Spanish Civil War GB.

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

Regards,  Rick

Here is a shot of the exhaust panel area.  I have a bit more touch up to do with the green tonight.  Also, the slats have issues with the paint.  Remember how I told you guys the other day that the primer just wasn't curing on the slats?  Well, the green paint is doing the same thing.... the paint is still barely tacky on those slats, which I discovered while handling the model as I was masking the exhaust areas.  Very odd.    So I lightly sanded them last night and will respray a light coat of the green tonight.  I'm not sure why I'm having that issue only on the slats, and not on any of the other resin pieces.  And there are a few spots where the green needs a little touch up. 

You're probably safe, since you're spraying acrylic over acrylic, but I always wait 24 hours anyway.  Better safe than sorry.

Regards,  Rick

Doh!  Just realized I haven't sprayed the exhaust panel, and the rectangular panel above them.  I'll spray them Tamiya Flat Black thinned with isopropyl alcohol for quick drying as soon as I get home. 

If I spray them at 5:30ish, does anyone think it would be safe to spray the overall Future coat around 10pm? 

I need to set up some better lighting for my digital photography work.  Those last pics just don't do justice to the sublteties in the paint finish.  I'm going to set up a photo booth or something after I get back from Vegas next week.

Anyway, I sprayed the spinner red last night.  Some of my sources indicted Molders spinner was white, and some red.  I opted for the red as it will accent the red shorts on the "Mickey Mouse" logo that goes on the fuselage side.  I also did a bit of touch up spraying of the RLM65 this morning to clean up the soft edges along the lower cowling. 

I'm going to spray the entire plane in Future tonight so I can get the decals on tomorrow.  I want to have this model finished before I head to Vegas on Monday next week. 

Here are two shots just after I sprayed the RLM62 on the topside.  I masked the tailplane struts and the underside of the tailplanes but decided to freehand the soft edge between the RLM65 and RLM62 along the fuselage and lower cowling.  Turned out pretty good. 

I may have to do just a tiny bit of touch up with the RLM65, and maybe none at all.  You can just barely make out the pre-shade, which is exactly what I was going for.  I believe in "subtle" when it comes to weathering techniques.

Here are two shots right after I sprayed the underside RLM65 Hellblau 

I decided to spray the white wingtips and rudder now, and will then mask them off for the duration of the spraying. 

Apparently I have some artistic license with my paint scheme.  Gotta love inconsistant and incorrect reference materials,  :roll: 

Based on all the information I can gather, the Cutting Edge profile seems to be the winning ticket.  The Mickey Mouse character has red pants, I believe, by closely studying photos of the logo on Molders Plane (others used variations of the same logo, some with black pants, others with slightly different poses etc.).  I'm still trying to decide about the nose spinner.  Some sources say red, some say white.  I'm leaning towards the red as it would look more interesting, but I know many Condor Legion 109s had white spinners.  But some also had gray, red, yellow and even black.

Here is the painting and marking chart from the Cutting Edge decal set I'm using:

Here is a profile from "Messerschmitt Me 109 Volume 1 From 1936 to 1942" by Anis Elbied and Andre Jouineau published by Histoire and Collections:

And here is a profile and some photoes from the Luftwaffe Colours Jagdwaffe Volume One Section 2 "The Spanish Civil War" by Eric Mombeek with J. Richard Smith and Eddie J. Creek:

Pre-shade is done, I'll spray the underside in the morning. 

well, sure enough I found a few little spots that needed some more seam work.  The underside of the cowling and the front of the wing where I had to drill out the holes for the MGs.  I'm just about finished that those minor repairs. 

I'm anxious to get the pre-shade on so I can paint the underside in the morning, but oddly enough the primer is still a tiny bit tacky on the leading edge slats.  At first I thought it might have something to do with the resin, but theoretically I should have had the same problem with the cowling bits.  Strange.  Never had that problem with Tamiya primber before.  Guess I'll need to wait until at least tomorrow before I begin painting.

rjkplasticmod wrote:

Looks great Scott.  Well worth the effort. Regards,  Rick

Thanks Rick.  There are a few things I would have done differently, and a few glitches I wish I could have prevented, but at least I know where the trouble spots are.  My next 3 Classic Airframes 109s will be up to the standard I would like them to be, having learned so much from this one.   

Looks great Scott.  Well worth the effort.

Regards,  Rick

And here is a shot of the topside after being primered.  That cowling was a bit of a pain, but man, all that work was worth it, it's gorgeous! 

Big update - Canopy has been masked and attached, wheels wells masked and the underside has been primered!  Just waiting a bit then I'm going to flip it over and prime the topside.

I'm guessing there will probably be one or two seam issues, which will be readily apparent once this stuff has dried. 

I drilled out the place on the front of the rudder assembly which controls the pitch of the tail planes, then attached the tail planes and strut supports.  Was easier than I expected but still required some patience and care. 

At last!  The primer is going on today! 

whoa, almost missed drilling out the area on the rudder at the front of the tail planes after reviewing some reference photos.  The instructions make no mention of it.  I'm also thinking there should be a small rod that goes through that opening that should be attached to the tailplanes.  I have some very small brass rod which I got for gun barrels on another kit that might do the trick.  I need to see if I can find a close up shot of that area.

Once I get the tailplanes situated, it really will be ready for priming and painting... honest! 

Glad to be of help Scott .

Regards,  Rick

rjkplasticmod wrote:

I'd suggest adding the tail planes before painting.  Unless your's is better than mine, some filler will likely be required. Regards,  Rick

Agreed, after dry fitting the tail planes I realized that would be the way to go.  I've got to remember... this isn't Tamiya..... this isn't Hasegawa....

Thanks Rick

I'd suggest adding the tail planes before painting.  Unless your's is better than mine, some filler will likely be required.

Regards,  Rick

The slats were "interesting".  It took some careful sanding to remove the casting block from the front of the slats.  I had to drill out the holes in the wings so the slats would sit right, but it wasn't too difficult. 

I lost one of the aeleron balancer thingys to the carpet monster though .  I was doing one final check to make sure the right one would fit, when it shot off like a rocket from my tweazers.  I've been looking for over 15 minutes... no luck.  damnit....

Other than that it's ready for primer. I'm debating whether to paint the tail planes separately or attached 

rjkplasticmod wrote:

Good progress Scott.  Yes, the CA kits take some skill & patience.  I've built several & I hate to tell you this, but the 109 is the easiest I've built so far . Regards,  Rick

Zoinks!    Some of the issues I'm running into are due mostly to this being my first multi-media kit.  Now that I'm aware of some of the issues I can be a bit more pro-active when I build my other D and two A kits.    Oh, and I've finally realized that the directions are rather basic, there is a lot you have to just kinda figure out, especially regarding fit and placement.

Soon as I get these slats cleaned up and attached along with the little balancer thingys (that's the technical term ) that go on the aelerons it's spray time!  Theoretically that will take place tonight. 

Good progress Scott.  Yes, the CA kits take some skill & patience.  I've built several & I hate to tell you this, but the 109 is the easiest I've built so far .

Regards,  Rick

Made a lot of progress tonight.  I almost had a complete disaster though.  There is a part that attaches at the front of the cowling which the spinner attaches to that somehow I neglected to notice needed to be installed at the time you glue all the cowling components together. 

Fortunately, with a lot of care and patience I was able to pop it in without any issues.  Whew!

So, tonight I did a lot of rescribing, attached the nose pieces, oil cooler, aelerons, rudder and put together the elevator assemblies.  I also lightly tacked the spinner to it's back plate for painting, which can be easily pried apart when it comes time in get the propellor in there.

All that's left at this point before painting is just a bit more seam work at the front leading edge of the left wing (which I just noticed, must have somehow separated a bit from all the handling while sanding and scribing ), attach the front slats and the tail planes.  I'm really enjoying this kit, but man it requires a lot of craftsmanship to put together! 

Happiness is watching "Wings of the Luftwaffe" while working on two Bf109 aircraft 

I'm am finally happy with the state of the seams, now... where the heck is my scribing tool?  Right where I left it, no doubt. 

I usually spray a light coat of grey primer for checking seams & scratches.  Never used Mr. Surfacer, so not sure about that.

Regards,  Rick

I think I all the seams filled and sanded so I'm going to do some rescribing tonight after work and see if maybe I can get the primer on tonight. 

Is there a quick way I can "highlight" my seams to see if I have all the scratches removed and the seams filled?  I have some Mr. Surfacer, will a quick swipe and some drying time reveal if there are any issues?  (I'm still kinda new to seam work )