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1/32 Trumpeter Bf 109G-10/U4/R2 "Black 12"


DoogsATX

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RLM 66 cockpits are nearly impossible to shoot on a white background. I'm going to have to bring in some black posterboard to really capture it, since the weathering work (MM Dunkelgrau drybrush, AMMO Dark Brown and Light Rust washes and Earth, #2 pencil) is nearly invisible.

 

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Meanwhile, the Moto X perhaps over-captures the weathering...

 

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In person, I think it's pretty effective. Dirty and has the look of a cockpit that's seen hurried use from less-than-ideal conditions, but not derelict or anything.

 

Still have belts and some other details to add. Unfortunately the way the cockpit goes together it's going to be tough to really capture it before the fuselage halves get closed. 

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Quite a bit of progress last night!

 

- Painted exhaust stubs with a mix of Alclad Steel and Exhaust Manifold

 

- Painted areas around exhaust outlets with Gunze C117 RLM 76

 

- Finished up Revi gunsight with MM Dunkelgrau drybrush and Vallejo umber wash on the leather padding

 

- Built crude install boxes for the cowl MGs. The Trumpeter kit includes the full guns, and I'm using Master barrels, so I matched protrusion length and used some styrene to build little boxes that will let me install the guns after paint.

 

- Closed the fuselage!

 

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Closing the fuselage was...interesting. The fit overall is good, but the way the cockpit fits in means there's some care that needs to be taken. After I got the top and bottom of the fuselage halves tacked, I had to weld down the 'upper deck' and push the seat/bulkhead back and then weld it from behind to make sure it aligned with the upper deck portions. Nothing too arduous, but you have to pay attention.

 

I'm also *this close* to cutting the prop shaft off the DB engine. It's interfering slightly with fit of the prop, and doesn't really add anything (it also completely precludes use of an aftermarket spinner if I opt to go that way). 

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Looking great, Matt!

 

Good idea on the boxes for the cowl gun barrels. That's such a problem on so many kits; installing the barrels after painting. I usually at least glue in some sort of tab to catch them, too.

 

For the spinner, I'm running into a similar issue with my Stuka build. The prop shaft, coming off the engine, actually points slightly upward. I might try to bend it, then use one of the Hasegawa vinyl caps that they use for their props (they usually provide plenty of extras in their kits) and incorporate that into the spinner I made. If that doesn't work, I'll just glue it in place. But, you may want to give that a try, if possible.

 

Again, she's really starting to take shape. :goodjob:

 

John

Edited by mywifehatesmodels
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So the Trumpy shaft is interesting...it's rather larger than the average prop shaft. BUT the spinner itself attaches to a forward reservoir or something (going to guess it's an oil or hydraulic or something tank) that plugs into the cowl. So there's no real need of the shaft to locate things, and honestly the prop isn't designed to spin anyway so no loss there.

 

You can see the shaft here.

 

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Biggest issue is that the shaft is messing with things. It's a pain to fit into the spinner (it goes through several parts), and it's also kinking the spinner so it sits very slightly to starboard. Overlaps = bad. If I just cut the thing - even just cut it a bit short really - it should fix the issue.

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Cowl covers installed. Wings on. Had the wing root gaps come back with a vengeance last night, but a spreader in the fuselage and some creativity in the gluing process got me a nice, good join with no gaps. Will need to sand down some of the places where the welded plastic popped out of the seam, but I'm going to have plenty of sanding to do anyway.

 

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Verdict of the Trumpy G-10 so far? It's got a lot to recommend it. The cowl arrangement is probably the best among 109s I've built. The landing gear are solid. But the fit could be better, the spinner install is laughable, etc. Kinda feel like the Hasegawa, Revell and Trumpy kits all exist in this weird sort of equivalency. None really better or worse than the others, just better or worse in different ways.

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The Trumpy kit is generally good, but it's missing one pretty distinctive feature of the 109G - the piano hinge on the cowl panels. Enter Archer with one of their resin decal things.

 

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I was a bit worried about the carrier film showing through, but a layer of primer shows everything looking five by five.

 

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The oil cooler scoop is a bit silly. Trumpeter includes PE for the radiator face, but nothing behind it, so you see right through and out the back. I fixed that with a sheet of evergreen painted black. The PE is black w/ Uschi Steel pigment.

 

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Going to be shooting some more RLM 66 for the aft cockpit deck tonight, then get into all the joys of filling and sanding. JOY!

 

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Broke into my absolute favorite part of the build process last night - putty. Yay.

 

IMG_20141118_064806-X3.jpg

 

Also...anybody know if the prop blades on the G-10 were metal? I know the fat blades on the Fw 190D-9 were wood and guess I just assumed the same for the G-10/K-4, but this pic seems to indicate otherwise:

 

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