1/32 Hasegawa Bf109K-4 Weisse 8

[Antonio Argudo]

lovely work  John, definitely looks like a subcontractor  tail in the style of this relic picture, I also have some wooden pieces from a 109 G10  stabilizer which preserve quite well the camo colors, keep this great build coming, cheers

Antonio

 

Edited December 7, 2019 by Antonio Argudo

[Thunnus]

Thanks for the rudder pic, Antonio!  I think the JaPo book has color photos of this same rudder.

 

Made new masks of the tail code.  You can see the previous mask below where the curves of the "3" and the "8" got translated into straight lines.  I figured out that exporting to the oldest DXF format in AutoCAD corrects the problem.  Will have to remember that!

 

The Werknumbers were painted onto the tail using the new masks.

 

Here's a view from underneath showing the previous work closing the tail wheel doors.

 

I've given the tail a gloss coat to seal the paint job and I'll apply the swastika decal tomorrow.

[MikeMaben]

Very nice

 

 

[dodgem37]

 

Sincerely,

Mark

[Troy Molitor]

The camo markings to get period right, make an epic build in my opinion.  So far

, so good..  You’re well on the way John.  Thanks for keeping it pure to the end result.  

[Thunnus]

Thanks guys!

 

I've got two sets of swastikas to choose from... AIMS or Eagle Editions.  The AIMS were my first choice since it is a single decal (simpler) but since they were ever so slightly out of register, I chose to use the two part Eagle Editions decals.  First, the white portion...

 

The decal is going on a smooth surface so I am just using the standard Microset/Microsol process.  The black portion goes on top of the white with careful positioning to make the borders as even as possible.

 

Painting and decaling of the tail unit is done.  I'm debating whether to do the pastel wash on the tail now or wait until the rest of the plane is complete.

[rigor]

Loving this build John. Nice work 

[Thunnus]

Thanks Rigor!

 

I thought it might be easier to orient the tire flat spots without the wings in the way.  I might as well take advantage of the benefits of having the landing gear mounts on the fuselage and not the wings.  And the aftermarket legs have a good, positive fit without too much wiggle.  I used JB Kwik Weld, which starts to cure in a matter of minutes, to attach the wheels to the landing gear legs, allowing me some time to make sure the flat spots on the tires hit the ground correctly.

 

I've painted the elevators but have not glued them in place yet.  I went ahead and applied a pastel wash to the tail unit but haven't sealed it with a flat coat yet.

 

The drop tank has been painted and stenciled.  Still some weathering left to do.

 

I may opt to paint the fuselage before attaching the wings. The wing to fuselage fit isn't perfect but it's pretty good and I don't think the clean-up work around the seams will affect the paint job.

[Antonio Argudo]

great job on those wooden stabilizers John, here is a relic of the same kind and colors, cheers

 

[dodgem37]

You sure do nice work.

 

Sincerely,

Mark

[monthebiff]

Stellar work as always John, nice to see the colour going down now.

 

Regards. Andy 

[Thunnus]

Thanks guys!  Now that I've decided to paint the fuselage before attaching the wings, I can lay down my pre-shading.  First, I do all of the panel lines.

 

I've also did some darkening around various "waste"' areas such as the exhaust and behind the oil cooler.

 

Next, I'll use my brillo pad and splatter templates to add some texture.  In the meantime, I've attached the blades to the prop assembly.

[Out2gtcha]

Looks great! The brillo-pad mottling I've tried, and is very effective IMHO.

 

[dodgem37]

Love that front end.

 

Sincerely,

Mark

[Thunnus]

Thanks for checking in!

 

After the panel lines have been blackened, I go to town on the rest of the airframe, shooting black through pieces of brillo pad and also through a splatter template.  It looks crazy now but there is no such thing as overdone since the camo colors can cover all of this completely, if one wishes.