2015 Messerschmitt Bf 109 Group Build

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

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

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... 

:-) 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

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

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

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!

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

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

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

Radial9

   I'm learning more than I ever thought I would here.

Bob -- your problem might be over-thinning. The MM Acryls are a very thin formulation in the bottle. I use Tamiya acrylic thinner for the Acryl range and it works fine, the paints seem to demand a thinning ratio of 25% -- which seems extreme, but that's where they're comfortable. I.e., 20 drops of paint to five drops of thinner. Any thinner than that are the puddling effect can bite at any time. Another trick that I've observed to work (though I can't swear to it, it could be sheer coincidence) is to add a couple of drops of plain water to the mixed paint, it seems to smooth the flow characteristic. MM Acryl RLM 71 mixed this way flowed on the smoothest and best I have ever seen, and the water was an accidental contamination of the jar. That said, Tamiya acrylics are definitely friendlier to use, if somewhat more granular in texture.

M/TB379

OK, I think the cockpit is done and ready for installation.

Jay

Tucohoward

OK, I think the cockpit is done and ready for installation.

Jay

I think I really need to paint something, my bench is starting to get just a wee bit cluttered:

No biggie, just these to get through, then nine or ten more this year...

On the upside, I just got a package in from my LHS with a set of masks that had been on back order and I'd completely forgotten about -- masks for the Airfix E-4, so I can move on with that now. It shares the same base scheme of 02/71/65 with the Hasegawa E-7, so I might be able to production-line them through together on the same paint load-ups.

Cheers, M/TB379

Dang! That pit looks great.  Can't wait to see the rest of your build.

moose

Tucohoward

OK, I think the cockpit is done and ready for installation.

Jay

Jay,

That is looking great!!  Can I mail all my pits to you?  JK that is impressive, great work.

----

Small update from me,  while completeing the last two 109s that I built, I had been using Testors Acryl Matt coating for the last dull coat, and have noticed that it produces a chalky effect with the finish.  On some of the builds I finshed this was OK since it served to blend in some of the weathering, but I was becoming more and more unhappy with this.

I ordered the Tamiya clear flat from SprueBros and am going to give that a shot this weekend with the F-4 that I have been working on.  I have been decal and weathering complete for a while now, just waiting on the flat coat (and my new air compressor) to arrive.  Hope to have the build wrapped up this weekend. 

<Matt

Great looking pit Jay.

Matt -- if you mean XF-85, I can vouch for it, I've used it several times and it's a very flat clear with definitely no chalkiness. It slightly lightens the underlying tone, but that's endemic to the fact it's flat. Highly recommended!

M/TB379

PS: RLM paints were not actually flat, they had a low sheen (at least when they were fresh). MM enamels reproduce this to perfection. A close lustre would be Microscale Flat, which is notorious for not actually being flat, but is easy to use and cleans up with water; once again it's maybe slightly more sheen than called for. Hard to say, but I've used it on armour to enliven the finish, and it looks acceptable.

Jay: You're definitely done with that cockpit. It looks amazing!

Mike: Damn, now that's a lot of stuff to paint!

Thanks Clemens. Over 24 hours between posts on this GB is unheard of. What's going on out there? I hope everyone is just too busy building to post. Anyhow, I have been making some progress. I think I am about done with the riveting on the fuselage. It will look much more subtle under primer and paint. Installed the Eagle Parts oil cooler housing. I was going to use the BarracudaCast version, but was informed it would be wrong for a K unless it was an Erla built plane since it was intended for the Revell G-10 Erla. There were not a lot of Erla Ks so I will play the odds and use the Eagle Parts cooler. Also installed the MDC shell ejection chutes.

Jay

Thunderbolt379

Matt -- if you mean XF-85, I can vouch for it, I've used it several times and it's a very flat clear with definitely no chalkiness. It slightly lightens the underlying tone, but that's endemic to the fact it's flat. Highly recommended!

M/TB379

PS: RLM paints were not actually flat, they had a low sheen (at least when they were fresh). MM enamels reproduce this to perfection. A close lustre would be Microscale Flat, which is notorious for not actually being flat, but is easy to use and cleans up with water; once again it's maybe slightly more sheen than called for. Hard to say, but I've used it on armour to enliven the finish, and it looks acceptable.

really great looking build there matt. I do really like that scheme, I think you have captured it very nicely.

Thanks bish!

Matt -- terrific! A rare and interesting scheme indeed, and very well done!

Pics soon, the masks are going onto the E-4 and the Has E-7 is going together. The wing is being a bit tricky. Hoping to get to colour soon!

M/TB379

So much talent.

Good lord so much talent.  

Really stunning builds, got to say I never thought in my lifetime that I would regard the 109 as a beautiful aircraft but all of you are showing me just how stunning they can be.  And such a wide array schemes to choose from.  Although some of the schemes are far too complex for my abilities, you all show that they can be done.

Joe

Matt, that looks great. Awesome job on the scheme.

Jay

Been working at it most of the day, although it may not look like it. My wife is in Europe for a couple of weeks so I will have lots of time at the bench. Maybe some of this can help others doing a Hasegawa 1/32 109 who haven't done one before. I think I have dealt with the dreaded supercharger intake seam. We will see when the primer goes on. You can see this seam on a lot of models, but it shouldn't be visible. Detailed the "package shelf" for lack of a better term. The bar across the back is from an MDC Erla Haube detail set with wire loop added for the canopy tether. Stowage compartment door was scratched. Was doing a little research and found that most Ks had the tailwheel doors closed and the mechanism disabled so I have cut off the molded open kit doors. I think I can layer up pieces of sheet styrene and sand to shape and then scribe the panel lines, at least that's the plan. Also I always glue a .010 piece of sheet styrene to the rear of the belly panel to eliminate the step where it meets the rear fuselage.

Jay

That's quite a set of mods, Jay! I'll bear them in mind for my 1:32 later in the year, and whatever is appropriate to a G-6 I'll try to include!

The mask set for the Has E-7 was in today's post, so I might as well press ahead with that one, then tackle them all at the painting stage together.

M/TB379