1:32 Fw 190D-9

A long nose instead of a radial

The D-9 version swapped the radial engine for an inverted V12 Jumo 213, and the nose stretched with it. To keep the center of gravity in place, the designers inserted a plug ahead of the tail surfaces as well, so the aircraft grew longer at both ends. Its service began in the autumn of 1944 and one of the groups initially used it to protect jet aircraft during takeoff and landing, when they were at their most vulnerable.

Where this set saves work and where it no longer does

The saving lies almost entirely in the cockpit. Late markings were markedly simplified compared with the early years, the area of the insignia smaller and their number lower, so an insignia mask does less work than on machines from the first war years. On the glazing it is the other way round: the canopy is stretched, the frames long and straight, and it is exactly a long straight cut from tape that comes out worst by hand, because the tape stretches as it is laid and the edge goes wavy.

How to plan the work

Mask and spray the glazing first, because the color of the frames usually continues the shade of the fuselage. The insignia come only over a dry base coat.

A long straight cut is treacherous

A short piece of tape you will lay straight almost every time. With a strip longer than two centimeters, though, the tape stretches as it is laid and the edge goes wavy, because your own pull deforms it. A die-cut piece has no such problem: it is laid all at once and the backing holds its shape.

Continuity of the shades

On late aircraft the frames were sprayed in the same color as the surrounding areas, so the masked strip continues the camouflage of the fuselage. It therefore pays to spray the frames in the same session as the upper surfaces and not to split the work across two afternoons.