2015 Messerschmitt Bf 109 Group Build

You are all very kind.  Thank you.

Stang I saw that.  I may have another issue that may delay me a bit.  Not sure.

Joe

fightnjoe - Thanks, now I REALLY want a 1/24 109!

Be careful Allen. Ol Joe makes it look easy. These kits are way over engineered! lol

Allen it is a good kit.  A couple of things have caught me off guard.  The fuse sides do not match up, going to need filler to deal with it.  And to be honest with this size of kit I am surprised there is as little detail as is present.  There are some things that are over engineered, most notable for me is the landing gear.  Like six or seven pieces.  Overall it is a decent kit and should build up well for anyone.

Stang you are kind.  I doubt I make anything look easy.  As far as over engineered, well I believe my build shows that in abundance.

Joe

fightnjoe

There are some things that are over engineered, most notable for me is the landing gear.  Like six or seven pieces

Allen109

fightnjoe - Thanks, now I REALLY want a 1/24 109!

Theres quite a selection of 109's in that scale. I have the Airfix 24th Stuka and there 109E tempts me, for later marks, Trumpeter have quite a selection.

Stang I do like that they are trying to get the detail but to be honest we do not need springs in the leg.

Bish I have an old Stuka that I was told is an old Airfix then General Mills Toy Division kit.  It is the only other German bird I have in the stash.  At 1/24 it will also be a cut away.

Joe

I installed the springs purely for ride height but glued the struts into place with the weight of the aircraft on them. I'll never forget that landing gear build up......ever! lol

Joe, for an old kit, 1970's I believe, it still looks nice. One of the guys is close to wrapping up the Airfix kit in the Stuka GB and that's what finally pushed me into getting the kit.

I'll certainly be watching for that cutaway. I am a sucker for a ju 87.

Stang I am hoping to do them ok.  I have been trying to figure out if they will work or not for a couple of weeks.  I just do not have anything that I could work with to scratch them myself.  

Bish I am glad to hear it builds up ok.  I got that one and a Spitfire with the same lineage.  The Spit had been started.  Had not heard of the GM angle up to that point.

Joe

Joe, I want to re-up with a 1/32 Hasegawa K4. I have several decal sheets for the K so I haven't decided on scheme just yet.

Jay

Jay... Your just a model'in machine!

It's truly inspiring to watch you guys both build and share. I'm still building, also reading here and elsewhere much more than I'm building. All in good time. Hope to have it primed by early next week. Bought a new Patriot 105 and had some VGO's to overcome (valuable growth opportunities). Trust me, I can now just about disassemble and assemble a Patriot in the dark. This is after taking the valve off and learning it does not stay in one piece. Thankfully I have an Amazon warehouse VERY near. I can get something set on my doorstep within 26 hours if I order by 5pm. I make every effort to buy from my very well stocked LHS, but some things he just doesn't carry in inventory. I want to spend a few more hours practicing before priming the 109.

Bob

Bob, I have been wondering how you are coming along. Looking forward to seeing pictures of your progress. What paint and primer are you going to be using?

Jay

I got you added to the build roster, Jay!

I plan on building my K-4 as well for this one. Any recommendations regarding AM parts?

Jay, Tamiya liquid surface primer then Model Master Acrylic RML's. Going a basic two color North Africa Sept 42 stock from the box pattern. Wish to get some more airbrush time on plastic before trying a camo pattern. Thinking of giving preshading a go.

The Eagle Editions cockpit is awesome. I used one on a previous build, but I am going to try an MDC pit on this one. I have both in stock but want to see how the MDC compares. I have used several on other versions and they are very nice. I love the G-factor landing gear legs. Either an Eagle Editions or BarracudaCast spinner, and BarracudaCast wheels. Quickboost or MDC exhaust. MDC shell ejection chutes. Eagle Editions oil cooler housing. Some of my favorite AM for 109s.

Jay

Thanks! I already got a G-6 spinner from BarracudaCast and they look really nice, so I think I'm gonna go with another one of their spinners on my K-4. Plus, they come with the prop blades already. I'll have a look at the Eagle Editions stuff though, seems like they got a lot of nice 109 stuff. For the cockpit I'm actually considering an Aires set. I can get those at a local modelling show next Saturday for a really good price. Those Quickboost exhausts are definitely on my shopping list for that day too.

I also noticed most G-2s had a retracting tail gear assembly. The big Hasegawa kits all seem to lack that one (looks like on the G-6). Is there any AM stuff to correct that or is some scratchbuilding in order if I want to fix it?

You can just file out the door along the panel line.

Jay

Jay: It's great to see you in here again and now with a K-4. This'll be fun to watch!

Clemens: Good to see you round these parts again!

Truly amazing work FJ...Some day I may work up the nerve to try what you have so skillfully done, but not today! lol... Fantastic work thus far!

Joe (mustang)  Give me about a week (or so) and I will start a second build, As I had mentioned to you earlier, It will be a Hasagawa 1/48 Bf109"E"-7 , which will represent one of the 5 sent to Japan in 1942 by the Germans , quite a feat being they were broken down and shipped in submarines, then reassy. and tested by the Japanese. These aircraft were the standard camo colors of 74/75/76 with an 02 mottling on the fuselage sides and the rising sun national markings where the crosses were normally placed. At the time they carried no guns, and after testing were rejected in whole, excluding the DB605 engine which the Japanese reproduced under license and used in their KI61 Hein.

Its going to be odd seeing this aircraft with "Meatballs" on her.

Thanks

Doug

Thanks Jay. I honestly didn't think of that, even with it being kinda obvious.

I just finished sanding all the seam lines on my Eduard G-6. It's a beautiful kit, but one thing that frustrates me to no end are the rivets. They are so fine that just a few very gentle passes with one of my finer sanding sticks removed most of the rivets on the nose. Looks like i gotta find a way to get those punched back in. I suppose a sewing needle should do the trick?

It's gonna be good to have you in here again Doug!

Man, there are some awesome builds here!  Not sure I can keep up with these levels of workmanship.  Great work everyone!

I finally got some time to hit the bench and start the 109!  I'm going to do my best to build this one as close to Gerhardt Barkhorn's G6 that he got his 250th victory in!  Coming up with mixed details in my research, but it will be close.  Right now the biggest thing I need to know is what the Prop spinner was colored.  I've seen a black and white spiral and a 2/3 green and 1/3 white spinner.  Any help with that would be greatly appreciated!

Not much to show right now.  The Otaki kit is very nice.  Not much on super detail for the cockpit, but the exterior is very nicely done.  Also noticed the plastic is a little softer than normal, kinda like an Airfix plastic.  The fit is pretty good too.  Not much filling at all really.  Also going to pull a German pilot from my Hasegawa WWII Pilot Figure Set.  That is the one very pathetic thing about this kit...the pilot is not even worth putting in the spares box!  He will go to the trash.

So enough talk, here are a few pics of the 109 G6.

Eagle90

Looks good so far!

I plan on building one of Barkhorn's G-6s (he flew several of them) as well. I have a book about Barkhorn with some excellent pictures and color profiles in it. Give me a bit of time and I'll post some of them.

70:  Nice K-4.  Love the late war brown scheme.  The Tamiya Emil is my favorite...cheap, good detail and a breeze to build.  It could use some love in the cockpit.  I usually add a PE set and replace the seat. The Eduard one is much more detailed OOB and needs no AM, but a pain to build like their FW 190 series, especially if you want your models closed like me.  Hasegawa has an Emil too but I have no experience with it.    

Marc:  Again..incredible Winter scheme.

Brandon: Killer Emil.  I see your trying the black basing technique.  Your RLM mix is dead on.  Those Tamiya Emils fall together like the Spits. Your Spanish 109 is incredible too....

Allen:  Beautiful work so far.  

Joe: So help us with the math, how long did that Cuda sit on that base?  I'll remember that if I ever build one with rubber wheels.  

Fightinjoe:  Speechless....your work is incredible...

Eagle: I didn't know Otaki made a 109.  Great start...

Joe

Nice start eagle.

Guys, eagle and myself were chatting about the scheme. he mainly use's Tamiya acrylics. I could help him with the colours for his Stuka build, but have no idea on this one. Can anyone give any suggestions on mixes for  RLM 74, 75 and 76.

Thanks, Joe!

Eagle, looking good so far!

-BD-

Bish -- I mix my own RLM 74/75 and 76 in Tamiya Acrylics -- here's my blog post that discusses the ratios. I'm still using the same ones today, I did the Fw 190 A-8 last year using them (though I have substituted MM Acryl 76 as it's spot on -- but their 74 and 75 are miles out.)

"Their [Tamiya's] formula for RLM 76 (XF-2 Flat White plus XF-23 Pale Blue plus XF-66 Light Grey at a ratio of 7:1:2, provides a virtually perfect match for the original, lacking only lustre, and an addition of 25 to 30% X-22 Clear Gloss approximates the sheen of the original RLM colours. Unfortunately, their suggested formulas for the 74 and 75 are miles off, and I experimented to find a decent fit. For 74 they recommend XF-24 Dark Grey and XF-27 Schwartzgrun at 3:2, but this was too dark and too green, especially compared to the Model Master enamel equivalent. I reduced the ratio to 3:1 and added 1 part Flat White as well, then brought up the lustre with 30% Clear Gloss. For the 75, Tamiya suggests XF-51 Khaki should be a component, but as 75 has no green hue at all this mystifies me. I mixed it from scratch, starting with XF-24 Dark Grey and adding Flat White at a ratio of 2:1, then adding 30% Clear Gloss. On reflection this was too much gloss, as darker shades reflect more strongly than lighter ones, and 20% would have been ample. The final shades were acceptably similar to the Model Master enamel equivalents, though I have to say the acrylics are both more delicate and lack a certain 'gutsiness' that the solvent-based paints have."

Cheers, M/TB379

Eagle90: I'm with Joe. I didn't even know Otaki had a 109 in their line up. Looks like your handling the body work good so far and as far as the prop spinner goes I remember a spiral on his spinner. Will check my references.

Clemens: I'll look in my references too and see if I can shed some light on this as well. The more the merrier. lol

Joe: That Cuda sat on that base for right around 30 years. Seems almost like yesterday when I built it.

Mike: Now that's getting down to the "nitty gritty" for an accurate color! Wow! Bringin' it down to a science!