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  • Please see the most recent updates in the "Where did the .com name go?" thread. Posts number 16 and 17.

    Post 16 Update

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WIP Flying Heritage Collection's Focke-Wulf A5

huub vink

huub vink

Administrator
Staff member
Although there is only one picture available from the FHC Focke-Wulf A5, I have started a repaint based on the information I have. Below some 'early' work in progress pictures.

The FHC Focke-Wulf A5 has been painted in the same colours it had on the day it was lost. The aircraft was painted in 'local' colours, most likely using available Russian paint over a standard Luftwaffe day fighter scheme. As there isn't a picture from the port side of the aircraft yet, this is a bit of guessing.

It is work in progress, but I thought you might like the pictures. On request of 'Chunk' the aircraft is a bit dirty. However as it is fully restored I didn't add any damage. And although the real thing doesn't have a droptank I will include textures for tank with 'Kein bombe' stencils.

Cheers,
Huub

WIP1_FHC_A5.jpg



WIP1_FHC_A5_1.jpg
 
Excellent job Huub! I can't wait to have this A-5 scheme in the sim!
Here is a photo posted by FHC of the other side of the aircraft (note the werk no. on the top of the vertical tail and modern registration under the horizontal):

180625_10150101718713666_13883518665_6254485_6368093_n.jpg


Both photos posted by FHC were taken in the bright Arizona sun, very shortly after the paint had been applied with no flights on the aircraft since the paint had been applied - I am really looking forward to when it is in Seattle, with much less sunlight, and some exhaust and oil mixed in.

165326_10150099029673666_13883518665_6228767_5034762_n.jpg
 
Thanks for the nice words and picture from the port side! It looks very different than I thought, so still much to do. Do you, by any chance, know the civil registration code? BTW I worked the same way as on the real aircraft and started with a standard paint scheme so when I have the "Werk Nummer" in the correct place I just erase some green paint around it...... ;)

Ferry van Orden made some pictures from the Flugwerk FW190 A8/N when it was on Lelystad. The aircraft was covered much more dirt/oil than I had expected. (The aircraft also had an oil leak, but the dirt from the exhaust was incredible)

Cheers,
Huub

WIP1_FHC_A5_2.jpg
 
Hi Huub, here are the proper color swatches, as researched out by Mark Sheppard, who followed this restoration for two decades. The color swatches came from sampling an area of the tail, where the paint had never faded (unlike most of the rest of the airframe when it was recovered).

Upper Most/Final Scheme Colors:
http://www.colorserver.net/showcolor.asp?fs=30215+30045+34083+35414&size=xl
Eastern Theatre Yellow Markings
http://www.colorserver.net/showcolor.asp?fs=33538

Good discussion by Mark here:
http://warbirdinformationexchange.org/phpBB3/viewtopic.php?f=3&t=39483
 
Registration number is N19027
(Vulcan Warbirds Inc. (Paul Allen) being the actual on paper owner as with all FHC aircraft - http://registry.faa.gov/aircraftinq...xt=VULCAN+WARBIRDS+INC&sort_option=1&PageNo=1)

It will be interesting to see how dirty the BMW 801 will be in regular operations - I personally don't think it will be nearly as dirty as the Chinese-built Ash82 engines in the various Flugwerk replicas, but time will tell. Photos of the aircraft with a few test flights under its belt (before paint), there's really not that much exhaust staining - it is about comparable to a regular P&W R-2800 exhaust stain.
 
Thanks for the information and indeed a very interesting discussion about the colours. When I started this repaint I almost automatically took the standard RLM colours. However that absolutely didn't look like the pictures from the restored A5. Therefore I based this repaint on the actual restored A5. My repaint is a bit darker than the pictures to compensate for the Arizona sun.

The use of RLM62 is not very logical as this was used in three colour pre-war and not used since 1939. Therefore I do not expect it was still produced in 1943. According to my information RLM 81 and 82 were introduced not before 1944. As the aircraft crashed on Monday 19th July 1943, the colours RLM 70, 71 or 80 ar perhaps more logical. And even the use of RLM 79 (Sandgelb) is very doubtful, because why would anybody supply paint for a tropical scheme to a unit in the North of Russia? Especially while the units in tropical areas often used the standard grey day fighter scheme as there was no other paint available......

So I think the assumption made by FHC is a logical one. Most likely the aircraft was repainted with whatever paint was available.

I have had many interesting discussions about colours in the past. Paint was made by various factories and you should wonder whether these factories were capable to maintain the standards while being bombed daily, with often foreign people who were forced to work in these factories and with huge logistic problems due to which supplies were constant problem. And even when you do have some original chips of RLM paints, you should really wonder whet the effect of 70 years of age have on the colour.

Cag40Navy, I don't know whether I will make a clean version. I have been thinking to make two different versions. One as it most likely looked in July 1943 and the other as clear restored version.

Cheers,
Huub
 
About paint consistency, it is said that in the cockpit of the aircraft, there were multiple shades of RLM66 from one electrical box to the next, with one shade being about 7 tints lighter than the darkest, and with all points in between. This was all copied on the restored aircraft. Details like this, one would never know about without the survival of this airframe in such preserved state.

There are numerous other 'interesting' aspects of this aircraft which have been recreated as found. For instance, the aircraft was not fitted with two wing mounted MG/FF 20mm cannons. The central wheel well covers were also removed and a central ETC501 bomb rack was fitted.

What's also amazing is that, while the canopy had been broken in the original forced landing, a complete example was brought up from I believe an under-water wreck, and that is what is being used on the aircraft now - so it also has original Fw 190 canopy glazing as well - not to mention some 85-90% or more of its original structure and skins.

Huub, going off of your last comment, I would love it if you were to package together the two different versions!
 
Bomber_12th said:
There are numerous other 'interesting' aspects of this aircraft which have been recreated as found. For instance, the aircraft was not fitted with two wing mounted MG/FF 20mm cannons. The central wheel well covers were also removed and a central ETC501 bomb rack was fitted.
Click to expand...

That shouldn't come as a surprise really.
The MGFF was an option only from the A-2 through A-5. It was delivered with each new plane but not mounted. It was up to the units to mount them or not.
When the bomb rack was fitted the moving inner geardoors where replaced with fixed socalled "Fahrwerksrestabdeckungen". So it's all standard procedures.

Interesting on the RLM66 shades. Wonder how much the wet climate in those 50 years added to it.
 
I had seen the comments made by Mark about the missing machine guns already. It is a pity the top picture in Bomber's post is a bit bigger. Because it seems the port for both the inner as outer guns are visible in the wing edge. When this is true the aircraft could have been fitted with the two additional guns, which were removed afterwards (this would explain Mark's remark). As Mathias already explained the outboard machine guns were optional and the inner doors had to be removed to install the ETC501. What Mathias didn't mention is that the Classics Hangar late FW190 variants package contains the A5 with and without the additional machine guns.
And when you remove the ETC501 rack the central wheel well covers will appear again.
(see images below)

WIP2_FHC_A5_3.jpg


WIP2_FHC_A5_4.jpg


About the paint, I have some paint chips from a Messerschmitt Bf109 G6 which was excavated a few years ago and which is currently on display in the Atlantic Wall museum in my village. This G6 was reasonably new when it crashed and painted in the RLM74/75/76 standard day fighter scheme.

There are two wings from another Bf109 G6 in a reasonable fair state in the Crash museum in Rijssenhout. These wing are also painted in RLM74/75/76. And I have some paint chips from this aircraft as well. As units were most re-armed when they were in the Netherlands this aircraft was most likely quite new as well. When I put the small chips next to each other, there is already quite some colour difference. The paint is over 70 years old and the G6 in my village has been preserved under different conditions than the two wings.

Most paint I have used in my house over the last twenty years doesn't have the same colour as it had when I applied it........

Work in progress! I think I have the scheme captured. (Compare with the pictures posted by John 'Bomber_12th' Terrell.) Now I just have to finish the details.....

WIP2_FHC_A5_2.jpg


WIP2_FHC_A5_1.jpg


Cheers,
Huub
 
That looks splendid, Huub! Looking forward to flying it.
Thanks also to John for sharing his sources.

Cheers
 
Fantastic stuff Huub! It definitely looks the part!

Mathias, thank you for informing me about the 'option' for the outboard cannons - amongst many things concerning German aircraft, I did not know that. Details like the bomb rack/gear door modifications have made me admire your attention to detail on the Fw 190 even more so! While not seen installed within the photos, it is my understanding that the two forward fuselage MG's and the two wing-root cannons will be installed after the aircraft is at the FHC museum in Washington - that way they won't have to deal with transporting firearms over state boarders.

Attached is a photo taken of the aircraft during early flight testing, and along the leading edge of the wings you can see the two oval-shaped metal-plates covering the ports for the outboard cannons. Because of this, would that then mean that it did have them at one point but they were then removed? It appears that during flight testing, various exposed areas were covered with tape - my guess is to prevent dust and dirt being picked up and settling within the confines of the wing. (Photo credit given to "Morrisrc" at ASB.TV - note also the red-ringed tire on the right side - as found, only the right tire had the red-ring, and this now holds true through the restoration as well.)
 
Bomber_12th said:
Attached is a photo taken of the aircraft during early flight testing, and along the leading edge of the wings you can see the two oval-shaped metal-plates covering the ports for the outboard cannons. Because of this, would that then mean that it did have them at one point but they were then removed?
Click to expand...

No, they came out of the factory like that, with provision for carrying the MGFF.
It was a design decision to not model the oval shaped covers in our CH 190.
Doing that to some meaningfull quality would have required to add more poligon edges to the wing's leading edge, something I didn't really want to do.
As a modeller you know that those edges have to end somewhere. In our case at the forward wingroot which you probably can guess is one of the funkiest areas to do in that aircraft anyway, so....
 
As both wheels use the same texture, I can't make one single red ringed tire. Therefore I decided to leave the red circle out.

Like today I will have to work long hours for the next few days. As I will do a clean version as well it will take a few day before I can finish it.

Cheers,
Huub
 
Looks great as usual Huub!


huub vink said:
Ferry van Orden made some pictures from the Flugwerk FW190 A8/N when it was on Lelystad. The aircraft was covered much more dirt/oil than I had expected. (The aircraft also had an oil leak, but the dirt from the exhaust was incredible)
Click to expand...

Even though the F-AZZJ ditched into the North Sea only a few months after it's first flight and even though Mathias FW packs do not have the correct model I would still like to see a repaint of the Flugwerk bird someday.. (Nudge nudge, wink wink..) BTW the Flugwerk bird had a Yak-3 engine which may have been as 'smokey' as most Russian engines seem to be. The prop leak didn't appear until late afternoon and the engine wasn't running at that moment.
 
Ferry, I hope you don't mind, but I dug up two pictures from you to show the dirt on the Flugwerk FW190 A8/N. I have an other pictures taken by you which shows how greasy and full with thick black exhaust dust the bottom of the plane was covered.

IMG_5735.jpg


IMG_5957.jpg


Both pictures taken by Ferry van Orden on Lelystad airfield in August 2009

Ferry when you have some pictures which show the pattern on the wings I will start this repaint after I have finished the current one.

Cheers,
Huub
 
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