FHC´s (Paul Allen´s) Fw 190 A 5 maiden flight

If you haven´t checked FHC´s Facebook site recently, there is a short video clip (landing) and a nice pic of the Fw 190 A-5, click here:

http://www.facebook.com/flyingheritagecollection

For the pic by Z. Bubak scroll down.

Michael

😉

So it really depends on whether the Airfix Lanc/Stirling/Halifax etc were available in the States at the time.
😉
DD

Let’s hope he bought the 1/72 Revell “Dambusters” Lanc kit which came out circa 1964….the same time that they brought out their “Memphis Belle” B-17F kit. He has a B-17…. 🙂
Airfix and Frog kits were available in the US back then, but usually only at specialty hobby shops.

Seriously, I wonder if someone presented him with a huge challenge (not to mention the gratritude of a nation or three) by telling him of the lack of a Stirling or airworthy Halifax, he’d consider it?

But then, I’d suppose even his chequebook has limits.

6 star out of 5!!!

😉

Imagine Mr Allen having a thing for Bomber Command, now that would be something with such a budget.:cool:

Cees

I visited the collection a few years back.

We were told Paul Allen’s collecting philosophy was based on whether or not he’d built a plastic kit of a particular type as a boy…as good a start as any I suppose.

So it really depends on whether the Airfix Lanc/Stirling/Halifax etc were available in the States at the time.
😉
DD

Very neat result after much research.

Reminds me of the Technicolor films in the 30s and 40s depicting the medieval period, very bright gaudy, I used to think that they were so wrong.
Recent research has shown that primary bright colours were used all over and even castles were not dull granite but were often coated in colours.

Imagine Mr Allen having a thing for Bomber Command, now that would be something with such a budget.:cool:

Cees

Write him (or the museum) and tell him you appreciate his efforts on the 190 and make a suggestion…
Can’t hurt.

lookss just like a new production aircraft,, imagine that!!! Nice job people, it will weather in time and get to look more “period”. JT

I actually do quite like it. The more I see it, the more it grows on me. It’ll wear in time, obviously, and will look even better.

Am I the only one here who rather likes the scheme?
It’s lovely to see something different from the “standard” scheme on all the Flug Werk machines, and in any event, the important thing is that the world has a flying original FW190 once more. Colours aside, this is something to celebrate.

Give the guys a break..Trying to replicate 60 year old paint is hard at the best of times.There was not a consistent batch of paint found anywhere during WW2..Spray painters know there are a lot of things that can change the finished job.
Wasn,t there a batch of RLM paint found a few years ago?
It,s like the question how many different shades of Olive Drab were there.
I like the scheme,shiney or not.

Redvanner’s comments regarding photographs are quite relevant, but I think as well there is another factor at work in these cases: expectation vs reality.

We see many colour profiles of WW2 (and other) aircraft, and very few (or, perhaps none) actual WW2 aircraft in their original finish. It has become a fad over the years to draw aircraft in these profiles with a dull appearance, employing “scale effect” colours (desaturated), surface obfuscation, diffuse lighting and sundry other methods to ‘tone down’ the appearance. I do so myself, in fact– the market absolutely demands it.

However, invariably when persons then go on to see a full sized aircraft painted with the same colours, they reckon that it looks “bright”. That is the nature of colour– larger areas do look brighter and more saturated to the eye under identical lighting than smaller ones. But, more than this, when persons see authentic specimens of WW2 paint (say, the Bf 109 in Australia), the reaction is invariably that the paint is “gaudy”, “too bright” and “completely inaccurate”. Really?…

On what basis that conclusion, I wonder? From a bunch of variously printed or digitally viewed drawings? Ridiculous. And yet that is indeed the average aviation enthusiast’s “understanding” of the original appearance of these machines. Contemporary art fads replace reality.

What a profound shock such persons would receive to be magically transported back in time to the 1940s. That would be worth viewing, I reckon.

I liked the colors on the profile posted here on page 1.

The final result however indeed looks like an R/C aircraft.

Especially the light green is hideous.

`

I’m gonna chuck my remaining tins of RLM.71 in the bin from now on & buy “Knorr” or “Batchelors” instead…..;)

Can’t help it ~ nice tho’ it looks ~ it reminds me of ” Pea & Ham “ soup…. :p:D

–

First of all: Great to see the 190 in her new colours. I was a bit sceptical at first about the green (seemed much too bright and shiny). But then I had a more thorough look at the photo. When you look at the fin, rudder and back part of the fuselage (side of), the colour seems to be quite bright; but if you compare the (more or less) horizontal parts like wings, upper cowling and elevator, the green seems to be much darker. Might it just be that the bright sunlight just plays tricks with the colours, seemingly much to bright on the side? I have no idea if a photo might show the same colour much differently??? I would say the green colour seen on the wings, cowling and elevator seems to be much more fitting. I´d say the best would be to have a look at the real thing yourself. I do like it very much. And yes, many hours in the air will remove the “much too new” look. I saw Jerry Yagens White 11 in Breitscheid last August, and it did not look like fresh out of shop at all, with the oil and exhaust stains. Just my thoughts….

Michael

It’s also worth pointing out that even in the digital age, cameras are still not as good as the human eye. I wouldn’t be surprised if in this instance, with the bright sunlight and so on, the picture we’re seeing isn’t suffering from a bit of colour saturation.

Remember it is in Arizona right now – it should look better in grey old Seattle!

I liked the colors on the profile posted here on page 1. The final result however indeed looks like an R/C aircraft. Especially the light green is hideous. I do think however it will be much better when dirty. Let’s get her in the air and full of oil stains:D

This is an interesting thread…. I have no personal experience of this aircraft myself but I have done the specialist painting on a repro FW-190 recently so I can understand the issues to some extent. I think its hard to reach a conclusion from the posted pics without knowing the aircraft at first hand (and only Bruce and a Boghopper’s ‘guest’ here can boast that). I admit I did give some thought as to how I would have tried to do it given the opportunity and concluded the paint shop had quite a task on their hands. From the photo captions it seems that they applied the factory scheme and then overpainted the ‘local’ forest colours, as would have been done orignally. That certainly seems like the correct way to go – although I had imagined the locally applied paint would have been ‘rough’ and ‘improvised’ considering the conditions under which it would have been applied and that would need to be carried through in to this modern re-paint. Perhaps applying the local paint in a way to allow the factory colours to still be visible. Of course there can be a temptation to try to reproduce a ‘weathered’ appearance – but then you are going down the movie paint route and its not something that is generally done these days outside of the film world. Of course, as Bruce pointed out, getting some flying done and some exhaust grime on her will improve things – I discovered this with The Fighter Factory ‘White 11’ we did last year – looked much better once it was dirty! The attached photo is a recent one taken in the hangar and shows her after a good few hours or flying and only light cleaning – the whole effect is much ‘mellower’ so the FHC machine will get similar treatment so long as they dont go mad with the cleaning fluid!

So I think I would like to see some more pictures with a few hours of flying under her belt – until then….

Regardless of the relative merits of the paint scheme its still a magnificent achievement by everyone connected with the project!

Paul;

I think you should come in again….!

Nobody Expects the Roundel Police! …Amongst our weaponry are such diverse elements as: colour codes, unit emblems, ruthless critism, an almost fanatical devotion to the RLM paint numbers…

I wonder if it is being seen in an artificial situation/location and light.
Surely if it is new paintwork it should match the new paint when it was first built.
Well lets hope for many years of safe flying.