1998 Shelf of Doom Rescue (1/48 Hasegawa Bf109F/G-2) FINISHED and RFI

[dodgem37]

Been away for a few weeks.  Some really cool stuff going on here.  Great show.

 

Sincerely,

Mark

[Greg W]

More paint! Mr. Hobby Aqueous RLM 74.

 

All thats left now is to spray the fuselage band and lower engine cowel RLM 04.

 

 

 

 

Edited October 19, 2020 by GDW

[Greg W]

 

 

 

[Greg W]

 

I'm getting around to the remaining little things while waiting for paint to dry. 

 

Decals next.

 

 

 

[Greg W]

First round of decal application.  

 

 

 

Edited October 23, 2020 by GDW

[Greg W]

Ok, next up, a little cautionary tale. The plan was to add some dot filtering, using Abteilung 502 oil paint. The top two colors on the wing are Mr. Hobby Aqueous RLM 74 and RLM 75 (new formulation). This is the first time I have airbrushed this paint and should have tested how compatible it is with oils. I wrongly assumed that I would not have to spray a protective clear coat at this point but turns out, ya do. Interestingly, the AK Odorless thinner I used to blend/create filters/remove excess oil paint, did not affect the base color one bit. The oils however, ate into the Aqueous RLM 75 and left little etch marks where the oil paint sat on the wing and tail. I was able to wipe away the oil paint with a brush and the odorless thinner just fine but the result required me to sand out the etched in marks left by the oil paint and respray the RLM 75 areas I wanted to weather.

 

It all ended up good, I was planning to add more RLM 74 and 75 to the wing tips anyway, after bringing up the yellow on the bottom of the wing tips to far. The Mr. Hobby paint sanded well and out came the airbrush for some corrective touch ups.

 

I did not take any pictures of the damaged paint but below are shots of the dot filter placement. Wherever I put oil paint on the model and let it sit, I had to sand and respray.

 

 

 

 

[mustang1989]

YIKES!!! Looking forward to the recovery efforts GDW. 

[Greg W]

All good my friend, the touch ups went well and after I add the remaining stencils, I will clear coat the entire model before attempting any more weathering. 

 

 

 

 

 

 

[mustang1989]

YESSSSSSSSSSSS!

[Greg W]

This little model has just returned from a time out!

 

I had a frustrating run of problems with the decals, which almost caused me to throw it back on the shelf of dooooommm...

 

It's back on the bench now. Time to push this survivor over the line.  

 

The decals are a mixture of spares I had in my collection of 1/48 scale Luftwaffe markings and a Eagle Editions sheet. The Eagle Cals performed well (Grupe markings/stencils) but the crosses on top of the wings and on the fuselage that came from goodness knows where, ended up peppered with tiny micro bubbles that Micro Sol could not settle down. Plus, the yellow group marking over the fuselage band, on the left side, fractured whilst I was moving it into position. I thought I had positioned it so that the break wouldn't show (late night modeling session, bad lighting and way to sleepy to do good work) but actually, nope. Next day, better lighting revealed the error of my ways. It was obvious that the overlapping sections of the damaged decal would show up prominently after weathering. Tried sanding the decal with the idea of masking and painting the damaged portion but after the crosses on the wings and fuse decided to misbehave, I ordered up a new set of Eagle Cal replacements.  

 

 

 

 

As a last ditch effort to smooth down the stubborn crosses, I applied Solvaset (alien blood) which was too strong. Solvaset one, decal nothing.

 

 

Below, the left wing decal after being sanded smooth. If I would not have pitted the right wing decal with Solvaset, I could have masked and painted the crosses and moved on.

 

 

I thought ok, I will just grab some tape, pull up the crosses and stick down new ones. I have no idea what brand produced these things but Scotch clear tape would not lift them from the surface of the model. They were welded on! I had to use a sanding stick to grind them off. So, the tops of the wings have been repainted. The group markings were removed (tape worked on those) and new decals are on the way.

Edited April 28, 2021 by GDW

[Greg W]

Fortunately, I was able to sand and paint the crosses on the fuselage, the way I wanted to on the top of the wings.   

 

 

 

 

 

Unfortunately, the Tamiya masking tape lifted chunks of the yellow 1s in front of each cross. Not a big deal, new ones are coming in the mail.

 

Once the new markings are on, I can seal everything with a clear coat, weather the model and attach the small details. 

 

Getting closer to the end. It will be nice to see this model completed and on display.

 

 

Edited April 28, 2021 by GDW

[Greg W]

44 minutes ago, Jennings Heilig said:

Looking great! The F is the best looking 109, and yours is super!

 

Thank you very much Jennings, I really enjoy that kind of feedback!

 

I hope to successfully pull off some good looking layers of weathering once the decals are down and sealed.

 

On this build, I followed the Hasegawa instructions for the paint scheme. I am going to backdate the 1:32 Hasegawa Bf109 G4 to an F4, with the same markings. The 1:48 model is a practice run for the paint work.

 

 

I will appreciate any and all help when the time comes, since I am not in the Luftwaffe experten ranks.   

[Derek B]

Nice recovery (and upgrade) Greg. it's amazing how your modelling techniques improve over the years, so the lapse was probably a good thing (having more awesome AM and new modelling materials also goes a long way to improving things!).

 

Derek 

[Greg W]

22 hours ago, Derek B said:

Nice recovery (and upgrade) Greg. it's amazing how your modelling techniques improve over the years, so the lapse was probably a good thing (having more awesome AM and new modelling materials also goes a long way to improving things!).

 

Derek 

 

Thanks Derek. The fact that this model had not seen the light of day for so many years, makes me feel even better than I normally would about finishing it. It was perilously close to the great stash in the sky on several occasions. Also, I can't help but think of what was going on in my life when I started it. Still using many of the same tools, that carved/filed/drilled and sanded on it way back when. They are now old friends too.

[Greg W]

On 4/29/2021 at 11:12 PM, Jennings Heilig said:

Excellent!  I’ll look forward to your LSP build.  Funny, I’m planning a 1/32 Bf109F-4 (the well known, but almost universally misidentified recce bird F6+TH) but using the Revell G-6, the G-2 conversion, and an F canopy from a Hasegawa kit (which fits Revell perfectly).

 

I will be very interested to see the result! I do not know much at all, about how the 109 was set up and used for reconnaissance. Hearing about your build makes me want to look into it more.