Global Scale Modeller

This Beautiful Aircraft is the Focke-Wulf FW-200 "Condor"
Its a German WWII era four Engine monoplane Aircraft which design branched out into several operational areas.
It was designed by the legendary Kurt Tank (most famous for the FW190) in the mid 30-ties.
From the start early design was intended for civilian purposes, as a long legged airliner/transport operating at the extreme altitude of 5000-6000m (10000ft) without a preassurized cabin. But the design and development of this Aircraft was going on at the same time the nazis prepared for war. So the design of prototypes with military capabilities were ordered very early on.
The Condor is mostly known from WWII as a long range maritime patrol bomber. It operated together with the U-boat fleet (Wolfpacks) to target merchant shipping. (often known as the battle of the Atlantic). When Condors found the convoys they attacked the ships with MGs, Cannons, Rockets and of course bombs. And directed the wolfpacks to the position of the convoy, and vice versa. Winston Churchill called the Condor "The Scourge of the Atlantic". It was hated and feared due to its long range. A special built high speed version was used as Hitlers personal transport. Another similarily used by SS head Himmler.
The fact that this Aircraft was so versatile and with so many versions beeing developed roughly at the same time can be confusing.
In one Picture You see a Lufthansa airliner Condor, and in the next one full of guns and bombs...make no misstake this became and was primarily a military bomber Aircraft. In fact of the (exact figure varies) 270-280 built, only 10 were ever built as civilian use Aircraft.

The C-4 (this kit) was the final and most uppgraded version used in numbers.
As with most military Aircraft, especially during WWII when development was lighning fast, there are a myriad of sub variants.
The data below is "in general" reflecting the capabilities of the FW-200, and I have only listed the most interesting stuff.

Main role
Long range maritime and coastal patrol reconnaissance bomber (Search and Destroy ships)

Engines
4 × BMW-Bramo 323R-2 Fafnir radials, rated at 1200 hp (894.59 kW) each

Range
2209 miles typical, 2759 miles max (3555 km typical, 4440 km max)

Speed
Cruise: 208 mph, 335 km/h
Max: 224 mph, 360 km/h

It was a big Aircraft...(kit)
Lenght
76 ft 11.5 in, 23.46m (32,2cm)

Wingspan
107 ft 8 in, 32,8m (45,3cm)

Crew
6: pilot, co-pilot/bombardier, radar operator/gunner, radio operator/gunner, and two gunners

Armament
Machine Guns
1 × 13 mm MG 131 trainable rearward-firing gun in the rear dorsal position, 500 rounds
2 × 13 mm MG 131 trainable lateral-firing guns in the beam positions, 300 rounds each
1 × 7,92 mm MG 15 trainable rearward-firing gun in the rear ventral gondola position, 1,000 rounds
1 × 7,92 mm MG 15 trainable gun in the power-operated Fw 19 forward dorsal turret, 1,000 rounds
Cannons
1 × 20 mm MG 151/20 trainable forward-firing cannon in the forward ventral gondola position, 500 rounds
Bombs
Up to 2100 kg, in a ventral gondola weapon bay rated 600 kg and on four hardpoints (two under the outboard engine nacelles, each rated at 500 kg and two under the outer wing panels each rated at 250 kg).
Normal load-out:
2 × 500 kg SC-500 bombs under the outboard engine nacelles
2 × 250 kg SC-250 bombs under the outer wing panels
12 × 50 kg SC-50 bombs in the ventral-gondola weapon bay.

Here is a fantastic military newsreel where You go on a typical Condor mission from start to finish.
Can You imagine the fear if You were on one of those merchant ships!? All the poor sailors could do was hope that the Condors would not pick them...
[youtube]3BmBnId6kfs[/youtube]

This clip is a collage of some of the best Condor pics out there...
[youtube]rnRvSKfp3jk[/youtube]

And the kit

Beautiful box art


Standard Revell confusion...


Three paint schemes, Im leaning towards this one


Decals, nothing special, might get an aftermaket set which opens up for more paint options as well
They do look nice (printed in Italy by Cartograf I presume)


Clear parts, thank god they are in good condition. (Fixing complex parts like these at this scale is a nightmare)
With manufacturers like Revell, Airfix and some others, packaging and protection of parts is a joke at best.
Only in a plastic bag thrown in the heap amongst the other sprues, which in turn are crammed in one bag.
Opening the box is a lottery and in this case I was lucky!
Quality is decent and only minor scratches here and there.



Wing sprues

Nice detail


Fuse sprues



Engines and other stuff sprues

Some nice detail on the ingines


Props, Wheels and other stuff


Bulkheads


Overall a fair amount of detail and ok moulding. Clear parts...ok. Old school pin marks, eg in places where even a retarded designer would understand that they should not be.
Overall quality, well...with Revell its like a lottery. Everything from bottom feeder quality to really good. Even down to the individual kit contents. Same in this, some sprues are crisp and no sign of flash, some sprues a mess...
Example of some flash in this kit.


I dont mind some flash here and there...but...these parts will be interesting...


I will be using the Eduard paint mask for this one, only way really. At this scale, and number of windows you have to be extremely skilled with the blade to match the pre-cut ones. I jst dont have that patience when pre cut ones are available.


I guess this will build will be started in 2-3 weeks time when the Vampire is finished and SAAB 17 is in its final stages.

Nice entry, good call on the mask sets

Great entry

Great subject

Thanks guys,

Here is a better Picture from a book on one of the Aircraft You can do with the included decals.
On the bottom is the C-4 (F8+FR) Revell has included with a scheme that is a Little more interesting and Eye catching.
Its the standard RLM splinter camo with RLM76 mottling on top.
Well see...will check whats out there.

Cool scheme that mottling will test you ABing skills

Sweet entry! Looks like you have enough clear parts to keep you busy!

I can't wait to see the paint on this model.

Can't wait to see it come together. Is there another term for flash when it gets to that stage?

Excellent and challenging subject! I look forward to the reveal

This is an awesome looking plane. Would not want to be you when it comes down to painting the camo

Raptor wrote:This is an awesome looking plane. Would not want to be you when it comes down to painting the camo

Mottling is not that hard.
If You have basic airbrush technique, as in "Can Control the trigger action" its all a matter of trusting your airbrush.
1. Use a thin mix and slowly build it up. The thin mix allows you to see whats going on early Before much paint hits the Surface.
(Since its 60-70% thinners coming out)
2. Adjusted air preassure according to paint mix, in this case low.
3. Constantly test the flow (that its good) and checking the needle for buildup and cleaning it. The thin mix helps a lot here also. This minimizes the risk of spitting, which is Your enemy nr 1 when applying mottling on an alredy "finished" Surface.
4. Focus, relax, take your time...

Of course using a really good airbrush helps a lot. If you trust your airbrush it helps you relax and builds confidence.
I Think the most important feature to look for in an airbrush is actually maintenance.
E.g. that it is easy to operate, take apart/put together, and most important that its easy to Clean.
If You feel that maintenance is hassle free, You use it more.
The more You use it the better You get...
Its the same as Everything else in Life, the more you do something the better you get at it. And of course vice versa.

My advice with airbrushing, DO IT! a lot. Meaning dont just pick it up when its time to paint the model which we have just spent lots of time and effort building. Then we get stressed out because we dont want to fail. So picking up the airbrush becomes something stressful.
When it should be something lustful and joyful just as building. No confidence is built and its hard to relax.

Take it apart, and put it back togehter until it becomes second nature, just play with it and You will quickly understand how it works.
(its a very simple peice of Equipment really, and its built to be taken apart and put together over and over so no need to be afraid)
Get thicker paper sheets or plastic sheets or anything that can be painted and just paint, Clean, paint, Clean...experiment, test, fail, learn. Experiment with different mixes togehter with different preassure etc etc.
I Think most modellers would be amazed how quickly you can become Confident in airbrushing IF you just give it a chance, take your time and do the above. We are talking from zero to Confident in a week or two of playing and practicing.

Again, a really good airbrush (from all aspects) helps a lot! If You ask me, this is the best investment You can do. Put Your Money in a high quality gun. It will pay back many times over in terms of having hassle free fun with our great hobby.

Sorry for long reply, just wanted to share some thoughts on this subject with everyone...

Wise words.

Great looking aircraft, I've always loved the shark-like look of the FW-200. I have the Revell Arado 196 and the flash on that is as bad(if not worse) than your Condor, and am hesitant to start the kit because of it.

Thanks for the advice with the airbrush techniques...I think at 1/72 scale the mottling is going to be a challenge and look forward to seeing your results. With regard to real life spraying, there was always differences in the application of paint to vehicles because they gave the spray guns to people they didn't trust to pick up a spanner

Nice one on the Air Brushing . That's a great approach.

How is this one coming along dude?

I liked the reply, it was very wise and true.
As stated above though, let's see your progress!...

Ok...

With the Vampire a coat af varnish from being finished and the SAAB 17 put on hold, lets Clean the table and get going.
FINALLY!




Sorting out the parts that can be worked on in parallel, eg Fuse, wings, stabs, and of course interior.




Stabs, very simple, two parts that glue togehter, The small tabs as in elevator hinges needs careful trimming to fit in other halves slots!
Other than that nice fit. Then the alignment tab needs work for the stab to get a perfect fit in the fuse.
(Always spend time adjusting, test fitting, sanding, filing and modifying until the fit is "as good as it gets", saves loooots of work with filler etc)
Stab aligns perfectly ready to be glued later.



As this is a Revell kit, one has to just accept the quality. There is flash in many places, some bad, sink marks in the fuse and nasty nasty pin marks, some actually creating a bulge on the outer Surface...hope they wont show at the end.
Will not go on about this since we all now it Before hand when we buy these kits. Just showing one example of nasty pin marks to take care of. (wingtip)


The Condor is a big Aircraft, so even in 1/72 it builds up to a big model, Cool!
(Just a loose test fit to see what we have here)


To be continued...

Wow! She's gonna be a big 'un! Nice!

Update

Most of the internal bits prepped and ready for base paint (RLM02), have also built the two internal sections up to a Point where it will be possible to acces to paint the details and dry brush. The other small parts will be painted individually Before attaching them.



To be continued...

Update

Wheels glued waiting to be tidied up and sanded (worn). Had to remove the alignment pins...eeeeh since they did not align the halves...



Tidied up the wing panels and drilled holes.



Fiddling around and test fitting reveals that the halves does not align very well...will have to be aligned and glued in steps...sigh.


On the Brighter side of things, recieved this Hobby Boss Me 262 the other day and will post a sprue by sprue comparison to see how it stacks up against the Tamiya one in the Review section!



To be continued...

Nice progress on the Condor - great looking kit

Really tempted with this one after seeing your work on it.

looks like a good start
i would like to see the end result as i had choose between this kit and the heikel he 111 that i actually bought
so a sort of comparrison would be nice
but keep up the fine work
cheers Mark

MarkVerploeg wrote:looks like a good start
i would like to see the end result as i had choose between this kit and the heikel he 111 that i actually bought
so a sort of comparrison would be nice
but keep up the fine work
cheers Mark

Ok, send me the He 111 and I will compare them!!

Update

From now on (Vampire done) progress will pick up with only this kit to focus on.

Wings prepped and glued. Took some work since the fit was not the best. Had to align, glue, align, glue etc until whole wing panel done.
There was no way to get a perfect alignment, so took the Little gap (step on the nacelles) on the inside.
When steps or gaps are un-avoidable, Always Think inside and underside, since thats where it will be least visible.


Outside ok


Inside step that have to be carefully sanded.


Wheels gets tidied up and also gets a nice "wear".


First batch of small stuff ready for a base coat.


To be continued...

Looking good mate :- hoping to get my brother to give me this kit

Great work so far!! I can't wait to see this Condor up and about! Such a neat old bird! I'm really excited to see what you do with it!

oh and I second this:

T3hGuppy wrote:Really tempted with this one after seeing your work on it.

Very nice work. I wanna see this whole

Update

Before I start: Go here and be inspired, some of his work brings a tear to my Eye...

http://doogsmodels.com/

After (lots of) careful sanding and testfitting Im finally happy with the wing/fuse fit.
Wing panels are also sanded and polished, ready for some paint in the Wheel bays and on leading edge to se what the seam lines look like.

Topside dry fit


Belly side dry fit


Inside of fuse, internal stuff, Wheel bays base painted with Gunze RLM02 (the props got a coat as well, while I was at it, as primer.)
Now ready for detail painting and weathering.



Happy with right wing panel leading edge seamline, but the left one will need some more sanding and polishing...


To be continued...

Update

Noting to exiting going on right now...

Wheels sanded, worn, and weighted.


XF-85, rubber black going on


Done...instrument panel tagged along and got a base coat.


Prepping more (flashy) parts


Masking stuff....


Building bombs...


To be continued....

wonderful work mate


lovely model too


looking forward to see this take shape


Shane

longlance67 wrote:wonderful work mate


lovely model too


looking forward to see this take shape


Shane

Thanks mate!!

Update

Not much exiting going on but here is Another small update.

Got my first batch of Alclads, stoked to try em out.
Not sure if there will be any opportunity on this baby but lets see, also very curious on how the primer works.
Maybe exhaust manifold and Gun metal!


Also got these Little Tools. Mini scriber blades with tiny tiny saw tooths. They are not PE, but Stainless steel and very hard.
The same goes for the mini rivet Wheels, the "half" ones are for corners.
I played around and they all work very good!


Fits in a regular blade holder ala X-acto.


Same for riveting tool


Various Wheels.


Ok, enough of that and back to the build. As I said nothing spectacular right now.
Couple of hatches can be built open or closed, if open You have to carefully cut them open.
Gear doors and Bomb bay doors.








The bomb bay itself is a clear part...boy Im glad I got the Eduard masks...


Bombs built, what a pain, useless fit, lots of sanding, polishing and re scribing, and some of the aft rings were extremely poorly moulded. Took me 1hr to Clean up and prep 6 rings!



Bombs and props painted in RLM71


Interior painting and weathering started. To me this type of model (big planes in 1/72) are 98% exterior. Meaning thats what you see...I have tested and You cant really see much through the tiny canopy and windows. Therefore will just focus on the areas which can be seen.






Will do some more weathering and dry brushing, then thats it. Will also paint up and install the guns and internal turret parts Before closing her up.


To be continued...

That's damn nice condor.

beautiful cockpit detailing mate, excellent work. might need to print that picture and hang it on my wall for some inspiration.

Really like the cockpit dude.

Very nice.

Beautiful. I'm loving this one

I love the work on the cockpit. This is going to be a beautiful model!

This looks great mate cockpit is looking top dollar

I have recently brought this kit too and I'm looking forward to building it but i'm thinking of going all out and buy the big ED set for it to super detail it up! Also I have brought a PE set for the cockpit, I'm defo thinking of buying the mask set though.

Look forward to see how it turns out

Great Build so far !Excelent cockpit , In some near future this is a kit that I wish to build .

Recently I read a book about WWII planes that 'landed' in Portugal , we were not involved in war , but we were in the middle of some action , this Condors Bombed English ships that have som routes from england to Gibraltar and North Africa and their routes were near our country, some were shoted down by British pilots from escort carriers or damaged by ships fire and forced to land (sort of... ) , the Condors were based in France ...

Looking for to see it built !

Sorry for not updating guys, and thanks a lot for all the nice Words!!
Havent been much time in the last Days, but will have more time this week and have some vacation Days togehter with easter also. (as in 6 Days off)
Plan is to be finished by then, in 2 weeks. (then its Night fighter time!)

Still in the not-so-sexy part of the build...

Well front office and aft compartment done.
Tried the Citadel special dry brushing paint, they call it componds.
The silver is called Necron compound. (why does all gaming stuff have silly names?)
Its a thick paint, gel like. Also tried their "special dry brushing brush"...as in You dont have to cut one Yourself.


Well, the compound is, hmm, kind of cool. If You want to do traditional dry brushing its not better than regular paint.
But its extremely high in pigments, so if you load the brush, and not "take it all off" as per normal, and drybrush very lightly you get fantastic cotrol.

Cockpit done, paint, clay wash (light gray), dry brushing, Vallejo dark grey wash in places, clay wash dark grey in other places.


Test fitted in fuse, had to sand down IP to get snug fit.








Economy class...


As I wrote in other update, didnt go to Town on the internals, You wont see much through the small windows.




As for PE, I could imagine the external set would benefit this kit a bit, but maybe not internally.
There is however an option to build the gun implacements on the roof so they can be removed to peek inside.
You can also cut the mid/upper section of the canopy to have these now two windows open.

Fuse fit is ok with internals in.


Other than that, just prepping parts...for base coating.






Awaiting RLM 02


Oh...prepped and test fitted the windows also Before i polish them up. There are two very small ones wich will be made with Krystal Clear at the end.




Look there is ONE quite clear, clear part! Well done Revell!


Next up, painting lots of parts, gluing in windows and internals and button up the fuse...
To be continued...

Holy cra...
I see now in my pics that i lied!!! So, NOT done!
Internals needs more wash in parts and places...as in ink or Vallejo to accentuate details.
Holy smoke, glad I saw that one!

your doing stunning work, the interior looks amazing, keep up the good work

Really looking great dude.

I'm loving the interior.

Beautiful plane and a very nice build up to now.
Keep up the great work

Dudes!! Boy do I owe You all an update...

Work work work, and springtime means that our other hobby starting to call on attention.
I am retired but wife is still very Active with our dogs. Shes putting in a lot of time and is competing in top level agility.
So, lots of weekends we pack up the Caravan and drive around sweden to attend competitions.
Here are my best friends, the youngest (Black one) is the best working/agility dog we ever had, incredibly fast and intelligent.
Left to right: Chili (12), Kenzo (6,5), Ziggy (3,5)


On to the build, will go fast forward until today.

Various parts sprayed in base colors.


Internals ready, dry brushed, washes etc.



Glued in fuse


Fuse glued


Just realised my pics are in a mess...hang on for a part 2...

looks good to me
i like the interior great work
cheers Mark

MarkVerploeg wrote:looks good to me
i like the interior great work
cheers Mark

Thanks Mark!