1/32 Hasegawa Bf109K-4 Weisse 8

[D.B. Andrus]

1 hour ago, Thunnus said:

 

......seems to indicate that the gun troughs were bottomless under the gun barrels to allow the cowling to open? 

 

The trough openings themselves were "bottomless", however there was a 1/2 section of tube under the muzzles to protect the engine area from muzzle blast.

 

And the radio hatch? Is that the hatch on the port side of the fuselage? 

 

Yes, the radio hatch shape is accurate for a G-10, not a K-4.

 

Just confused because I asked about the hatch behind the pilot and I don't think you're referring to that hatch.

 

You're correct, my mistake.

 

 

 

 

 

[Guest Vincent]

1 hour ago, Thunnus said:

 

 

9 hours ago, rafju said:

Following the info from Vincent, about the wing contents… through this drawing, the hatch named oxy filling must be round, and under the left wing (normally called "portside") what is the 2nd hatch filling for? compressed air tank or ?

 

 

Hi

 

Underneath the right wing there was a round hatch, made exactly like the O2 hatch on the G6 version, and with the same marking (blue and white circle).

 

Here is  a photo of a K4 wings showing this hatch in great details -.inside of the cross.

 

 

We provided a scribing template for the wing hatch as well as the correct decal for the 30mm MK108 wing air filling hatch in our Me109K4 cockpit:

 

http://acc.kitreview.com/mdc32031reviewbg_1.htm

 

We also provided all needed cockpit decals (circuit breaker list, luggage hatch warning label

Edited April 30, 2019 by Vincent/MDC

[Thunnus]

1 hour ago, D.B. Andrus said:

 

 

Brilliant!  Great picture Damian and that solves my dilemma about the troughs since the kit seems to correct in this regard.

 

 

1 hour ago, Vincent/MDC said:

 

 

Hi

 

Underneath the right wing there was a round hatch, made exactly like the O2 hatch on the G6 version, and with the same marking (blue and white circle).

 

Here is  a photo of a K4 wings showing this hatch in great details -.inside of the cross.

 

 

We provided a scribing template for the wing hatch as well as the correct decal for the 30mm MK108 wing air filling hatch in our Me109K4 cockpit:

 

http://acc.kitreview.com/mdc32031reviewbg_1.htm

 

We also provided all needed cockpit decals (circuit breaker list, luggage hatch warning label

 

Thank you for the clarification Vincent!  I guess I can replace the elliptical hatch under the right wing and replace it with a circular one.   I can probably cobble together some markings for it using spare decals and some careful masking.

[Thunnus]

My mind is torn between two builds right now.  I'm kinda mentally stuck on the Corsair build but mind's not free enough to jump into the K-4 build so I'm just doodling with both right now.  I've thinned out the small air scoops on the nose of the K-4.

 

I've hacked off the molded open tail wheel doors.  Most K-4's have the doors permanently shut and that's how I'm going to configure this one.

 

The cockpit resin has been given a coat of primer (Mr Surfacer 1200).

 

In addition to the trim wheel from the Hasegawa kit, the only thing that I've added to the resin is a small throttle lever made of one of those small molding pips you find on the end of kit part.

 

Here's the primed cockpit dry-fitted into the fuselage again.

 

I think the best thing for this K-4 build would be to overcome the mental hurdle of the Corsair build.  I hope that happens soon!

[Guest Vincent]

Add a little strip of plastic card at the end of your throttle to figure the manual prop pitch control and it will be perfect

 

[Thunnus]

4 hours ago, Vincent/MDC said:

Add a little strip of plastic card at the end of your throttle to figure the manual prop pitch control and it will be perfect

 

 

That seems very do-able but don't expect any text on the throttle knob... that's beyond me!

 

Going back to the photo that DB posted.  Were the cowl guns staggered on the K-4?

[Guest Vincent]

3 minutes ago, Thunnus said:

 

That seems very do-able but don't expect any text on the throttle knob... that's beyond me!

 

Going back to the photo that DB posted.  Were the cowl guns staggered on the K-4?

 

no, not staggered

[Thunnus]

Thank you Vincent!

 

I opened up the ammo chutes on the bottom insert piece.

 

I then used it as a mask to mark where I'll need to punch holes in the bottom wing section.

 

I'm going to perform some modifications to this bottom wing section but I've been running into some questions about the specifics.  So leaving that for now, I turned back to the cockpit.  The Eagle Editions cockpit comes with brass foot pedals.  I mangled the straps but they are supposed to be leather so some wrinkles shouldn't hurt.

 

The cockpit parts... primed and ready for painting. I want to chip the back rest and the seat so the back rest was painted silver and the seat tan (the bucket seat was wooden on the K-4).

 

I gave the sidewalls a base coat of black and shot it only from the bottom leaving the upward facing surfaces unpainted.  I'm hoping to get a shadow effect.

 

Here are the cockpit parts after basic painting.  RLM 66 Dark Grey (Mr Hobby Aqueous) for most of the parts.

 

I usually paint the foot rests and the control stick in a lighter grey to give some contrast to the cockpit.

 

I've glued the bucket onto the seat back and sprayed it with Mig Scratches Effect.  I've learned to like this product as it can produce some really fine chipping details, which is great for cockpit work.  Hope I didn't jinx myself!

[F-4Phanwell]

Great work again John, i keep at ball......

[Guest Vincent]

I would remove the pedal straps and replace them with a lead foil strip. They are way too thin and the late war ones often did not have a buckle. Below picture is from a G10

 

 

Edited May 3, 2019 by Vincent/MDC

[AceofClubs]

Great work Thunnus!. I like the tan seat. I'm looking for next wips

Ciao

F

[StefanGebhardt]

I am following this built closely and I am amazed by the input and help across the board. I am not an expert for the K-4 version but I do have quite a number of books from JaPo covering the subject. One item which puzzles me is the positioning of the ejector port for the MK 108 gun. According to the K-4 Tweak List V1.0 it is missing and it needs to be added to the right side. Here is the quote covering this topic, the relevant part is highlighted:

 

Quote

K-4s used the Rheinmettal Borsig Mk108 30 mm gun as standard nose gun rather than the MG151 of the previous marks. Accordingly, there was no more spent ammo bin in the belly area, the gun fume belly vents were deleted and an ejector chute offset to the right was added Unfortunately, Hasegawa kept the G6-like belly panel with the breech exhaust gas vents. Fill in the vents, cut out the Mk108 ejection slot and possibly add a plastic card-made box to add depth to the chute.

 

I assume that the described change is based on the description on this side: http://www.clubhyper.com/reference/k4bellyvk_1.htm. When it comes to the ejector chute the following picture will be referenced with the quote underneath that it does not show the production version of the K-4:

 

 

The author is describing the changes made to the belly of the K-4 and here starts the part I don't understand. The changes made to the belly (ejector chute) of the kit are exactly replicating what we see in the prototype picture extracted from a K-4 Flugzeug-Handbuch (which version?). Please have a look at the comparison below. I turned the pic of the modified belly by 180 degree to make it more obvious. The positioning is matching!

 

 

I managed to find the Werkschrift 2109 K-4 Teil 1, 2, 3, 4, 5 - Bf 109 K-4 Flugzeug-Handbuch Stand Oktober 1944, Ausgabe November 1944 (link at the end of the post) and it contains a mirrored version of the photo above. The fact that it shows the mirrored version of the belly has also an impact on the positioning of the extra valve! In addition both versions of the picture does not show the extra pin added to the top of the belly.

 

 

To add some more confusion I would like to add a quote from the JaPo Messerschmitt 109 K-4 book page 79:

 

Quote

A 30mm MK 108 cannon with 65 rounds shot through the hollow airscrew shaft. The gun mount as well as the gun casing in the cockpit had to be completely re-designed in comparison with the Bf 109  G -mounted MG 151/20. The cannon was not fed from port wing magazines not, but the ammounition came to it from the space above the gun where the MK 108 was being fixed in a leteral gun mount. Spent cardriges and belt links fell out under the gun and remained inside the plane.

 

I came across a picture of (what I believe is showing an unidentified wingless K-4 parked close to another K-4) showing the ejector chute on the left side of the fuselage (Source: Messerschmitt Bf 109s of JG 52 in Deutsch Brod).

 

Update: The picture below is not showing a K-4 version, instead a G-10. 

 

 

Nevertheless I am also aware that not all K-4 seems to have an ejector port on the left side or at all (?).

 

 

 

Is there actually the possibility that there three options in place when it comes to this detail? 

 

• Ejector chute on the left
• Ejector chute on the right
• No ejector chute at all (similar to the G-series)

 

The referenced K-4 manual can be found here: K-4 Manual

 

 

Thanks

Stefan

 

PS. English is obviously not my mother tongue... Don't be to harsh :-)

Edited May 4, 2019 by StefanGebhardt
Simplifying the text

[Guest Vincent]

i wrote that article and you can go by it

 

The MK108 ejection port was on the left because of the internals (fuel filters mostly)

[Jerry Crandall]

Looking great, but the wooden seats were painted RLM 66 also.

         Cheers, Jerry

[Guest Vincent]

1 hour ago, Jerry Crandall said:

Looking great, but the wooden seats were painted RLM 66 also.

         Cheers, Jerry

he's going to chip it after painting it rlm66