Spanish Civil War GB.

Got the gap at the cowl join defeated & the bird is primed & ready for final painting.  I'm going to ignore the experts & do this one in NMF.  I mean the CA painting guide couldn't be wrong, could it?  

Regards,  Rick

KJ200 wrote:

There's also speculation over whether many of the panel lines were filled, particularly those on the rear fuselage, as they are often not visible in period photos. This would then suggest a painted finish as opposed to a NMF. Karl

Aye, that's why I'm inclined to think that a very light spray of RLM02 over Alclad II would be the ticket, although I've never tried it and I think it would be very difficult to pull off... others with far better skills than I have tried to pull that off with mixed results.  Here is a link to a great build article on an early Bf109 that might be a nice resource for you.

http://hsfeatures.com/features04/bf109v4bg_1.htm

There's also speculation over whether many of the panel lines were filled, particularly those on the rear fuselage, as they are often not visible in period photos. This would then suggest a painted finish as opposed to a NMF.

Karl 

jboutin wrote:

Thanks scott, I will be doing it as one of the grey bf-109s.  I checked out that webiste, good stuff!

Ok, there is some controversy regarding the actual color of the "gray" Spanish Civil War Bf-109 aircraft.  For many years it was believed that the color was Light Gray or RLM02 Light Gray... which it was, however.......  More recent research has revealed that these early 109s were painted with a very thin coat of RLM02 Gray, so thin in fact that that it allowed the irregularities of the bare metal to show through and actually gave it a slightly greenish hue.  Which is why you'll see in various resources and color plates showing anything from either an all bare metal silver finish, an all gray (thick coat of RLM02) or a light green color overall.

I got this from several sources, the main one of which is the Osprey Modelling book "Modelling the Messerschmitt Bf 109B/C/D/E"  by Brett Green (consulting editor Rober Oehler).

jboutin wrote:

A little help, what colour was on the undersides of the legion condor bf-109s?  I tlooks like a light grey? Getting close to painting...

That depends......Which scheme are you doing?  Will it have German or Spanish markings?  Is it the splinter scheme, solid green scheme, or the silvery gray scheme?

Also, here is a great website that parses out Luftwaffe colors, and how to make them with several of the top brands of paint.

http://www.ipmsstockholm.org/colorcharts/stuff_eng_colorcharts_germany.htm

Hey, I really can't do my 109A for this GB.

 My Ar-68 has the fuselage together and the upper and lower wings ready for painting. Wheels are good to go as well. It is about 2 weeks from painting at this rate.

 Also I have started another plane to replace the 109A. I don't know if I could get it done in time, but I started work on a Planet Models Ar-95L in 1/48th. I got the cockpit done and the fuselage sealed and sanded. Also the wings are together. I've rescribed the resin. I was sanding the imperfections out of it and also the panel lines were extremely faint to begin with. Pretty much the same place as the Ar-68, but I may need to devote to one or the other since I'm going on a trip in March.

 My main problem these days is that I have to do my airbrushing outside. I have a very big noisy compressor and the really cold windy weather doesn't help. I've been doing as much as I can with a brush but I need the weather to improve.

I prime all my builds Scott.  Better safe than sorry .

Regards,  Rick

Will do Scott.  I prime painted last night & it does need some more work.  I'll get back to it tomorrow after the primer has fully cured.

Good luck on your build, looking forward to it.

Regards,  Rick

Thanks Guys.

Scott, on my sample I think the resin cowl is very slightly warped.  I could get it flush on the horizontal, with gap on the vertical or vice-versa.  I fiddled with it as much as I dared, but couldn't completely eliminate the gap.  I'm not too concerned as I think it's correctable.  After I get it prime painted I'll be able to tell for sure.

Regards.  Rick

Looks like it's coming together nicely Rick!  

I was mistaken before, I have the Bf109C/D kit.  It looks very similar to your 109A.  How was the install/fit of the resin cowling?  I'd like to know any issues you may have had as my kit has a lot of common or similar parts as yours.   

Have the 109 assembled & preliminary filling done.  Thought I'd post a couple of pics showing how the injection plastic & cast resin pieces fit together.  No CA kit is easy, but this one isn't too bad.  The resin wheel bays took a lot of work to get properly fit.  I used a dremel to thin the upper wing interior to get the wing tops & bottoms to fit with the wheel bays installed.  The resin cowl gave me some trouble as well & the fit still isn't as good as I'd like.  After I prime paint, I think some creative filling & rescribing will be needed.  I left the rudder off at this stage to make final masking & painting easier.  Anyway, here's where it stands as of now.

Regards,  Rick

Thanks Karl.

Regards,  Rick

Rick, nice job on the pit. 

Looking forward to seeing the finished article.

Karl 

rjkplasticmod wrote:

Scott, Dave,  Thanks guys. Scott, the B was very similar to the A.  Some differences in the cockpit layout & the cowl.  The A kit actually includes the resin for the B cockpit as well as the A.  Also, CA just announced a D model coming out in Spanish Civil War markings.  I'm hoping to get one when it's released. Regards,  Rick

Too bad it's not the other way around, with the B kit having the extra parts for the A 

Scott, Dave,  Thanks guys.

Scott, the B was very similar to the A.  Some differences in the cockpit layout & the cowl.  The A kit actually includes the resin for the B cockpit as well as the A.  Also, CA just announced a D model coming out in Spanish Civil War markings.  I'm hoping to get one when it's released.

Regards,  Rick

rjkplasticmod wrote:

Finally got some work done on the Bf-109A.  Fit is pretty good so far for a CA kit, but lots of careful dry fitting is still the name of this game. Regards,  Rick

Your interior looks great!  I tried really hard to get my hands on the 109A, but no luck.  Every place was out of stock.  I have the 109B which should be pretty similar, so I'll be watching your build closely to help me with mine. 

Finally got some work done on the Bf-109A.  Fit is pretty good so far for a CA kit, but lots of careful dry fitting is still the name of this game.

Regards,  Rick

Nicely done Karl!

I'll bet it was tough working with those teeny little parts!

Dave, glad you like it.

Rick, know what you mean about the tow cables. maybe they're for the weekend job of towing the Queen Mary! 

Jay, post some pics. 

Karl 

Nicely done Karl.  The tow cable looks a little out of scale, or were the real ones that massive ?

Regards,  Rick