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

[Dpgsbody55]

My Messerschmitt is now looking more like a recognisable plane now and a few more bits have been done.  The first thing that went on after my last update was the windscreen, for reasons that became apparent in my last update.  Then I did a little work on the radiators using the kit radiator face painted matt black and glued the Eduard etch radiator pieces over the top.  These were left in bare metal as I'm using this build to experiment.  What do we think of how this looks?

 

Before the top wing goes on.

 

After the top wing is on.

 

This was all that was needed to finish off the wings, so after clean up, they were attached to the fuselage and dihedral set.

 

 

Then the tail plane went on, using tape to set the angles correctly.  One side was too low, and the other too high.  In this shot, you can also see the rear face of the radiator which was built up using the same technique as the front view.

 

 

Once the tail plane was dry, I set the elevators in place, followed by the ailerons and flaps.  While they were drying, I CA glued more Eduard etch pieces to the lower radiator vent and set these in place once dry.  As you can see in this shot, the wing/fuselage joint was very good, and doesn't need any filler at all.

 

 

Using the same technique as the wing radiators, I also made up the lower engine cowl and oil radiator.

 

Front view.

 

Rear view.

 

The upper wing radiator vents have also been added, being set in place using stock white strip plastic (very bottom of pic) to set the opening angles symetrically.  This pic also has a view into the cockpit.

 

 

In the next picture, I've added the rear fixed part of the canopy and the right side engine cowl.  I intend building this model with only the left side of the engine displayable and the left cowl will also be cemented into place, but in the open position.  The same goes for the canopy; also set permanently open.  No hinges this time.

 

 

 

There's only a few more details to attend to now before this gets it's colour scheme.  One question on that issue, if I may.  What colour should the wheels be?  Black or RLM02?  The instructions say RLM02 Gray, but I've seen black as well.  I'd appreciate some guidance here.

 

 

Cheers,

Michael

Edited April 27 by Dpgsbody55

[MARU5137]

Michael,

WOW !!

Well that has come along very nicely. 

Impressive  job.

 

[MikeMaben]

Black wheels Mike.

[Dpgsbody55]

19 hours ago, MikeMaben said:

Black wheels Mike.

 

Thanks Mike.  Black it is.

 

 

Cheers,

Michael

[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

[MARU5137]

Michael,

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

 { Brilliant  job}.