D Bellis Posted February 3, 2005 Share Posted February 3, 2005 This model is being built as box-stock as possible, and only 3 minor modifications made to back date the G-4/trop kit to a G-2: 1) Remove the fuel hose from the starboard side of the cockpit. 2) Remove the umbrella holders from the port side below the canopy. 3) Fill the two access panels on the starboard side of the spine aft of the cockpit. The only additional parts were a pair of scratch-built seatbelts. The instrument decals provided on the kit's decal sheet were individually cut from the sheet and applied to the instrument panel (M33) with several heavy doses of MicroSol. While labor intensive to cut & apply the 17 individual decals to the panel, the results are far better than anything I could have done by attempting to paint and/or scratch-build the details. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
D Bellis Posted February 3, 2005 Author Share Posted February 3, 2005 According to the instructions in Step 3, the machine gun barrels (L1 &L2) are to be installed inside the upper cowling (L3) prior to installing the upper cowling on the fuselage. But, this makes it tricky to mask and/or paint the gun barrels after the fact. After several sessions of test fitting the gun barrels to determine the difficulty involved with installing them from the outside (this proved to be VERY difficult), the gun barrels were drilled, painted and installed. After the glue was dry, small pieces of paper were slid in place between the gun barrels and the cowling as masks. The upper cowling was then installed. The fit of the upper cowling to the fuselage was rather poor. This is particularly frustrating as there should NOT be a seam or panel line the length of the cowl where the parts join. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
D Bellis Posted February 3, 2005 Author Share Posted February 3, 2005 Prior to installing the instrument panel, cockpit tub and the bottom of the fuselage, the seams on the whole fuselage were filled, sanded and the appropriate areas rescribed. Then the sidewalls were blown clean and the cockpit installed. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
D Bellis Posted February 3, 2005 Author Share Posted February 3, 2005 ... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
D Bellis Posted February 3, 2005 Author Share Posted February 3, 2005 Before final detailing and closing up the cockpit, I scratch-built a pair of shoulder harness belts from cigarette pack foil and small bits of wire. The belts were painted with Floquil "Antique White" and glued in with CA. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
D Bellis Posted February 3, 2005 Author Share Posted February 3, 2005 Some areas of the forward fuselage and wing were pre-shaded with Model Master RLM 66, and other areas pre-faded with Floquil Reefer White. The white area of the fuselage cross was masked, then the RLM 04 sprayed on. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
D Bellis Posted February 3, 2005 Author Share Posted February 3, 2005 Making a mask for the '5' proved to be quite troublesome. After trying various methods and materials (including my trusty OLFA Cutter) without success, I experimented with making a punch from 1/4" and 1/2" brass tubes. One end of each tube was sharpened by beveling the inside with an Exacto knife. Masking tape was wrapped around the 1/4" tube until it fit snugly inside of the 1/2" tube. This worked great to punch out the circular portion of the '5' from sign vinyl. Straight sections of sign vinyl were cut to make up the remainder of the required marking masks. The fuselage band, lower wing tips and lower cowl were masked with low-tack painter's masking tape. The RLM 76 and 74 were sprayed on in the first session with the entire canopy masked with the object being to reduce the length of time Bare Metal Foil (BMF) masks would be on the clear parts (the adhesive sticks more the longer it is on). After the 76 & 74 had dried over night, the clear areas of the canopy were carefully masked with BMF and the frames sprayed with RLM 66. The camo pattern on the wings and stabilizers were masked and the RLM 75 sprayed on. Once the RLM 75 had dried for about an hour, Dullcoat was sprayed onto the canopy area. All of the masks were then removed. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Coolie Posted February 3, 2005 Share Posted February 3, 2005 Nice work mate, that looks really good... I understand with the gunbarrels...with my G-6 I installed them afterward for the same reasons you were considering...I made some nice tightfitting slots for them, was a little fiddly but worth it Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
gorane Posted February 3, 2005 Share Posted February 3, 2005 Hi, Please explain why you removed the fuel hose! Where it not present in a G-2? Rgds Goran (a bit confused) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Chris Hannover - Germany Posted February 3, 2005 Share Posted February 3, 2005 Master D, very nice so far! To the Fuel hose question of Gorane, look at the pic please, it´s an original 109 G2 cockpit. Ther is an fuel hose... Cheers Chris Hannover Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
gorane Posted February 3, 2005 Share Posted February 3, 2005 Thanks Chris for the picture! I was a bit confused when D Bellis wrote that to make it into a G-2 he had to remove the fuel hose from the starboard cockpit wall! Rgds Goran Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Chris Hannover - Germany Posted February 3, 2005 Share Posted February 3, 2005 Yes, if i remember right, it was the G 10 without a fuel hose through the pit... I don´t wanted to chat Bellis up, but i think there is a fuel hose trough the pit at the G2. Anyway, great work Bellis Cheers Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
D Bellis Posted February 3, 2005 Author Share Posted February 3, 2005 Thanks for the compliments guys! Chris, Thanks for the input! The main reference I used is from what I consider to be a very reliable source: Lynn Ritger's '109 Lair. The extensive series of cockpit shots of Bf 109G-2/trop W.Nr. 10639 shows no fuel line in the cockpit. http://109lair.hobbyvista.com/walkaround/1...10639/10639.htm Before anyone goes nuts trying to prove that there is supposed to be a fuel line in the G-2 cockpit, please understand that I just don't care at this point - the cockpit is done. Feel free to open a thread about it in the discussion forums though! As for a description of how it was removed: I simply cut off most of it with a pair of tiny wire cutters and carefully shaved the rest down with an Exacto knife. I'm off to start the decaling. D Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Chris Hannover - Germany Posted February 4, 2005 Share Posted February 4, 2005 I think then it will be ok Bellis There are so many Versions and Subversions of one version... Whatever, i like it very much and can´t wait to see more of your bird. I just started with my 109 F2/4 Cheers Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ChrisS Posted February 4, 2005 Share Posted February 4, 2005 Great camo. What paint and airbrush/pressure are you using for the mottle effect Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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