2015 Messerschmitt Bf 109 Group Build

Love the paint work Joe!!

Well I'm finally in for an update.  My fat cat decided to take a nap on top of the Tamiya box that stored the plane on my bench.  I opened it to discover that the top fuselage seam split and the rear stabs and lower braces snapped off.  After I took a few of his nine lives away (kidding animal lovers), I spent several hours fixing it. 

I then decided to change schemes.  I'm going with Gerhard Schopfel's JG 26 kite from August of 1940.  Schofel was a very successful pilot during the Battle of Britain and shot down 4 Hurricane's in one mission.  These markings were done by Superscale, but I have plenty in the stash to piece this guy together. 

This was a matter of adding yellow wing tips and stab tips then raising the fuselage demarcation lin.  Fairly painless.  I added more postshading too....

......and that beefcake is banished from the model room....

Joe

Nathan:  Indeed...I use the Aqueous line.  Maybe I should switch to the Mr. Color Lacquers. What do I thin this with? Can I use the Mr. Color 400 thinner or Tamiya Lacquer thinner?      

Roadrunner:  Welcome,  That scheme should be interesting.  You are coming along nicely.

Johnny:  Your still in my thoughts. 

Bob:  That looks great.  I needed to do a desert 109 one of these days...

Jay:  Your airbrush skills are very impressive. 

Brandon:  Lovin" the CMK pit.  Reference it being a PITA, don't jinx yourself, its still early bro.....

Alas, it's finally time for another update. I've been very busy and can't dedicate very much time on this kit at the moment. So, with a few minutes a few times a week I am making slow progress.

I began the cockpit with factory kit bits and removed them all and added a CMK resin cockpit along with thier PE bits and some from Eduard as well. I also added some cockpit plaques using Airscale decals to bring it more to life.

I painted it with Mr Color 116 RLM 66 over all and washed it with Flory black wash. I hand painted most of the wiring and tubing and gave it a light dry brushing with Mr Metal Color Aluminum. The resin cockpit is very nicely detailed and really doesn't need any thing else but I felt like pimping this one out so I just went nuts with the PE and details. Now that I have this much done here I can close the cockpit up and attach the shoulder belts. I can't install them until I close it due to how this kit assembles. 

I know some have complained that this kit is a PITA to build, but I find it to be no problem. I move slow and make sure I have a perfect fit before I glue parts and I also plan my attack on how to attach and glue and hold them before I do so and I have not had any problems thus far. This kit is not a shake and bake kit and will require patience, but the fit is excellent and the parts are very nicely detailed. If you like detail, then this kit will appeal to you. If you don't like messing with A LOT of little fiddly bits during assembly, then this kit may give you a stroke. 

More painting. It's coming along reasonably well. The markings and weathering should help tie it all together. I still have some questions about this scheme that I haven't quite decided on yet.

Jay 

Nathan T

es I'm sure. Use only Gunzes Mr. Color thinner

I agree totally with Nathan. Why risk problems when you can just use the thinner made for that paint, just to save a couple bucks. We all invest a lot of time, money and energy on our models. I will find somewhere else to cut costs if need be.

Jay

Thanks Gentlemen! Appreciate the kind words. Joe, there is no "glamour" here. Please use the pic in the post. I'm hopeful I can get away with it as a newbie!!

Cheers!

Bob

Allen109

Nathan T- are you sure? I've had friends of mine use regular lacquer thinner with no success,and alcohol did nothing.

Yes I'm sure. Use only Gunzes Mr. Color thinner

Nathan T- are you sure? I've had friends of mine use regular lacquer thinner with no success,and alcohol did nothing.

Jay: I like the paintwork that you're doing! Really convincing. One day I hope to be able to apply paint like that!

Kevin: Oh man!! This is the coolest part of the build for me. The transition from molded plastic to body filler to paintwork. Then there's decaling.......and for some reason I like that too.

Wings all dolled up and now added. Pretty soon, it'll be painting time, and I loves me some painting! I must say, I really like this kit (ex-Hasegawa G-6 I think), and have had no major fitment issues, at least that weren't of my own doing.

Thanks. That's one of things I like about 109s, a seemingly endless choice of schemes.

Jay

Good looking 109 there, Tucoh. I must confess that I've never seen a 109 with the lower rear fuselage painted like that, but with 109's, anything seems possible.

Looking good there jay, nice looking scheme.

really nice looking build there Bob. You got me itching to start mine now.

Been working on painting this thing. Still more to do. Fairly happy with some aspects, less so with others. Working from one picture of the fuselage without the front cowling or tail so some is speculative, based on other similar schemes. May change/clean up some things, plus markings and weathering will pull it together a little more. Anyhow, here's where I am currently.

Jay

Wow Bob!! What a build man!!! I have never built a desert 109 but have always had an eye for these. I want to extend a thanks for joining this GB and have enjoyed your participation. Do you want this picture used for the intro post or would you rather take a couple of "glamour shots" of it and get back with me on a picture to post. Lemme know buddy!

Well done, Bob! I think every build should be a learning experience. Seeing what works and what doesn't is a good thing and will help you with future builds. The desire to improve is, IMHO, the most important ingredient to doing so. Again, nicely done.

Jay

Very nicely done Bob! Excellent finish for your first GB... I'll be doing the Boeing GB too so I'll see you there too! Take care...

Doug

I'm going to call this done at this point. I need to assemble and paint a pilot, but that will happen with my grandson a bit at a time. It would be easy to point out half a dozen serious mistakes with this build, but I'll just be kind to myself and learn from the errors. The biggest one was dealing with the panel lines through out the build process. At the end they simply would not accept the oil wash. Simply no room. Weathering is simply non existent. But I do know what what wrong, so that's a good thing.

And about the canopy. That' one I will hopefully not repeat. THANK YOU to those who both took the time to respond to PM questions as well as offer words of encouragement. It is truly appreciated!

I'm going to do a P51D for the Mustang GB and might come back here for an Airfix E3 I have in the closet. Not sure as I also have to choose between a Mitchell B25J or a B17 for the upcoming Boeing Build.

Thank You Gentlemen. Hopefully I'm off to a start with this endeavor. If it's OK I will continue to monitor and post to the GB until the end and hopefully continue to learn.

Cheers,

Bob

Thanks, me too.

Thanks a bunch. I think it'll definitely be different, that's for sure.

Roadrunner, now that's an interesting idea, looking forward to seeing this one.

Roadrunner,

Cant wait to see what your 109 is going to look like.  Should prove to be very interesting.  Best of luck with the scheme, and welcome to the madness.  I have found that 109s are like lays potato chips, you just cant build one!

<Matt

Just finished prepping both wings, still a tiny bit of filler to add here and there though. I spent twenty minutes last night, looking for the under wing gun pods, only to discover this morning that they're already attached to wing;... how stupid.

Moving right along, pit is now all painted up, and fuselage halves are zipped up. Some cleanup is required on some smaller parts, then they too will be attached, along with wings. I'll grab an Eduard mask for the cockpit glass (as soon as I'm able).

Thanks, Joe, it should be a real good time for me.

Well heading to Florida tomorrow. Dad's service is Friday. When I get back. Hopefully I'll get something done

Allen109

Don't you have to thin Mr. Color with mineral spirits?

Nope, Don't do that. They are lacquers and work best with their own brand, Mr. Color Lacquer thinner or the Leveling thinner. 

Welcome aboard Kevin!!!!! Bout time you made it! This looks to be a great idea bud!!!