After struggling with the last few builds, I wanted something relatively easy, so of course I reached for a Tamiya kit. I had also purchased some Hataka paints from Sprue Brothers and wanted to try them out, so a German subject seemed appropriate.

I've built several Tamiya Fw 190's, but this is the first A-3. I have some aftermarket decals for a Turkish version and a captured version, so I may build another of these at some point. It went together well, as expected. I used AMMO by Mig paints for the RLM 66 in the cockpit and the RLM 02 in the wheel wells. These paints were airbrushed without any thinning, and they went on well. I tried using Mr. Color C-113 RLM 04 for the rudder and the underside of the cowling, but it had a bit of a greenish tinge to it, so I overpainted it with my Tamiya mix for RLM 04.

Once the cowling and rudder were masked, I re-sprayed a light gray over the yellow overspray. I have learned that yellow will bleed through, especially if the color sprayed over it is light blue (it makes the blue look slightly greenish, as expected). I then used Hataka paints for the RLM 76 on the bottom and sides of the fuselage, and RLM 75 and RLM 74 for the camouflage. If I recall correctly, I thinned it with Mr. Color Thinner. It sprayed very well. I actually applied the mottling freehand, and was pleased with how it turned out.

The Hataka paints were rather glossy, but I sprayed Testors Glosscote 1161 over them anyway, as a pre-decal coat. To be honest, jsut as with previous uses of Glosscote, I really didn't notice any difference in sheen. I don't know if that is because the Hataka paints are glossy as-is, because the Glosscote isn't that glossy, or because my eyes just aren't good enough to pick up differences in sheen. I applied the kit decals, using Mr. Mark Setter underneath them. I had to apply two or three coats of Solvaset on top of them to get them to conform, as they were rather thick. The stripe around the fuselage broke, and I was not able to align it just right. I used Testors Dullcote 1160 for the flat coat. I must admit, the lacquer clears are much easier to airbrush than Future.

All in all, I was very pleased with how this build turned out. It may very well be my best build so far. Except for the fuselage stripe, and couple of places where a fiber from a Q-Tip was on the paint, everything went well. But after the build was complete, I noticed was that I forgot to put on the gunsight! Oh, well.

Page last updated June 15, 2023.