Bf-109: Reich Defender GB The End

Frank I always new there were a lot of other crazy modelers here thats why I'm here! It is even nicer when you see people doing mutiple builds for a GB.

Aaron it would not be any fun if you were not here! That is indeed a "tall wooden" rudder design and appropriate for the K-4 and some earlier variants. If you have good pics of the particular plane you are depicting check to see if it has trim tabs because some did and some did not. I know can you believe I have changed sides and am building a Me 109 K-4! Do'nt tell but i am also 75% done with the Acadamy 1/48 Me 109 D also. OPPPSS!

                                                                                Soulcrusher

Daywalker wrote:

Aaron- IIRC, that IS a K-4 metal tail.

soulcrusher wrote:

Frank I always new there were a lot of other crazy modelers here thats why I'm here! It is even nicer when you see people doing mutiple builds for a GB. Aaron it would not be any fun if you were not here! That is indeed a "tall wooden" rudder design and appropriate for the K-4 and some earlier variants.                                                                                Soulcrusher

Hmmmm now SC sez wooden? Franks sez metal! At least they agree on the K-4 part.

Stan will tell me it's made of styrene, Mark will tell me it is a G-14.56 unless the tabs are green. Guy will claim it to be a counterfeit ! Some fantasy tail. Scott will send me a link to build a real one. Lord knows what else is in store? What have I done?

Hey SC I almost got that Academy kit of the 109 D but figured I couldn't pass it by Frank as a late version. Maybe if I wait another month when he has snow blindness from running the blower!

Whatcha think about that kit? Pretty good? I figure it's between that and the CA kit for a D model now days?

A friend of mine gave me an old Hobbycraft kit, no box. The instructions and decals are for a D but the plastic is clearly an E. Now I have a mismatch. I'd like to build an early 109 but the HC kit is hard to find and I'm to cheap to pony up for the CA kit. I'm kind of liking this 109 thing!

I have stopped production on number one so the other two can catch up to the same point. Finished up the pits tonight with the Grant decals and eduard pe belts. Dont worry about the sink marks in the seat, they have been fixed already with filler. I also drilled out the vents on the fuselage nose as shown earlier and man what a difference that makes. Great tip on just another little fix to make it look better.

Sorry the shots are a little blurry. All comments welcome

Steve

Great pits, Sidure. I dont know how you do it in that scale. What are you using for the sidewall details? I know you wont see alot. I have a 'Modelling the 109' book of some description that the author uses a picture of the sidewall, suitably shrunk and then glued to the sidewall. Looked very effective for that scale.

...Guy

P.s. I thought the K's tail was wood. Im prepared to be enlightened though.

Follow away Big Boy, LOL.

As im waiting fr my new pit to arive, ive been busy on all the other little doodads that can be assembled, sprayed, cleaned up etc etc.

Anyhoo, One of the things i did was detail the U/C legs (A personal fave of mine.) In the eagle cal decal sheet, it says that Green 4 was photographed with, what appeared to be, RLM 66 legs. Thats why i ended up with them that colour. Firstly i sprayed the chrome part of the leg with Alclad laquers and set aside to dry. I masked the chrome and then preceded to 'Wire' the leg. The copper wire i used was out of something electrical? Probably get a replacement for Xmas, whatever it was. I used fine strips of Tamiya tape for the fixings.

I gave the legs a good coat of RLM 66 (Using Tamiya German grey, mixed with a couple of drops of Tamiya clear) Then using slightly thicker gauge solder i made the rubber flexi part that goes round the chrome part of the leg. This piece was hand painted black.

Next up i wanted to make one of the little data plates that you often see on the U/C legs. To do this i burnished a piece of an old cake tin to get it really thin...mmmmm...cake

Next up i cut them into the right ish size and painted them black. Keep the paint thin, that way it doesnt come off in the next part.

Next, after giving the black a few minutes to go off, using something metal and pointed. Not too sharp though, scrape a few waggly lines in the black. If you keep the waggles small, it will give the impression that something is actually written there and looks fairly impressive.

And heres the finished product.

As you can probably tell im wasting my time untill the Aries Pit arrives. AND IVE GOT A DAY OFF AS WELL BOOOOOO!!!!

...Guy

Aaron- IIRC= If I Recall Correctly   Glad to help!  Looks like I may be wrong on the tail, wish I could remember where I saw that profile which showed the differences.

Steve- Great work!  I think you're a madman doing three at once, but I can't wait to see more!

Guy- Great little toot on the LG, thanks!  I have used a similar technique for the placards with bare metal foil.  Just put a little CA glue on the backside to be sure they stick well and paint them black.  Then, I used a pin to scratch off parts to make it look like writing.  Works well!  I used it to replicate the manufacturers data plate on my Fokker E.V.  I'll get a photo of it in a day or so.

Hmmmmmmm Guy I must say no one else waggles quite like you?  Looks really good. I too have theday off and woke up at Noon so I can start on mine today. Frank I'm sorry my acronyms are limited to LMFAO pretty much. I remember the nice Harrigan had that one over at the FAA ,what was it LIMA? Love in my attic or something?

 Any how I am going to start with a K-4 if that is OK as Great Models is still toying with my order (again) Sez it's being packed but I picked up an Aires G-10 pit for $21.00 and an another Hasegawa 1/48 F-4 that was on sale for $20 there abouts. Add that to the earlier order from Squadron and you can see I am failing miserably at my moritorium on new kits.

Of course this only means more questions and aggrivation for you all!

Ok I am long winded. Here is my 1st start point (opening box drum roll please)

When I saw this in the LHS I thought it was an old revamp of the 1970's kit but it has close to 140 parts and really well detailed. The Fuselage is 4 parts looks like it was cut in half then down the middle Hence the question on the tail.

I am going to start on her today and will have some questions about the cowling later. Right now I am asking everyones concensus on which option. Each are parts specific but nothing to big.

 Can we have a vote? Or maybe an order to which I should go for? Doesn't matter to me they all look cool!

Here are the decals and schemes.

Being it is from GErmany with Italian decals that means no Swaztka for the tail so I'll have to dig those up somehow.

Guy, again great timing on your tutorial for the LG. That is one of the things I am going to tackle next and I need to see where the brake lines etc go. I am going to try that. As look has it the Mike Grant Luftwaffe decal sheet also has placards so I will be lazy and use them for the LG. This is a great set and recomend it highly. I am learning so much of the small details that have a big impact on the finished results. Keep em comming guys. One question, where else were data plates noticable on the G-10.

Steve

It's the Monogram pit. It just goes to show what careful painting and things I have learnt here can improve a basic kit. decal dials with kristal klear for glass and PE belts. Wash and dry brush and voila. The side walls are very sparse also so all I did was paint, wash and dry brush. Will add wire for the fuel and oxygen hose. I would love to have a Tamigawa kit but for some reason I keep picking this kit up as it's only $9.00 at LHS. You guy's are helping a lot with all the small detail stuff that make a kit pop. Some great photos and expierence around here also helps in the details.

Steve

Well Schizzel ma nizzel, Aaron. On my day of TODAY, i bought that self same kit, just because i fancied it. How strange is that. My plan is to do a major overhaul on the sucker. Have a look at

http://www.shopcreator.com/mall/departmentpage.cfm/ModelDesignConstruction/52182/1/1/-/52182

and do a search for 1/32 109k stuff. Theres loads. and my plan is to fill my 1/32 full of it. LOL. I have an incling that the kit is a reboxing of the Hasagawa kit? Is it? Anyhoo, Aaron, what exactly are you trying to build?

...Guy

Luftwoller wrote:

Well Schizzel ma nizzel, Aaron. On my day of TODAY, i bought that self same kit, just because i fancied it. How strange is that. My plan is to do a major overhaul on the sucker. Have a look at http://www.shopcreator.com/mall/departmentpage.cfm/ModelDesignConstruction/52182/1/1/-/52182 and do a search for 1/32 109k stuff. Theres loads. and my plan is to fill my 1/32 full of it. LOL. I have an incling that the kit is a reboxing of the Hasagawa kit? Is it? Anyhoo, Aaron, what exactly are you trying to build? ...Guy

Hmmm Guy No joy the search is inop for some reason. I just get a page that looks like a prelude to a Horror Story. Kids entering an abandoned Nazi genetic lab or something. Is that where you found your elfs?  I would like to know your opinions on the kit and suggestions on how to make it better. It doesn't look too bad to my eyes. I went and reread the thread on all the info spoken of the K-4 from gear doors to Canopy. Noticed even differences in the foot pedals.

I was going to get the Aires pit for it but decided to spend the $ on a gift for a friend as I think I have enough for a good start on this 109 bug for now.......

sidure wrote:

It's the Monogram pit. It just goes to show what careful painting and things I have learnt here can improve a basic kit. decal dials with kristal klear for glass and PE belts. Wash and dry brush and voila. The side walls are very sparse also so all I did was paint, wash and dry brush. Will add wire for the fuel and oxygen hose. I would love to have a Tamigawa kit but for some reason I keep picking this kit up as it's only $9.00 at LHS. You guy's are helping a lot with all the small detail stuff that make a kit pop. Some great photos and expierence around here also helps in the details. Steve

Well I have that kit to and was wondering why mine didn't look like that. When I reread the thread I saw your post on what you did and said ah that explains it.

sfcmac wrote:

Hey Frank if you get a chance would you take a closer look at that K-4 kit and see if it has anything in common with yours?

My pleasure Aaron!  I'm at work now but I'll take some pics of the G-10 rear fuse when I get home.

phoenix7187 wrote:

Sorry guys, Like I told frank this is my busy time at work. So I may disappear from time to time. The K-4 used several things for the G's. One was the tail. Most K-4 were built with the wooden 2 tab tail most common. But some have been seen with no tabs.

Good golly man ! Don't apologize. I went back and checked your post and got more accurate detailed info than I could hope for! Thank you for taking so much time and posting the answers!

phoenix7187 wrote:

Sorry guys, Like I told frank this is my busy time at work. So I may disappear from time to time. The K-4 used several things for the G's. One was the tail. Most K-4 were built with the wooden 2 tab tail most common. But some have been seen with no tabs.

Stan- Thanks for clearing up the tail querry, sorry guys I misinformed you!  I shall remain .  Getting busy here at work too- crazy part of the year in a jewelry store at Christmas time!

 Now Frank is saying I'm sorry!  At least you knew it was a K tail? Before then I didn't know the diff between a Fw-190p-2 and a Me109 K-4. I was looking and saving pics earlier and looked at WingNuts resin nosed 109. With the Engine and open hoods. That's pretty cool. If Your around Wingster what all stuff did you use to create that thing? Hows the elbow btw? Ready to do push-ups again?

BTW I want to say I Am sorry too! While there are probably multiple reasons I should say this I will claim this one.

To Guy! Good thing He is asleep right now!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YsRPTy-TtF4

Found this nice chart in an old 70's boxing of the Fujimi 1/48 Me 109 G/K. Thought it might answer some questions that have been floating around here.

                                                                           Soulcrusher

Nice pic, SC. Good info to have!

One thing I've noticed about German a/c, sometimes the paint can be so complicated. I tried all day to come up with the best order to apply paint to this plane. Tonight, paint flew everywhere. At the moment I have three of the four colors on. One left (76) and it's going to be the hardest.

Question. Typically, are the camo lines on german planes hard or soft edged? I was wondering while I was spraying paint.

Saved that one for the ref file SC.

I took this pic of the sprues of the 109K-4 kit Guy and I just got. I was really curious as to wether it was a newer mold or a Copy of a Hasegawa or some other make?

SC -- super-useful chart, thanks for posting it!

sfcmac -- I checked my sprues (Hasegawa 1:48 JT-63) and your kit is definitely not from the Hasegawa molds.

I have a deadline reprieve on my current stressful build, so I can devote some time to GBs now -- a little fiddling with the instrument panel and I can get the K-4 properly underway.

Cheers,

Mike/TB379

 Sorry SC I forgot to post again that it is 1/32 scale. The plastic reminds me of CA or Airfix and the molding is as good as Fujimi at least. The parts seem very accurate as far as the discussion here has gone. Even has the O2 hose but not the fuel line as it should. I was comparing it to the 1/32 Aires K pit and it is very close minus a few smaller cables that could easily be added.  If the fit is as good as the molding it should make a very cool K-4 as is.The decals are dated 2007 so surely someone has built one unless like me they thought it was the old mold from way back.  I know Revell Ge has got a hit with there Bismark but was wondering if this is their work or a copy reboxed?

The kit instructions are a bit vague and busy on the cowling. There are marks to drill holes and such with measurements on the instructions. I'll scan a pic and show what I mean.

Overall If the fit is decent it could be a close runner to a Hasegawa kit. I am fairly impressed with it and it comes with a pilot which apeals to the kid in me!

Aaron- Actually, that is a re-boxed Hasegawa kit.  Here's a review of it on Testor's Scale Workshop:

Click here!

And, here's a review of the Hasegawa version:

and here!