alot of thought, and I'll never get everything done in the time I have. Have to heat and smash the canopy for this build.

But, remind me when you're here, and I'll hook you up with a heating element for yours. I've got a big, old toaster saved just for that purpose. The rest will be easy.

D