1/48 Tamiya He 219A-7 Uhu

by Rian W. Jones

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This is my first submission to this forum; Tamiya's 1/48 Scale He 219 Uhu (Owl) built straight out of the box.  No resin, no PE, no aftermarket sets or decals of any kind.  The only "add-on" is the antenna rigging.   Since the Uhu was a nachtjagger, it was painted overall RLM 76 with mottling in RLM 75.  Most of the paints used are Tamiya acrylics and the RLM mixes are taken from The Jackal Squadron web site's Hints and Tips section.  (http://www.jackalsquadron.org/home.asp)  The mottling is done freehand
with an Iwata HP-CR airbrush.  I applied a couple of coats of Future to prep for decals.  Kit decals were used.  Weathering is accomplished with Windsor Newton oils thinned in Turpenoid.  Several light coats of Model Master Flat Lacquer are the last painting step.

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Tension springs were made from fine copper wire (single strand from spare electrical chord).  Looping the wire around a sewing needle and twisting produces a good representation of the tensioning spring (in my humble opinion).  The springs were attached to the vertical stabilizers and the mast by drilling a hole with a #70 bit, inserting the wire into the hole and fastening with CA.  Fishing line (.004) was then attached to the left rear tensioner with CA and trimmed flush.  The line is then threaded through the tensioner on the mast and back to the right rear tensioner.  holding tension on the line with a hemostat, CA and accelerator fastens it. It is then trimmed flush.  A dab of CA at the mast represents the insulator.

The cockpit has excellent detail and the instrument decal looks convincing.  The cockpit was painted RLM 66 with RLM 02 sidewalls.  The wheel wells are RLM 02.  Bare Metal Foil is used on the olio struts.  The tires are painted my own mix of Tamiya German Gray, Flat Blue and Red Brown to simulate rubber. The cannon barrels of the schragge musik were drilled out and the fuselage interior is painted RLM 66.  The flame suppressors on the exhaust stacks are first painted Floquil Grimy Black, then dry brushed with Floquil Old Silver.  A wash of heavily thinned Tamiya Hull Red/Red Brown acrylic is then applied.

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Tamiya's Uhu is a real gem to build.  I have plans to build another, this time super detailing it with the available sets from Aires and possibly Czech Master.
Rian

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Photos and text © by Rian W. Jones