2015 Messerschmitt Bf 109 Group Build

As Doug said, Airscale decals are great, and I use them all the time, but for the kit you are working on, I found the kit IP decal to be very good. Hasegawa really made some nice improvements on the F.

Jay

Doug & Jay   Thank you both. I think I’ll go with assembly first, then paint. Truth is I thought the interior would be RLM 62, not RLM 66. So… had to order 66 this morning and I now have a lag time of 5 to 7 days surface mail. Both LHS's don't carry acrylic RLM series on the shelf, only enamel. Might as well start assembly, then paint.

I now have enough information to keep my busy for quite some time. I’ll post again when I have some pics to share.

Unbelievable work here everyone. Truly a privilege to follow along. Thanks.

Bob

Bob, I'd vote for decals for the IP too. I of late like them better than PE. (photo-etched accessories).

Rigid,

What size of ez wire are you using.  I am looking at trying it for my 1/48 and 1/32 aircraft builds.  What size would you recommend?

Thanks

moose

If you mean EZ Line by Berkshire Junction, it's a highly elastic thread and the relative thickness depends on how much tension you apply. I'm not sure if there is a variety of gauges, I use it for both 1:72 and 1:48, but at 1:32 it seems a bit light, perhaps stretched sprue would be more appropriate.

M/TB379

Hey Moose... I have two different sizes, and for this one I used the Medium. That's all I can tell you at this time, I know it comes in different sizes ( I have fine and medium, at least that is whats marked on the pkg) and it also comes in several colors. I bought the drk grey. Hope that helps. There is a seller in Fla. that sells it in six foot lengths wrapped around a business card, and I still have 1 and a half cards worth of each size. It goes a long way. And like mike said it is stretchy .

Moose, here is the link to Bershire Industries EZ-Line. Hope it helps you somehow.

Doug, I didn't realise that was the heavy you used. It looks great. Do you use it on 1/48th too?

PS, I could have sworn there were three sizes when I ordered mine a couple years ago, now I see two (Fine and Heavy)

Thanks for the link I will be ordering some.  I needed a break from the armor and aircraft are filling the bill.  

Keep up the great work guys.  I am learning a ton.  Makes me want to keep adding details to my builds.

moose

Yeah me too Greg... I think there are 3 sizes but perhaps not any more. Myself, I've tried but never have got the hang of stretched sprue. Wish I could, it makes ideal wiring and antenna wire.

On the 48th scale I would use fine myself.

Doug

Ridge, T-bolt....looking sweet.  Jer, neat info regarding fuse bands.  Howard, thanks for the offer but I decided to go with Hackl's markings.  I was reading up on him and learned he served on every front at one point and had 192 confirmed kills with 34 being "heavies".  Consider me inspired!  I'll probably use the kit's tail scoreboard but will source the rest from my Aeromaster stash.  I'm not that brave.....lol.  I'll just live with the cannons.  I like instrument decals too, but on my kit it came in black when it was suppose to be RLM 66.  I decided to make mine a drybrush exercise.  A question about the Airscale decals though, are they already pre-cut individually into circles or is a punch set needed?  I may try these out.  Can someone post a small tutorial on this?

Last night it was me, Net-Flix, and RLM 74, 75, 76 through my airbrush.  I can attest to German mottling being somewhat challenging when your airbrush needle is going bad, for I'm having a hard time getting those fine lines down.  Here I preshaded the panel lines and then added the ID colors (white tail, yellow nose and fuse band) which were taped off.

RLM 76 was next.  For some reason I couldn't seem to get this right to my eye.  I used the recommended 2 parts (drops) XF-66 Light Grey, 1 part XF-23 Light Blue and then 7 parts XF-2 Flat White, but it just looked too pale grey.  I added a touch more of the blue.  This is why I hate trying to make RLM colors out of Tamiya paint and use Gunze Aqueous for this.  RLM 76 is the only one I dont have.  Here we are with "F it...good enough".  I streaked and weathered it with a diluted red-brown/black post shading. 

I then pulled out the Gunze for the 74 and 75.  I love the Aqueous line for RLm colors.  They look right on to me.  75 was first. 

I then used the instruction sheet profile for an Idea how Hackl's camo pattern went. It appeared to be field applied void of the normal splinter pattern.  I am however skeptical since the sheet calls for this pattern on all three planes, two being on the Eastern front???  I decided to freehand spray on the 74.  I then added a touch of XF-2 Flat White to fade it out a bit in the wings.  As I said, needle issues prevented this from being a convincing mottling job and really tried my patience.  Hopefully it will be passable after decaling and weathering later. 

Decals soon...

Joe 

That looks really great, Joe. Coulda fooled me that you have needle issues! Very nice finish. I've been trying to gather up gunze aqueous for a while. RLM 76 is the hardest to get!

I'm painting this weekend as well and hope to get to the decals soon.

Smoke and mirrors Tom.  Check out those monstrous preshaded panel lines, sure sign of needle issues...lol.  Aqueous can be found on E-bay.  Thanks for the compliment...

Joe

I was only aware of 2 sizes of EZ line, Fine and heavy, that's all there was on the sight I got mine from. I have not used the heavy yet, was keeping that for larger kits.

That's looking very nice there Joe.

Joe(lawdog):Man that is one sweet looking build there fella! I wished your paint jobs would take longer so I could follow along like as in a tutorial. Your finish always turns out well weathered and smooth every time.

Bob: 1/32nd scale it is! We'll get you in the intro brother! And again, welcome aboard! You're among friends here! 

Doug, Greg and related on the stretched sprue:I posted this for one of the guys here in a PM and this is how I learned to stretch sprue. Of course I allotted a block of time to just learning this technique and it's paid off ever since. Here's the copy and paste mini tutorial:(you may have to weed out what you already know but this is the overview of it all);

And I quote:

"It aint that bad really. Cut yourself about 15 pieces of straight sprue that's about 3" long or so and light a candle. Just siddown in front of the TV or where ever you're comfy and hold the sprue with one end in each hand about 2-3" above the flame. When you see the middle of the sprue start turning shiny, take it about another 4-5 " above the flame and start pulling it apart slowly. You don't want to take it completely away from the flame because the plastic will harden again and you won't be able to stretch it out like you need to. If you leave it too close to the flame it will just come apart. There's a balance in there somewhere to this but when you master it you will be able to make all kinds of use out of it. I spent about an hour practicing and got it down to where I can stretch plastic out to finer than human hair!

 The trick to using this stuff as aerial antenna comes after the line is adhered to both points (usually the front mast and the mount at the rudder/ tailfin), it's gonna sag , that's just the nature of it. Then you light a match and let it burn for a second to get hot then blow it out. Then, while it's still hot, hold it under the sagging line. Don't let this next part freak you out , the line is gonna droop pretty fast. When you see that, pull the match out and the line will snap taught! I use a metal rod that I heat over a flame and hold it under my lines. It does the same thing but doesn't emit an odor. "

Hope this helps, Joe 

Folks I should be finishing my Challenger within' the month God willin' and the creek don't rise! Got the gloss on the body yesterday and I'm down to the last parts of the interior, the outside mirrors, exhaust system, front and rear facias , BMF and a final polish and it'll be done! As some of you know I am running two group builds this year. This one here and my automotive Red Hot and Rollin' GB.  In short..............I'm a busy man! 

I just had to sneak this in here as I'm like really stoked about it. It's the best gloss coat I've ever pulled off!!

LawDog, yes the air scale instrument dial decals are indeed individule gauges and are applied one at a time. They supply a sheet approx. The size of a a buisness card (depending on scale) and it is supposed to have every type gauge or indicator that the luftwaffe used. You can normally do several kits with I sheet. Drawback is they dont stick well, but  as was mentioned earlier, a drop of micro sol and or micro set will resolve that issue easily, and several drops of future will make a convincing glass face, to finish the process. They also sell placards and such which really dresses up the pit and any other area used on. I routinely place them around the pit and other areas of the aircraft, they do lend a nice touch.

Doug

Joe, (mustang) That is indeed am amazing finish!  Do you explain the process in the other build?

Thanks Doug! Yeah I posted a link that expained everything.

Well, I am finally making a post. The cockpit is complete.

That's a good lookin' cockpit tub build there Lee!

Nice start Lee.

Agreed!   Nice start indeed!   There have been so many updates/pictures of wips it has been hard for me to keep up with it all,, suffice too say everyone is showing excellent work !!   Here is where I ( I mean Herman ) is at,, bird is all together,,, added some detail to the gun pod openings and some color on, but will lighten some with a very thinned shot of RLM 71 and Italian Sand due to the nature of the Libyan sun baking the crap out of this....

Man that detail looks great handi!!! Cool azz camo scheme that is executed well!!! 

Dang, Herman!! Buy that man a beer.

You guys...you old Luftwafffe salts... are bringing tears to my eyes. Looking really good in here!

Lovely work handi, great job on that scheme.

Pollyscale RLM 65 on the bottom. I'm a post shader, relying on flory, oils and streaking fading and some pastels instead.

Looks good Tom, I am a post shader as well, mainly sticking with just Flory washes and maybe some AK streaking grime for a grubby look.

Thanks, Bish. I got some of that AK streaking grime recently but have never used it. I'll probably try it out here.

Handi, that leopard pattern looks too cool. I may have to give that a go one of these days. Nice work!

Thanks for the kind words everyone. Panzer looks great!  Herman does both pre- post lines weathering.  It gives it an added dimension he says....Can't wait to see more!