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Marcin Dudek
A new build starte 🙂. It seems quite easy but one thing puzzles me - the tracks. They compose of 4 straight plastic parts and instruction says to bend them with hair dryer. It is first time I encountered this type of tracks. Anyone tried doing something like this?

Snake Plissken
I have heard of this type of assembly but have never built one. However, I have lots of experience heating and softening styrene plastic. You can also try very hot or boiling water -- soak the tracks in boiling water, then fish them out of the water with long tweezers and bend them around the rear sprocket, idler and road wheels and hold until they cool. You may even get by using no heat, just slowly and carefully bend curves into the tracks.

Marcin Dudek
Thanks for help Snake! That tip is very helpfull 🙂

Guy Rump
Following. 👍

Marcin Dudek
You're welcome Guy 🙂

Marcin Dudek
After some work done I need to say I am a little disappointed with this kit. Instruction includes some mistakes and it is not always easy to read how and where exactly a specific part should be located. More over I expected more from new molds (parts require a lot of work to remove additional plastic).

Snake Plissken
Hi Marcin. My advice is to *expect mistakes* and do your research accordingly. It may or may not be fun to research the T-55 but most of the photos or line drawings you can find online are free, it just takes some time.

Marcin Dudek
Sure thing Snake 🙂. References in the Net are more than sufficient.

Snake Plissken
Good job adding the injector lines on the engine. I overlooked it the first time. 👍

Marcin Dudek
Thanks Snake 🙂. I was considering adding some more parts to the engine but they wouldn't be visible after assembly so I left it as it is. Thanks one again for the track bending tips, they were very helpfull.

Marcin Dudek
Some job with wearhering done. Still, I forgot to apply the decals first 🤦

Marcin Dudek
I call it done.

Nicolas
Following

Robert Podkoński
Me 2!

Marcin Dudek
👀 3rd

Dave Burgess
So now the FUN begins! Turning the P-39 wing into a (laminar flow) P-76 wing! I found a cheap P-51 kit ($13 CAD) to sacrifice. I'll need to cut out and fill in the P-51 landing gear wells, chop off the wingtips to reduce the wing span to ~36 scale feet (35'10"), cut out the P-39's gear wells, chop holes in the P-51's wings to mount the P-39 gear wells, and remove the leading and trailing edges of the P-39 wing root to mate up with the P-51 wing so it matched the P-39 fuselage. Also because the gear wells in the '39 are further back than the P-51, and the flaps on the P-51 are molded as one piece not two, the rear of the gear wells extends into the flap space, so I'll have to toss the flaps and fill that space with sheet styrene. Piece of cake! (Yeah, right!)

Guy Rump
Following as well! 👍

Dave Burgess
Step 1: Chop both the P-39 and P-51 lower wing into the component parts. I want to keep the P-39 wheel wells, and rear and forward centre so they will mate to the P-39 fuselage

Dave Burgess
Step 2: I re-sorted the wing components to prepare assembling the XP-39E/P-76 wing.

Dave Burgess
Step 3: glue all the bits together; re-invorced with styrene strip

Dave Burgess
Step 4: a WHOLE BUNCH of puttying! in retrospect I probably didn't need to do so much disassembling of the P-39 wing, but I wasn't sure where it was going at the time.

Dave Burgess
Step 5: Now I have to chop the tail off the P-39 and fit on the P-51 tail. I think this will probably be the easiest approach here. I also have to lengthen the fuselage by 24 inches or 24/72 - 1/3". Fortunately the rear and front of the wing bottom match up well to the fuselage wing fillets, suggesting to me that my wing mods were pretty accurate.

Robert Podkoński
Photos #4-6 terrified me... 😉 Great job, Dave!

Dave Burgess
Thanks, Robert. Y'know, the first time I decided to to a mod that required me to cut up a new kit, that was EXACTLY my reaction. I was terrified that I was going to destroy a perfectly good kit and have to throw it away. And that was only one kit - this one required me to cut up TWO!. Several decades of model building and multiple mods have given me the confidence to do these mods, knowing that while it may look a hot mess when it's in progress, with a little sheet styrene and some putty, I can pull it off, and most people wouldn't be the wiser.

Dave Burgess
Step 6: Wing and fuselage have now been modified for XP-39E / P-76; Still looking a bit rough; some sanding to do before I mate the wing & fuselage.

Dave Burgess
Step 7: Modified fuselage mated to modified wing. more putty applied. I have to sand down the wing fillets, a couple of low spots on the wing underside, and feather in the new (P-51) tail into the rest of the fuselage. Then, my favourite job: painting and decaling! I'm still trying to decide whether to just paint the XP-39E as it is in the photos, or dress it up as a P-76 in US or Soviet markings (which is probably where the P-76 would have ended up). I'm leaning towards the latter, because the only photo I could find of the XP-39E is this B&W one.

Dave Burgess
Three more rounds of putty & sanding to smooth out some rough patches; Canopy masked and attached; ready for airbrushing!

Robert Podkoński
Looks great already. Fantastic job, Dave!

Dave Burgess
So there it is folks! After a long chop, putty, much sanding, and just generally fiddling about, a P-39D converted to a XP-39E / P-76. Bell never actually got a contract for the Bell- P-76, which was what the XP-39E was to be designated when it entered production. However the production contract for 4000 aircraft was cancelled (to allow Bell Aircraft to concentrate on bomber production), but much of the development of the XP-39E ended up in the P-63, including the more powerful engine, lengthened fuselage and wings, and I believe the supercharger which was removed from the P-39's design, which was restored. The one adaptation in the XP-39E that DIDN'T get incorporated into the P-63 was the straight (clipped) wing tips and tail surfaces. All-in-all, it was a REALLY fun build, especially watching the ugly duck grow into a swan!

Guy Rump
Great job and very interesting, congrats! 👍

Robert Podkoński
That was quick! Fantastic job, Dave!

Marcin Dudek
Wow, impressive effect. Congrtatulations 👏

TH SCALE MODELS (Thomas Haberl)
First "batch" of components ready for primer

Alec K
Cool! Very promising start, taking a seat 👍

TH SCALE MODELS (Thomas Haberl)
Welcome and thanks for your motivating words @Alec . First time I use something 3D printed and until now I enjoy it ☺️

Nicolas
Looks great so far.

Rui
I'm in 👍

DerMattes
Promising start, watching!

TH SCALE MODELS (Thomas Haberl)
Welcome @Nicolas, @ Rui and @DerMattes - thanks for your interest in this build 😊

TH SCALE MODELS (Thomas Haberl)
A small update here ... engine took my a while to get fitted in the fuselage. Didn´t work precisely enough so I got paid off when I tried to put the engine in. Anyway I solved it somehow without any major visible impact.

Skyhiker
Following

Rui
I gotta. say that I really appreciated there build posts that people share; its a real treat to see a bunch of plastic and such come together into a masterpiece! I learn so much from watchings.

TH SCALE MODELS (Thomas Haberl)
Welcome @Skyhiker - thanks for your interest on this build @Rui thanks for your kind words, even if I don´t think that anybody can learn much from my work .... but this is exactly what this stunning community is for ... I learned so much from people´s builds here ...

Neuling
How can you handle these tiny parts .... amazing

Alec K
Glad you solved the hurdle. Any ideas why the engine did not fit, or what the issue was?

Bruce Huxtable
1:72? I would have trouble with those tiny PE part of it were 1:32!! Well done on your precise work.

J35J
Great work Thomas!
Really impressed of your clean build and how you apply thiny amount of glue on all delicate small PE parts without creating a mess.

TH SCALE MODELS (Thomas Haberl)
thank you all for your kind words - I really appreciate that and this motivates me to constantly push myself out of the comfort zone .... thanks thanks thanks!!!! @Neuling: I know your skills so I´m really glad you came around my build: the answer is patience and a glass of good wine 😆 @Alec: as you can see the engine comes in a lot of tine parts and I didn´t pay enough attention when removing the print support and grinding the parts down properly. This resulted in a too long engine assembly. Lucky my I always spend a lot of time on dry-fits so I recognized it before starting to glue it in. Almost complete front end is made of printed parts and slightest deviations result that engine cowlings won´t fit together. Not a must to have them completely align when you show them open but I want to paint the all in one and then open the cowlings once done ...

Neuling
Thomas, will a glass of beer do ? 🙂

TH SCALE MODELS (Thomas Haberl)
@Neuling … who drinks beer in glasses? 😂 but I guess it will work

Neuling
🙂

Alec K
Thanks Thomas 👍. Ehm, I need glasses to find the beer… 😄

TH SCALE MODELS (Thomas Haberl)
@Trez: as you may have seen in previous comments, the most important thing is to really carefully sand all components down. Tend to say do a little more. There are many components coming together (assembled engine itself, manually modified fuselage, printed cowlings, ... ) and should fit properly in the end to avoid any gaps or twists in the final assembly. I think it would be tricky even in bigger scale. 1/72 scale has no mercy in this complex assembly of the plane front end. I managed it, but didn´t upload any pictures here so stay tuned 😊

Sergej I
Following! 👍, great job with cockpit and engine so far.
I have the exact same setup for an F-8 Würger in the shelf 🙂

TH SCALE MODELS (Thomas Haberl)
@Trez: I will share some when I´m back - currently traveling and far away from my bench. @Sergej: thanks for your positive feedback, I hope my experiences on this build help to make yours a little bit more straight forward 😆

TH SCALE MODELS (Thomas Haberl)
After a longer break on this I was finally able to restart on this build. Main engine components placed in fuselage, rivets added (as much as possible on this scale) and hydraulic tubes adde to landing gear. Now a bit of tedious work ... sanding and preparation for primer. Not much but in tricky places.

Frank Brzobohaty
Great job, not the easiest in 1:72 scale is it Thomas? but it is rewarding when completed!

TH SCALE MODELS (Thomas Haberl)
Thanks @Frank!! Indeed it was a challange, especially when working with these resin parts for the first time. But as you say, I hope it will be rewarding once the Würger is done 🤷‍♂️

Juergen Klinglhuber
Looking good - realy looking forward to see the finished bird.

TH SCALE MODELS (Thomas Haberl)
Thanks @Jürgen. Working on the main paints already … German camouflage in 1/72 is a challenge 🤣

Shar Dipree
Looks fantastic so far. 👍👍👍
What did you use to prime the plane?

TH SCALE MODELS (Thomas Haberl)
Many thanks @Shar! Appreciate it. I used the one and only (for me) Mr. Surfacer 1500.

Shar Dipree
Yes, I like to use that too (Mr. Surfacer ). What gun, nozzle size and pressure do you spray with?

TH SCALE MODELS (Thomas Haberl)
Good choice 👍 I apply the primer with a H&S Evolution, 0.4mm nozzle and about 1-1.2bar pressure. Thinning ratio about 40/60

TH SCALE MODELS (Thomas Haberl)
Last weeks I was fighting ... fighting with myself to keep this model from trashing it. Almost by accident I learned that I planned to build it not historically correct. This plane didn't have cowling MG's, but everything was planned to display them. So I had to make a decision and decided to go historical correct and change parts on an almost completely painted model.
It was a fight in 1/72 ... some imperfections I successfully ignored in earlier building stages now payd off and made it really hard for me. It's not perfect yet and it won't be perfect ever, but I have some ideas to improve the remaining imperfections.
Definitely not a competition model anymore...

TH SCALE MODELS (Thomas Haberl)
@Trez: fully agree - and from this build I learned A LOT … I will finish this build for sure … some small corrections on misleading edges to be done and then I can go on with touch ups and clear coat to let the fun begin - decals and weathering 💪

Skyhiker
This kit looks pretty decent. It seems a lot better than the Revell kit. Were there any problem areas?

TH SCALE MODELS (Thomas Haberl)
The eduard kit is close to perfection - all issues I had were selfmade. The only concern, but a really small one is the orientation of the langing gear bay components. You have to be careful and put the parts together carefully almost by eye. If you dont put them in exact position it will lead to gaps between upper wing and fuselage (at least on one side). There could be better positioning. But nothing to worry ir you work precisely

Juergen Klinglhuber
Go for it. We all are exited to see it passing the finish line despite all issues. 👍

Skyhiker
Looks great

TH SCALE MODELS (Thomas Haberl)
Thanks @Jürgen and @Skyhiker! Appreciate it. Decals are applied and final (or maybe not final, we will see) matt varnish also. She is ready for the oil party 🙂

Frank Brzobohaty
Looking better each update way to go Thomas!

DerMattes
Fantastic progress 👍

TH SCALE MODELS (Thomas Haberl)
Many thanks @Frank and @DerMattes - I really appreciate it and to be honest I did not expect this result when I think back to the times where she was close to land in the trash … happy that I didn't 💪

Cuajete
Well done so far 👍

TH SCALE MODELS (Thomas Haberl)
Many thanks @Cuajete ☺️

TH SCALE MODELS (Thomas Haberl)
Done - some more pictures will be uploaded later. I would appreciate any feedback - thanks in advance & happy modeling. Cheers 🍻

J35J
Impressive build with great attention to details! Congrats👍🏻

Sergej I
This is nicer than most 48 scale Würger I've seen. Hats off, Thomas! 👍

Skyhiker
Really great results. Perfect paint job. That kit looks like it was made well. A heck of a lot better than the Revell kit.

Nicolas
Superb. 👍

Neuling
Yes: superb.

Guy Rump
Beautiful! 👍

Cuajete
Very nice job. Fantastic painting job and result.
Congrats!

Dave Flitton
Excellent job. I like the details you have added.

TH SCALE MODELS (Thomas Haberl)
Thank you all for your nice and positive feedback! I appreciate it and I'm a bit overwhelmed at the same time. Thanks mates 🙏

Rui S
Excellent work, indeed 👍

Frank Brzobohaty
That is a fantastic job Thomas!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! way to get it done.

TH SCALE MODELS (Thomas Haberl)
Thanks a lot @Rui and @Frank! Appreciate it a lot. It was a hell of a ride sometimes and all your positive feedback confirms my decision not to trash her 🙏

Frank Brzobohaty
Thomas, I expect to see a 1st or 2nd place trophy sitting beside that beautiful model some time soon!

TH SCALE MODELS (Thomas Haberl)
Thanks @Frank!! I´m blushing, but I'm not sure if I ever show it on a competition ... in my opinion it´s not a competition model. Maybe I´m wrong ... I don't know. I´m a beginner with 6 finished models so I will have some more to present in the future .... but thanks for your motivating words - I appreciate it a lot 🙃

TH SCALE MODELS (Thomas Haberl)
If you are interested in the final pictures and some other perspectives, feel free to check the album: EDUARD FW190A-8/R2 FINAL SHOOTING | Album by _th84_ (1:72) Cheers

Frank Brzobohaty
Take my word on it Thomas, that is a show winner and maybe even best in show. If this is the quality at 6 kits looking forward to see your work in the future.

All the final pics are incredible. You should make a display base for it.

TH SCALE MODELS (Thomas Haberl)
Thank you so much for your really nice feedback! You are almost pushing me to present it on a show 🤣 I will consider it and I will also try to do a small display base - thanks again

Juergen Klinglhuber
Excellent result 👍

TH SCALE MODELS (Thomas Haberl)
Many thanks @Jürgen! Glad you like it ☺️

Frank Brzobohaty
That is wonderful well done sir!

Mr D
Nice 👍👍

capt. R
Thank You!

gorby
Nice dio.

capt. R
Thank You!

David Taylor
Brill.

capt. R
Thank You David!

Landlubber Mike
Nicely done! Love the B&W pics.

Thomas O'Eh
nice build and really cool arrangement!

capt. R
Thank You my Friends!