2015 Messerschmitt Bf 109 Group Build

Greta looking canopy Jay. I like the look of the grab handles, I like using solder myself. At first I thought you had put the gun site on wrong, then I guessed it must be on a swivel mount, which I had not realised before. Nice work on the lights as well, are they a part of the kit.

Rudrat -- great looking pit, superb work there, this one's going to be eye candy!

Bish -- thanks! pressures of work -- three weeks to go on the current teaching gig, I spent most of the Easter long weekend grading papers. At least they're not hand-written anymore! I didn't get to the paint, but I drilled out the MG ports on the E-7 that started life as an E-1, and glued together the broken halves of the tailplane strut for the E-4.

Painting this week, I promise!

M/TB379

Bish

Nice work on the lights as well, are they a part of the kit.

Bish

Greta looking canopy Jay. I like the look of the grab handles, I like using solder myself. At first I thought you had put the gun site on wrong, then I guessed it must be on a swivel mount, which I had not realised before. Nice work on the lights as well, are they

Thanks, Bish. The later 109s did have a pivoting mount for the gunsight to get it out of the way for takeoff and landing. The lights are part of the MDC cockpit set.

Jay

Mike(Ruddratt) great looking work so far on the G-10. What scheme are you doing?

Jay

Johnny, I'm deeply sorry about your loss.  My father died unexpectedly a year and a half ago, so I certainly can relate.  I still can't get over it.  In my particular case, modeling has actually been helping me cope a bit.  A few hours here and there to keep my mind off him.  Hang in there my friend.  

Joe  

Thanks for all the kinds words folks.  I hope to replace that compressor soon.  This year was the first time in my life I've actually owed taxes.....ugh!......so funds for a new one are non-existent at the moment.  This compressor was my second and last Silentaire product.......el crapo and even worse customer service.  Any recommendations?  I've been eyeing the Sparmax at my local Hobby Lobby.  With the 40% off coupon...hmmmmmm.

Jay:  Nice gunsight.  I like the detail work in the windscreen too.  I've often considered adding the gab handles out of some .10 styrene rod, but for some reason have never tried it.  Perhaps on my current Emil.    

Mike (T-bolt):  That Hase E-7 is coming along nicely.  Those pictures serve nicely in comparing it to the Tamiya kit.  So the wing cannons and slats are molded in place on the Hase kit?  Otherwise, they look similar.

Bob:  Nice painwork.    

Mike (Ruddratt):  Fantastic work so far.  That pit looks fantastic.  

Meanwhile, my goodies from SB arrived today.  I'll get cracking soon...

Joe

Joe -- thanks! No, the has slats are moulded separately, I just managed to get them to fit a bit better than the Tammy slats, which are a PITA to do closed...

Home from work with a few hours going spare, so it's finally time to get some work done on these planes. There's that strut to mount on the E-4, check them all over, wash and air dry them, then I can fire up the AB and make a start!

M/TB379

Many sincere thanks fellas!  You guys have really set the bar way up there based on what I've seen so far on this GB.  Gonna do my best just to keep up!

Jay, the scheme I'm doing is the 'Black 13' ( the bottom one).  I love oddball schemes and this one really got my attention........

Johnny, I'm truly sorry for your loss.

-BD-

Joe (lawdog): I've got a Badger Airstorm compressor that I purchased off of my Mac tool dealer. I've had it now for 3 years and love it. It's quiet and performs really good.

Mike: That scheme for Black 13 looks nice man! It seems like the darker schemes are far and few between in the modeling world.

I am using an Iwata studio air compressor.  I got mine off evil bay.  So far I love it.  Supper quite and performs well.  I can use it and nobody knows that I am running it.

Ruddrat that is a cool scheme.  

John,

  I am very sorry for your loss. it leaves a big hole that is hard to fill.   I can relate,  I know what your going through.  I probably would not have posted this if you hadn', but I lost both my parents 2 weeks ago 12 hrs apart.  Mom was expected to go first as her kidneys were shutting down but Dad went first what a shock!   we are convinced he died of a broken heart,  couldn't live without his wife.  Also being the old school gentleman he was he needed to get to heaven first to open the door for Mom.

So my prayers go with you.   Dad was 93  and mom was 88  

john

Joe: I went round and round for a few weeks on a new compressor decision. Paralysis by analysis. Finally I went with the HobbyLobby 40% off coupon on the Sparmax 501N. With the coupon it's within $20 from the online price before shipping. Be sure you get a newer model, as HB has some sitting around in their locked up airbrush cases for years. I have a Husky shop compressor I was using and still have it to use so I wanted a single purpose compressor. The husky is BIG and NOISY. I paid $188 out the door from HB.

While I'm just getting going with the AB and compressor, it is super quite and small. Turn it on and it shuts off within 5 seconds, your ready to go. Built in water trap. No buyers remorse on this one.

Bob

Mike, nice choice of scheme. Definitely different from most G-10s. I always try to find something unusual myself, or at least something I haven't seen done much. Dark and/or low contrast schemes can be difficult to make interesting so I am looking forward to see your approach. There was a very nice one done in that scheme on my home forum, Large Scale Planes, a couple of months ago so it can be done.

Jay

Many of you may have seen this, but just in case, check out the Flickr album of Marc-Andre Haldimann. Lots of pictures of later-war 109s. Seems to be only G-6 and later. Great reference. No I don't have a link, but you can google it.

Jay

John (Falconmod)  WOW.... What a shock that was! Heard of this happening but , just ...Man... Sorry my friend.

As to compressors, I use a little ole Harbor Freight 1/2 horse pancake compressor, yes a tad noisy, but it performs well and I like the size and the fast recovery time. I had an older AB compressor at one time but it ran constantly, was uneven as to air pressure (just from being old) and I had to rig up a foot pedal switch to operate it (kind of like a gas pedal on a car).

Doug

I got the wings installed last night and then the primer on. The primer showed a few spots that need attention, but nothing serious. Hoping to get it preshaded and the 76 on tonight. Starting to look like a plane.

Jay

Mike (ruddrat) Very nice looking cockpit there. Impressive.

John. Sorry to hear about your dad. That's devastating. I hope you get to a better place soon.

Jay: Nice! Is that the Revell G-10? I missed what your newest kit is along the way here.. Looking forward to seeing more.

Here's a link to those 109 pics...I took the liberty that Marc wouldn't mind if it was posted.

www.flickr.com/.../28092068@N03

Thanks, Tom, and thanks for posting the link. It's the 1/32 Hasegawa K-4.

Jay

Man that thing looks beautiful in the primer Jay!

I agree with Joe... Looks good in just primer!

Thanks, guys. That's funny, I like the primer look too, but I like color even better so I am moving on. Preshaded roughly. I never try to be exacting with it as I don't leave much showing, although it's always more than the pictures show. RLM 76 for the bottom and sides. Usually I paint the fuselage band first and then mask over it for the rest of the painting, but that green is a real pain to cover up the overspray, so I masked off the area, painted it and will now mask over it. Planning out the rest of the painting now.

Jay

It's interesting to see the different techniques used in painting. I always paint my bands after I've got the colors all on. No matter what the method, it always seems to work out for everybody. I've recently become a fan of preshading after my Fw190D-9 build. It didn't seem to show much on the D-9 build because I applied to heavy of a coat of paint but by the time I painted my Stuka a build or two later......well that was a different story altogether.

After some more research I decided this plane would most likely have had natural metal wing undersurfaces and the late war sky type color on the lower fuselage. Mr. Color doesn't offer that color, sometimes refered to as RLM 84, so I had to mix my own. Mainly off white with a little RLM 04 and 65 added. Also here is a photo of the subject.

Jay

Nice work Tuco. Gunze doesn't have RAF Sky in their line? That's a perfect match. Your paint mix looks right on too.

Thanks, Nathan. I think they do have RAF sky, but I don't have any RAF colors in Mr. Color in stock and didn't want wait to get some. Painting is my favorite part so I can get a little impatient to get going.

Jay

An excellent homebrew for Sky is Tamiya XF-21 Sky (which I find too dark for comfort) mixed 1:1 with white. That should double pretty well for RLM-84, though the exact ratio may be different.

M/TB379

PS: Pressures of work this week have kept me from the bench but I'm hoping to get some hours over the weekend.

Nice work Jay.  Mental note made on that RLM 84.  I'm gonna start shying away from the Gunze line.  Its too hard to get and goes quickly because of the amount of paint needed for the right painting consistency.  Tamiya is much better in this regard, but I just can't get the RLM colors to look right

Joe

Jay: I like the usage of that bare metal on the undersides of that bird and that shade of paint looks great on there.

Mike: I hear you on that! Hopefully I can make full use of the bench in the weeks to come. I was away from it for 3 days and can feel the difference that those days make.