2015 Messerschmitt Bf 109 Group Build

Mike, happy to help out.   Agree about the cannon size opening  shouldn't be an issue, nor pilot armour thickness.

I should give a better description of this revised pilot protection so can compare with what is in the F-2 boxing.  The usual armour-glass windscreen, but also armour-glass behind the pilot.  Below this was an armour plate to protect  neck and shoulders.   Above the glass piece was another plate angled about 45 degrees to protect the head.

regards,

Jack

Doug, that is very nice. Great job on the scheme and those markings look real nice. Seems like your on a 109 role.

Mike: Wow man that thing is coming together fast!! I'm probably not going to have that same luck with my Eduard G-6. Thing just flew together! I hope your glass sprue makes it in soon.

Doug: I've gotta say that looks spectacular! I did not know that Japan had some of these beauties. I knew about the jets but not the prop planes. As well as liking your builds, I have also watched your skills grow while you've been here. You're doing some amazing stuff there friend. Which picture would you like to see up front pal?

I put the coolant reservoir straps on yesterday. Instead of painting, I used gray decals that I cut into strips that were just as wide as molded in straps. There was just no way I was gonna paint those as they would have looked painted on. Will be making steady progress on this. I have another side build that is involving more planning than I've ever used so most of my efforts are going there..............for now.

Mike, you should be able to make an F-4 from any Hasegawa F-2 box. The larger prop blades, supercharger intake, and oil cooler scoop should be on the sprues. You'll need an armored windscreen however. If by some chance there isn't larger prop blades, there are a ton of am ones out there. All Hase 109 kits come with round wheel wells. Just cut out the corners like the instructions show. But there were even F-4s with round wells.

Thanks Bish... Yeah I loves me some 109s! lol...Like Joe, you've had some Killer GBs like the Star Wars and the Stuka build and hopefully an all Messerschmitt build in the future!

Joe... as always, means a lot coming from all, and since your the administrator, It is very much appreciated, Thank you for the kind words... In mid 1942 the Germans sent 5 - 109"E-7s" and later when available a single 190 for testing. The schemes on all 6 were identical. Picture is up to you as always, and I will be back shortly with an "F" to build! As usual your GB is turning into another block buster.

Thanks all

Doug

Thought everyone could use a good laugh so I'm posting some progress pics of my first ever attempt at pre shading!  I hear the laughter already!  O.K., I have an Aztec (Testors) AB that has issues (namely me!) on getting a fine enough spray to do fine lines you'd expect to see on a good pre shading job!    I'm giving myself a goal of trying a new technique of some sort on every build I do this year, so this is my first attempt at pre shading,

Eagle90

Thanks for the info, all!

Jack, I remember that type of headrest armour from the K-4 kit, there are probably a few AM examples to be found.

Nathan -- I just rechecked the F-2 kit and you're right, some of those parts are right there -- the larger supercharger intake is on the sprue, as is the armoured windscreen. There's only one oil cooler -- I'm guessing the F-4's was deeper? There only seems to be one type of tailwheel, the same as the G-2's, and only the narrow prop blades. An F-4 prop and exhausts from Quickboost should be easy enough. You're right about the wheel well shape -- the unfinished F-2 in the box has the filets already removed, which was confusing me, so that's not a problem. It sounds like the oil cooler, headrest and tailwheel are the only real problems to solve! It would be great if I could bring together an F-4 from various AM sources and the F-2 kit, I could build a shelf of that variant only, based on the marvellous marking choices I have in stock!

The mask set for the Tammy E-7 was in today's post, so I can move on through the masking phase with that one now.

Cheers, M/TB379

Clemens

 I coulda sworn I put my entry in like late Dec or early January but didn't find myself on the roster.  Can you oblige me a 1/48 Monogram G-10???  Please!?!?!?  It will be Yellow 11 of JG52 (most likely) from late April '45.  What intrigued me about this particular bird is that it appears to be overall 81 or 83 topside with 76 undersides.  Haven't seen a build of this and it is a departure from splinter and mottling schemes.

 Got the kit, an Airwaves PE set and Eduard decal set.  I will post pics when I can take em!

Hey Mike, glad you checked the kit. I probably have it backwards, you can make an F-2 out of any Hasegawa F-4 kit. You can check out the vector resin set made to update the Zvezda F-2 into an F-4, which was released cause Zvezda was draggin their  butt on releasing the actual F-4 kit. Not sure of its availability in Aus though...

Absolutely stunning.  The level of the talent in this thread is stunning.  I am in awe at how easy these builds appear to be for all of you.  The paintwork is first class all the way.  The schemes seem so complex yet you seem to breeze through them.  

My humble admiration to all of you for your work.  Simply outstanding.

Joe

Thunderbolt379 - I researched the changes in German aircraft camo several years ago,down to dates (month/year) of all the changes and schemes, wrote it all down.

Was gonna dig it out and post it here for you,then realized all the stuff I wrote down got thrown out in a move. Doh!!!

fightnjoe - You have no idea how many kits got built to get to this point.  I personally have screwed up quite a few before I got to the point where I felt like I knew what I was doing.

Freem: Sorry, I must've missed that. I got you added to the build list now.

SchattenSpartan

Freem: Sorry, I must've missed that. I got you added to the build list now.

Doug, thanks, but the success of any GB is as much if not more down to the people who take part and make them what they are.

Eagle, the pre shading doesn't look to bad to me, never having done it before, I am guessing that the main thing is that it covers the panel lines, its the bit that comes next that really matters.

Clemens--thank you kindly, sir, now I just hope I'm up to the challenge.  Some mighty fine work bein' done here.

Bish

the success of any GB is as much if not more down to the people who take part and make them what they are.

Trying to get going again on my K. I need a break from the Dart so I did a little painting on the cockpit today.

Jay

Bob:  Looking great.  The Warthog is my favorite jet.   If that A-10 is the Monogram kit, I understand why...ouch!

70:  Your a machine....looks great.

Doug:  Its certainly weird seeing an Emil with meatballs.  You did a fine job.  I look forward to your F.

Schatten:  Glad your feeling better, welcome back....and thanks

T-bolt:  Gotta love them Tamiya Emils...your pit looks great.  I just started the same kit.

Joe: Congratulations my friend.  I've seen your work so you have every right to pound your chest (should you decide to).  Its easy to tell who are the ego driven ones, you are not one.  Most of them have either left or been banned.  Your amongst friends..

Eagle:  No need to be exact with preshading.  I have an Aztec but have never tried it out.  Are you using the tan tip, which is apparently for fine lines?  Truthfully, I've never heard much good about the Aztec line.  Apparently only the folks over at Hyperscale.com have success in using them (or act like they do)....lol..

Howard:  Gorgeous pit my friend...

Joe

I'm back for one more if that's ok with y'all.  I was going to build a P-51B but I'm still in Luftwaffen mood...ehhh, why fight it.  So here I am with the proverbial shake-n-bake Tamiya Emil E-4.  Its another one of those kits that has a permanent place in my stash since I bought several from Hobby Lobby back when they carried the good stuff.  I found a True Details seat in the resin stash and may add more goodies later.  I hope to find an E-4 that didn't have a yellow nose or alot of mottling, to keep it simple.  As a matter of fact, I have yet to build an Emil that did not have a yellow nose..... 

I started with the cockpit.  Although basic, I think its fairly nice.  It's nowhere near their new tooled zeros or P-47 series, but certainly useable.  I left it at replacing the seat with a True Details example which goes a long way at dressing it up (I thought the seat back cushion was a nice touch by TD).  I then went with Gunze RLM 02 for everything except the IP, which got RLM 66.  I used the kit decal under Micro Sol for the gauges then 5 minute epoxy on the dials to simulate glass. 

No fit issues...

A quick test fit....shake-n-bake............

Joe

Daaaayum Jay! That cockpit looks sharp man! That detail is out of this world!  What kind of wash do you use?

lawdog: Yes you are welcome back! I see you are in typical Joe form  with that bang up of a cockpit. I really enjoy seeing what you do with just the box stuff Joe! You use Flory washes right?

lawdog114

Bob:  Looking great.  The Warthog is my favorite jet.   If that A-10 is the Monogram kit, I understand why...ouch!

70:  Your a machine....looks great.

Doug:  Its certainly weird seeing an Emil with meatballs.  You did a fine job.  I look forward to your F.

Schatten:  Glad your feeling better, welcome back....and thanks

T-bolt:  Gotta love them Tamiya Emils...your pit looks great.  I just started the same kit.

Joe: Congratulations my friend.  I've seen your work so you have every right to pound your chest (should you decide to).  Its easy to tell who are the ego driven ones, you are not one.  Most of them have either left or been banned.  Your amongst friends..

Eagle:  No need to be exact with preshading.  I have an Aztec but have never tried it out.  Are you using the tan tip, which is apparently for fine lines?  Truthfully, I've never heard much good about the Aztec line.  Apparently only the folks over at Hyperscale.com have success in using them (or act like they do)....lol..

Howard:  Gorgeous pit my friend...

Joe

Thanks Joe.  Yes, I have the tan tip in use, but I think I just need to adjust it some more.  I just can't seem to get the same reaction as everyone else does with Badgers, Iwata's, etc.  I got this back in the late 90's when I was stationed at Eglin AFB, FL.  The BX had a Christmas sale and all the models and accessories were like 80% off!  I got the whole set for like $25!  It's a nice AB, just has it flaws just like any other AB.  LOL!  Love your Hyperscale comment!  Tis true! 

Eagle90

Joe -- that looks great! We have a different approach to doing the interior, I must say your instrument panel looks very good!

I'm applying the canopy masks at this time, about half done. It seems the tail wheel of this desert aircraft had a whitewall, but I've not found any photos yet to indicate if the mainwheels were whitewalls too. I'll keep looking. The mask set does not include masks for the whitewalls, but I can use 12mm adhesive disks which will be about the right size if they are needed.

M/TB379

Oh, here's a point for the experten -- do we have an objective comparison yet between the Zvezda and ICM -F4s? It's interesting that two Russian companies would both tool the same variant, and that it's the one which seems least patronised by companies elsewhere, but that seems to be the case.

M/TB379

mustang1989

Daaaayum Jay! That cockpit looks sharp man! That detail is out of this world!  What kind of wash do you us

Thanks Joe. MDC makes very nice stuff. Just a standard Raw Umber oil wash.

Jay

Wow, you guys are all doing amazing work. Sorry I haven't been around much lately, I am super busy with other stuff and I just don't have the time.

I am nearly done with my engine and all the scratch work for it. I'll post pics in the next couple of days and the cockpit is about 80% done with some PE left and final touches. So, I'll post pics of it soon as well. With my schedule now and for the foreseeable future I will be moving very slow on this kit.

Again, fantastic work from each and every one here. Amazing stuff. I am inspired. 

Thunderbolt379

Oh, here's a point for the experten -- do we have an objective comparison yet between the Zvezda and ICM -F4s? It's interesting that two Russian companies would both tool the same variant, and that it's the one which seems least patronised by companies elsewhere, but that seems to be the case.

M/TB379

The Zvezda kit is much more refined. Fits better and is more accurate. The ICM kit is real crude, detail is not as crisp, clear parts are basically unusable, as are the decals. Color call outs would be off as well. 

Thanks, Nathan. I've been hearing what a dog the Zvezda kit is, but it sure looks purdy when well done. I'm remembering the struggle I had with the cowl of the Hasegawa F-4 I did last year because one fuselage half was warped, so I'm thinking something similar for Zvezda -- shims to force alignment, maybe? I might give the Zvezda kit a go and see what happens, I certainly have a long line of decals for F-4 schemes to work through, and so far have not located a replacement broad-chord prop to update the F-2, though most other details are readily-enough available.

Not much happening at this end, work getting in the way of bench time. I got some more masks of the E-7 last night but that's it...

M/TB379

Okay, okay, I know, it's been awhile since anyone has seen any progress posts from me.  We all know how crazy life can be at times.  I havent had a whole lot of time at the bench lately.  Last week I did get some time in short bursts and was able to make some progress, so I thought I'd share with you all where I'm at currently with this build:

I've finally got some color on her.  A few minor touchups to make and a seam line down the middle on the bottom of the fuselage and she'll be good to go.  My plan is to get these small areas touched up and shoot some paint tonight...we'll see how that goes.  Currently, I'm using MM RLM 02, 04, 66, 74, 75 and 76.  Once everything's painted up, I'll shoot it with some gloss clear and then apply decals.  I ended up going with Eaglecals Blonde Knight set.  I'm going to be dressing this one up as White "1".

Mustang (Joe):  Thanks my friend.  I use the Detailer wash on my cockpits, Flory on the panel lines.  That AK stuff has caught my eye lately so I may just try it someday

Eagle:  You caught that...lol.  Testors royalties much???

T-bolt:  Thanks.  I had success painting in whitewalls on a P-51B using a circle template.  Just hold it in place then spray the white.  Worked great.  I guess I'm in the minority but I absolutely hated the Zveda F.  It was a dog with capital D.  I personally will stick with the quirky Hasegawa F's from now on.  

Jelliot:  Coming along nicely.  You can't go wrong with a the Blonde Knight.  

Joe