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Revell 1/32 Bf109G-10 Erla


Thunnus

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Thanks guys!  It turned out faster than I had envisioned.  A big exterior resin replacement was new territory for me so I'm glad it's turning out positively.  I think I'm almost ready to attach the wings.

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Looking good, John! I am still wondering why Reaver chose to have the engine cowling sit up higher than the gun cowling. You can find pictures of examples of this but it's certainly not the norm, and some of them either don't have the cowling fully latched down or the rubber seal between the cowlings is sticking out a little. No reflection on your work at all which is fantastic! You may want to move the antenna wire spring to a different spot. On these units the wire went down through the mast and into a tube which connected to a lever on the left side of the canopy by which it was tensioned. I have found pictures that show the wire was not slack even in the untensioned state, in case you were wondering.

 

Jay

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Thanks for the comments Jay!  As a fellow 109-fanatic, I always appreciate your informative insights!  As far as the height diff between the back of the engine cowling and the gun breech cover, I've always assumed that this was a common occurrence on G-10's.  This seems to be corroborated on my review of Erla G-10 pics.  Here are a few that I've found...

 

Hartmann's G-10

Bf109_G-10_Wnr_150xxx_Hartmann.jpg

 

WNr 491320 Black 12

Bf109_G-10_Wnr_491320_Black_12.jpg

 

WNr 491353 Black 7

Bf109_G-10_Wnr_491353_Black_7.png

 

WNr 491499

Bf109_G-10_Wnr_491499_2-10.png

 

WNr 49xxxx Red 12

Bf109_G-10_Wnr_49xxxx_Red_12.png

 

I found more examples of this irregularity than I have of the engine cowling being flush with the gun breech cover, including non-Erla G-10s.  I personally like this aspect of the AMUR Reaver cowling and I feel it is a good representation of the oddly assymetrical shape of the G-10 engine cowling as well as that imperfect fit that many photos show.

 

I can remove the tension spring from the antenna mast.  Even the photos above indicate a lack of tension spring on the mast that is mounted on the canopy.

 

Thanks again for your comments, Jay!  I'm by no means a 109 Experten and I'm just going in the general direction of what the available evidence is showing.  My builds are not meant to be 100% accurate but I do like to get the details right if I have good documentation and the mod is within my limited means.

Edited by Thunnus
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Back to the build... from this angle, before the wings are mounted, you can get a sense of how drastic the bulge is over the DB605 engine.

IMG_1541.jpg

 

I made up a tab from brass sheeting to mount the aerial on the rudder.  This tab will be cut to size when the time comes but right now it is easier to handle (and not lose) as a overly long piece.  I am going to re-think the spring on the antenna mast per Jay's comment.

 

IMG_1550.jpg

 

The wing pitot tube has been replaced with pieces of brass tubing.

IMG_1551.jpg

 

Time to attach the wings.  I've decided to mount the upper wings first so that I can get a good flush fit at the wing root join, which is always a tough one to clean up.

IMG_1552.jpg

 

The joint here is not the most positive so I elected to mount the bottom of the wing on the port side after the top of the wing attachment was solid.  The bottom of the wings are presented in halves like the top so the order was port top, port bottom, starboard top, starboard bottom.

IMG_1553.jpg

 

IMG_1554.jpg

 

There are some gaps at the bottom that need to be filled and faired in.  You can see a shim that I used to bridge some of the gap.

 

IMG_1555.jpg

 

A few days will probably be spent cleaning up that joint as well as the seams between the wing tops and bottoms.

 

IMG_1558.jpg

 

The wing root joint will be cleaned up too and then the joint re-scribed.

 

IMG_1559.jpg

Edited by Thunnus
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Thank you for the comments!  The wings are on and it is starting to look like an aeroplane now.

 

IMG_1560.jpg

 

I'm just plodding along cleaning up the cowling transition on the bottom.  The first application of Milliput and Mr Surfacer 1000 has been sanded...

 

IMG_1570.jpg

 

IMG_1571.jpg

 

The primer shows that I need to do at least one more iteration of putty/sanding before I can start rescribing the panel lines.  But it is relief to know that the worst is behind me.

 

IMG_1573.jpg

 

IMG_1574.jpg

Edited by Thunnus
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Guest Airfixer

Bloody gorgeous, John!

Very impressive WIP and a treat to follow. Can't wait to see your G-10 finished!

 

Anyway, I hope you don't mind my making a few remarks regarding the riveting on the vertical tail:

"As is", the tail on your Erla-built G-10 would be representative for a/c with the all-metal tall tail which was mainly conceived as a drop-in retrofit for existing aircraft. Said retrofit comprised a new extended fin cap and a new rudder. Both the joint between intermediate tail assy and fin cap as well as the overall riveting would be faintly visible.

 

However, when the G-10 (and soon to be followed by the K-4) started to hit the production lines, the wooden tall tail had already become a "standard" feature of new-built late G-6 and G-14 airframes.

The wooden tall tails were subcontractor manufactured and finished - smooth laminated wood surfaces devoid of any rivets; and being an integral assembly, no joint between "tail body" and fin cap. Both types, metal and wood, were designed to be interchangeable with each other.

 

Original drop-in metal tall tail retrofit/assembly:

7oa86fg.jpg

Photographically documented on G-5, G-5/AS, G-6, G-6/AS, G-8 and G-14, G-14/AS aircraft.

 

Wooden tall tail:

78ZJDtA.jpg

 

VkXALGo.jpg

 

Given the omnipresent no-rule-without-exception mantra, a metal tall tail would be just that exception.

I'm 99.489% sure the wooden tail would be the way to go, hence requiring some filling and sanding.

 

Maybe one of the other fine gentlemen here will be able to shed some more light on this matter.

Edited by Airfixer
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Thanks for the comments.  Airfixer... your observations are always appreciated!  I personally liked having a little bit of detail on that tail piece but, for the sake of accuracy, it is a very easy matter to fill in the panel line and rivets to depict the likely wood tail.  Especially since I have not attached the rudder.  On an unrelated note... I really like how you highlight your points graphically!

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Wrapping up the transition between the engine cowling and the fuselage.  Added a panel line along the bottom.

 

IMG_1575.jpg

 

IMG_1576.jpg

 

I've learned to use magnification to help improve my work, especially these types of close-up photos. They can be brutally revealing but using them to identify and correct flaws results in better work.

 

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The wing root joint has also been cleaned up although it was never bad to begin with.

 

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Say good-bye to the rivets and panel line on the wooden tail!  Thanks for the suggestion, Airfixer!

 

IMG_1582.jpg

 

The slight surface irregularities revealed by the primer will be evened out.

 

IMG_1583.jpg

Edited by Thunnus
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The Revi gun sight has been added to the instrument panel.  I'll be putting on the canopy and windscreen soon.

 

IMG_1586.jpg

 

IMG_1587.jpg

 

Revell has engineered the kit so that the control surfaces are movable.  I don't particular like that idea as they would most likely flop around, droop to the lowest position (for the horizontal surfaces anyway) and wear off paint.  So I am going to glue the control surfaces into place.  The rudder is the first to be glued on.

 

IMG_1589.jpg

 

I am thinking about the camo finish although it is a few steps ahead.  I am going to do Hartmann's White Double Chevron G-10.  Anders Hjortsberg has a nice profile of Hartmann's G-10 on his Profile Paintshop website...

 

Bf109G-10_Erla_Hartmann_600.jpg

 

 

 

Anders concedes the speculative nature of this profile since only the fuselage from the cockpit forward is represented in the existing photos of this machine.  Anders chose to portray the bottom as natural metal with light blue (RLM 76) wing tips and control surfaces.  Is an all RLM 76 bottom just as likely?  Both Eagle Cal and Barracuda Erla G-10 decal sets have representatives of both bottom treatments.  Should I just pick one or is one more likely than the other for this particular machine?  I am leaning towards doing the RLM 76 bottom as I feel I can do a better job of it than the metal finish, which I don't particularly like to do.

Edited by Thunnus
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