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Messerschmitts of North Africa: Bf-110E-2 and Bf-109F-4 Trop


ChuckD

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I agree. It is a good looking airframe. In certain roles, it excelled. In it its intended role, however... :)

 

Anyway, my new paints are due to arrive today, and I don't have any specific plans for the evening, so I'm hoping to get some bench time to get this project moving forward. (!!)

 

Yep, I agree but it is very difficult to find photographic proof.

Just makes sense that they would paint that area with the underside

of the horizontals.

 

Thanks!  That was my logic too, but I also struck out when looking for definitive references.

Edited by Gewehr 43
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  • 2 weeks later...

Progress!

 

Back again with another slow update.  Since I've now ended up running both my 109 and 110 builds in parallel, I'm going to just update the WIP for both of them here and have changed the thread title to denote that.  I never created a dedicated thread for the 109, but I figure who wouldn't want to see more pictures of plastic.  That's why we're here, right? 

 

Anyway, after 66.7 hours (total, to date) base coating is nearly done on the 110.  I still have a couple detail things to do, like painting the air filters and MGs, but those will only take a little bit.  I decided to go with the one Italian scheme primarily because my six year old said he liked the look of the yellow cowlings.  So, here we are.  Paints on the 110 are Tamiya XF-59 (Desert Yellow) and XF-64 (Red Brown) in a 3:1 mix for the RLM79.  I did a little color modulation/fading by adding some white to that mix.  The RLM78 on the lower fuse is MRP's RLM78.  Yellow is Tamiya and the white band is MRP's Insignia White.  All in all, painting went fairly smoothly.  I was able to lay down both colors at around 14 PSI, so masking was kept to a (thankful) minimum.  I had to stick the gear legs on because without them, the beast rested on the air scoops and the yellow paint was scuffing.  Chipping will be next.  Going to go with the tried and true sponge method.  Hope it translates to aircraft as well as it has treated me with armor.  As an aside, these two builds remind me just how miserable it is to paint white and yellow in general.

 

The 109 is a little further along.  It has been decaled, washed, faded, and had an oil dot filter applied.  Next will be final weathering for oil streaking, exhaust staining, dirt, grime, etc, then it'll be done.  This is the Hasagawa Bf-109F4 Trop kit and it's a dandy.  I forgot to look, but I believe I have about 35 hours into it so far.  For this one I used Mr. Color 119 RLM79 for the upper fuselage.  Both this and the custom Tamiya mix above came out pretty well and I don't see a significant different in appearance or performance for either of them.  I did not do any airbrush fading with the Mr. Color, so any fading you see was achieved with oil paints.  Anyway, on to pics.

 

7Yb0sK3.jpg

 

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ku7yNAq.jpg

 

JGOXplf.jpg

 

c8sy2Y9.jpg

 

aYEIGBk.jpg

 

CNrZNbe.jpg

 

KJruPzs.jpg

Edited by Gewehr 43
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A timely update "Herr Gewehr", and both are looking very good indeed.  I'm also a fan of MRP paints, in fact I've just ordered extra stocks of various colours including RLM02.

 

Having just completed a commission build in 1/48th of an FAA Hellcat, I'm finally "released" to do one of my Bf110s!  Before starting the G-4 based on the E-2Trop (and I have your build bookmarked!) I'm going to do my E night fighter, using it as a "practice run" for the G-4.  

Max

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  • 2 weeks later...

Good evening, everyone.  Hope you all had a wonderful holiday in whatever corner of the world you call home.  I'm back with a quick update.  The Bf-109 is done.  I'll be posting an RFI thread shortly and linking it here once it's done.  It turned out pretty well.  Probably my best aircraft kit so far, but I still have lots of room for improvement.

 

Here's a teaser till I get the RFI posted:

 

Edit: Here is the RFI thread.

 

dV1R9Qp.jpg

 

Anyway, for the -110, I finished the chipping process.  I'm waffling on whether or not to do a clear gloss.  The base coat is so smooth, I bet I can get away without it.  I had a real problem with microscopic hairs and dust getting in the clear on the 109, so I'm wary of the same thing happening to the 110.  I'll probably do a clear coat, but I'm not looking forward to battling the dust bunnies.

 

So, after a grand total of 71.2 hours, here's where I'm at with the 110.  I hope to knock out a bit more before the holiday ends.  Having started it in September, I'm hoping to have it done before the 4 month mark.  Ugh.

 

uZiCs1h.jpg

 

DHvsYKm.jpg

 

VzksmP8.jpg

This shot helps show off the color modulation pretty well.

 

swOG2zt.jpg

 

f9be9tR.jpg

 

XmvvfIx.jpg

 

v8Zmjb8.jpg

Edited by Gewehr 43
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Excellent work on both!  :thumbsup:

 

I'm not sure if you noticed it in yours. I had to increase the size of the front section of my engine cowls by adding some plastic stock for the G-4. I do believe that one upper cowl is a bit larger than the other, I say that because I can't be sure that all the work I did may have distorted one?   :shrug:

 

Dan

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Beautiful paint work on both. Good color modulation with tan and yellow is hard to do.

 

Thank you.  Starting with a black base coat helped.

 

Excellent work on both!  :thumbsup:

 

I'm not sure if you noticed it in yours. I had to increase the size of the front section of my engine cowls by adding some plastic stock for the G-4. I do believe that one upper cowl is a bit larger than the other, I say that because I can't be sure that all the work I did may have distorted one?   :shrug:

 

Dan

 

I can definitely say that one of the cowls fit far better than the other, even though they're the exact same part number.  I didn't have to add anything other than some tabs that helped place them as I showed earlier in the thread.  The cowls are by far the worst part of this kit.

 

I'm liking both the 109 and the 110 very much indeed.

Max

 

Thank you!

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It's times like this that I'm thankful the Germans decided to number every bulkhead in this aircraft, from nose to tail.  :/

 

6.5 hours of decal work later, and that phase is done.  Here are the decals installed, faded/blended slightly, and sealed.  Having worked a lot with Tamiya & Hasegawa decals lately, these Cartograf decals are a joy to work with.  They snuggle into panel lines really well.  The only thing I didn't like was the swastika because it was in 3 pieces and looked really weird after assembly.  So, I borrowed a couple for a 109 from the spares bin.  They're a tiny bit undersized, but I think they're close enough for government work.  

 

So, here's what just shy of 80 hours' worth of work looks like:

 

RuFjLBt.jpg

 

zhct1El.jpg

 

ZMxnWFF.jpg

 

uKwDV9q.jpg

 

Hitting the home stretch now.  Once the sealer coat cures, I will start with some oil streaking and general dirtying up, then flat coat, pigments, and final touches.  Almost there!

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