Bf-109: Reich Defender GB The End

Here is another someone just gave me...

 http://www.messerschmitt-bf109.de/index-1024.php

The 109 Liar is a pretty nice link Marc. I taggedit a while ago and I like to go browsing though it now and then.

Got some work done on the G-14 tonight. Blended in the tail section and rescribed alot of the lost lines. Glued the wing assembly to the fuselage and started painting stuff like the spinner and wheels. Still alot more work to be done but foward progress no less!

                                                                                      Soulcrusher

You know guys one of the nice things about having a birthday is that occasionally you get a present that just happens to be something you could really use.  On that note have a look at what my brother gave me for my birthday the other day, the Fujimi 48th Bf 109K-4

Looks like I've got a second build coming up then doesn't it.

Cheers

Marc- Thanks for sharing those sites!  I have been to the 109 Lair, but not the other one.

SC- See?  You're already way ahead of me.

Darren- Outstanding, another 109!  I like your brother.

darson wrote:

You know guys one of the nice things about having a birthday is that occasionally you get a present that just happens to be something you could really use.  On that note have a look at what my brother gave me for my birthday the other day, the Fujimi 48th Bf 109K-4 Looks like I've got a second build coming up then doesn't it. Cheers

Be carefull when assembling that one there Darren. I had a nasty go round with that kit recently. It had to do with the order in which assembly is done. I wanted to attach the separate cowl panels after glueing the to fuselage halves together but the fit is extremly poor. The way to go is fit them and attach them before glueing the to fuselage halves and you will have a much beter fit. this means you must attach the cowl guns separately and before closing the two halves also making it harder to detail them. The separate radiator doors and flaps are a nice touch though the interior basicly sucks. Good luck with it.

                                                                                         Soulcrusher

Great score Darson. I heard that the Fujimi kit had Issues, but hopefully with sane advice and skill youll sort this beast into a beauty, (That was almost poetic) Oh and mate. Go on, how many candles?

...Guy

Michael (soulcrusher) thanks a lot for the advice I really appreciate it and I know what you mean with following the instructions on those types of inserts, I did it on the Hasegawa P-40E (following the instructions that is) with the fuselage plug at the rear of the cockpit and ended up sanding and filling, sanding and filling ....

Guy thanks and it was 44 candles for me this year, I'm getting close to setting off the smoke detectors when they light up my birthday cake.

Cheers

Hi all,

I'm thinking of taking a crack at Academy's 1:72 G-6 as part of this build, I just came across a source at a very reasonable price. The decal sheet features markings for Gerhard Barkhorn as Gruppenkommandeur of II/JG. 52, which position he held, if I'm reading Wikipedia correctly, from 1st September 1943 until he was shot down on January 5th 1945. This definitely encompasses the DOR period, but whether the kit markings represent his aircraft before or during the period in question is another matter. I wouldn't be surprised if he was in a later mark by the time he was chasing his 300th kill.

Can anyone recommend a source for markings data that would clarrify this issue? Or can you suggest a decal sheet that would definitely be appropriate for a G-6 in the DOR period?

Cheers,

Mike/TB379

PS: Has anyone built Academy's 1:48 G-6 as well? I'd be interested to know your oppinions.

Darren- Happy belated birthday!  I did the same thing on Hasegawa's P-40E, lots and lots and lots of filling and sanding, filling and sanding... no wonder it took years to finish mine.

Mike/TB379- Sounds to me like what you have is close enough, as I have seen some aircraft serving in the DOR w/o actual bands present.  Seems they either neglected it or just didn't have time to get them painted on before the aircraft were in combat.  However, Eagle Editions has these available for the G-6 (found them both at Sprue Brothers)

Happy B-day Darren! Man you is old! Purdy soon you'll be acting all excentric and not calm an rational like me!  Ignore the warnings of the doomsday sayer known as SC! It is a piece of cake! Or pie! (whispering) you know he hasn't been the same since the Hurricane paint job incident)

Thunder MIKE! 379! Haven't built that kit but curious to what you think of it! What kind of decals do you need to pull it off? Tail markings or was there something else. I'll check the books!

Guy! Well allrighty then!

Thunderbolt379 wrote:

Hi all, I'm thinking of taking a crack at Academy's 1:72 G-6 as part of this build, I just came across a source at a very reasonable price. The decal sheet features markings for Gerhard Barkhorn as Gruppenkommandeur of II/JG. 52, which position he held, if I'm reading Wikipedia correctly, from 1st September 1943 until he was shot down on January 5th 1945. This definitely encompasses the DOR period, but whether the kit markings represent his aircraft before or during the period in question is another matter. I wouldn't be surprised if he was in a later mark by the time he was chasing his 300th kill. Can anyone recommend a source for markings data that would clarrify this issue? Or can you suggest a decal sheet that would definitely be appropriate for a G-6 in the DOR period? Cheers, Mike/TB379 PS: Has anyone built Academy's 1:48 G-6 as well? I'd be interested to know your oppinions.

Mike,

I can get you some more info when I get home from work. IIRC the G-6 that he achieved his last kill in had a tall tail and an Erla canopy.

EagleCals does a sheet with markings for his plane in '43 which was a standard G-6.

Hmmmm how about this one? The top of the instructions say 1994? Think they mean 1944? It has the band does it qualify?

Helps if I put the pic up I guess.

This is what Scott is making right?

tempestjohnny wrote:

Aaron that is the one I'm doing.

I did not know Fujimi even had a G-6 with those markings Johnny or did you switch to the Hasegawa 1/32?   I think Frank just told me he has the same G-10 kit as well. Maybe I'll sit back and see the progress and decide. Only were what 30 soe thousand made to choose from LOL!

Guy is supposed to be walking me thru a K-4 someday as well.

Well as promised here is number two. Same as before a R/M 1/48 G10. Lost my refrence sheet on this one so cant remember the squadron and group. Please forgive. Done in MM enamels and pastel chalk panels and weathering, and a little silver pencil chipping.

Number three is also finished and I will post her tomorrow, dont want to overload the page as my poor old laptop cant handle a lot of photos. Again a great and fun kit to build for less than $9.00 cant go wrong with a little PE and some scratch work to jazz it up a bit. Now that I am finishing these I am now on to the next project and this little beauty. See ya over there.

Steve

Thanks Darren, yep I got the same gap on all three. I wasent worried about it as I planned on posing them open. Decided at the last minute to put this one down. The front part fits perfectly and no adjustments needed. The rear sits great to the back and sides of the fuselage and almost snaps into position. it could be corrected easily with a shim to avoid messing up the fit elsewhere. The last one is the same scheme that you are doing I think. Heres a sneak peek at it

They built up nicely. The only problem I had and it was on 2 of them is when joining the fuselage the chin cowling did not want to line up so I glued the fuselage in sections and left it till last and even then I had to clamp it to get it to line up properly.

Steve

Stunning Steve, you are most deffo a machine, my friend. The paintwork looks flawless. If i was to mention just one thing, it would be make the exhaust staining darker, more blacker than brown. Apart from that i wouldnt touch a thing. Fantastic stuff.

Now get yer a## over to the RA GB on the diouble fella

...Guy

 Steve looking really fine! Like the smell of a good cup of hot chocolate after shoveling out the drive in a blizzard.  Or I guess I should say like a nice tall cup of iced tea after mowing the yard!  Reall fine paint work! Makes those kits look like their more pricey cousins to be sure! You should be commended for your efforts to represent these multiple schemes so well!

Speaking of schemes..... Guy I sent you a PM!

This is one thing I was looking for was the weathering and such on the 109. The exhaust staining and fill spots extc. Haven't seen a lot about how y'all do it but notice it being done. Must still be behind the power curve there.

Steve- Another looker from you!  You are cranking out 109's like a war time factory.  Well done, love the markings on this one.  I alwats like the blue-white-blue RDV bands after seeing the aircraft wearing those at the USAF in Ohio.  I updated page one for you too.  Now, let's see more pics of the third one!

Luftwoller wrote:

Now get yer a## over to the RA GB on the diouble fella

Look at that... shamelessly recruiting for his own purposes!  What a booger. LOL...

sfcmac wrote:

This is one thing I was looking for was the weathering and such on the 109. The exhaust staining and fill spots extc. Haven't seen a lot about how y'all do it but notice it being done. Must still be behind the power curve there.

Aaron- For exhaust stains I use Tamiya Smoke or MM Burnt Umber or a combination of the two.  Usually heavily dilluted and built up very slowly.

For oil stains/streaks I used ground up pastel chalks applied with a very small brush, and then blended with a moist brush.  This has the advantage of being able to be removed with water if you're not happy with the result.

Ah thanks Mikester ! I use the same stuff myself for tanks and such. You usely apply it with a normal airbrush or just a paint brush for control. I guess whatever effect your going for.  Placement and shape are of intrest to me as well. Looking at the ref photo I used.

This one was in flight. the exhaust has pretty unique stains along the fuselage but not sure how much may have been just heat distortion.  Looking at photos it seems there were smaller fill stains around the fuel filling points. Another was on the cannon and MG's. I don't see a whole lot of powder burns or oil near the eject chutes or even the muzzles on the nose. Were they there and just hidden by the darker colors I wonder?  I know after firing our 25mm on the Bradley the light sand colors really got stained all over.

If you look by te crew's feet the residue stains really look like a pastel powder or charcoal to me. Wonder if it was the same on around the aircraft cannons. I always thought the nose would be singed from the cannon firing thru the hub.  Pics don't seem to support that thought though.

I always use an airbrush for the exhaust staining.  Staining can vary widely, due to fuel quality and flying conditions.  I believe that when the throttle was wide open for any length of time it generated a lot of staining.

 As far as powder burns, I've never really seen a photo of a Luftwaffe aircraft with significant powder burns, may have to do with the fact that you're moving at a couple hundred miles an hour so it doesn't accumulate.  I think some people add it for visual interest but I'm not sure if a historical context exists for it, I could be dead wrong though.

The DB engines were notorious leakers, though.  I always like to add some oil staining around the cowl and on the drop tank since you see many photos that exhibit this.

Thanks for all the kind words lads. The kits were a real joy to build and it was a good expierence to do the different schemes on them. I normally put more black staining on my exhausts and thought I would try a different look on these to try represent burnt metal a bit better. I may do a little darker shade later.

Steve

Ok, time for the third and last instalment from the 109G-10 factory. Its the R/M 1/48 G-10 and this one is from II/JG27. Same as before painted with MM enamels and pastel panel lines and weathering with a little silver pencel. Tonight I am going to put on the antenna wires to all three as now I have an idea of how they should look. Enjoy.

Great GB guys and its been a lot of fun. Now I think I want to get a Hasegawa K-4 or a G-6, I would like to have a tulip 109 so I might pick one of them up. Saw some at the LHS and now I want to do one of every 109 and would like to go all out with one of them. Is there kits of the A and B models?.

Steve

Well done Steve, you make it look easy!  COngrats on a third build, and thank you very much for participating!  I updated page one for you!

As far as the "A" and "B", I know Classic Airframes made an "A", but it has been OOP for a while.  They do pop up from time to time on Ebay, though they sometimes go for some tall change.  Good luck!