1/32 Hasegawa Bf109K-4 Weisse 8

[Antonio Argudo]

it is kind hard to find period  pics that show  that area, that relic posted early is the only prove I know,  I've seen  many inaccurate drawings out there, the  factory  drawings don't depict that detail,   some pics of  a "K" model  from  the Arsenal 45 guys

 cheers 

[MikeMaben]

Not questioning your point Antonio.  Your photo of the actual part looks genuine.

Just saying that it may have been a part made by different suppliers. 

Here's a pic of what looks like an E-3 or earlier with a retro fitted armor plate

and looks like one hand hold as well.  Odd I must say. 

 

 

Thanks for the general arrangement drawing  

 

 

Edited November 27, 2019 by MikeMaben

[dodgem37]

This is really nice work, Thunnus.  The wheel wells look painfully familiar.  Who manufactured them?  Page 212 of the Bf109K-4 Flugzeug Handbook shows a wheels up/down indicator.  I'll post the page later.  Still looking for a handhold CD.

 

Sincerely,

Mark

[Thunnus]

Thanks guys!  Great information about the handholds.  Like I mentioned, I'm going with the single just because its easier for me having had a hard time making two match.

 

7 hours ago, dodgem37 said:

This is really nice work, Thunnus.  The wheel wells look painfully familiar.  Who manufactured them?  Page 212 of the Bf109K-4 Flugzeug Handbook shows a wheels up/down indicator.  I'll post the page later.  Still looking for a handhold CD.

 

Sincerely,

Mark

 

Thanks Mark!  The wheel wells are a photoetch set from RB Productions (Radu).  They fit very well and I highly recommend them, if anyone is interested in using them.  I've heard mention of a landing gear indicator on the top of the wings but have not seen an references so that would be very helpful!

 

The gun cowling over the engine has been glued into place.  A glue joint that occurs on a panel line can be a delicate situation.  Unless you pull it off perfectly, there is usually a bit of excess glue and plastic to clean up.

 

The oil cooler intake below the engine was also glued into place.  I'll have to do some minor filling and clean up here still.

 

Time to hit the lightbox and see the model with wings and stabilizers dry-fitted.  Starting to look like a Messerschmitt now.

[Kagemusha]

Looks terrific. 

[monthebiff]

Shaping up nicely!

 

Regards. Andy 

[Thunnus]

Thank you for the comments!

 

I've replaced the hatch behind the pilot's head with a piece of brass.  I've placed the kit part in front of the new hatch to show the differences in the hatch shape based on the photo references I have of the K-4.

 

For those of you that are not familiar with the utility of Milliput, here is an example of the type of fine filling you do, taking advantage of the water-solubility of this putty.  And remember... this is the initial application, no sanding whatsoever.

 

The wingtip lights have been glued into place.  The bulb areas were already recessed into the kit part so all I had to do was put a dab of clear red and clear blue paints into the holes. These will be masked off with liquid MicroMask.

 

The resin prop blades have been glued onto the ends of cocktail sticks to provide a handle for painting.

 

While applying the base silver coat onto the props, I noticed a little flaw... one tiny air bubble near the edge of the blade.  This will have to fill after the silver paint dries.

 

After a few minor touch-ups, the spinner was given a gloss coat and pastel wash to accent the rivets. A flat coat was applied to seal the wash.  I still have to glue the spinner to the backplate and then paint/weather the backplate to match.

 

Wishing everyone a safe and wonderful Thanksgiving Day!

[Shiba]

Hi,  Here is picture of K-4 landing gear indicator on the top of the wings.

Also you can find them where they are on Hasegawa Bf 109 K-4 1/32  boxart 

 and

If you like to see some more pics,  I can post them too I have several more 

Happy Thanksgiving ! 

 

Regards,

Matsu

 

 

 

[Shiba]

One more pic so you can see how they are sticking out from wings and measure how long they are,

To me they are a bit shorter than FW 190.   Hope this can help your K-4 modeling

 

Regards,

Matsu

 

[AceofClubs]

Better and better. IMHO replace the kit fixed tabs on tail with more realistic ones.

Ciao!

Filippo

 

[Thunnus]

Thanks for the comments!

 

This is how I paint my exhausts.  After experimenting with a few paint sequences, I've kind of settled on this routine but will vary it here and there.  I put on a base coat of gloss black first.

 

Over the black, I put on a metallic color.  It doesn't really matter since it will get covered up but any darkish metal shade would work.  In this case, I've used Alclad Dark Aluminum.

 

Next I use Alclad Exhaust Manifold in irregular swipes with the airbrush to give the exhausts a brownish tinge.

 

I mix up a small amount of orange/red/brown rust color and dry dab it onto the exhaust in patches.  I like how this removes some of the uniformity from the exhausts.

 

Finally, I use a piece of post-it to isolate each tip and spray a thinned black into the hollowed out openings.  This again helps to remove some of the uniformity from the exhaust row and makes each pipe kind of stand out on its own.

 

Here's what the painted exhaust stacks look mounted in the fuselage.  I can set these aside for now and glue them in at the end of the build.

 

The clear parts have been polished and dipped into Future.  Remember, the cross-section of the canopy and the fuselage spine has been re-sculpted to remove some of the "squareness" of the original kit.

[rigor]

Looking good  your getting there 

[Gazzas]

The office looks great!  I find the single hand-hold very interesting.  Just another one of those great variations.

[D.B. Andrus]

Looks great, John, especially the exhausts.

 

One small thing - the wingtip light covers were not clear plex, they were tinted red/port and green/stbd. The bulbs themselves were clear.

 

HTH,

 

D.B.

[Thunnus]

4 hours ago, D.B. Andrus said:

Looks great, John, especially the exhausts.

 

One small thing - the wingtip light covers were not clear plex, they were tinted red/port and green/stbd. The bulbs themselves were clear.

 

HTH,

 

D.B.

 

Ahhhh... thanks for that clarification.  I'll have to address that after painting!  Should be an easy fix!

 

I got a surprise package in the post today.  A prototype landing gear replacement set for the Hasegawa kit!  As this is not released to the public yet, I've been asked to give an evaluation and keep the source anonymous for now.  :shutup:

 

The landing gear struts are an ingenious mixed media product comprised of a stainless steel tube core, which lends strength to the legs and also gives the oleos a shiny metal finish without having to paint it.  The rest of the landing gear leg is molded in resin using the kit landing gear as a master mold.  As you can see, the metal extends into the mounting peg, which should make the legs significantly stiffer/stronger than plastic or pure resin legs.  The molding edge is thoughtfully placed so that is will be hidden from view by the landing gear covers.

 

The landing gear legs are basically identical to the kit gear legs, with the exception of the additional tow eye that was placed at the wheel end of the leg.  All of the mounting tabs and sockets are replicated as to work seamless with the kit parts.  I've already verified that these fit very positively into the wing bottoms.  Casting is of the highest quality with no visible roughness or air bubbles.

 

I love the ingenuity of the mixed media approach.  Metal legs are nice but they can be a pain to clean up.  The resin is much easier to handle and the metal tube gives the legs an upgrade in strength. Double thumbs-up from me!