Messerschmitt Bf-109G-4/R6 "Kanonenboot" - Finished

[Greif8]

Great work Michael.  I hear about AM cockpits, I have also sometimes regretted using them as they turned out to be more trouble than they were worth.  You did an outstanding job correcting the issues though.

 

Ernest

[Dpgsbody55]

On 5/3/2022 at 3:30 PM, Greif8 said:

Great work Michael.  I hear about AM cockpits, I have also sometimes regretted using them as they turned out to be more trouble than they were worth.  You did an outstanding job correcting the issues though.

 

Ernest

 

Before I started this project and while I was looking for a set of suitable decals for it, I got so fired up about resin cockpits, I bought another for what may be my next project.  Now I feel like I've wasted my money, so I'm hoping my issues with this example are not typical.  Digits crossed.

 

Not a massive amount of progress on this build since my last update.  I've been adding detail bits like antennae and getting the canopy to fit.  The opening portion on my kit doesn't want to fit so I've carefully sanded it back.  It's not a major issue as I'll be gluing it in the open position, but I'd like it to fit so the cockpit is closed off for painting.  I've also been making up the pilot's armour head rest from the Airies etch/resin set.  It's mostly complete but I still need to add the head rest pad which I'll do after paint.

 

 

The rest of my efforts have been to mask up the model and spray down a layer of primer today.

 

 

 

That's all for now.  The next update will feature a painted model.

 

 

Cheers,

Michael

[MikeMaben]

[Greif8]

Nice work on the head armor Michael.  Your primer coat looks good as well.

 

Ernest

[Dpgsbody55]

On 5/8/2022 at 1:31 AM, Greif8 said:

Nice work on the head armor Michael.  Your primer coat looks good as well.

 

Ernest

 

Thank you, Ernest.  This model has gone together very well, with almost no filler needed.  Just a light sanding of the fuselage joint and a little scribing and so far it looks pretty good.  Painting is almost finished too, so hopefully I'll have some pictures to present soon.

 

 

Cheers,

Michael

[Dpgsbody55]

I managed to get a bit more work done on this model that I was expecting today, so now it's painted.  The plane is basically three colours; hellblau, schwarzgrun and grauviolet.

 

First colour on was the blue undersides and fuselage sides.  Here it is with the masking started for painting of the top side camo colours.  The fuselage tape denotes how far down I want the camo spine to extend, and the wing tape is to hold the leading edge slats in place.  These are not yet fixed on to the wings.

 

 

Next the grauviolet went on, roughly (and I mean very roughly ) laying out the camo pattern.  It looks awful at this point.

 

 

Then the last colour, schwarzgrun.  Looking a bit better now.

 

 

My next job was to "mess up" that hard line on the fuselage between the hellblau and the two top camo colours.  It looks a bit rubbish again.  I also had to do some touch up on the starboard wing as the paint was very thin between each of the colours.  Should'a masked off better before adding the green....    I have, however, gone for a hard line between the wing camo and fuselage.  The wing slats have also been glued on at this point

 

 

My airbrush skills need work .  Next job was to spray some mottling on the fuselage sides and tail fin, and fix the mess I made of the "messing up" in the previous step.

 

 

And then some green mottling.

 

 

The last step was to paint the lower nose in RLM04 gelb.  In hindsight, I wish I'd painted this bit first as masking this area was quite complex.  It's been years since I built a Luftwaffe fighter, either 109 or 190, and I'm definitely out of practice.

 

 

I deliberately didn't mask off the oil cooler rad as I think this would have had some overspray in real life since this type of thing was painted in the field.  One of the coolant radiator flaps came of too.  They only attach with little tabs and all the messing about painting cause that flap to come away.  I've reattached it using 0.5 x 2.00mm stock strips, so hopefully I'll have no troubles with this in the future.

 

So here it is as it is tonight, all ready for the next step.  The only tape in sight holds on the left engine cowling as it won't stay on any other way at this moment.

 

 

 

 

So my next step will be to hit it with gloss varnish, then apply decals, then matt varnish it and remove the last bit of masking.  That's what you'll see next time.

 

 

Cheers,

Michael

[LSP_Kevin]

Nice paint work, Michael! The fuselage mottling is especially effective. But I gotta say, this model really deserves better photos I think!

 

Kev

[Dpgsbody55]

On 5/11/2022 at 5:16 AM, LSP_Kevin said:

Nice paint work, Michael! The fuselage mottling is especially effective. But I gotta say, this model really deserves better photos I think!

 

Kev

 

A sure sign that I've been building models for much longer than I've been taking pictures of them.

 

 

Cheers,

Michael

[Greif8]

Very nice progress Michael.  I think your airbrushing looks just fine.  I hear about unintentional overspray due to not masking.  I learned my lesson a long time ago and now make sure areas I don't want paint on are well masked off.  Another technique I use is to lower the air pressure to about 7-8 psi when I touch up small areas.  That reduces the overspray quite a bit.

 

Ernest

[Ayovan]

I wish my 109 had turned out that well Micheal. Nice job on the paint

[Dpgsbody55]

On 5/12/2022 at 3:09 PM, Greif8 said:

Very nice progress Michael.  I think your airbrushing looks just fine.  I hear about unintentional overspray due to not masking.  I learned my lesson a long time ago and now make sure areas I don't want paint on are well masked off.  Another technique I use is to lower the air pressure to about 7-8 psi when I touch up small areas.  That reduces the overspray quite a bit.

 

Ernest

 

Thank you, Ernest.  So far, it's turned out better than expected.  As to the overspray, this was intentional, but not quite to the extent it occurred.  Perhaps because I was spraying yellow, which covers poorly so needs more spraying.  I believe I was using  seven or eight PSI, so perhaps a little too much in this case.  In some ways, this project has been a learning process and that is one of the lessons. 

 

On 5/12/2022 at 9:28 PM, Ayovan said:

I wish my 109 had turned out that well Micheal. Nice job on the paint

 

Thank you.  So far, I've surprised myself with how it's looking.  These Luftwaffe planes are harder to paint than most of the stuff I've done over the last five or six years and this one has needed more airbrush sessions.  I did a bit of experimentation with the airbrush before I started painting and it paid off.  I used almost no pressure (the gauge barely registered) and the minimal amount of paint flow in the brush and it turned out as you see. 

 

On 5/13/2022 at 2:32 AM, MARU5137 said:

Michael,

Excellent  work on the fuselage.... the mottling looks very professional  and Stunning. 

 { Brilliant  job}. 

 

Thank you.  It took a while which is an achievement for someone as impatient as me!!

 

At the moment, the model has been glossed and the decals applied.  I'm about to start applying the matt coat then unwrapping it which I hope to show soon.

 

 

Cheers,

Michael

[Ayovan]

I think I'm going to try your method of ultra low air pressure to do my tail codes. There is an overspray border around the stenciling on Garbeski's bird that I want to try and replicate. Bill made me some duplicate masks for the codes. I think I'll experiment with one, and see if I can pull off something acceptable.

 

 

[Dpgsbody55]

10 hours ago, Ayovan said:

I think I'm going to try your method of ultra low air pressure to do my tail codes. There is an overspray border around the stenciling on Garbeski's bird that I want to try and replicate. Bill made me some duplicate masks for the codes. I think I'll experiment with one, and see if I can pull off something acceptable.

 

 

 

I hope that turns out well for you.  Thin paint is essential as is some scrap to practice on.  You may also find that the airbrush blocks up, but either momentarily turning up the pressure will clear it or just cleaning the airbrush.

 

Here's where I am presently with this project.  Firstly, the model all glossed up and decals applied.

 

 

And now, after the matt coat has dried and the masking removed.

 

 

 

I've also done a couple of touch ups and installed the tail wheel.  My next task will be to build and install the main undercarriage, under wing guns and all the other little details to finish it.  Then a little weathering.

 

That's it for now.

 

 

Cheers,

Michael

[Dpgsbody55]

17 hours ago, MARU5137 said:

Michael,

Ooh She's  coming along beautifully. 

Liking this ... those decals are very neatly done Sir.

 

 

By the way those "pads" she's resting on reminds ME of shoulder pads women had in 1980s in their coats and dresses..etc...     

 

I was wondering if someone would ever pick up on that.    They're very good at supporting the model on my support frame which can dig into soft paint sometimes.

 

 

Cheers,

Michael

[Greif8]

Looking good Michael!

 

Ernest