1/32 Hasegawa Bf109K-4 Weisse 8

[rafju]

Hi All

hi Matsu @Shiba

Thank you very much for translation! 100% ok about Model Art  book!

About the aileron balance, ok that's confirming what Vincent said, but about the filling hatch, are you sure about oxygen? would have preferred compressed "air" as the oxygen filling was under the starboard wing, no? Please have a look at the Augsbourg Eagle Model Art book p.138.

In fact that is my pb, was there a filling hatch for air compressed under the port wing? (Mk108 use) , knowing and confirmed now that there was a filling hatch for oxygen under the starboard wing.

Why  my question? because each time I found at a Bf109 K-4 underside drawing (Model Art, JaPo, Kagero, 109Lair...), I can see at x2 new additionnal hatches under wings:

and joined explanation are sometimes contradictory from port to starboard between compressed air and oxygen.

 

 

And don't worry for your english ;-) I'm french…

 

Best to you

Raph

Edited May 21, 2019 by rafju

[Guest Vincent]

2 hours ago, rafju said:

Hi All

hi Matsu @Shiba

Thank you very much for translation! 100% ok about Model Art  book!

About the aileron balance, ok that's confirming what Vincent said, but about the filling hatch, are you sure about oxygen? would have preferred compressed "air" as the oxygen filling was under the starboard wing, no?

In fact that is my pb, was there a filling hatch for air compressed under the port wing? (Mk108 use) , knowing and confirmed now that there was a filling hatch for oxygen under the starboard wing.

Why  my question? because each time I found at a Bf109 K-4 underside drawing (Model Art, JaPo, Kagero, 109Lair...), I can see at x2 new additionnal hatches under wings:

and joined explanation are sometimes contradictory from port to starboard between compressed air and oxygen.

 

 

And don't worry for your english ;-) I'm french…

 

Best to you

Raph

 

I think you should not get too fixated on that plan. It's not 100% accurate. For ex you can see that it shows the early G6 style belly panel. We know for a fact that the K4 used a different panel without the vents (in fact this model of vents was discontinued in the end of 1943)

 

The plan maker might have supposed that the hatch was for the MK108 compressed air but we know it's not the case as the the bottles were refilled from what used to be the 20mm ammo loading hatch on top of the wing.

 

As i said earlier, this hatch is documented both in tech drawings from MTT and on some photos but it is not associated with any system. It might simply have been a provision for future use

[Thunnus]

Thanks for the discussion guys!  It's great to have such detailed information on this build thread... very useful, not only for my build but for others as well.  I also have a copy of the Model Art book and drawings and agree that they are a good reference but with all references, not assumed to be 100% correct.  I will probably use the scale drawings for a riveting guide.

 

The corners of the K-4 canopy are rounded off with a coarse sanding stick.

 

The buggy camera refused to focus on this part so I had to put a black mark on it.  Although I've rounded off the corners, you can see that the rear of the canopy still has a slight flat spot compared to the reference cross section.  I'm hesitant on making any more significant changes due to the thinness of the clear part.

 

Here's the corrected canopy sitting upon the corrected fuselage.  I've filled in the fuel hatches on the spine and will scribe new ones.  The canopy has been polished with Novus plastic polish but aren't crystal clear.  I'll have to give them another round of polishing and maybe a dip in Future.

[Guest Vincent]

Ah, i found what the left wing hatch was for : It's documented as the filler hatch for the KGM1 system which was never installed to my knowledge on any K4.

 

The GM1 setup in the left wing is documented in great details but i don't recall it being installed on production a/c

 

The documentation implies that if the system was not installed, the hatch was not present, which would explain why most K4 pictures do not show that hatch

Edited May 21, 2019 by Vincent/MDC

[Shiba]

On 5/21/2019 at 1:52 AM, rafju said:

Hi All

hi Matsu @Shiba

Thank you very much for translation! 100% ok about Model Art  book!

About the aileron balance, ok that's confirming what Vincent said, but about the filling hatch, are you sure about oxygen? would have preferred compressed "air" as the oxygen filling was under the starboard wing, no? Please have a look at the Augsbourg Eagle Model Art book p.138.

In fact that is my pb, was there a filling hatch for air compressed under the port wing? (Mk108 use) , knowing and confirmed now that there was a filling hatch for oxygen under the starboard wing.

Why  my question? because each time I found at a Bf109 K-4 underside drawing (Model Art, JaPo, Kagero, 109Lair...), I can see at x2 new additionnal hatches under wings:

and joined explanation are sometimes contradictory from port to starboard between compressed air and oxygen.

 

 

And don't worry for your english ;-) I'm french…

 

Best to you

Raph

Hi, Raph 　 I just translate what is drawing said （酸素＝Oxygen,　Air=空気）

 

This drawing is not 100% accurate,  Oxygen tank should be at starboard side of wing  just like this  book of p.138 said.　

And I believe most of K-4 have landing gear position indicator on the wing (like Fw190) but this drawing don't show them.

 

Oh well  I guess I should not say this book is very much accurate but who is 100% ? 

 

Regards,

Matsu.

 

 

Edited May 28, 2019 by Shiba

[Thunnus]

Just a few odds and ends to re-orient myself with the build.  The access panel on the bottom of the fuselage is molded too softly so I am going to fill it with CA glue and re-scribe it.

 

Added some bits of plastic and brass to make a bracket for the drop tank strap.

 

The horizontal stabilizers have been given a coat of Mr Surfacer 1200 and marked with a pencil for riveting.

 

And I've received the MDC cockpit decals from Vincent K!  Thanks so much for your generous contribution to this build!  Can you tell me where the blue SAUERSSTOFF decal (7) and the red bolt markings (8) go?  I think I know where the other markings belong.

[D.B. Andrus]

John

 

The specific recessed lines in the horizontal stabilizer kit parts are to depict the metal protective edge for a wooden tail-plane. Since you're adding rivets for a metal stabilizer these lines should be filled. Also, with the metal tail-plane the rivets should stop before the front edge as there was doped tape covering the leading edge up to the removable tip section.

 

Hope this bit of trivia helps.

 

D.B.

[Thunnus]

15 hours ago, D.B. Andrus said:

John

 

The specific recessed lines in the horizontal stabilizer kit parts are to depict the metal protective edge for a wooden tail-plane. Since you're adding rivets for a metal stabilizer these lines should be filled. Also, with the metal tail-plane the rivets should stop before the front edge as there was doped tape covering the leading edge up to the removable tip section.

 

Hope this bit of trivia helps.

 

D.B.

 

It helps tremendously, Damian!  Thank you for this information.  Honestly, I was in auto-pilot mode when I was preparing the stabilizer parts for riveting.  I was seeing the depiction of the metal panel leading edge and wondering why certain panel lines were missing but it wasn't registering in my brain until I read your post.  Ahhh... it's WOOD... that's why!  Unfortunately, I've laid down the rivets on one of the stabs already but have started to fill them.

[D.B. Andrus]

The tail-plane could be wood or metal. Hasegawa decided to mold the appearance of wood. You don't necessarily need to undo your rivets.

 

D.B.

 

PS: The Planes of Fame WNF G-10 has wooden tail-planes with the metal protective strip. All K-4's were either MTT(vast majority) or Erla.

[Thunnus]

11 minutes ago, D.B. Andrus said:

The tail-plane could be wood or metal. Hasegawa decided to mold the appearance of wood. You don't necessarily need to undo your rivets.

 

D.B.

 

PS: The Planes of Fame WNF G-10 has wooden tail-planes with the metal protective strip. All K-4's were either MTT(vast majority) or Erla.

 

 

Understood.  I can either remove the metal plate on the stabs (which is actually raised), scribe the missing panel lines and apply rivets OR remove the rivets.  I'm choosing to go with the latter and portray the wooden tail unit.

[Thunnus]

I've pretty much taken care of the rivets on the horizontal stabilizers.  It took a couple of rounds of filling though.  When the Mr Surfacer failed to fill the holes, I resorted to Black CA glue, which I probably should've started with.

 

The loop antenna on fuselage spine is a good replacement for replacement since the plastic loop is so thick.

 

I used my trusty piece of Coke can to fashion a new loop.

 

The FuG whip antenna and the pitot tube were similarly upgraded.

[D.B. Andrus]

John

 

Here are a couple of shots of the Moraine mast.

 

 

 

HTH,

 

D.B.

[D.B. Andrus]

John

 

As a heads-up before you get there, Hasegawa has gotten a detail wrong in their interpretation of  the outer landing gear door, Restabdekung, specific to the K-4.

 

As can be seen in the these photos the gear door did not have a discernible bulge on its external surface for tire clearance - the door looks to only follow the curvature of the under wing and was sheeted with a thin material that was most likely aluminum, but also could have been steel.

 

 

 

 

The internal structure of the Restabdekung was constructed of wood as so many late war a/c parts were. You can just make out in this photo, of a relic example, the depression in the center for tire clearance. There is evidence of a small patch of blue paint with the remaining primer.

 

 

This drawing from J.C. Mermet helps clarify the above image:

 

 

 

My thanks to members of the Luftwaffe Research Group and especially Vincent/MDC for their help in researching this obscure detail.

 

HTH,

 

D.B

 

My thanks to members of the Luftwaffe Research Group and especially Vincent/MDC for their help in researching this obscure detail.

[Kais]

Thunnus, great work !

I'll be corrected if I'm wrong, (and that's good) but with reference to the canopy to fuselage fit; the rear edge of the canopy frame lapped over the fuselage a little.

Edit to include ; largescaleplanes.com/index.php?/topic/71741-revell-132-bf109g-10-erla/page/4/

 

Post by Airfixer Nov 18, 2017

I now realise that this is NOT your first Rodeo .

I don't really know whether that makes your journey harder or easier, just take it under advisement.

Edited June 3, 2019 by Kais
Spell check BEFORE post.

[Thunnus]

Thank you for the comments!  To Damian... Thank you for the additional details regarding the antenna mast.  It makes sense that there would be an airfoil shape instead of the square cross-section represented by the kit part.  I'll see what I can do about that!  And the absence of the external bulge on the main gear doors should be correctable.  I''ll have to refer to the kit parts to confirm.  To Kais... Thank you for the comment about the canopy.  Based on my understanding of Airfixer's comments on my G-10 build, the overlap between the rear edge of the canopy and the fuselage was a feature of the early Galland hood that were retrofitted to existing 109G airframes.  And not a feature of the later G-10 and K-4 models?  I was not planning on trying to replicate this overlap.

 

June is a very busy month for me, fishing and family-wise so my work on Weisse 8 and the Corsair will be limited.  I DID get my camera situation resolved however.  I just received a replacement for the balky Canon S100...

 

This Canon Powershot S110 was purchased used from EBay for less than $100.

 

A preliminary test was conducted to see if the focusing and exposure compensation features were working correctly.  The camera seems to work a-ok.  As you can see, I've started to clean up the Henri Daehne resin spinner.