Iain Posted March 6, 2016 Share Posted March 6, 2016 OK - so I know I'm easily sidetracked, but I fancied doing a quick, fun, build of a model that's been shouting 'build me' for a looooong time. And I have finished two other projects in last two weeks - so on a bit of a roll. Now I realise that the Eduard 109 isn't the 'fashionable' 1:32 109 kit, but I actually like the look of them in the box, especially the finesse of the surface detailing - and I now have 6 in the stash. These comprise 4 'weekenders' bought for the princely sum of £15 each at various times, and two standard kits (E-3 and E-7) with all the etched bits and choices of decals which cost an astronomical £21 each. So all a lot cheaper than the alternative. The start was an E-1 I purchased to use with the Alley Cat conversion to an early 109 - made sense after that to base my 109Es on the same kit. This was started yesterday afternoon - and uses some parts from the old Eduard etch set for the old Hasegawa kit - but shows some good progess for only a few hours work. One of the areas that was a common bugbear reported by previous builders was the under-nose radiator area. A look at the parts appeared to confirm that the radiator assembly could be added after the fuselage was joined and the area cleaned up. So far she's going together really well - will try and get the exhausts and cowls done later today so she can go sit in the airing cupboard whilst I take some review photos for the site, and work on my Spits and Lightning parts. Still undecided on scheme - but may be this one - flown by Hptm. Wilhelm Balthasar, Kommandeur III./JG3 - Desvres/France - August 1940. Please feel free to remind me in 6 months that this was going to be a 'quick build'! Iain Sparzanza, Radders, Erwin and 4 others 7 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The1971Show Posted March 6, 2016 Share Posted March 6, 2016 (edited) OK then, I've got that down on the calendar for the first weekend of September. Impressive progress - if I were building this, after the first afternoon I'd have got the cockpit parts off their sprues and cleaned up and that would be pretty much it before happy hour. Darren Edited March 6, 2016 by The1971Show Iain, ScoobyDoo, Bomber_County and 1 other 4 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Iain Posted March 6, 2016 Author Share Posted March 6, 2016 I think sometimes we sweat the little things (or, at least I tend to) and that slows progress. This is very much a 'dive in' and throw some basic modelling at it without getting too hung-up over the details and see what gets spat out the other side... Of course it may just be phlegm that' gets spat out, we'll see! Iain monthebiff, MikeC and mozart 3 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LSP_Kevin Posted March 6, 2016 Share Posted March 6, 2016 Nice work, Iain. And fast, too! This might not be the fashionable Emil kit, but it's still much more fashionable than the Matchbox and Hasegawa kits in my stash! Kev Iain 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mattlow Posted March 6, 2016 Share Posted March 6, 2016 Look forward to seeing this come together... The cowls are allegedly tricky on these - but so is the Dragon... Matt Iain 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Iain Posted March 6, 2016 Author Share Posted March 6, 2016 Hmmm - cowls - tricky? Have heard that - and seen a few online builds where modellers had issues - so, forewarned is forearmed as they say! Have spent another couple of hours on her this evening. Yes - the cowls won't fit over the engine and cowling guns. Eduard, quite rightly IMHO, have moulded the engine and armament full size so, with the thickness of plastic for the cowl covers they are never going to fit over the engine and guns as kitted. Now, I was going to go with the engineless/gunless configuration shown in the instructions and started by assembling and fitting the exhaust stacks. When I came to remove the cowl parts from the sprues it dawned on me that, of course, the 109E has a number of open slots in various areas of the cowling and that, if you leave out all the gubbins, it will look a little empty behind these slots - and you'll probably get a bizarre see through effect from certain angles. Guns - these can be installed so that the top cover panel be fitted it a little trimming to both the guns themselves as well as the ammo chutes. Engine. How to fit after I've already fitted the exhausts? Simple - cut sections out of the engine with a horizontal razor saw along a line just above the exhaust and back to the engine block. Then a vertical cut up from the base to meet. Once these sections were removed a 'raft' was made from two thicknesses of 20 thou plastic sheet that, when passed through the hole in the engine block, would act as a solid mount that could be glued to the upper side of the already fitted exhaust mounts. Engine fitted - and you can see the only physical thing I've done to help align the main cowling - two sections of 60 thou sheet used as locating/widening shims. These are the two white sections bonded to the upper rear of the exhaust mounting bracket. The other area to be altered was the top of the block where material has been removed from the front (it now slopes). The position of the engine was adjusted with the spinner backplate dry fitted to ensure everything centred and as it should be. Main cowl placed in situ - no glue. Appalling fit as you can see! And bonded in place. I'm really impressed with this kit! Perhaps a little over engineered, but then Eduard were trying to pull out all the stops for the detailers out there. The quality of moulding, and fit of parts in the main, has been superb. Only real area that's needed filling has been the underside rear wing to fuselage interface. Fit of the cowling panels - with careful prep and dry fitting - has been exceptional for an area where so many separate panels are coming together. She's now 'cooking' in the airing cupboard. Primer tomorrow - perhaps. Now, back to the Spits... Have fun! Iain Zero77, D.B. Andrus, MikeC and 2 others 5 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mattlow Posted March 7, 2016 Share Posted March 7, 2016 That's very encouraging. The only one I've assembled this area on had an Alley Cat nose on so no engine cowl issues.... Interesting... Matt Iain 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LSP_Kevin Posted March 7, 2016 Share Posted March 7, 2016 Very nice work, Iain! Kev Iain 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Iain Posted March 7, 2016 Author Share Posted March 7, 2016 Another couple of hours work - and we're almost ready to mask and prime! Canopy glazings loosely placed for photos - still need to fit main panel and gunsight before I bond the clear parts in place - maybe before bed. A little epoxy filler used - not much - and sheet plastic (roughly 1mm thick) used to make the leading edge slat slot opening thinner. Slats will be trimmed accordingly prior to fitting. Rudder is just placed in position and will be painted separately. Quite cathartic just saying 'sod it' and going for it!! Iain D Bellis, Zero77, MikeC and 2 others 5 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mattlow Posted March 7, 2016 Share Posted March 7, 2016 (edited) Nice... and quick... something I know little about... Can I see that you've used black marker on all the edges of the canopy parts? Matt PS - is this a weekend kit or full fat profi? Edited March 7, 2016 by mattlow Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Iain Posted March 7, 2016 Author Share Posted March 7, 2016 Yup - always do the black marker trick - makes transparencies look thinner and stops edge reflections It's a 'Weekender' - with added etch from an old Eduard set for the Hasegawa 109E. I know it's not what's meant by 'Weekender' - but recon you probably could build one in a weekend! Just did a bit more and calling it quits. But all done now - ready for masking and primer... How did that happen?! Iain MikeC and The1971Show 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Radders Posted March 7, 2016 Share Posted March 7, 2016 I have my Bearcat sat under my workbench with the hope of a quick build but I just know it won't be quick, and now thinking of getting the resin bits for it... decisions. Anyhow, nice work Iain, that scheme gets my vote too! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Iain Posted March 8, 2016 Author Share Posted March 8, 2016 At the rate I've been building I'm not even scratching the surface of the stash - time to crack on methinks... Bearcat - just build it from the box - does it *really* need any resin? Iain Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MikeC Posted March 8, 2016 Share Posted March 8, 2016 Yup - always do the black marker trick - makes transparencies look thinner and stops edge reflections ... Never heard of that before - just goes to show that there's always something to learn. Thanks for the tip. Where do you actually mark - the entire mating surface, or just the edge between the mating surface and the side of the frame? It looks like the former, but refraction's a funny old thing ... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Iain Posted March 8, 2016 Author Share Posted March 8, 2016 I've been using a permanent black marker around the edges of canopies for years - and mentioned it - but nobody has ever really picked up on it. I run around all the edges of the transparency. Works very well where you're bonding glazing to glazing - such as the nose sections of the Revell He111. Iain Gazzas, MikeC and The1971Show 3 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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