Bf 109G-10 (Built-up)

Ah, "the base"! Well, it was meant to incite a response, and it's been successful! And besides, at the time it was the only stable platform in the workshop!

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I love the motion-blur on the spinner!

Ya need a different base, though - the German engineering theme is understandable, but the colorful Porsche painting just distracts from the model :D.

Thanks 2 Much, guys!

Gerald Rhodes, I've seen a few variations on the clear disc deal. Every NATS I've gone to there's a bunch of models by this fella who cuts out a whirling blade pattern from each disc and then airbrushes them to look like the real deal. If you get up close, they look just like cut out plastic discs that have been airbrushed. But when viewed from a foot or more away, they look OUTSTANDING! Never caught up with him to talk about his technique, though...

Ron, thanks! I took inspiration from an old issue of Scale Modeler. This fella built an old Otaki 109 and did the spinning prop deal. I forget his technique, but it seemed WAY too complicated. So I just did it freehand until it looked alright.

The Porsches... You may remember that my Dad's main interests lay with auto racing and the period from the late 60's to the late 70's was probably his fave. I've inherited that interest, but not his passion. It's developing, though! Someday I'll build those old Union Porsches, MPC McLarens and some of the newer ones that are out (AccMin McLarens) or coming out in the future. (hehe)

Jerry, all the weathering was done in pastels. (with some Monogram-Humbrol buffing metalizers) I've never been able to do exhaust streaks with the airbrush. Workin' on it, though!

"Burbel" I think, is an "english-ised" play on the word "wirbel". I know alotta guys who call it the "burbelschnauze" as a joke. Humor is sometimes all too lacking in this world!

Keyworth, thanks guy. They can be tension-breakers sometimes, to build 'em this way. Alotta fun without the "pressures" of a full-blown detailing job and all.

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Blackwolf, nice job. I've built a few like that just to break the monotony and to see what they look like in flight. Keep it up! -Ed

Hey Wolf, really nice one you have here! I like the markings, how did you age them? With the gun or pastels? The spiner also looks great. As I am a native speaker, i´m bit confused, what the heck is an "burbelschnause"? Fitter mentioned that above. He definitly means Something with "Schnauze" (muzzle, nose) but what means burbel? Does he eventually mean "Wirbelschnauze" ( "whirl-nose")?
Egal, das Teil ist Geil!

Steve:

The lack of sharp edges on that "burbelschnause" really creates the illusion of motion! Nice touch!

(Is that Porsche 917 book a preview of things yet to come? I can still remember seeing those Gulf cars run at the Glen...)

FITTER

Blackwolfscd,Your 109 looks great. I've seen other work done "in flight" where the modeler used a clear plastic disc to simulate the spinning prop and always thought it looked good. they used an almost transparent wash in sections on the disc for effect and it turned out really nice. i plan to try it sometime. I build mostly 1/32 aircraft so i have to improvise and scratchbuild ALOT.

Thanks for the kind words, fellas!

To Josephkukavica, I'm glad that my work has inspired you!

Okay, Tango, the spinner. I did that simply by mounting it on the end of a wooden Q-tip and spraying the white over the black as I slowly twisted it. A couple alternating touch-ups were necessary but , in all, it was finished in about half an hour.

Uh, Dave, the masking... I used a combination of drafting tape and Post-It tape. The Post-It tape is the same material as a Post-It note, only it comes on a roll and is entirely covered with adhesive on one side. However, this stuff will not stick to extreme or compound curves all that well.

As far as actually making the masks themselves, I made a few measurements of the markings that I wanted to replicate using decals as a pattern. You could also simply trace a decal, which entails more steps and is sometimes not as accurate as drawing from measurements.

Anyhoo, I'm always glad to share my stuff with ya'll!

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Blackwolfscd,
I'm glad to see I'm not the only one that loves that old Passche H. That's all I ever used myself. I have a nice double action Passche, but I almost never use it or have a need to.

What did you use for masking the markings? I have some F4U projects coming up and would like to paint the numbers and maybe national insignia rather than use decals.

You do fine work! Thanks for sharing.
Dave

Very Nice! I am about to start painting the camo on my own 109, and this is a little more inspiration to get started.

Keep em coming!

Wow !
How you made the spinner ??

T

Thanks Tank!

Here's a shot of the airbrushes I use and have used in the past.



The one with the red handle is a Pasche H and is what I used on the 109. I was fortunate, you usually can't do great work with an H. I still use it as a general purpose brush, mostly for one color shots and laying base coats & primers.

The ones with the blue handles are Botch...er...Badgers! The one next to the Pasche is the Badger 150 double-action brush. I never quite got the hang of it, very uncomfortable to use. The other one is the Badger 200 single-action brush. That's been my work-horse for the past 15 years. I loved that brush, even though I don't use it anymore.

The last one is an Iwata Eclipse double-action. This is, for me, the perfect brush. I've never been able to master a double-action in the past but the first time I used one of these, I was in heaven! Easy to control, comfortable and it gives GREAT results. The real plus is the fact that it's a gravity feed brush. The cup is built in to the top of the body and the faint flows into the airstream, unlike the others which are all siphon feed brushes. They have to suck the paint up into the airstream, and that does make a bit of a difference. Alot, actually!

As far as spraying indoors, I've never sprayed anywhere else. I've typically used a spray booth to vent all the fumes out of the house.

Any more questions? Fire away!

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Absolutely Beautiful!

What kind of airbrush do you use. I bought the el cheapo Aztek airbrush kit a while back:



It had a tendency to leak which made it useless. Another thing about airbrushes. Does anyone use them inside? Airbrushing outside,which is the way I've done it,is a hassle.