A start to a better front end on the Airfix 1:24 Bf 109E: Prop and Exhausts

[Greg W]

Since I have quite limited scratch building skill, I have resorted to adapting and combining available items in order to come up with a better looking replacement for some dodgy parts. In my opinion, the propeller blades, propeller hub and spinner are all quite poor on the big Airfix 109. As I looked at reference pictures of the propeller hub, I knew that I was not up to the task of making one myself. After checking out some of the 1:24 offerings on the Model Monkey website, I ordered a spinner/prop hub designed to be used with the Trumpeter 1:24 Bf 109 kits, link below:

 

https://www.model-monkey.com/product-page/1-24-messerschmitt-bf-109-f-g-and-k-spinner

 

I was curious to see if I could use the propeller hub to cobble together a better looking unit that I could attach re profiled kit blades to. Is it super accurate? Of course not but I think this is a path to a much better end result (given my abilities) than what is provided in the box.

 

See what you think and add your two cents!

 

Lets take a look a my experiment...

 

Below, kit parts fresh off the runners:

 

 

The modified Model Monkey hub next to the original. In order to fit the spinner over the hub, the cannon barrel had to be removed. 

 

A little trim brings the MM replacement to the same size as the kit part. 

 

 

Test fit of the new hub and spinner (hub still un-trimmed, original size).

 

Not a bad start! Reworking the spinner a little and re profiling the  propeller blades, should yield a much improved result. 

 

I hope this little side venture is helpful to others building this kit. 

 

Thoughts/comments?

 

Greg

 

Edited December 2, 2022 by Greg W

[Greg W]

I am using a 1:32 Henri Daehne propeller set as a guide for the shape of the blades. The outline was traced on tape applied to the back of the prop. The outline was then enlarged 133%.

 

 

The blade on top is from the Trumpeter 1:24 Bf 109G kit, which is too short to use. On the bottom, the paper template used to profile the kit part. 

 

 

 

I give the first attempt a 7.75 out of 10. There are two more blades that I have to reshape, so the best will be a master for casting three copies in resin.

 

Bye for now 

[dodgem37]

Good show.  Nice problem-solving.

 

Sincerely,

Mark

[Greg W]

Hi Mark, its great you checked in. I am really enjoying your Bf109F-4/Z Trop WIP at the moment. I've bookmarked that build, its just packed with inspiring stuff! Thanks for doing what you do and showing us how you do it!

[dodgem37]

Thank you, Brother.

 

Sincerely,

Mark

[Greg W]

Here's a little update on another new option for the Airfix kit, by JPWarbirds: https://www.jpwarbirds.com/plastic-kits/. In my opinion, a long overdue upgrade to a area of the model that really needed lots of improvement, the exhausts. 

 

Jiri Prekop designed and 3D printed these and they look fantastic. They are completely hollow and have a flange with bolt detail at the base of each individual exhaust pipe. At the moment, I do not have my kit since it is on loan to another "aftermarket guy". As soon as it returns I will post pictures of how the exhausts look installed on the model but for now, I can only show you the pics below: 

 

 

 

 

 

Something worth mentioning is that great care must be used in removing the 3D printed parts from the supports. The material is incredibly brittle. Using sprue cutters in this case (no mater what brand) will most definitely chip/crack/break the part. The only way that I found to safely remove the supports without damaging a exhaust, was to use a superfine micro saw (RB Productions) and work very gently, delicately and s - l - o - w - l - y. The material did respond well to sanding with the Flory sanding sticks I've been using lately. 

 

Great job Jiri, thanks for doing this!  

Edited February 24, 2023 by Greg W

[Greg W]

 

 

 

Above is a photo I took at the RAF Museum in Hendon while on holiday in England. It shows the propeller hub up close and exhaust shroud to good extent.   

 

Compare that to the pictures of the kit parts below: 

 

 

 

 

When I began this thread, the fuselage halves were on loan but now that I have them back, I can show how the JP Warbirds exhausts look installed. It will take a few days but watch this space if curious. 

 

This kit has the potential, with a little help to look great. When I first built it in the early 1990s, I was wishing for these specific upgrades. As well as a photoetch canopy set, like the one Verlinden Productions did both on 1:48 and 1:32 for the E model 109. Airscale offers a beautiful IP and decal placards along with a planned full PE canopy set, which is in the development process. Another glaring deficiency is the hollow wheel wells, which is not a major endeavor to correct with sheet styrene.

 

So now I think the most difficult aspects of the kit to improve for most modelers, the exhaust and canopy, are addressed by the aftermarket. Looks like Model Monkey will have a proper replacement for the kit prop/hub/spinner down the road too, which will render my hack job here obsolete. Good deal.

 

More soon

[John Stambaugh]

This is great news Greg! My old 1/24 109E may get built after all. 

Have been long frustrated with the lack of AM support for 1/24.

Thanks for posting. 

[Greg W]

I hope you do build it John and post the result! Or do a WIP? With the Airscale canopy set, we now have everything needed to compensate for the hard to correct weaknesses of the kit. 

 

Below are some pics of the cleaned up exhausts, loosely set in place on the left side. They fit perfectly after removing the solid flat "steps" that were masquerading as exhaust pipes. The parts were just loose enough to shift around a bit while taking pictures so the placement is slightly askew but this test fit proved that the JP Warbirds exhausts can drop right in like this and look great. Or, the modeler can remove the overly thick exhaust shroud and replace with thin sheet plastic or leftover photoetch fret. 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Edited October 10, 2022 by Greg W

[Rob Colvin]

Very nice!......Have you considered the wheel wells, flaps, or perhaps a some cockpit parts?

[Greg W]

Fortunately, Airscale offers a number of cockpit upgrades for this kit. JP Warbirds has on offer a very nice Revi C/12D gunsight and HGW sell some really great 1:24 Luftwaffe seatbelts. RB Productions used to as well but are hard to find now.  I think the rest of the upgrades one would want to make to the cockpit are within the skill set of most intermediate modelers.

 

109ace makes wheel well inserts too. I am going to use sheet styrene and fine Evergreen or Plastruct U channel to fill in and detail the wheel wells on my kit, since it is quite straight forward to do. Check out this build on YouTube (for some reason, the video would not embed in my post). Below image is a screenshot, not a link. BTW, the modeler in the video is a different Greg...

 

 

I haven't thought about the flaps much yet, that is something I have yet to delve into. 

Edited October 5, 2022 by Greg W

[Greg W]

I was not happy with my first attempt to reshape a kit blade. Propeller blade No. 2 is a keeper, although I managed to remove more material at the base of the prop than I should have. The only option, if I wanted to keep this one and use it, was to add back more material of some kind and see if my sculpting skill was up to the job.

 

I opted to use a approximately 1:1 mix of thin CA and Mig Gunmetal Pigment. This technique is now my favorite way of filling gaps and the mixture lends itself to sculpting so well that I often use it now, where I would have used Milliput in the past. Doesn't shrink, sands beautifully and scribes well too. Check out this tutorial if interested:

 

 

Below, the built up area at the base of the blade.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

After reshaping, I pinned the bottom with some styrene rod for strength and added a bit of Evergreen tube, that acts as a sleeve that matches the hole in the hub.

 

Nervemind that the propeller is facing backwards in some of the pics, I was excited to see how it fit!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Alrighty then, some final clean up and refinement will make it ready for casting.

 

All my best friends, thanks for tuning in. 

 

Greg

Edited December 9, 2022 by Greg W

[airscale]

On 9/27/2022 at 6:55 AM, Greg W said:

airscale offers a beautiful IP and decal placards along with a planned full PE canopy set, which is in the development process.

 

 

  ..no longer in development - out today and available here

 

TTFN

 

Peter