mattlow

Bottom of wing. Wheel well needs opening up. Can see sloping section which forms roof of radiator bay. Looks pretty rough!

Progress is very slow. Since last update I've been working on the wings. The large fairings for the radiators and u/c are proving complex shapes to reproduce - here's where I'm at. Top of stbd wing showing u/c well (bottom still needs cutting out. Plasticard edged in Squadron green putty covers a rebate in the wing into which I sank a section of brass tube for strength.

Very nice work on the engine. You've really brought out the detail and relief. Matt

Erwin The landing gear isn't overly complex. I'm sure you could fabricate it yourself. If you decide to drop me an email and I'll see what pics I can find. Go on, give it a go! Matt

Hi Eric Great to hear the 2nd volume of the JaPo 190D set is due soon. With your two volumes and Jerry's announcement of a two volume set we should be in a fantastic position to know all that is currently knowable about this plane. With regard to the Eagle Editions 190 gun cover correction parts, I think it'd be fair to say that they represent the best product that could be produced with the knowledge available at the time. For many the correction of the overly endowed cleavage of the Has. part addresses the major 'obvious' problem. With your and Jerry's new research those of us who 'need' to fix the bumps (I would put myself in this category) can. Its also possible that Eagle Editions will update their parts in the light of new research as they are often quite responsive to such things (updated versions of the Erla 110 cowl set for example). My 'thing' is Luftwaffe and we seem to be seeing a whole raft of really well researched books from the likes of JaPo, Classic and Eagle Editions over the last few years. I think its the nature of things that aftermarket correction sets will become less than 100% accurate at a time when our knowledge is moving at quite a pace. Sort of gone off the original subject here - hope no-one offended by my musings. Matt

Hello Fred The Eduard kit is, I think, the de facto best kit in '48th as its the only one! I haven't seen the publication mentioned above, but generally info is quite thin on the ground. I have the Model Art book on German jets and this has a few scale drawings (not sure how accurate) and some detail of the engine and maybe u/c - can scan and email if you wish. I have never seen any photos or drawings of the cockpit. If you're thinking of scratching a 1:32nd 280 I think getting the Eduard one and scaling it up is the way forward (that's what I've thought of doing). However, you'll need to use a bit of artistic licence in the cockpit and wheel bays. Matt

Absolutely beautiful work. No more to say. Matt

Dave Good to see you back with the Whirlwind. It is coming along very nicely and I'm sure will be a cracker when finished. Hope to get an update on BV 155 up soon. Progress has been very slow - partly pressures of work, partly sorting component shapes out! Cheers Matt

Misha I'll see what I can find regarding gun bays. I assume you're doing 20mm cannon version? Matt

Misha Coming along nicely. I'm doing similar thiings to the Matchbox 109E, though it has its own set of issues. I do have some of Waldron's bezels and they are good - however I have seen almost as convincing bezels made up from plasticard (cut into correctly sized squares) and stretched sprue (this is coiled around a suitable object and then put into hot water. When it has cooled one can cut little circles of stretched sprue to make the bezel.) There is an article on doing this somewhere on the site. Keep up the great work. Matt

Radu What beautiful work. Your step-by-step explanations make it all seem easy, but trying some of this stuff, as I am, I know just how skilled it all is - especially to get such a 'clean' finish on everything. I hope she sells well. Matt

Tommog Nice build. I like the well used look. Matt

Lovely job Chris. Matt

Gustave Lovely looking build so far. Do look out for some of the A-5 features not addressed by Hasegawa. One which comes immediately to mind is the size/shape of the under fuselage access panel. Following quoted from Jerry Crandall's website: "Due to the fact that the kit fuselage halves are carried over from their A-8 kit several panels need to be modified. Besides the panels that the kit instructs the modeler to fill in, there are two others that they neglected to mention. The large panel under the rear fuselage that was introduced on the A-8 series to accommodate the 115 litre additional fuel tank that was used for additional fuel or used as an MW 50 tank. The A-5 panel should be re-scribed and is a smaller oval shaped access door with six fasteners. The round primer filler point also introduced on the A-8 that is located just under the left side of the cockpit needs to be filled in also for the A-5 sub-type." Looking forward to more of this one. Matt

Radu They've got the less fine saws listed as a new arrival/re-release. http://www.hannants.co.uk/search/?FULL=AEM043 Maybe the ultra fine will be re-released shortly. I also think hasegawa do something very similar. Matt

Thanks Frederick That gives the 'rule of thumb' I was looking for. Intersetingly I discovered last night that Micro Sol happily dissolves acrylic paint!! Matt

Hi all I've done a bit of trawling over the internet but can't find anything that gives a basic rundown on what paint types (enamel, acrylic etc..) can be put over/under each other? I'm not even aware if there are hard and fast rules (can it depend on manufacturer?). I suppose my main question at the moment is can I put an oil paint/turps substitute wash over acrylic paint or will the turps attack the acrylic? Is the best route to take actually testing any combination first? Any advice gratefully received Matt

Steve I think that this would be a great idea, despite the existing Aires set (which won't do an F-2 out of the box). If you covered the nose, props, flaps (as mentioned above), tailwheel (Aires tailwheel is too large for F-2 and maybe F-4?) and cockpit - I think you'd have something which would probably be superior to any future release from Hasegawa themselves (we know how many add-ons/corrections can be applied to the G-6). This means that it could either fill the void left by Has or act as an upgrade to any F they may eventually release. Finally, thinking about a resin set/decal combination, a set covering Adolf Galland's modified Fs would be nice. If you designed the nose so that alternative parts for the MG 131 armed plane could be fitted and made parts for the MG FF wing armed version (just some 109 E style underwing bulges and maybe detail on re-scribing access panels on upperwing). Jerry could do a nice decal & resin set covering Galland's 109 Fs???? No idea as to whether this would be economically viable, but I'd certainly buy a set. Matt

Steve One thing I forgot about on the F which even Aires missed on their conversion is the radiator flaps. On the F the upper flap incorporated a vent (for want of a better description) which took boundary layer (?) air past the radiator. Rather than try to explain, here's a link to what I mean: 109 Lair - 109F flap details This is certainly worth doing as its quite prominent and unique to the F versions. Matt PS will have a look see for F-2 cockpit pics/drawings

Hi Misha If you send me your email address I'll send you some images from the 109E maintenance manual of the areas you need. Matt

Steve What about the cockpit? Quite a difference as far as I'm aware between F-2 and G-6. Are you thinking of doing that? Not sure if the MDC 109G-2 cockpit set would cover most of the differences (it would give cockpit without air vents at least). Suppose Has/Revell 109G-4 is good starting point as it has the MG 17 gun troughs (will use this as basis for 109F-4 conv, using aires set). Not knitpicking, just wondering about this other main area? Blower intake would be useful addition to aires set anyway as they (as far as I'm aware) only provide the latter, larger F-4 intake. Do appreciate you making your work available to us all. Matt

Hi Erwin I think this is because kit decals are printed onto carrier film which is shaped to fit the decal - i.e. slightly larger than the printed decal. Self printed decals are printed onto a sheet of carrier film - i.e. the carrier film is as large as the sheet of backing paper. Hope this makes sense. Matt

Dave She's coming together very nicely. Can't wait to see her finished. Matt

Chris Another beauty. Matt

Hi Gary My understanding is that 'as is' the Moskit exhausts will not fit. However, this is because the Matchbox openings and exhausts are too thin (or put another way, not deep enough). When I do mine I'm going to modify the openings so that the Moskit parts fit. HTH Matt