Spanish Civil War GB.

Thanks guys, I appreciate it.  I think it turned out pretty good, all things considered, and better than I expected given my skill level.  At least now I can be a bit more pro-active on the trouble spots for my other 109D and the two 109A kits. 

Those landing gears are still bugging me though.  They just would not seat properly into those resin wheel wells, so the angles seem a bit off to me. 

Rick, did you have issues mounting the landing gears in your A, and if so how did you go about making the fit better? 

Congratulations Scott.  Glad to see you stuck it out & finished it.  Nice work on the Model, should be a nice add to your collection.

Regards,  Rick

Well guys, here are the final pics.  When I get some time (the earliest would be Sunday) I'll do a complete write up, including areas to be aware of and some of the snags I ran into with the kit.  But I would like to at least submit a few finished photos so I can have "official" completion status for this build. 

Man did I learn a lot!  This was my first Classic Airframes kit and my first multi-media kit (styrene, resin and PE).  All I can say is dry fit, dry fit, dry fit.  This is kit is not for beginners, modelling skills are required so this was a challenge for me.  It was worth it though as I feel that even though it didn't turn out as nice as I would have liked, I learned a lot about seam work, modifying parts and weathering!  Fun stuff! 

Well, off to our monthly model club meeting (IPMS Reno High Rollers)

Nice work Scott.  Looking forward to th finished build pics.

Regards,  Rick

I completed the oil wash last night. I used black in the radiator grills and cooling vents, burnt umber on the rest.  Tonight I do a quick exhaust stain spray (very light, based on all the photos I've seen of Moders 6*79) and the final flat coat. 

I'll post the final pics tonight before bedtime

"I'm not sure which is worst, the blistering sun, the ubiquitous dust or the communists!" Anonymous Condor Legion Pilot 

I applied the dust coat this morning before work.  Panel line wash to commence this evening. 

Soon the communists will be defeated, and we can return to the Fatherland.  The Luftwaffe needs our expertise to prepare for the upcoming challenges!  (we so need a Stormtrooper smiley )

Around the turn & into the home stretch .  Looking real good Scott.

Regards,  Rick

And the underside, with gear and the final gloss coat.  Weathering tomorrow, looks to be a bit grimy, dusty and there will be a blistering bout of hot searing sun   

Just about finished!  I'm just waiting to make sure those PE wheel well covers are nice and firmly attached.  There are two PE pieces that go on each strut.  Was much easier than I expected, although we'll see how well they hold up when I attempt to attach the gear assemblies to the wheel wells. 

razordws wrote:

PS: I don't think Rick approves of your kitchen towel background

That was the least foo foo dish towel we have, so it could have been worse. 

Thanks for the comments guys. 

Final gloss coat goes on tonight.  Oil wash tomorrow, flat coat Wed.

Looking good Scott   I love that shade of green.

PS: I don't think Rick approves of your kitchen towel background

The Bird is looking real good Scott.  Now, about your photography....

Regards,  Rick

Cruising right along on the decals.  I have all the main markings installed on the Bf109D.  Next up are all the stencils 

If you were my Cutting Edge decal sheet with Werner Molders markings, where would you be? 

I've got to stop carrying reference books, decal sets and kit instructions around like a little kid with a blanky.... lol    I know they're around here somewhere.....

I have to admit though that I'm a bit unhappy with the monotony of the green on the upper surfaces.  The preshade/postshade looked ok after the initial spray, but the subsequent touch up coats just overpowered the pre-shade so it's almost not even noticable now.  I'll have to rethink my approach next time and maybe do the post shade after all the initial touch up work is completed. 

I'm also less than thrilled with the fit of the canopy parts, I'll have to rethink how I do that next time so I can hopefully get a better fit.  I'll do all my dry fitting and sanding work for the canopy parts before I even think about laying down the paint.  If I had been a bit more patient and thought it through better I could have alleviated some of the things that are bugging me now.  Oh well, that's how we learn, this was my first tricky/multi-media build and was a tremendous learning/skill building experience. 

Looking forward to the finished bird Scott.

Regards,  Rick

Yay!  I'm going home today!  I'm going home today!  I can't wait to get back to my awesome wife  (and my workbench ) 

I will be finishing up my submission for this build over the next few days, can't wait to get it on the shelf! 

rjkplasticmod wrote:

Looks good Scott.  Have fun in Sin City. Regards,  Rick

Thanks Rick.  Had an interesting flight down here.  About 5 minutes after take off the pilot announced on the intercom that we were turning around and heading back to Reno as the seal on one of the equipment access panels wasn't sealing, therefore they couldn't maintain cabin pressure.    A change of planes and 3 hours later, hear I am. 

Well, off to Hobby Town on W. Sahara to see if I can find any hidden gems.  After that a workout at 24 hour fitness, then back to the hotel room to pour over the Me 262 references I brought with me.  Ya, I know, I am what I am.....

If it's any consolation, I tease my wife and tell her I'm going to go out "clubbin" 

Looks good Scott.  Have fun in Sin City.

Regards,  Rick

And here we are ready for decals.  I'll get the decals on when I get back from Vegas, which will give plenty of time for the Future to cure.  Can't wait to get this one in the display case! 

Thanks for your patience, and sorry for being so late on this one... seems to be the story of my life. 

Here are a couple of shots of the Bf109D just before spraying the Future gloss coat.  I must admit I'm less than thrilled about the fit of the canopy parts.... 

I've finished all the touch up work on the Dora, but am still a bit perplexed with the slats.  It's been 3 days and the texture and feel of the paint on them is totally different than what it feels like on the rest of the plane.  I'm just going to have to be really careful not to touch them to prevent marring of the finish. 

I'm going to spray the gloss Future coat on the underside now, and on the topside this evening.  That will give it plenty of time to cure while I'm in Vegas.  I should be putting the decals on either Thursday or Friday night. 

On another note, here is a pic of the nose piece of my Classic Airframes CR.32.  If you all remember, the first one had several of the cooling vanes malformed or damaged so Classic Airframes was kind enough to send me a replacement.  As you can see from the photo, the lower lip of the replacement resin cowling around the radiator isn't fully formed.  I think I can build the lip up a bit with some super glue, but I'm really nervous with the prospects of sanding and shaping it without causing more damage.

Scott, great progress on the Dora.

I'm really looking forward to the rest of your family of Ds.

Keep those progress picscoming. 

Nothing doing from me on the Chaika, need to finish a Tamiya 262 and a couple of targets first.

Karl 

I'm still at a loss as to what the issue was on the slats.  The only other thing I can think of is maybe I somehow contaminated the surface of the slats, but I would also have expected to have had that issue in the area all around them.  Stay tuned for more Unsolved Mysteries.....

It's probably just as well that this happened, made me slow down as I think I was rushing things a bit since I was on such a roll. 

Good plan Scott .

Regards,  Rick

rjkplasticmod wrote:

All resin needs to be thoroughly cleaned to remove mold release residue before painting.  Are you sure you cleaned the slats ? Regards,  Rick

Well that's just it.  I cleaned them at the same time I cleaned all the rest of the resin parts.  Also, the casting block ran the length of the slat and was located on the front/top face of the slats, so that whole area has been thoroughly sanded.  I'm at a loss.  All the rest of the resin parts have no issue.  Oh well, nothing that a little sanding and touch up can't fix.  The only bad thing is now I won't have it finished by Sunday.  I should be able to get the decals on and another gloss coat before Monday and possibly the oil wash.  I'll just have to wait to seal it all up when I get back on Thursday. 

I want to get this thing off my bench so I'll finally be ahead of the game with all my GBs.