Eduard-Cat Me-109D

[LSP_Mike]

I'm in for a back-date conversion of an E-1 to a Dora. Weekend edition Emil kit bought on sale some years ago, and the Alley-cat conversion. Looks like it's time to start cutting plastic.

[Thomas Lund]

Great !! I've got two alleycats - a 109B and a D - in my stash, so I'm looking forward to seeing how much work it is to fit it. Looks nice in the box though.

[LSP_Kevin]

Nice choice Mike. I've still got the old Hasegawa project I bought off you, with the (I think) LSM resin B/C/D conversion. Your build may inspire me to pull it out!

 

Kev

[LSP_Mike]

After looking thru the resin bits, it looks pretty straightforward. The prop looks bad; I may have to "do a bit more" to get a decent appearance.

Kev, I still think the old Hase kit is a good kit. The original box art from John Steele sure is good!

[LSP_Mike]

OK, A pretty straight forward conversion, which is good. My main ref's are Jagdwaffe v.1 #2, and V. 1 of Ritgers me-109 books. They were not side-ways when I used them.

Here is what I'll start with:

[LSP_Mike]

I sat down this AM, and got to work. I marked out the lines to cut with a felt tip marker, and used a ruler and scribe to begin. This one pic shows the tools used, and an overview of todays work. In this view you can just see where the fuselage stiffener has been removed. I first scribed a line along the top of the stiffener, then used a chisel point x-acto to cut away the raised detail. I sharpen my blades with a hard Arkansas stone, and get a nice hone on the edge before cutting. The "beveled" edge goes down, so the blade always wants to rise up, which reduces errors. To finish, I sanded with an 800grit stick.

Here is a really bad closer look at the wing inserts. I am using the E-1 kit, but an E-3 can be used as well. Really just a bit of cutting and fitting to get a fantastic fit. I used my trusty Tristar tool to scribe a couple of underwing ports, and move the gas filler from stbd to port.

Here is a closer shot of the nose, which is 3 pieces. Again, cut and fit with a little help from Ritgers book, which conveniently has some great line drawings in the back to clarify things. The wing gets cut to accept the nose bit, and the key point is the wing root. I've fit them as best I can now, and the rest will come after building the cockpit and closing the fuse. The resin nose is mostly hollow, which cuts down the weight a great deal. I may source some brass legs for this one, but we'll see. I like to pin my birds to the base.

 

[imatt88]

Sweet! I was hoping to do this someday myself! I will be watching

[BradG]

Great start.

[LSP_Mike]

Thanks guys, the 'pit is up now.

[Derek B]

Great work so far Mike

 

I also have this conversion set and hope to make it one day (Mine will be a Luftwaffe night fighter version though).

 

Cheers

 

Derek

[MikeMaben]

Go Mike, lookin' good

[DrDave]

The problem I found was fitting the nose first made for a rotten wing root fit and even more loss of dihedral. Built OOB the Eduard kit has flat wings, which someone tells you about it, makes it ever the more noticeable....

[LSP_Mike]

Thanks Dave, I'm surely going to do a lot of dry fit at that phase. Hopefully it will all pan out.

[Sparzanza]

Interesting, a 109D .. not a very common sight in W.I.P - at least not for me. I'll be watching!

Edited July 29, 2013 by Sparzanza

[thierry laurent]

Hi,

I think I may give you some useful tips as there are a lot of conflicting information in references. Even scale plans coming from the same guy but published in different books showed major differences!

Note that the conversion is not comprehensive and fully accurate to build a Bertha. However, situation is far better for a Dora and the Alleycat instructions are generally correct and comprehensive.

1. You may use an E-1 cockpit as differences with the D are not really obvious. The pits were probably painted in RLM02 but I've still some doubts with regard to the front IP (RLM 02 or possibly RLM 66). Using a cheap Quickboost seat is recommended as correcting Eduard seat is time-consuming. The Aires full pit is another option.
2. Some sources show that the belly scoop (located between the two drop-shaped wing bolt covers) was removed. This is not correct! One picture in the Fernandez-Sommerau book clearly shows it was present on the D1. Unfortunately Eduard does not give it as a separate part. Grinding the font face to get some depth is at least recommended.
3. Some sources show that the intake under the front nose was not present. It is true that this appeared during the production of the Jumoschmitts and I cannot say when. However, again, this hole is correct for a D (but not for a Bertha).
4. All drawings differ with regards to the presence or absence and location of some of the maintenance round panels under the wing. It is very difficult to say who's right and who's wrong! One thing is sure (confirmed by a picture), the round panel right behind the landing gear well must be added. For the other ones, this is debatable and personally, I did not add them. According to most sources, two round panels on each of the upper wing shall be filled in.
5. Putting the Eduard photoetched landing gear well covers in the kit is a true nightmare. However, leaving the wells as they are is also a problem. Improving them oneself is also very complicated. So, this is like choosing between plea and cholera!
6. Look closely at the plane you choose. Most Spanish war 109s had no radio mast! Unfortunately, Alleycat "forgot" this aspect! Sanding the mast support and the brace running on the rear canopy is the most accurate option. I did it some years ago, so this is possible. However, ruining the part is a noticeable risk, so this is up to you. Note that this also corrects an error as this upper brace on the full scale plane was located under the glass rather than over it!
7. Eduard tail wheel seems to be based on a museum example which has a Dunlop rather than a Continental tire. If you're a little bit patient, there is no need to use an aftermarket one (such as the one in the Brassin set). Simply sand the edge to remove the squared look with the indentations and you'll get a far more accurate result.
8. Do not forget drilling/opening the ammo chute holes under the wing and the round hole on each side of the rear fuselage (intended to put a bar to lift the plane).

This is what goes out of my memory. I hope this helps

Thierry