Introduction
Chris Wauchop must really like Hasegawa's 1/32 scale Focke-Wulf
Fw 190D-9, released earlier in 2003. This is the third time
that he has built the kit this year!
Chris wanted to build his third large-scale Dora as soon as he
heard that Eagle
Cals were issuing their JV 44 "Papagei Staffel" markings in 1/32
scale. As soon as the decals arrived, Chris set to work.
The main reference sources included a photo on page 16 of Jerry
Crandall's book, "Doras of the Galland Circus". We decided to try to
reproduce this photo using the model and Photoshop to age the image.
The result can be seen at the top of the page.
Construction
The model was built with relatively few modifications. The kit
cockpit was used, but the seat was thinned. Buckles from Eagle
Editions' cockpit set were used on strips of lead foil to represent
the harness straps.
Selected lines of rivets were added using the point of a pin to
push the rivets into the plastic of the fuselage sides. This detail
was added to the full length of the fuselage from the nose to the
empennage, with special attention to the area around the cockpit.
In common with his earlier Hasegawa Doras, Chris also made the
following modifications:
 |
Brass pins added to
the tailwheel strut and oleo to retract the wheel into the
fuselage slightly. |
|
The short FuG antenna
on the fuselage was replaced with brass wire, beefed up at the
base. |
|
The whip aerial at the
end of the Morane mast was replaced with wire. |
|
Cannon and machine gun
barrels were drilled out with the tip of a scalpel blade. |
|
Hydraulic lines were
added from fine soldering wire. |
|
Aerial was sourced
from smoke-coloured invisible mending thread. The isloators were
built up from drops of Krystal Kleer then painted. |
|
A lens for the gun
camera was added using Krystal Kleer. |
|
The flaps were
modified to reduce the angle of droop. |
Painting, Markings and
Weathering
The model was painted
using the Testor Aztek A470 airbrush. The lower surface of the model
was painted white before being masked with 3mm wide strips of Tamiya
masking tape. Red was then sprayed over the bottom of the wings and
fuselage. Removal of the masking tape revealed the striking and
colourful recognition markings of the Galland Circus.
The spinner of the real
aircraft appears to have been originally painted with a white spiral
on a base of Black Green. The white spiral may still be faintly seen
under the new yellow spinner cap, and the rear section has been
painted out with either a fresh coat of Black Green, or black. Chris
carefully masked and sprayed these interesting details.
Markings were sourced
from Eagle Cals' 1/32 scale sheet EC#14, "Doras of the Galland
Circus". The decals performed flawlessly.
The various stains and
exhaust streaks were applied by airbrush. The significant chipping
along the wing walks and the rear of the canopy was added using a
silver artist's pencil.
More Pictures
Click the thumbnails to view larger pictures:
