Greg W Posted April 19, 2020 Share Posted April 19, 2020 (edited) Three days ago I was doing a deep dive into the stash, looking for parts that might be useful to add to a model on my bench. In one of the boxes in my garage, was a 1/48 Hasegawa Bf109F partially completed, that was packed away in 1998. I actually think that it was my growing interest in building 1/32 aircraft models that shelved this project. This model has been through several moves, including three or four years in a storage unit. It's a miracle that it has survived as well as it has! I want to finish it partly for old times sake but also because it deserves to be finished, just for surviving this long. Was it possible I could locate the missing parts? Unbelievably, I unearthed all of the missing parts, half a day later, fished out of four different boxes in the garage and in my apartment. The one casualty was the markings, so I have ordered a sheet of unit markings. Combined with some leftover 109 stencil decals/national markings I have on hand, I will probably chose a 1942 RLM 74, 75, 76 paint job. An enjoyable look through my library will provide the specific scheme. The only other thing I want to add is a Quickboost exhaust set, which is somewhere in my parts bin. This is how the model looked on its return to the work bench: The Aries cockpit is really great. It looks like I used white glue for the lens on the gun site, which is cloudy now. I'll pop it out and either use a clear plastic disc or future for that. The shoulder harnesses are gone too but that's an easy and enjoyable detail to add. Edited February 2, 2023 by Greg W Derek B, Sasha As, dodgem37 and 7 others 10 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Greg W Posted April 19, 2020 Author Share Posted April 19, 2020 (edited) Originally, when I started the kit, I wanted to do a North African tropical version, so I had glued the air filter to the intake. Now I want to do a Russian JG 52 scheme, which means the filter had to be taken off. Removing it damaged the leading edge of the opening, so I glued on a styrene disk with Tamiya Extra Thin Cement and let it dry overnight. After drilling a hole in the center of the disk, the opening was enlarged with a reamer but because the reamer was conical shaped, there was some very thin plastic "flash" on the trailing edge of the white evergreen lip. It was proving hard to clean up because the tools normally used to scrape or sand something like this away, were to big to fit into the small opening that close to the engine cowl. A quickly improvised tool got the job done. A small strip of brass sheet bent at a right angle, chucked into a pin vice allowed me to scrape out the inside of the scoop and get it clean of the flakey plastic. I don't have a before picture of the intake but it was pretty chewed up... All cleaned up, inside and out. Edited July 8, 2020 by GDW coogrfan, Gazzas, Landrotten Highlander and 10 others 13 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Greg W Posted April 19, 2020 Author Share Posted April 19, 2020 (edited) The plane is just about ready for paint. I do have to scratch up a pitot tube yet. Edited April 19, 2020 by GDW coogrfan, Derek B, Troy Molitor and 6 others 9 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Greg W Posted April 19, 2020 Author Share Posted April 19, 2020 I would like to try out EZ Line for the antenna, what size should I use for a 1/48 109? Thanks, Greg Kagemusha and mpk 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LSP_K2 Posted April 19, 2020 Share Posted April 19, 2020 Excellent fix on the intake too. Greg W and mpk 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Greg W Posted May 14, 2020 Author Share Posted May 14, 2020 (edited) I finally found the Quick Boost resin exhaust set. The product title is, QB 48 110 Messerschmitt Bf 109F Exhaust. The parts look great and are a perfect drop fit. Exhaust shrouds are the kit parts which have been modified by thinning down the edges. Edited May 14, 2020 by GDW Squizzy 78, Sasha As, Gazzas and 5 others 8 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
D.B. Andrus Posted May 20, 2020 Share Posted May 20, 2020 Excellent rescue of the air intake. Looking forward to this one in paint. Cheers, Damian Greg W 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Greg W Posted June 19, 2020 Author Share Posted June 19, 2020 (edited) I ran across a video on YouTube by AK Interactive, demonstrating the use of their rust and streaking effects weathering pencil set. In the demonstration, they were applied to the model using a wet on wet technique. Sometimes the pencils were dipped in water and then used directly on the model surface, sometimes the modeler used a paint brush dipped in water and then picked up pigment from the end of a pencil and painted the color on. A makeup sponge was used to apply the pencil color as well. Water and a brush was then used to blend and soften color edges. This process looked easy and fun to do so I bought the set (AK10041) to experiment with. Here's a link to the video: Combination of Weathering Pencils and Enamels on a rusty drum Of the five pencils in the set, I used three on the exhaust: mostly medium rust and dark rust. Just a little light rust was stippled around and blended into the darker colors. Before applying the weathering pencils, I airbrushed the exhausts with some Tamiya flat light grey paint. Edited June 19, 2020 by GDW Sasha As, dodgem37, MikeC and 3 others 6 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Greg W Posted July 1, 2020 Author Share Posted July 1, 2020 (edited) Here, you can see some detail added to the main landing gear using 0.3mm copper wire. The section of white wire insulation is 3/4" long. Edited July 1, 2020 by GDW Sasha As, MikeC, dodgem37 and 1 other 4 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Greg W Posted July 1, 2020 Author Share Posted July 1, 2020 (edited) Ready for paint. Edited July 1, 2020 by GDW mpk, Derek B, dodgem37 and 1 other 4 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Greg W Posted July 1, 2020 Author Share Posted July 1, 2020 (edited) Some old paint for an old model. I have just five bottles of AeroMaster paint and the one can of airbrush thinner, left over from the same era as the kit. Seems appropriate to use it on this model. Plus, I don't think it will be good for much longer anyway. Amazingly, the seals are intact and no thinner has leached out of its can. Edited July 1, 2020 by GDW LSP_K2, Derek B and mpk 3 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Greg W Posted July 1, 2020 Author Share Posted July 1, 2020 (edited) The AeroMaster RLM 02 sprayed beautifully, didn't even need to thin it. Interestingly, upon opening the bottle of paint and can of airbrush thinner, I saw why the contents of each container have survived intact after all this time. The opening of the jar of paint had a thick disc of plastic film glued over the top, sealing everything completely. The airbrush thinner can had a metal plug, tightly capping off the opening. AeroMaster paint was made by Floquil. Modern paint manufacturers should take notes on the quality and design of this packaging, it's the best I've seen. I purchased this stuff back in '98 or '99 and it is not just useable but as good as the day it showed up in the mail. Edited July 1, 2020 by GDW Derek B, Sepp, mpk and 2 others 5 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dodgem37 Posted July 1, 2020 Share Posted July 1, 2020 Good show. Sincerely, Mark Greg W and mpk 1 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Greg W Posted July 1, 2020 Author Share Posted July 1, 2020 Thanks Mark, nice to have you check in! mpk 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Greg W Posted July 1, 2020 Author Share Posted July 1, 2020 (edited) The detail on the kits pitot is quite soft. Plus, it's extremely fragile. I replaced it with some Albion Alloys telescoping tube. Edited July 1, 2020 by GDW mpk, rafju, Gazzas and 2 others 3 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts
Create an account or sign in to comment
You need to be a member in order to leave a comment
Create an account
Sign up for a new account in our community. It's easy!
Register a new accountSign in
Already have an account? Sign in here.
Sign In Now