Eduard 1/32 Messerschmitt BF109E-3 - "FINAL REVEAL!" (8.18.15)

That is some stunning work! Absolutely gorgeous. :)

Great work, a pleasure to follow along with you.

Your uTube vid is very well done as well, Martin.

Probably what I find the most appealing in this build so far is the colors you used and the quality they have been applied. It looks just fantastic and somehow different than any other kit I've seen built here. Great work.

BK

Such quality work.  I love how you highlighted the aircraft, very professional.

Eduard "Weekend Edition" 1/32 Messerschmitt BF109E-3 "Build Update #3"

Well, the last few days, I found myself with a lot of time on my hands, and so, guess what I did to utilize that time?! You got it...I got back onto this build.

In "Build Update #2" I left off with the cockpit and engine finally fitted and glued into the starboard side fuselage. Here are some images of that, which weren't included in "Build Update #2":

Engine and bulkhead glued in place:

Time to glue in the cockpit:

After those sub-assemblies had set in place, I laid out all the parts that I was going to assemble next:

I started by assembling the portside fuselage half to the starboard side and clamped and taped that until it had set. After that, I assembled the wing assembly to the fuselage assembly and taped it until the glue had set. I then removed the tape:

There was a gap around the rear end of where the wing assembly joins the underside of the fuselage and a gap at the propeller end of the fuselage, and so, I had to get the filler out- the first time in about 12 builds.

When the filler had set, I smoothed the joints down, then fitted the two underwing radiator covers:

I then moved onto assembling the ailerons, flaps, horizontal stabilizer/elevators and finally the rudder:

With the main assembly now completed, the plane was ready to be primed, but before I did, I cleaned her down with Isopropyl Alcohol, masked the cockpit, engine and exhausts with tape, then masked the wheel wells and air intakes with damp tissue. I also temporarily located the wheel bay doors with putty so that they act as masks, but also get painted at the same time as the plane:

I then primed the plane and some peripheral parts with Model Masters Grey Primer:

When the primer was dry, I then pre-shaded the plane and peripheral parts:

Once the pre-shade was dry, it was time to move on with the first of the three exterior camouflage colors, the light blue for the underside and fuselage sides. There is a contradiction on the paint instructions, the color call out is for RLM 76 Lichtblau, but at the top of the page there is a description of the aircraft wherein it states the color was RLM 65 Hellblau. I wanted a pale blue, so I used the RLM 76 with a small amount of the RLM 65 to add a pale bluish hue. After airbrushing that mix on, I then added some white to what was left in the airbrush cup, to tone it down so that I could airbrush some highlights on top of the blue color:

It was now time to start preparing for masking the plane to airbrush the two upper camo colors. I therefore, as I always do, measured the width of the wings on both the plane and the plan view of the painting instructions and calculated a scale factor by dividing the actual plane measurement by the measurement taken from the painting guide. It calculated to a scale factor of 2.31, and using this factor, I photocopied the painting instructions plan view and scaled it up by 2.31 using the zoom option on my photo-copier. I took a copy of the starboard side and the portside:

I then cut out the darker of the two colors and used those to mask the plane in readiness to airbrush the lighter RLM 02 Grau color. After airbrushing it onto the exposed areas, I then added some white to tone the color down for airbrushing some highlights:

I removed those masks and checked how it looked:

I let that dry for a few hours and then cut out the lighter colored areas on the masks and used those to mask over the previously airbrushed RLM 02. After completing the masking, I then airbrushed RLM 71 Dunkelgrun onto the exposed areas, then added white to tone it down for airbrushing some highlights:

This was as far as I had gotten for this update and so I removed the masks and checked everything. A little area of paint peeled from the underside of the starboard horizontal stabilizer and I had some bleed through onto a couple of small areas of the engine. I then put everything that I completed so far onto my table and took some photos:

Well, that's it for this update guys! From hereon, I will touch up the few areas where paint peeled and I got some bleed through, then
give everything a gloss clear coat in readiness to add my decals. After decaling, I will then move onto weathering.

https://youtu.be/McUxVQiCQKo

Thanks in advance for following this build, leaving comments and watching my video, greatly appreciated! 

Until the next update, have a great weekend and happy modeling! :) 

Cheers!

Martin

Oh wow, Martin - that's really annoying! And, well, it looks like the engine locating problem may persist with the 48-scale version as well. In just playing with the as-yet-unglued parts, it does appear that the engine sits solely in its mounts to the bulkhead and the exhaust. I haven't glued my exhaust pipes on yet, so hopefully I don't run into the issues you did, but I like your method of using the toothpicks to give support. I may have to find some of the flat ones, which should be the right thickness for 1/48.

I hope the rest of the assembly phase goes much, much smoother.

-BD-

Thanks mate, much appreciated! :)

Cheers,

Martin

Thanks Brandon, greatly appreciated!  :)

Cheers,

Martin

Thanks Jay Jay, much appreciated! :)

Regarding the engine base colors; I always mix my paints and never go straight out of the bottle with one color. The color for the engine was a mix of Tamiya XF-1 Flat Black and Tamiya XF-16 Flat Aluminum, with more black than aluminum so that only some aluminum showed through subtly.

Cheers : )

Martin

Thanks Brandon, greatly appreciated! :)

I hope your 1/48 scale kit doesn't give you as many problems with the engine/bulkhead assembly as this one did for me. They wouldn't fit correctly into the fuselage and I had to do a ton of filing/modifications to get them to fit....my latest "Build Update #2" is following very shortly....

Cheers :)

Martin

Hello Toshi,

Thanks for your kind words, much appreciated! I'm not sure I'm professional yet, I only started modeling last year, but I appreciate the compliment!

Cheers :)

Martin

Very cool clean work!  As mentioned above, really love the progress as well as with the organization. Plenty of thought and planning going on. A+ So far, cannot wait to see more.

Very nice work. I enjoy seeing how you progressed through your painting process.

BK

OOoooooo nice !   What base color did you paint the engine , if I may ask ?   It looks very realistic.

Very nice progress so far. It looks like a scaled-up version of their 1/48 kit (or vice-versa). I have one, and this one is making me want to get back at it.

-BD-

Wow, this is a great kit especially in the hands of a pro like you!  I'll be following closely.

Toshi

Thanks mate, much appreciated! : )

Hi Martin I have no doubt it's going to be an awesome and educational build!!

Best wishes!!