Focke-Wulf Fw 190D-13 "Yellow 10" by Ian Robertson (Hasegawa 1/32)

Hasegawa + Rutman 1/32 scale
Focke-Wulf Fw 190D-13

by Ian Robertson

Focke-Wulf Fw 190D-13
Yellow 10

Hasegawa's 1/32 scale Focke-Wulf Fw 190D-9 is available online from Squadron.com

Introduction

“Yellow 10” is a rare Focke-Wulf Fw.190D-13 that ended its wartime career in Flensburg, Germany, where it was surrendered to the RAF. Prior to its surrender the aircraft was the personal mount of Major Franz Götz, Geschwader Kommodore of JG26. To many, “Yellow 10” is known only for its striking and unusual late-war camouflage scheme. However, this aircraft has a remarkable history that extends from late war Germany to its current home at the Museum of Flight in Seattle. “Yellow 10’s” journey, at least through its discovery in Germany, recovery in Atlanta, and restoration and display at the Champlin Fighter Museum in Arizona, before relocating to Seattle, is thoroughly documented in the book “Yellow 10: The story of the ultra-rare Fw.190D-13” by Jerry Crandall (2000, Eagle Editions). Excellent wartime and restoration photographs are included in the book, along with color artwork by Tom Tullis. The book was an invaluable resource for me while building my model.

The Focke-Wulf Fw190D-13

The D-13 variant of the Fw.190D (Dora) series differed externally from the far more numerous D-9 in the following respects: redesigned upper cowling in front of the windscreen, wider engine cowl with larger supercharger intake, VS 9 paddle-bladed wooden prop, and a single ejection port for the engine-mounted MG 151 20 mm cannon that fired through the spinner. A number of other minor refinements dealing with the position of access panels were also present on the D-13.

Although the D-13 is unmistakably a Dora, the deviations from the D-9 require a moderately ambitious conversion project. Luckily, Jerry Rutman (J. Rutman Products) has produced a high-quality and well thought out conversion set for Hasegawa’s new-tool 1/32 Fw.190D-9. While the conversion is not for beginners, those with moderate modeling experience and experience working with resin should find it straight forward.

The Shopping List

Hasegawa 1/32 Fw.190D-9 (new tool)
J.Rutman Fw.190D-13 conversion (resin parts)
- includes fuselage halves, gun hood in front of windscreen, spinner, prop blades, rear wheel well bulkhead, and lower wing center section with single ejection port. No instructions, but the conversion steps are obvious.
MDC main wheels (treadless) and tail wheel
- Superb detail. Brake lines are included for the main undercarriage.
MDC seat belts and buckles
Cutting Edge resin seat
Eagle Parts Fw.190D radiator cowling (#43-32)
EagleCals decals #32-59
- Printed by Microscale, EagleCals are thoroughly researched and among the best aftermarket decals available. The airbrushed profiles by Tom Tullis are superb.

Construction

The first step in the project was to wash and clean up the flash on the resin parts. The fuselage halves were very well cast and needed only a minor amount of cleanup around the wing roots and cockpit. The supercharger intake, upper cowl, and prop blades suffered from numerous pock-marks that required filling and sanding. This task was time consuming but not difficult. The amount of time spent on the supercharger intake increased considerably when I decided to hollow the intake out with a Dremel motor tool. (Note that a mask was worn at all times while preparing resin parts.)

Because the Rutman conversion is designed to replace specific parts of the Hasegawa kit (i.e., no surgery to the kit is required, except on the prop blades), construction proceeded more-or-less as shown in the Hasegawa instructions. However, before starting construction it was necessary to dry fit the resin fuselage.

Gluing the fuselage halves together is a major step in the conversion. Great care is needed to ensure proper fit and alignment of the wings and tail to the forward fuselage. Therefore, I jumped ahead in the Hasegawa instructions and completed the wing assembly so that it could be used effectively in dry fitting to the fuselage.

The flaps on the wings were positioned up for pragmatic reasons. According to Jerry Crandall, “Yellow 10’s” flaps were made from wood and therefore the internal ribbing on the kit’s flaps is incorrect for this particular aircraft. Solution - flaps up.

Now back to the fuselage halves. Careful dry fitting was essential for proper wing and tail attachment. Although the resin fuselage halves were well cast, it was still necessary to sand the inside surfaces to ensure proper fuselage width and a continuous gluing surface for the parts. Repeated dry fits were made until I was convinced that the wings and tail would fit seamlessly. In the photograph below, the cream-colored parts are resin whereas the grey parts are styrene.

Once I felt comfortable the fuselage halves would fit together properly, I turned to the cockpit. I replaced the kit seat with one from Cutting Edge, and I added etched brass belts and buckles from MDC. Guide rails on each side of the seat back were made from Evergreen styrene. The cockpit was painted RLM 66 using Polly Scale acrylic, although in the photo it appears overly dark owing to the poor light conditions.

Proper insertion the cockpit and engine plug required careful dry fitting and some minor adjustments. Remember that the resin fuselage halves are thicker than the kit’s styrene parts, so some thinning is required for the cockpit and engine plug to fit properly. I opted to thin the width of the cockpit floor rather than the fuselage side walls. The same was true for the engine plug.

The resin conversion includes a rear firewall for the engine plug; however, I opted to retain the kit’s original part for ease of assembly. The part isn’t readily visible on the completed model anyway.

Before gluing the fuselage halves together, don’t forget to add the wells for the exhausts. Note that because the resin fuselage is thicker that the kit parts, the exhaust wells sit a little deeper than they should. Reducing the depth of each well before attaching it to the interior of the fuselage is the best option. I learned this lesson the hard way when my MDC exhausts nearly disappeared into the uncorrected wells. However, the kit exhausts fit satisfactorily in the uncorrected wells, so ultimately I used them.

Once the fuselage halves were glued together (with CA glue) I returned to the cockpit area to make a small but noticeable correction. As in the Hasegawa kit, the placement of the gun sight is incorrect in the Rutman conversion because it interrupts the padding that extends across the front of the coaming above the instrument panel. Therefore, I repositioned the gun sight further forward and added a strip of styrene rod to fill the gap in the padding.

I chose to display the cowl flaps open as this is how they appear in the photographs of “Yellow 10” taken at the end of the war (see pg 21 in Jerry Crandall’s book). One point of interest – one of the cowl flaps on the starboard side of the Hasegawa part is molded shut, consistent with numerous photos of D-9s, including a photo on pg 77 of Jerry’s book. However, the photos of “Yellow 10” clearly show this flap open. While I’m not certain of the significance of this discrepancy, I chose to modify the kit part so my model would be consistent with the photos of “Yellow 10”.

Attaching the tail and wings was easy given the careful dry fitting that preceded. The small insert between the wheel wells fit perfectly as well. At this point main construction was complete and the model was ready for painting.

Painting and Markings

Painting of the outer surfaces began by spraying the model with Mr. Surfacer 1000. The wheel wells (RLM 02), cockpit, and engine face were masked prior to the application of the primer. Once the primer was dry I polished the model with a Micromesh sanding cloth.

I then painted and masked the JG26 Reich defense bands on the rear fuselage. Note that the white and black bands were unequal in width and not parallel.

I preshaded the model with black paint and then polished it again. Alclad II aluminum metalizer was sprayed on the wing roots. The metalizer in this area would later be exposed to simulate scuffed paint.

Click on the thumbnails below to view larger images:

The underside of “Yellow 10’s” wings were natural metal with RLM 75 on the leading edge and RLM 76 on the ailerons. I used Alclad II for the metal surfaces and weathered it slightly with washes of thinned Tamiya black acrylic. The natural metal surfaces were then masked for application for RLM 75 and 76 using Polly Scale acrylics.

The fuselage was painted RLM 76. Afterward, the upper fuselage and wings were painted RLM 75, as described in the painting guide for “Yellow 10” on the back cover of Jerry Crandall’s book.

The remainder of the painting was an exercise in free expression.…almost. In truth, I followed Tom Tullis’ artwork as closely as possible, although it often became an exercise in artistic expression trying to spray the complex pattern freehand. In the end I feel that I fairly represented the look of “Yellow 10”, at least as interpreted by Tom Tullis.

The greens applied to the upper surfaces are my own mixtures for RLM 82 and 83. I am not satisfied with most interpretations of RLM 82 (hellgrun) by paint manufacturers since the color is typically formulated as bright as a green gummybear. However, White Ensign Models provides formulations of RLM 82 and 83 that were exactly what I was looking for. Therefore, I used the colored lids of my WEM paints as paint chips for mixing my own RLM 82 and 83 using Polly Scale acrylics. (Why, you may ask, did I not simply use the WEM paints? Honestly, I’ve developed a comfort zone with Polly Scale acrylic and didn’t want to experiment with a lacquer paint I’ve never used before. I’ve heard that the WEM paints are superb though).

My mixture for RLM 83 (dunkelgrun) was 1 part Polly Scale “Pullman Green” (similar to RAF green) and 1 part Polly Scale RLM 81 (brown-violet). This gave a distinctly brownish green appearance to the paint. My mixture for RLM 82 (hellgrun) was 1 part Polly Scale RLM 82 and 1 part Polly Scale RLM 83.

The spinner was painted RLM 25. Although the Eaglecals’ decal sheet provided a spiral decal for the spinner, I believe it was designed for the shape of the Hasegawa spinner, not the resin replacement. After several unsuccessful attempts to find a suitable spare decal, I opted to paint the spinner white, mask the spiral using Tamiya tape, and then reapply the RLM 25. Note the stains on the rear half of the spinner – these were caused by fluids leaking through the hole of the propeller hub for the cannon blast tube. To simulate this effect I masked the forward part of the spinner and then sprayed highly thinned back paint across the rear half of the spinner in the direction of air flow.

The prop blades were painted RLM 70 (black green). At the other end of the aircraft, note the light grey paint on the leading edge of the upper portion of the tail.

To simulate paint chips at the wing roots, I used fine grain sandpaper to create surface abrasions and expose small amounts of the Alclad II aluminum beneath.

Decals

The Eaglecals decals performed flawlessly over a gloss coat of Future floor wax. Microset and microsol helped the decals conform to the model’s surfaces. Once the decals were dry I applied a 50/50 mixture of Polly Scale clear satin and clear flat acrylic.

Adding the Undercarriage

To each landing strut I added brake lines made from wire and thin, flexible rubber. The oleos were covered with bare metal foil, and the holes in the oleo scissors were drilled out. I also added some additional wiring to the radius rod hinges.

An interesting detail of “Yellow 10” is that the starboard tire had a tread whereas the port tire was smooth. The MDC replacement tires, as well as the kit tires, were suitable only for the port tire. I simulated a tread on the starboard tire by scoring the MDC tire with a knife and then widening the tread with a scribing tool. Note that Eagle Editions makes a perfectly suitable treaded replacement tire. I had one of these replacements in my possession, but unfortunately misplaced it at the time I needed it most. I found it shortly afterward.

Groundwork

A wooden cutting board was used as the base for the model. Celluclay was used to make the basic ground cover. The celluclay powder was mixed into a paste with water and white glue, tinted with brown acrylic paint, and then spread thinly over the cutting board.

Note that the cutting board had previously been treated with several coats of clear lacquer to prevent warping while the celluclay dried.

While the celluclay was still wet I added pieces of Heki grass mat (item # 1574 - Wild Grass Savanna), fine sand, and small bits of moss. Heki Grass is now available in the United States from Scenic Express.

Photographs

Images of the completed model were taken with a Nikon Coolpix 5400 digital camera outside with a natural background. The “sharpen edges” tool of Adobe Photoshop was used to restore some of the clarity and crispness lost during image compression.

Dedication

I’d like to dedicate this article to my good friend Jerry Crandall, whose hard work and passion for “Yellow 10” inspired this project. Keep the wealth of information and interesting Luftwaffe subjects coming Jerry!