2015 Messerschmitt Bf 109 Group Build

Still here,lurking.Not much building goin on.Problem at one of my jobs.Not sure how much longer I will be there.

Dude I hate to hear that kind of uncertainty Allen. Been there and done that man. Take it day at a shot bud. Great to see you 'round.

Thanks,Mustang.

Bit more update on the 72nd Emil:

1 - shot of the pilot before encasing him in glass.  The figure needs to be seated in place before joining the fuselage halves.  I opted to wait till afterwards, and had to chop off his boots and carve his rump a little to fit him in.

2 - the pilot armour did not include the upper curved portion, so added a strip of sheet plastic 010" .  The kit part was also thinned to about a third of it's origninal thickness.

3 - center and aft section of canopy in place.  For the gun sight, the clear glass is created from a section cut from a plastic baggie.

4 - the kit includes a separate set of the main landing gear for the wheels up position, but didn't utilize it as I didn't like the look - there is a solid block of plastic between the bottom of the door and wheel.  So hocked some tires from a Tamiya kit and just used the regular landing bay covers.

regards,

Jack

Jack that looks super!!! And this is 72nd scale?????Excellent work on the pilot!!

Looks good Jack!  Started my E-4 today, nothing pic worthy yet just getting the pit together.  She will have one thing my new tool Airfix P-51's don't have, and that's a control stick.  Managed to get it free without breaking it in half.  I love Airfix's new stuff, but those heavy sprue attachment points on delicate parts are a major pain.

Thanks again guys, and lewbud I fully agree about these new tool Airfix kits.  Some very fine pieces, but are a pain to get free of the sprues without breaking - I think we need those little razor saws to get at them.

1 - as was just discussed, some really thin pieces in this kit.  The mast antenna broke in half while attempting to free it from the sprues, so had to cut up a new one from some sheet plastic.

2 - only aftermarket used so far is Master Model brass machine guns/cannons.

3 -  there was some incomplete detail where the control cable attaches to the rudder.  Fixed, again with some thinly cut sheet plastic.

So just have to mask up the canopy and wheel wells and can start shooting some primer.

regards,

Jack

Will be looking forward to the paint on this bad boy Jack!!

Thanks Mike, Bish, tempestjohnny and mustang1989.

Was doing a few rounds of primer and sanding, when I noticed there was an engraved panel line (top and bottom on both wings) that didn't line up on the leading edge.  When I further scrutinized references and other kits in my stash, found the problem was the underside panel line running along the near most edge of the wheel bay is too far out. It should be more closer to where the black dotted line is illustrated in the photo.  I just might fudge it and leave as is.

There were several lines that should not be present (circled red in photo).  I'm not sure why Airfix did this (their 1/48 boxing has the same questionable detail).    The eronous lines should actually be rivets, but I just opted to fill them in.

Some other details added since last update was an insert detail (insulator?) for the aerial wire attachment point on the fuselage, and a central located support brace on each underwing rad.  I also will add the trim tabs to the ailerons - funny though Airfix did mold the ones on the elevators, but can't really tell if the rudder one is present.  It's understandable that 1/72 does have it's limits.

regards,

Jack

Man you're really pullin' out all the stops on this build Jack. Nice work on the aerial insulator and filling in the panel lines. The casual passer by would never notice the issue with the panel lines.

Thanks mustang and bish.  Yeah, if it weren't for that lone panel line not lining up, I wouldn't of gone snooping around at the particulars and arrive at the incorporated changes. 

Good news is, it's done and I got a coat of 65 on the underside.  This is some old paint, close two decades - not sure when it was bought.  For spraying, it was cut down to almost 50% with acrylic future.

regards,

Jack

20 year old paint that lays down like that? Wow!

Thanks lads ...

Trying something different for myself regarding the weathering.  Now I've seen this done elsewhere, using a multitude of colours both dark and light, but I just used some flat white and applied it somewhat randomely over the 02 surfaces.   Once dry, resprayed the 02 lightly building it up, going for a very subltle result.

A couple panels, as indicated, could use a few more passes of the airbrush, but really is up to one's personal taste as to how far to go here.  Once I get the camou masks made and placed, I'll redo the brush applied white in the appropriate areas and then spray 71.

regards,

Jack

Jack -- some fascinating techniques in use here! I missed the business with the panel lines, but I'll catch that in future on all Airfix 109s. The radiator actuator rods are a detail I always add in 1:48, but I skipped it on this one. I think I was just bemused working on something this small!

M/TB379

What's the idea behind the white Jack? I know when you tell me I'm gonna feel like an idiot for asking.

Guys, thanks for the continued interest.

Have to say 1/48 has been for the longest time my go to scale when building aircraft.  Recently though, I've switched over to 1/72, having completed three plus two more currently on the bench.   I guess it's just something you get used to.  When I went looking at the panel lines in my 1/48 stash, I was surprised at how huge they looked to me now after staring at the smaller scale for the past few years.

mustang1989

What's the idea behind the white Jack? I know when you tell me I'm gonna feel like an idiot for asking.

 

It could be considered a form of post shading?  Usually the white or lighter shade is airbrushed in the center of panels, and then the original colour is reintroduced to tone things down.  I choose the method I did because of the scale, as well as to get a bit more random look to it (less mechanical).  If you do try it, make sure the paint is watered down somewhat so you don't end up with a rough surface.

regards,
Jack

I have been here and there the past few months; haven't really been able to get all in to any particular project. Modelers' blues maybe? Anyways, I started tinkering with my 1/48 Airfix Emil today. This one is going to be an E-1. Should have some pictures by the end of the weekend. (My weekend is Sun-Mon.)

It will actually be the start of a rather large project for me. I plan on building all 4 of the major Emil models (Airfix, Hasegawa, Tamiya, Eduard) and comparing them from an average modeler's viewpoint.

Great to see you adj!!! Lookin' forward to the progress and pics.

mustang1989

Great to see you adj!!! Lookin' forward to the progress and pics.

 

Well its great to be kind of back in the swing of things. So I decided to go ahead and start on the Hasegawa as well, which will be an E-3, so to compare step by step to the Airfix. So I'm doing of everything right now. Should be pushing out two Emil interiors in the next few days.

That'll work great!! Lookin' forward to the progress updates.

Hi guys! Been away from the bench for a bit, but finally have some time to build and decided to bang out a quick 109 before I get back into my other stuff. Picked up the fairly recent Trumpeter K-4. Pretty much the same kit as their G-10 with just a couple changes. Unfortunately one of them is not the cockpit so I ended up using right side parts from a Hasegawa kit. I will alse be using an IP and IP decal from Hasegawa as well. Tried the kit parts but didn't like the kit decal with it's white instrument bezels. Not trying to do too much with this build. Haven't decided how much AM to use, but at least will use RB Productions belts. Wouldn't build anything without them if at all possible. Haven't decided on a scheme yet, but I have lots of info and decals so I will figure something out.

Jay

The Hasegawa K cockpit parts don't have a lot of detail but at least what they have looks like a K. The left side is from the kit as it's about the same as a G. Relly just the right side that's totally different. Did decide to add a little wiring as well.

Jay

Nice to see you do another one, Jay! You do excellent work.
I have that K-4 and will be watching this one come together.

Thanks Tom. Pretty nice kit for the most part. I have enjoyed the other Trumpy 109's I have built.

Jay