2015 Messerschmitt Bf 109 Group Build

Some more great work there guys. Keeping the standard very high.

Looking good Bob... just my opinion, but I never use but 2 types of reducers, thinners, on both the Model Master or Tamiya acrylics. 75-80 percent of the time what I use is lacquer thinner, on occasion I use plain ole rubbing alcohol usually 71 or  80 percent concentration.  Some acrylics and such wont thin with either and you need to use their reducer or just plain water, I like the lacquer thinner and alcohol due to the drying cycle.

Again, looks good and I try to learn something with every build! This is a great place to do just that! Take care...

Doug

Got some time to further the project. Please allow me to state that while I don't respond to all posts (will make an effort to improve my feedback, after all you get what you put into it) I follow this GB and FSM forums daily. I'm grateful for just some bench time, let alone forum time.  I'm learning more than I ever thought I would here. Thank you to one and all, not only for your excellent work, but your patience and kindness with those of us who are just getting started.

Was able to prime, try my hand at some pre-shading and got the under side painted. Will hopefully get the top side done this weekend.

Of note: I have tried three bottles of MM RLM Acrylics, using their thinner, and each of them would not stay mixed out of the airbrush. Even very thin coats the paint puddled. Went to Tamiya, problems gone. 

Got some bleed through on the masking, fingerprints and some errors, but I AM learning from my mistakes.

Cheers,

Bob

Jay: Way to go! That cockpit looks absolutely magnificent! I love the amount of details in there! Some very nice and clean work on those fuselage rivets too!

Joe: I got your E-4 added to the build list. As always, you are knocking those builds out at an unbelievable speed and somehow still manage to get very good looking end results. I'm a huge fan of your painting and weathering jobs (especially th cockpits never fail to amaze me)

Mike: Looks like you got some really nice masking going on there! I can't wait to see her with some paint on!

Elliott: Everything looks really nice from here. I really like how that RLM 04 turned out!

I guess everybody must be busy building. No posts since early this morning. I have been working on the riveting on the fuselage and assembling the RB Productions belts. Very fiddly but I love the look. I decided on the late-war green just to be different and add a little color. I will let them dry overnight and then tomorrow wet them to form them into position.

Jay

I feel your pain. Except mine was a Dragon USS Charles F Adams.  I so wanted to take my 10 sledge hammer to it.  The only reason I finished that one was that it was a gift to my father.  He had served on her in the late 60's

:-) Maybe you're right... I guess the question is, can anyone find a Hasegawa F-4 for $20 or less??? Open box and decals missing is just fine, but NO scratched canopy!

Okay, I got the masks on the Tammy E-7:

Some 02 over the frames, I can also do the exposed parts of the flaps in the same load up for this and the Hasegawa E-7, which I'll get on with as soon as I can get my head around painting the moulded straps...

M/TB379

Tucohoward

lawdog114

I'm in the minority but I absolutely hated the Zveda F

I'm with you on that. Tossed two in the trash and have a third on the shelf that I won't go near.

See, I knew I wasn't crazy.  I think I'd rather have a root canal without novocain that go there again... 

Joe -- I get you, believe me, but I seem to be a glutton for punishment, look at that Hobbycraft thing I did in January, and then actually considered another!

Jelliot -- that seems to be the same scheme as the markings in thew has 1:32 I have lined up for later in the year, or very nearly!

M/TB379

lawdog114

I'm in the minority but I absolutely hated the Zveda F

I'm with you on that. Tossed two in the trash and have a third on the shelf that I won't go near.

Some of the AM stuff I plan on using for this build. If I dig around a little there may be more. Bench and vicinity are a disaster currently. Also have to pick a scheme from these sheets less "Black 15" which I built previously.

Jay

Mustang (Joe):  Thanks my friend.  I use the Detailer wash on my cockpits, Flory on the panel lines.  That AK stuff has caught my eye lately so I may just try it someday

Eagle:  You caught that...lol.  Testors royalties much???

T-bolt:  Thanks.  I had success painting in whitewalls on a P-51B using a circle template.  Just hold it in place then spray the white.  Worked great.  I guess I'm in the minority but I absolutely hated the Zveda F.  It was a dog with capital D.  I personally will stick with the quirky Hasegawa F's from now on.  

Jelliot:  Coming along nicely.  You can't go wrong with a the Blonde Knight.  

Joe

Okay, okay, I know, it's been awhile since anyone has seen any progress posts from me.  We all know how crazy life can be at times.  I havent had a whole lot of time at the bench lately.  Last week I did get some time in short bursts and was able to make some progress, so I thought I'd share with you all where I'm at currently with this build:

I've finally got some color on her.  A few minor touchups to make and a seam line down the middle on the bottom of the fuselage and she'll be good to go.  My plan is to get these small areas touched up and shoot some paint tonight...we'll see how that goes.  Currently, I'm using MM RLM 02, 04, 66, 74, 75 and 76.  Once everything's painted up, I'll shoot it with some gloss clear and then apply decals.  I ended up going with Eaglecals Blonde Knight set.  I'm going to be dressing this one up as White "1".

Thanks, Nathan. I've been hearing what a dog the Zvezda kit is, but it sure looks purdy when well done. I'm remembering the struggle I had with the cowl of the Hasegawa F-4 I did last year because one fuselage half was warped, so I'm thinking something similar for Zvezda -- shims to force alignment, maybe? I might give the Zvezda kit a go and see what happens, I certainly have a long line of decals for F-4 schemes to work through, and so far have not located a replacement broad-chord prop to update the F-2, though most other details are readily-enough available.

Not much happening at this end, work getting in the way of bench time. I got some more masks of the E-7 last night but that's it...

M/TB379

Thunderbolt379

Oh, here's a point for the experten -- do we have an objective comparison yet between the Zvezda and ICM -F4s? It's interesting that two Russian companies would both tool the same variant, and that it's the one which seems least patronised by companies elsewhere, but that seems to be the case.

M/TB379

The Zvezda kit is much more refined. Fits better and is more accurate. The ICM kit is real crude, detail is not as crisp, clear parts are basically unusable, as are the decals. Color call outs would be off as well. 

Wow, you guys are all doing amazing work. Sorry I haven't been around much lately, I am super busy with other stuff and I just don't have the time.

I am nearly done with my engine and all the scratch work for it. I'll post pics in the next couple of days and the cockpit is about 80% done with some PE left and final touches. So, I'll post pics of it soon as well. With my schedule now and for the foreseeable future I will be moving very slow on this kit.

Again, fantastic work from each and every one here. Amazing stuff. I am inspired. 

mustang1989

Daaaayum Jay! That cockpit looks sharp man! That detail is out of this world!  What kind of wash do you us

Thanks Joe. MDC makes very nice stuff. Just a standard Raw Umber oil wash.

Jay

Oh, here's a point for the experten -- do we have an objective comparison yet between the Zvezda and ICM -F4s? It's interesting that two Russian companies would both tool the same variant, and that it's the one which seems least patronised by companies elsewhere, but that seems to be the case.

M/TB379

Joe -- that looks great! We have a different approach to doing the interior, I must say your instrument panel looks very good!

I'm applying the canopy masks at this time, about half done. It seems the tail wheel of this desert aircraft had a whitewall, but I've not found any photos yet to indicate if the mainwheels were whitewalls too. I'll keep looking. The mask set does not include masks for the whitewalls, but I can use 12mm adhesive disks which will be about the right size if they are needed.

M/TB379

lawdog114

Bob:  Looking great.  The Warthog is my favorite jet.   If that A-10 is the Monogram kit, I understand why...ouch!

70:  Your a machine....looks great.

Doug:  Its certainly weird seeing an Emil with meatballs.  You did a fine job.  I look forward to your F.

Schatten:  Glad your feeling better, welcome back....and thanks

T-bolt:  Gotta love them Tamiya Emils...your pit looks great.  I just started the same kit.

Joe: Congratulations my friend.  I've seen your work so you have every right to pound your chest (should you decide to).  Its easy to tell who are the ego driven ones, you are not one.  Most of them have either left or been banned.  Your amongst friends..

Eagle:  No need to be exact with preshading.  I have an Aztec but have never tried it out.  Are you using the tan tip, which is apparently for fine lines?  Truthfully, I've never heard much good about the Aztec line.  Apparently only the folks over at Hyperscale.com have success in using them (or act like they do)....lol..

Howard:  Gorgeous pit my friend...

Joe

Thanks Joe.  Yes, I have the tan tip in use, but I think I just need to adjust it some more.  I just can't seem to get the same reaction as everyone else does with Badgers, Iwata's, etc.  I got this back in the late 90's when I was stationed at Eglin AFB, FL.  The BX had a Christmas sale and all the models and accessories were like 80% off!  I got the whole set for like $25!  It's a nice AB, just has it flaws just like any other AB.  LOL!  Love your Hyperscale comment!  Tis true! 

Eagle90

Daaaayum Jay! That cockpit looks sharp man! That detail is out of this world!  What kind of wash do you use?

lawdog: Yes you are welcome back! I see you are in typical Joe form  with that bang up of a cockpit. I really enjoy seeing what you do with just the box stuff Joe! You use Flory washes right?

I'm back for one more if that's ok with y'all.  I was going to build a P-51B but I'm still in Luftwaffen mood...ehhh, why fight it.  So here I am with the proverbial shake-n-bake Tamiya Emil E-4.  Its another one of those kits that has a permanent place in my stash since I bought several from Hobby Lobby back when they carried the good stuff.  I found a True Details seat in the resin stash and may add more goodies later.  I hope to find an E-4 that didn't have a yellow nose or alot of mottling, to keep it simple.  As a matter of fact, I have yet to build an Emil that did not have a yellow nose..... 

I started with the cockpit.  Although basic, I think its fairly nice.  It's nowhere near their new tooled zeros or P-47 series, but certainly useable.  I left it at replacing the seat with a True Details example which goes a long way at dressing it up (I thought the seat back cushion was a nice touch by TD).  I then went with Gunze RLM 02 for everything except the IP, which got RLM 66.  I used the kit decal under Micro Sol for the gauges then 5 minute epoxy on the dials to simulate glass. 

No fit issues...

A quick test fit....shake-n-bake............

Joe

Bob:  Looking great.  The Warthog is my favorite jet.   If that A-10 is the Monogram kit, I understand why...ouch!

70:  Your a machine....looks great.

Doug:  Its certainly weird seeing an Emil with meatballs.  You did a fine job.  I look forward to your F.

Schatten:  Glad your feeling better, welcome back....and thanks

T-bolt:  Gotta love them Tamiya Emils...your pit looks great.  I just started the same kit.

Joe: Congratulations my friend.  I've seen your work so you have every right to pound your chest (should you decide to).  Its easy to tell who are the ego driven ones, you are not one.  Most of them have either left or been banned.  Your amongst friends..

Eagle:  No need to be exact with preshading.  I have an Aztec but have never tried it out.  Are you using the tan tip, which is apparently for fine lines?  Truthfully, I've never heard much good about the Aztec line.  Apparently only the folks over at Hyperscale.com have success in using them (or act like they do)....lol..

Howard:  Gorgeous pit my friend...

Joe

Trying to get going again on my K. I need a break from the Dart so I did a little painting on the cockpit today.

Jay

Bish

the success of any GB is as much if not more down to the people who take part and make them what they are.

Clemens--thank you kindly, sir, now I just hope I'm up to the challenge.  Some mighty fine work bein' done here.

Doug, thanks, but the success of any GB is as much if not more down to the people who take part and make them what they are.

Eagle, the pre shading doesn't look to bad to me, never having done it before, I am guessing that the main thing is that it covers the panel lines, its the bit that comes next that really matters.

SchattenSpartan

Freem: Sorry, I must've missed that. I got you added to the build list now.

Freem: Sorry, I must've missed that. I got you added to the build list now.

fightnjoe - You have no idea how many kits got built to get to this point.  I personally have screwed up quite a few before I got to the point where I felt like I knew what I was doing.

Thunderbolt379 - I researched the changes in German aircraft camo several years ago,down to dates (month/year) of all the changes and schemes, wrote it all down.

Was gonna dig it out and post it here for you,then realized all the stuff I wrote down got thrown out in a move. Doh!!!