I'm in with another 21st Century Bf-109F

[tbell 106]

I picked this kit up for painting practice, and I'm really quite impressed. The $10 I paid is worth it for the decals alone, which are very, very nice. There is also what has to be the nicest injection molded pilot figure I've seen. Oh, and you get an airplane kit with your decals and pilot, too. Bonus!

 

The slightly crude detailing (as compared to, say, a Hasegawa kit. Not fair, I know) belies some very clever engineering and remarkably good fit. For instance, the landing gear legs are impossible to misalign.

 

So far I've buttoned up the fuselage and attached the wings. I've carved off the mounting lugs from the canopy and polished it back to clarity.

 

The only extra I've added is the seat harness from painted masking tape.

 

Cheers,

Tony

[LSP_Kevin 28,601]

Good to have you on board Tony! I'm sure your 'painting practice' will be a joy to behold. Should be a pretty quick, eh?

 

Kev

[LSP_Ray 7,504]

Now I am starting to regret selling the 109F I had! Looks like a fun kit!

[Texas 10]

HI Looks like it's going together fairly easy and looking very good.

 

Texas

[tbell 106]

Well it's ready for paint now. I removed the rather heavy mounting lugs for the canopy and polished it back to clarity.

 

I also filled the slat recesses in with epoxy putty for a cleaner look.

 

The canopy can still be opened & closed. What's a 21st Century Toy without a toy-like feature?

 

Cheers,

Tony

[Azgaron 1,357]

Nice work so far!

 

Cheers,

 

Azgaron

[tbell 106]

...primed with Tamiya "White Fine Surface Primer" from the spray bomb, and Tamiya TS-47 Chrome Yellow decanted and shot through the airbrush.

 

[DaveJ 36]

Its increasingly clear that I need to re-think these 21st kits. You're really making it look great!

[tbell 106]

More painting tonight.

 

First up was the pre-shading. I like to use Krylon Fusion black, decanted into the airbrush. As a matter of fact, I have an old Alclad bottle that I've filled with black Krylon that I keep handy for this sort of thing.

 

 

Next is the RLM76, mixed from Tamiya paints with a bit of Future added and thinned with Alcohol.

 

 

Following that is the RLM74/75 camo, airbrushed freehand. The '75 is Gunze and the '74 is again a Tamiya mix. These I thinned with lacquer thinner, as they seem to spray more smoothly that way.

 

The next few evenings will be spent on the rest of the camo, mottling, fading and post-shading. Stay tuned...

 

Cheers,

Tony

[LSP_Matt 2,523]

Hi Tony,

 

Great job man. I really love the whole concept of this type of kit. I think it really fills a niche. You've done a super job with your initial painting...will look forward to more.

 

Oh and I really liked the way you analysed the Sea Fury. It just came across so professional, informative and without any venom. Great stuff as well.

 

Cheers Matty

[Texas 10]

HI Looking very good. I relly like the way your preshading is looking.

 

Texas

[LSP_Kevin 28,601]

Terrific as always Tony. Great advice about using lacquer thinner with Gunze and Tamiya acrylics too. I tried this for the first time myself the other night (with some scepticism I might add), and I was really pleased with the results. The paint seemed to flow more smoothly out of the airbrush, with less spatter, and seemed to dry with less fragility than I'm used to. The only downside of course is the smell (I don't have a paint booth).

 

Kev

[tbell 106]

Hi Tony,

 

Great job man. I really love the whole concept of this type of kit. I think it really fills a niche. You've done a super job with your initial painting...will look forward to more.

 

Oh and I really liked the way you analysed the Sea Fury. It just came across so professional, informative and without any venom. Great stuff as well.

 

Cheers Matty

Yeah, I think Roy Sutherland's paradigm is brilliant. Sell pre-built models in quantity to subsidize cheap but high value kits (at least I'm assuming that's his business model). What I like about them is that I can knock one out for fun and not worry about everything being perfect.

 

You must be thinking about someone else's analysis of the Sea Fury, though. I commented on the forthcoming HC Mustang, but not the Sea Fury. Can you point me to the comments? I'd like to read them...

[LSP_Ray 7,504]

That is looking really good!!! I will have to try the lacquer thinner thing. I have heard about it before, but haven't tried it yet.

[tbell 106]

This weeks update: mottling! I know that my lightning pace is hard to believe, but that's how fast I work!

 

 

 

 

I'm going to be doing a bit more, carrying it down the sides of the fuselage a bit more to match the reference photo I have of Ostermann's machine.

 

Cheers,

Tony