Messerschmitt Bf109 F-4 (really a G2) by Trumpeter

[Gazzas]

8 hours ago, Marcleon said:

What a great project to tackle, Gaz! It should look really good! The colour demarcation on the spinner on the profile is different to the photos: Could that just be a red spinner tip and rest of spinner white to add even more colour?? The kit is a good one - I have one, and there are a few small tweaks to make it a great G2: K A Merrick in "German Aircraft Interiors 1935 to 1945 Vol 1" says there should be a small airscoop on both sides in the triangular panel just below the windscreen, surely not too difficult to add! And most welcome in the desert for pilot cooling! I can send photos if you need. Apparently the only complete F4 Trop in the world is in the National Military History Museum in Johannesburg South Africa, and apparently the tropical filter for "Black 6" the British G2 was reconstructed using the exact breakdown of parts from the F4 Trop...

 

Regards,

 

Marc

 

Hi Marc,

    Thanks for you input.  I hadn't yet thought of the windscreen scoops, or how I'd actually go about making the desert filter other than a few minutes thinking of materials i might scavenge around the house.  

 

I'm not really sure about the spinner.  I was trying to figure out whether it was color, dirt, or paint wear perhaps down to an original coat of RLM 71.   I think the backs of the blades look worn almost clean, too.  Or is it a trick of the light?

Here are some new 109 Gustavs' painted for desert use (thank you RBrown):

 

 

I feel this model is going to be in for some hairspray use.  I mix my own paints from artist acrylics, and I've found, that rather than chipping, they tend to wear off the solid paint and hairspray much like whitewash would wear off armor in the spring.  At least that's what happened in previous experiments with the hairspray technique.  Famous last words.

 

A fourth photo from port-front would really make my day...lol

 

Gaz

[Gazzas]

19 hours ago, Alain Gadbois said:

Hi Gaz,

Just a hunch, but it looks like it could be burned off paint as a result of a fire. Perhaps a not very successful attempt to damage the plane to prevent its capture.

 

Alain 

 

7 hours ago, BloorwestSiR said:

Nice recovery there Gaz. I'm thinking that Alain mar be right in that it look likes fire damage to me as well.

 

Carl

 

It's an interesting place for a limited fire.  As I'm going to build it in a worn-but-airworthy, I won't even attempt the burn spot.  If it were taken in Sicily, I might have thought it was from an errant blob of phosphorus as the the Allies started using it there.

 

Gaz

[Gazzas]

Baby Steps:

 

Started work on the cockpit as well as fabricating the dust filter.  The cockpit has a little PE.

 

There was a seat tub in PE, but I figured the plastic seat looked good enough.

 

Cheers,

 

Gaz

 

[Gazzas]

After a weekend at QMHE and a day at work, I have a rostered day off for me.  So, I've done some work on my G2...  Gotta remember to change the title.

 

Anyway.  Some work on the cockpit.   My RLM 66 seems a little dark.  I may give it a wash or two to lighten it a bit.

 

And some work against the "mad Trumpet riveter" that I've heard about.  I used Mr. Dissolved Putty and a paint brush.

I want to sand off most of the excess before I glue everything together.  I don't want too much dust on the inside.   Then I can test my work with some sprayed acrylic paint that I'll was off.  My greatest fear is that I'll have to refill most of it again due to shrinkage.

 

Gonna give it a couple days to dry.

 

Gaz

[Daniel Leduc]

I love your pit  my friend, nice weathering and not that dark.  

 

Dan.

[AceofClubs]

A 109 is always welcome! Nice start. 

Did you have some more info's about puttying and sanding of panel lines? Why? to increase topo speed? Very interesting news even if, imho, I have some doubt that this process was applied on lower wing surfaces unless removing the wing and giving a 180 degrees turn. Poor guy who was ordered to do this tedious job!

I'm looking for next steps.

Ciao

Filippo

 

 

[monthebiff]

On 8/28/2018 at 5:58 AM, Gazzas said:

After a weekend at QMHE and a day at work, I have a rostered day off for me.  So, I've done some work on my G2...  Gotta remember to change the title.

 

Anyway.  Some work on the cockpit.   My RLM 66 seems a little dark.  I may give it a wash or two to lighten it a bit.

 

And some work against the "mad Trumpet riveter" that I've heard about.  I used Mr. Dissolved Putty and a paint brush.

I want to sand off most of the excess before I glue everything together.  I don't want too much dust on the inside.   Then I can test my work with some sprayed acrylic paint that I'll was off.  My greatest fear is that I'll have to refill most of it again due to shrinkage.

 

Gonna give it a couple days to dry.

 

Gaz

 

Nice work Gaz, the Mr Dissolved putty works great and doesn't really shrink, I've used it a few times as you have filling rivets in fuselage halves and had great results.

 

Regards. Andy 

[Gazzas]

15 hours ago, AceofClubs said:

A 109 is always welcome! Nice start. 

Did you have some more info's about puttying and sanding of panel lines? Why? to increase topo speed? Very interesting news even if, imho, I have some doubt that this process was applied on lower wing surfaces unless removing the wing and giving a 180 degrees turn. Poor guy who was ordered to do this tedious job!

I'm looking for next steps.

Ciao

Filippo

 

 

Hi  Fillipo,

     Thank you.  I wasn't really certain about the underside of the wing, and used the following reasons to fill those lines and rivets.

A.  The factory fresh 109's, still carrying their original call letters could have easily had them puttied and sanded at the factory before they were attached to the fuselage.

 

B.  I once saw some profiles on late-war 109's, one of which didn't have any paint on the underside, but it did have some putty in some of the seams.

 

Should I trust a profile?  Why not....  

 

As far as why it was done, I can only surmise it was for speed.   

 

Gaz

Edited August 30, 2018 by Gazzas
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[Alain Gadbois]

I agree with you Gaz. For the Trump kit, of course, the reason is to get rid of the oversize rivets, not to reproduce a feature of the real aircraft!

 

Alain

[Gazzas]

4 hours ago, Alain Gadbois said:

I agree with you Gaz. For the Trump kit, of course, the reason is to get rid of the oversize rivets, not to reproduce a feature of the real aircraft!

 

Alain

I have a Trumpeter P-40 which also has to receive the same treatment...and then be re-riveted...As well as lightly and selectively tin-canned.  At least I don't need to re-rivet this 109.

 

Gaz

[Gazzas]

I haven't been moving especially fast on this one.  Filling and sanding and refilling... I know you all know the story.

 

As I am making a plane with puttied and filled panel lines and rivets, I expected a fair bit of work.  But even if I hadn't planned on filling those features, the Trumpet Mad rivetter would  have made me.  It's not that I have anything against rivets per se. 

But many of the rivet holes weren't even perpendicular to the skin of the aircraft.

 

I have a Trumpy P-40 to fill and re-rivet in my future....  blehhh

 

Then today I applied a coat of black lacquer and found a lot of partially filled rivet holes.  I decided to follow another modeller's lead and do some filling with enamel paint.  The first layer of enamel filler was yellow and the second was a more gluggy flesh color.

 

So, now I'm gonna let that dry for a few days and get nice and hard before I begin sanding again.

 

I had imagined with the viscosity of Mr. Dissolved putty that it would have filled better and required fewer do-overs.

 

I'm very tempted to try to make an ultra-thin mixture of sprue glue and see if I can use it without too many stringies.   Hate stringies...  like when you have too much cheese in your bowl of chili.

 

Anyway.... 

 

Thanks for looking.

 

Gaz

[Alain Gadbois]

Fill in, sand, fill, sand, paint, sand, paint more, sand again....Not my favorite part, but it has to be done when needed.

Was tempted but might not get a Trumpeter 109 now.

Nice work!

Alain

[Gazzas]

Yeah, I found the oval shaped rivet holes a real disappointment.  The rubber tires don't thrill me, either.  I will probably put the spinner boss in my Dremel and try to change the profile a little.  The only other bad things have been the lack of fuel pipe on the starboard side of the cockpit, and trying to align the exhaust stubs.  In the end, I ripped them all from the engine block, drilled holes to pin them.  I feel the shape if the fuselage and wings looks right.  So, I'll plug on happily.

 

Gaz

[Gazzas]

I fear this project is about to die.  I have filled and refilled the same spots time and again.  The first, major fill was with  Mr. Dissolved Putty.  Since then I have used Mr. Dissolved Putty, CA, Lacquer Paint, Enamel Paint, and even Future to try to fill the shallow, recalcitrant features.

 

I can only come to one conclusion:  That the upper surfaces of Mr. Dissolved Putty will not hold another material through the sanding process.  I think that as the surface is sanded, and stresses are put on the joint between Mr. Dissolved Putty and the hardened chemical above it, the Mr. Dissolved putty must just break off in fine or microscopic amounts.  I probably won't use it again.

 

 So, it's looking like this kit is on it's way to the SOD or spare parts bin.  I have another Trumpy kit with a lot of rivets to fill.  I believe I will have to sacrifice an entire bottle of Tamiya Extra Thin to make sprue glue.

 

If anyone has any other ideas, I'm up to reading them.

 

Gaz

 

[LSP_Kevin]

Gaz, my go-to solution in situations like this is a 50/50 mix of CA gel and talcum powder. Mix it thoroughly to form a gritty paste, roughly the consistency of toothpaste, and apply it as required. The advantages of this mix are that it doesn't cure anywhere near as hard straight CA does, and has much better filling properties. Leave it a few hours to cure fully (the thicker the application, the longer it takes to dry, obviously enough), and then carefully sand out as you would any other filler. It feathers beautifully, and can be rescribed more easily than most fillers (including straight CA).

 

Anyway, it's something to try before binning the project.

 

Kev