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[finished] Carganico's letzte Maus - Bf109G-5/U2 - Hasegawa


Kyrre

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Very often my motivation to build a model comes from a single photo - mostly within a few genres, since I'm trying not to spread my interest too much. Most of the times I'll build stuff related to Norway, one way or another.
In this case I guess I'm pushing the Norwegian connection a bit far, but Horst Carganico flew in Norway and Finland from the first days of the invasion in april 1940 until the spring of 1944. He then left the North and was appointed commander of I. Gruppe of JagdGeschwader 5 as part of the German Reich-defense. By then he had been allowed (or nobody corrected him) to use a large painting of Mickey Mouse as his personal emblem. In official German papers his aircraft was listed as "Mickey Maus", which means he most likely did not carry any other markings, except the standard crosses and Swastika. It is interesting that no pictures I have seen shows Carganico's aircraft from Starboard.

My inspiration this time was a picture (well, two) in Eric Mombeek's History of JG5, Volume 3. We see Carganico's last Messerschmitt, a Bf109G-5/U2. It is apparent from the two pictures in the book that the aircraft was painted in light grey (Most likely RLM76) all over, with filled crosses and the standard Mickey drawing. The bonus is that there's a double exposure, showing part of the wing, enough to confirm the wing cross and the fact that the wing was also painted in a single colour.

On May 27, 1944, Carganico was killed in this machine while attempting to make an emergency landing after a battle with American Mustangs.


Some armchair research got me the confirmation that this was in fact a typical factory finish for these machines, which were produced specifically to go after high altitude intruders.

 

So, what we have is:

- Bf109G-5/U2 is essentially the same as a G-6/AS, only with GM-1 or MW-50 booster injection installed. This means a smooth cowling, like the G-10 and K-4. The booster mix made the exhaust on these machines extremely dirty and black.

- Standard 160/660 wheels, small wing bulges, low tail wheel

- Tall tail, most likely metal rudder

- Erla canopy, which means the G-5 pressurised cockpit-features were gone.

 

Here's the picture, with a few annotations to avoid copyright-issues:

Carganicowithnotes.jpg

 

Since the Hasegawa Bf109G-10 kit is filled with lots of parts generic to the Bf109G almost all the parts needed were present.

The lower cowling needed to have the chin bulges removed. I cut the cowling from the fuselage to control the process better. Unfortunately I didn't take any before-pictures, but for those following these kind of details it should be apparent what I've done. :).
I also sanded down the oil cooler fairing to make it more like the G-6 type.

DSCN0999.jpg

 

Another minute detail is that the front oil tank filler hatch is lower than on the G-10, so instead of scribing a new hatch I made a smash mold of that area from a G-6 I have, sanded the new nose-bit to shape and glued it in place where I'd cut the G-10 part out. More complicated than scribing? Yes, perhaps, but I suck at scribing and am still trying to refine my molding technique, otherwise presented here.

DSCN0998.jpg

 

I'm on my way with the cockpit as well - which will be built mostly from the box, with some seatbelts added (actually included in the kit). I realise that my choice of RLM66, Extracrylic's Extra Dark Sea Grey, is simply too dark. Will have to find something that's lighter, especially since I've primed the cockpit with black.
DSCN1001.jpg

Edited by Kyrre
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I'll try not to disappoint you, guys. My goal is to have it finished by February 16 - for the show in San Antonio, TX.

Not much of an update, but I did the cockpit essentials - my least favourite task. Important for my progress, though, while I can't finish the nose until the fuselage is glued up.
Black primer, sprayed with Xtracrylic Extra Dark Sea Grey from "above" in order to create a bit of shadow. Then a few bits and pieces in white, yellow, red and blue, followed by some staining and chipping with greys. The dots on the floor are just reflections of some slightly shiny greys - they don't look like that IRL.
I might do a wash, but really, there's not much seen down there in the pit once everything's coming together.

 

DSCN1003.jpg

Edited by Kyrre
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I guess for RLM66 one should always use the same colour if you have more than one aircraft in the collection. The thing is that every time I build a new aircraft I use a new technique, depending on how busy I am or how important it is to finish up quickly. The problem with many of these dark greys is that you end up with a black hole where nothing comes out - so I've found out that I like to use the black primer and then build up with a lighter grey until I end up with quite a bit of colour variation. Anyway, time to glue this thing shut. :)

 

Kyrre

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Well - since you ask. :)

 

I was contemplating sculpting one. Carganico used to have a dog painted on the side of his Bf109E's - maybe he picked his old dog up when he came back to Germany?

 

You can see part of the drawing here:

http://www.ww2incolor.com/german-air-force/bf109e_Horst+Carganico.html

http://i816.photobucket.com/albums/zz87/RonBollen/inscale/Kagero%20topcolours%2028/Image00003.jpg

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  • 2 weeks later...

Ah, maybe not much of an update, but I've been fiddling away with the Messccchm .. Messischmu ... the Bf109. Cut loose some ailerons and elevators, glued the fuselage up so I could work more on the re-assembly of the lower cowling.

And got the upper wings on. Since I never follow the instructions (And have a box of parts I have no idea where came from to prove it) I like to glue the upper wings on first, since it is easier to modify/fill/sand/adjust the lower wing afterwards. This way at least I have a nice upper wing joint.

 

 

DSCN1014.jpg
I think Hasegawa should have molded the rear cockpit area differently, while it is difficult to eliminate the seam. An insert would have been better. Maybe I'll use some thin plasticard instead.
DSCN1015.jpg
The front cowling bulges are now completely gone and the oil cooler fairing is sanded down to a more standard G-5/6-like shape.
DSCN1017.jpg
Edited by Kyrre
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Looking good TK! First I've ever seen of this aircraft, very interesting.

 

Nice tutorial on the smash molding, I keep meaning to have John show me the mold stuff when we go to Akihabara but always forget to.

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Well, it's starting to look like a bird. Got wings, got some primer on it. Posed with undercarriage, just to check the "sit". I've been working a bit on getting a stressed skin-effect, but it's not really showing. Might do some more. I'm not going to stress it, though. :)

I have also tried to make the cowling parts a bit more "misaligned", since pictures show a lot of variation. This without making the model look like it's been assembled by a dubstepper.

 

Had to work quite a bit to get the moving surfaces to behave. The flaps as they come in the kit won't sit in a proper way - and the ailerons gave me a hard time as well. Not that I'm complaining. Just a bit of extra work.

I see I have to work a bit more on the supercharger intake. Also, I'm not really sure if there should be a weld seam on the outside or not.

 

 

DSCN1032.jpg
DSCN1033.jpg
DSCN1034.jpg
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