Bf-109: Reich Defender GB The End

Mike- Absolutely breathtaking work my friend!  I would call your first go at the masking and antenna lines a smashing success.  That really is a beautiful looking Karl, well worth the wait.  Thank you for being a part of this GB!  I updated page one for you.

Well, that's the end everyone!  Looking forward to seeing you for another installment on 11/1/09.  Details to follow!

FINISHED! Phew... yeah, I know, I know, only five weeks after the official close date, but, hey, real life -- what can I say? Tomorrow I get back to my PhD thesis (until I can't stand it again and have to fiddle with styrene to stay sane!)

Here she is, Hasegawa's Bf 109 K-4 in 1:48th scale, mostly OOB, "Yellow 4," flown by Feldwebel Strebbel, II/JG 3, in March 1945:

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The prop is mounted loosely, as that sliver of decal will have to wait for a later date. I made some assumptions, too:

I left off the wing walks (more to do with the amount of silvering the Hasegawa decals were experiencing) and the small red markings around the trim tabs, the latter because I could find no corroboration elsewhere. Different reconstructions of "Ingeborg" show either full stencil detail or almost none, I chose to go with most of the suite: if she was one of the few to leave the assembly line with the retractable tailwheel actually functioning, she was likely to get the service data too, though I could be mistaken. Whichever, it looks good on her.

The panel lines were done with ProModeler Panel Wash, the antenna wire is Ezy-Line (painted black, the only color the supplier had left was 'rust.' Dust on the underside and carbon staining in the gun troughs, behind the ejector ports on the underside, and the exhaust stains, were all done with MiG pigments. The RLM-23 on the trim tabs was home-mixed in Humbrol enamels.

I didn't nail the landing gear alignment quite right, I relied on the keyed fit of the parts a bit too much, and as a result the 'sit' is not as true as my Tamiya E-3's, but it's only noticeable from square-on angles.

I made her dirty enough to look used but not so dirty that it would be unreasonable wear and tear: she was likely in service no more than six weeks, barely enough to scratch the paint (though I should do a little chipping here and there for good measure).

I hope she's worth the wait, I certainly had fun and learned from the build (soft masking and antenna rigging were both firsts for me), and I look forward very much to fielding another of these fascinating aircraft when the next round gets underway. I went through my decals today and have plenty of interesting schemes from across the 109 lineage to work with.

Frank, thanks for a great build, and thanks for waiting for me to finish.

Cheers,

Mike

sfcmac wrote:

Been meaning to build a Bismark anyways.  Maybe  a Tiger! Or a  K-5

Oh-oh, sounds like the Sarge has been doubling up on his meds again.

 Sign me up! Like I really had a choice.....

Been meaning to build a Bismark anyways.

 Maybe  a Tiger!

Or a  K-5

 Hey Frank,  I'd would be interested in signing up for part II, with an F or early G.

 Mo

We are all waiting with baited breath as usual Frank! Lets see I have an 1/48 Hasegawa F4 G2 G4 and three G6 versions and a Promodeller 1/32 G4. Yeah I think I have the mid-war peroid covered too! 

                                                                            Soulcrusher

Mike- Ahhh... she's looking good!  Your attention to detail is quite evident from those photos.

John- Not a bad idea!

Hmmm... sounds like plenty of interest for another 109-themed GB, just have to decide on the details!

Hi guys, I tried posting this earlier but we had a power outage about five seconds before I was ready to hit Post! GRRR!

Anyway, progress, the K-4 is being completed at this time. I started teaching at the U yesterday, which bit into my bench time. Here are the ancillary parts (most of them), laid out after painting:

Awww, now photobucket is down for maintenance! ARRGGHHH!!!! I'll edit this later with the pics!

Mike

EDIT: Okay, Photobucket is back up, so here are the pics:

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And next, many of these parts consolidated into subassemblies:

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In this last shot, the scissor-links are done and the decals are on the wheel hubs.

The present state of play is that most of the parts above are now fitted and painted, she's up on her gear: a broken aileron balance horn remains to re-install, and the prop will be added loosely as I'll need to remove it again to add the sliver of decal to complete the spiral. The trim tabs are waiting to be put into red, I have the dust and carbon work to do with pigments, and the antenna wire will be the last job. Otherwise she's done. I'm hoping to do all remaining jobs tomorrow and take the gallery photos tomorrow evening -- then with the greatest pleasure I'll move this one's listing from 'in progress' to 'completed' over on the tally thread.

It's been a learning experience as always, Frank, and a lot of fun, and I am very much looking forward to Part II, whatever form it takes! I have at last tally at least 15 more 109s in my stash, across three scales, and with plenty of AM decals, including unusual stuff by TechMod and Almark, so I'm all set to go with another dressy 109!

Cheers,

Mike

soulcrusher wrote:

Be patient there Sarge. Frank has part II in the works for later this year so plenty of chances to add some more build 109's to the display. I think my last 109 count was 25.                                                                                         Soulcrusher

Yes, I am really thinking about focusing part II around the 109 again.  Just something about those birds, you know?

SC- Your 109 stash sounds like mine, you're good in my book!

Be patient there Sarge. Frank has part II in the works for later this year so plenty of chances to add some more build 109's to the display. I think my last 109 count was 25.

                                                                                        Soulcrusher 

sfcmac wrote:

Absolutely nothing as long as you have the shelf space for it! How many do you have made BTW?  Then there is How many are in the stash! ?  And I know I am too late anyways!  Your hooked!

Hmmm... think I will turn the space I have open on the Allied shelf into more 109 space!   How many finished?  Only six so far.  How many to build?  I dunno, 25 to 30.   See?  I better get cracking and build more of 'em!

Daywalker wrote:

sfcmac wrote: NOOOOOOOOO! BAD FRANK BAD FRANK!  No 109!!!!!  BAD BAD !  LOL! What's wrong with ANOTHER 109?

Absolutely nothing as long as you have the shelf space for it! How many do you have made BTW?  Then there is How many are in the stash! ?  And I know I am too late anyways!  Your hooked!

sfcmac wrote:

NOOOOOOOOO! BAD FRANK BAD FRANK!  No 109!!!!!  BAD BAD !  LOL!

What's wrong with ANOTHER 109?

Daywalker wrote:

Seeing all of these spectacular builds is really making me want to build another 109!

NOOOOOOOOO! BAD FRANK BAD FRANK!  No 109!!!!!  BAD BAD !  LOL!

great looking 109's Karl!  Seeing all of these spectacular builds is really making me want to build another 109!

Mike- How's your build coming along?  Any progress pics?

Thanks for the kind words guys, it's been a pleasure being part of this GB.

Mike, the oil stains look spot on.

I know what you mean about the sheer volume of decals on a 109. It took me 4 days to do mine, and an hour to do the Puma!

Meant to post this last night.

It's the Hase G-10 with Eagle Cal decals.

Karl

Thanks, Frank! The oil stains were the reverse of my armor wash technique, as I usually paint tanks in acrylics and use oils suspended in enamel thinner for the streaking and filters. This one is painted with enamels, so I used acrylic paint suspended in acrylic thinner. I dotted on paint with a pointed brush, then streaked it in the airflow direction with a broader brush wetted with thinner, and it seemed to work quite well, if not as 'friendly' as oils in terms of workable time.

I just wash-detailed the gear bay doors and got the Express Masks onto the wheels. I'll paint the tires tomorrow, then assemble the gear. I'm taking care of a last few spots of panel washing and will try to get some tape into place for putting the trim tabs into RLM 23 (?) Rot. I'm going to have her on her landing gear tomorrow. I painted the guns and will install them in this session, though I'll take a crack at drilling out the barrels first.

She's nearly there -- with a bit of luck I'll be reporting her done tomorrow night.

Cheers, and thanks for your encouragement and appreciation,

Mike

EDIT: Drilling the guns worked, they look great! I'll shadow the interiors with panel wash.

Thanks, SC, Karl, Frank and Neu!

Karl, your build is stunning and right up to your expected standard, your 109s are so cool! (Nice Puma too, I have one of those put away, along with the rest of the 234 family... Yes, I too belong to the dark side. )

Progress: decals were completed yesterday, with the exception of a few stencils for which I could find either contradictory research sources or no references at all. The Hasegawa decals silvered a bit and I improved things with the needle and solvent trick, but in future I might mask the open-style crosses, more work but they'll be much more genuine-looking. Here she is with the 30-odd decals of the port side of the fuselage applied:

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Next, I turned her over and began the panel wash, after using Tamiya acrylic and thinner to create a hint of the infamous oil streaks from the DB engine, a first for me (hope they look even faintly realistic, I'm not confident enough to go any more heavy-handed!):

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I finished the top surfaces panel wash just before logging in here. There are about twenty parts to add -- landing gear, antennas, guns, flap lower halves. Tires left to paint, possibly the trim tabs into red. Then some MiG pigments, demask the prop mating area, add the prop, add the canopy, demask it, add the radio line, and she should be done.

Cheers,

Mike

Very, Very nice Karl. That finish is a stunner and you did a great job on it. Very nice build indeed, congrats

Steve

Daywalker wrote:

soulcrusher wrote: Hopefully Mike will finish soon and the GB will be officially over. LOl, yep!  Then we can prepare for a new one coming 11/1/09.

Sweet! I have several kits just waiting to defend the Fatherland!

                                                                                     Soulcrusher

soulcrusher wrote:

Hopefully Mike will finish soon and the GB will be officially over.

LOl, yep!  Then we can prepare for a new one coming 11/1/09.

Nice Karl Karl. Sorry I was waiting for you to finish it just so I could say that! Frank is right. That K really looks the part in everyway. A nice finish to this GB. Hopefully Mike will finish soon and the GB will be officially over.

                                                                                       Soulcrusher

 Actually I am more disgusted with myself for not being able to make my stuff look that good. I have always been impressed with the quality of your work it just sickens me that's all. That Puma looks sharp as well! Must you shame me in armor as well? Maybe I'll go run to ships now! Somebody hold him back!!!!

I know, I should be ashamed of myself!

It's my dirty secret.

Thanks for the commentson the K.

Karl

Karl! What the heck are you doing!!!!!!  Ahhhhh!

 Nice 109 K though I would never have thought it to be the 1/48 Revell kit!  It looks good so good in fact I am gonna forget I saw that above pic.

Ahhhhh!