2015 Messerschmitt Bf 109 Group Build

Hey Jay, yeah, I had thought about that too, I guess not wanting to take any thing from any one who has the guts to climb into a cockpit , knowing they may not make it back, and your absolutely right, I think only 16 of his victories were western aircraft. I still have to admire any one (Oberleutenant Rall)  who would crawl into his 109 with a cast still on his leg. They said that they knew he was approaching the pre flight meetings by the clanging noise his nads made when he walked. Lolol...

Any way, my first GB here was his Black 13,  Take care my friend...

Doug

PS... hope your not done yet, I look forward to your 109s taking shape!

Sorry, forgot about the previous injury to his back, so it's possible he could have been right there with the other two. Pretty amazing that he survived the war at all. Of course they may have made him stop flying at some point like Graf.

Jay

Looking forward to it, Doug. You don't see many builds of Rall's 109s, so that will be good as well. Don't think he would have caught Hartmann or Barkhorn though. Rall himself said that time in hospital probably saved his life. Once he was moved to the west the race was over.

Jay

Hey Mike, yes, I have seen several examples of his air craft but being a winter scheme, I was imeadiatly drawn to it. I dont know if you have ever read the history on this pilot, but its written that he was held personally responsible for the sinking of the Tripitz, due to lack of ability to provide air cover, was court marshaled,  sentenced to three years in prision, AFTER the final victory. He later retrained in Me262s , and was killed ramming a B17 with his 262 just DAYS before the end of the war.

I mean, just, damn!

Any way, after this I want to do at least 1 more, this time the G2, (Black 2) flown buy Gunther Rall, Russia, 1943. I have to read some more but this was (I belive) the aircraft he flew when he was so badly injured and had to recuperate for 9 mo before being able to fly again. Being he was the 3rd highest scoring ace of all time, I feel that had he not been on the side lines for that time, he would have been #1 by wars end.

Any way, looking for some wip pics on yours, you have done an amazing job building 3 at a time! Take care...

Doug

After a crazy week of work and trying to concentrate on things, not helped by the lurgy of the season in the house, I can report the E-4 has legs under her and I'm onto the fiddly bits -- you might see some pics tomorrow...

M/TB379

Doug, that's been one of my favourites for many, many years and I look forward to building it myself!

M

Got you added Doug!!! This outta be real good!!

Hey Joe... I thought I'd have all my stuff ready to begin my next build, but I'm still waiting on some resin to get going. However... I'm going to start on the trimming, fitting and riveting on the kit. Not a bad looking kit, but as with most , it needs some nice detailing that only resin and pe can lend.

The particulars are as follows...

This will be a Bf109 G2  by Academy,  1/48  and will be Yellow 12, the craft flown by Oberleutnant Heinrich Ehrler , Staffelkapitan 6/Jg5 , Petsamo/Findland spring 1943.

It will be in the wilter camo , white with large dark green splotching. This craft shows 77 Soviet kills but his final score was said to be between 201 and 220. Wip to follow soon!  Thanks...

Doug

I'm still too much into the single engine fighters for now. Thanks for tryin' though.

If you have a problem seeing 1/72 fighters,go get a bomber, or better yet(at least for being able to see stuff), get a patrol plane. Those things are huge! The 72nd P2V Neptune ,P5M Marlin ,P-3 Orion, P-6 Seamaster are as big as some 48 scale bombers. If I remember correctly, the P2V in 72nd is as big as a 48 B-25.

You guys and the things you can achieve with these small scale planes--totally awesome!!!

Bish: 72nd scale aircraft are the work of the devil to me. I can barely see what I'm doing with 48th scale stuff! lol

Lovely work Mike, really nice paint work. Hopfully you can see what you have been missing in this scale.

Joe, when will you learn, 72nd is not the work of the devil. You really should give it a try. Will save a lot of display space.

Today's progress -- touch ups done, model washed gently and air dried, then topcoated to seal the decals and the prop hub was sprayed in 70. I have started the detail work, with running lights painted, tailwheel painted and main gear cleanup underway. The main gear wells are unmasked and touched up and the oil streaking on the underside has been done.

Details and final assembly proceeding...

M/TB379

Thanks Mustang and RR! Yep, this is the new-tool Airfix E-4 in 1:72, which goes together sweetly for the most part (canopy fit was a bit dodgy) and has painted up a treat. The decals are thin and settle down so tightly the demarcation between paint areas registers through the decals in 3D! I have shied away from 72 for many years because of the 'limitations of scale" but these new ones are very forgiving. I still need to tackle the tiny, fragile parts, and they are a bit of a nightmare...

M/TB379

Excellent detailing Mike... Very well done!

Wait a minute......forgive me here but this is a 72nd scale plane?I was under the impression for a minute that it was 48th scale.

Thanks, Jay! I got a large part of the stencils done last night and finished them this afternoon (even though it's 1:72, Airfix provides a full set), plus masked the prop spinner cone for its segmentation to be sprayed. I need to let the decals harden off before the model gets a gentle wash to remove the decal solutions, after which I can load up, spray the 70 on the spinner, then change to clear and seal the decals. There might be a few touch-ups too, we'll see. Here she is with the decals completed:

I'm hoping to be into detail painting and final assembly tomorrow.

M/TB379

Looks great, Mike. Very nice indeed.

Jay

Thanks, guys! Florey Dark Dirt pin-washed over the lines, then removed with a damp tissue and q-tip... There's a "limitation of scale" at work, it's difficult to get into some nooks and crannies to clean up properly, and I managed to forget a couple of spots that needed doing before I dropped the last clearcoat on -- grr, ah well it'll serve as dirt and weathering!

Hoping to have her in the display case this weekend... Then a fresh gas cylinder, and on with the Has E-7.

M/TB379

They sure do! Panel hilites look great!

Doug

Man it looks like you are movin' right along with this build here Mike . What did you use to bring your panel lines out? They look fabulous!

A little progress -- I've concentrated on the Airfix E-4, as the Hasegawa E-7 is going to take a bit extra cleanup and using over. Today I tidied up the panel wash on the E-4 and applied a sealing coat, then got the main decals on. The swastikas are from an Aeromaster sheet, the rest are from the kit sheet, and they behaved very well indeed.

Tomorrow I'll tackle stencil data, and if I have a drop of air left in the tank I need to mask and spray some elements on the prop hub and apply a final sealant coat over the decals. Then I'll be into the finishing round and hope to have her done over the weekend.

M/TB379

moose421

Beautiful Jay, simply beautiful.  You hit the marks on the weathering.

Thanks, Kim. I hope you get some bench. I know that doesn't always work out as planned.

Mike, the camo looks good. Looking forward to more. It's funny, I lower the pressure for mottling, but there are usually many ways to do most anything.

Jay

Thanks Mustang, Rigid and Moose! The Hasegawa I would not call one of my best models, its been problematic at a number of levels, while the Airfix has pretty much flowed along -- touch wood. I'm going to apply some panel wash before I hit the hay. I'm almost out of air and need a cylinder change, which will hopefully be soon. The Hasegawa gets a few minor spots of 02 mottle on the fuselage which will need high pressure to apply properly. I'm thinking I might attempt some condensation streaking in oil wash, and go with a low-lustre final coat.

Cheers, M/TB379

moose421

As for my slow build.  I have a vacation day tomorrow and will get some serious bench time on my D'

moose ( Kim)

Beautiful Jay, simply beautiful.  You hit the marks on the weathering.

T-bolt, Your two builds are coming along great.  Can't wait till I see you start weathering.

As for my slow build.  I have a vacation day tomorrow and will get some serious bench time on my D'

moose ( Kim)

Thanks Bish, yup, they aren't easy to find any more I guess. I was lucky to run onto this one, and really had no idea what it entailed.  Thanks again for the kudos.

Doug

Looking good Mike... splinter isn't as easy as people think to do.

Dang Mike ....aint those paint jobs just purdy? I almost hate to mess 'em up with a wash and all at this stage. Coming along nicely.

Thanks, lostagain! Resprays are a pain but a part of life...

Well, here they are, resprayed as necessary, including some 71 to fix some more pull-up on the Hasegawa, unmasked, touched up by brush in a spot or two, and given their first protective coat:

Only when I removed the yellow tape from the yellow cowling di I discover a sliver where there was no masking, so I'm thinking of spraying some more 04. the protective coat will hopefully guard against more pull-up...

I can start the panel wash now, and generally move them along.

M/TB379