Hobby 2000 Messerschmitt BF-109E-3 - Finished

[Borsos]

I‘ll be following curiously, I have this kit in the stash, too. 
Andreas

[Dpgsbody55]

I'm long overdue for an update on this, but the problem of missing parts does nothing to provide enthusiasm for the project.  I've sent an email off to Hannants, who have cc'd me in on an email to H2K asking them to send me the part directly, so we'll see if anything turns up in the mail in the next few weeks.  Digits crossed.  One other distraction has been a five day break up in Darwin, which was very enjoyable.  Weather was great, lots to do in that time, and that includes an aviation museum.  Lots of pics taken there, so I'll be posting some of them later elsewhere on LSP.

 

I've been working on the cockpit in the last few weeks.  This is the left side, more or less finished.  There's one more lever to fit, but that will go on when I fit the windscreen.  I've been known to knock such things off if I fit them as per the timing of the instruction sheet.

 

 

Unfortunately, the flash has highlighted the glue I used to attach a couple of the 3d decals.  These have been easy to work with, but I'm not convinced Quinta were looking at the right colour chart for their idea of RLM02.

 

Here's the right side so far.  Only the oxygen system is attached so far.

 

 

Here's the now complete instrument panel, which is very convincing and I think much better than brass etch.

 

 

It is attached to the fuselage gun platform here.  The IP shroud has been painted a mid brown, then messed up with a wash of black which was then rubbed off.  I've not yet attached any guns or associated parts, again because of my propensity to break such parts later on.

 

 

And this is the seat, complete with 3d decal seat belts.  I found these more fiddly than the latest etch steel items, and slower to build up as I had to wait hours for the PVA glue to set before attaching another part.  But I'm happy enough with the result.

 

 

Next is the cockpit floor itself, built up except for the seat.  More 3d decals either side of the control column.

 

 

 

With the floor placed onto the left side of the fuselage.

 

 

And with the instrument panel placed on top. 

 

 

This needs a little "convincing" to go properly into place, and before I attach it to the floor, I'll need to add the gun magazines so that it all locates properly.

 

My next steps will be to add the seat and magazines to the floor assembly, complete the right side of the cockpit, then glue the lot together.  I think some clamping is going to be needed as having watched a video on this model, it's easy to mess up the fitment of the windscreen because the fuselage is too wide at the top.  That's for next time.

 

 

Cheers,

Michael

[ade rowlands]

Just started on an E-4 boxing myself. Check the wheel well rubber inserts for your kit. I had 2 for the same side wing in the little bag, luckily I’d bought a pair of these kits and an E-7 Trop so could raid these for spares. I’ve built the Dragon versions a couple of times and I’ve always made a mess somewhere so bought an E-4 as a donor kit or if all went well with the first build then I’d have a spare for another scheme later on. Had to raid the spare E-4 for the well insert. So iI’d check yours whilst you have a line of communication open with Hannants. I’m off to check the E-7 boxing now. 

 

Edit…. The E-7 has the same issue as one of the E-4 kits. So 2 out of 3 kits I bought had the same sided inserts included. Message sent to the shop I got mine from. We shall see what happens. 

Edited June 21, 2022 by ade rowlands

[Dpgsbody55]

7 hours ago, ade rowlands said:

Just started on an E-4 boxing myself. Check the wheel well rubber inserts for your kit. I had 2 for the same side wing in the little bag, luckily I’d bought a pair of these kits and an E-7 Trop so could raid these for spares. I’ve built the Dragon versions a couple of times and I’ve always made a mess somewhere so bought an E-4 as a donor kit or if all went well with the first build then I’d have a spare for another scheme later on. Had to raid the spare E-4 for the well insert. So iI’d check yours whilst you have a line of communication open with Hannants. I’m off to check the E-7 boxing now. 

 

Edit…. The E-7 has the same issue as one of the E-4 kits. So 2 out of 3 kits I bought had the same sided inserts included. Message sent to the shop I got mine from. We shall see what happens. 

 

Thanks for the warning, Ade.  Luckily, I'm OK here, though I don't like the rubber well inserts.  These parts could easily have been made in plastic, and they don't take paint well.  I've just glued mine onto the lower wings.  I can understand why you'd make a mess somewhere too, as I think the instructions are poor.  I'm presently scratching my head over the aileron and flap hinges, and I think I'll just have to get on with it and see how it all fits.  It's a great pity that there seems to be problems with missing or incorrect parts with these kits as they look like they assemble into one of the better representations of the 109E series.  I'd like to get an E-7 too, but now I'm not so sure

 

Cheers,

Michael

[ade rowlands]

No problem. It looks like I’m getting replacement inserts sent. Shop I got it from forwarded my details and whatnot to their supplier who confirmed they have kits they are using as spares so must be an issue somewhere. It wouldn’t stop me buying more of their kits, but I’d stick to buying them in a shop where I can inspect the contents before paying. Infact I do hope Hobby2000 do release more of other peoples back catalogues as they are great packages with good quality decals to boot. 

On another note I did get a couple of Eduard 109 Overtrees kits with the intent of trying to use their gear well inserts on the Dragon kit. I can see it can be done with a little fettling but mine were such horribly thick pieces and riddled with flash (as was the whole kit, luckily they only cost me £7 a kit and will make something to practice mottling on) that I couldn’t really tell where the part ended and the flash began and with it being a complex tapered part I just couldn’t be bothered with the effort and used the Dragon parts.

[Dpgsbody55]

12 minutes ago, ade rowlands said:

No problem. It looks like I’m getting replacement inserts sent. Shop I got it from forwarded my details and whatnot to their supplier who confirmed they have kits they are using as spares so must be an issue somewhere. It wouldn’t stop me buying more of their kits, but I’d stick to buying them in a shop where I can inspect the contents before paying. Infact I do hope Hobby2000 do release more of other peoples back catalogues as they are great packages with good quality decals to boot. 

On another note I did get a couple of Eduard 109 Overtrees kits with the intent of trying to use their gear well inserts on the Dragon kit. I can see it can be done with a little fettling but mine were such horribly thick pieces and riddled with flash (as was the whole kit, luckily they only cost me £7 a kit and will make something to practice mottling on) that I couldn’t really tell where the part ended and the flash began and with it being a complex tapered part I just couldn’t be bothered with the effort and used the Dragon parts.

 

Unfortunately, I haven't seen any H2K kits in Perth, so I'm left trusting to the reputability of the internet shops I buy from.  We used to have some great hobby shops close to or in the city, but some years back they either shut down or moved to smaller premises, which means less varied stock.  I'd much prefer to buy locally and I do if I see something I really want, but that's become very infrequent now.  If I go to Sydney or Melbourne, I always take a large suitcase with not many clothes, so I can get a kit inside and well protected from the baggage handlers!!.

 

 

Cheers,

Michael

[Dpgsbody55]

The next stage has now been reached, and it's starting to become recognisable.  After my last update, my first task was to attach the cockpit to the lower fuselage.  In this shot, I've also attached the fuselage gun magazines.

 

 

Next, I did a little tidying of the instrument panel, touching up the surrounds and slight decal mismatch with some RLM66.  No problems with colour match here, thankfully.

 

 

This was then attached to the cockpit.

 

 

 

Once the glue had dried, I touched up the joints with some RLM02, then completed the right side of the cockpit.  Most of this I'd painted and 3D decal'd before, so it didn't take very long to do.  However, I want to make the canopy hinge, so two hinge pivots were let into the fuselage side first and sanded flat against each side.  Then, the remaining parts were added.

 

 

Now, the fuselage is ready to be closed up.  All joints had the paint removed, then I did some test fitting to determine the best order.  On each fuselage half, there is a slot to engage a pin on the middle instrument panel, and the left side pin fowled the slot more so than the right side, so the cockpit assembly was glued to the left side first, and that pin engaged with a thin prod.  I used styrene cement on the lower fuselage, backrest and the locating pin between the "spars", then used Tamiya extra thin to glue the front of the fuselage to the gun platform, front wing root top and front fuselage frame just behind the gun magazines.  I then held it together for some minutes while the extra thin dried.

 

 

This was repeated on the right side to close up the fuselage.  Tape was added to secure everything over night, then removed this morning.

 

 

I did say earlier that it was now recognisable, even if it only looks like something from the scrap pile .

 

 

Cockpit shots.

 

 

 

 

 

I've now started to clean up all the joints and fill the gaps on the underside, then I'll re-scribe the panel lines.  I've also started on the wings, and have the wheel wells in place, and am presently scratching my head over the aileron and flap hinges.  I'm hopeful that I'll have the wings finished and on very soon, so that will be for next time.

 

 

Cheers,

Michael

Edited June 21, 2022 by Dpgsbody55

[Thunnus]

Great work Michael!  The Quinta cockpit details look great and the engine work looks good too! Hopefully your missing part is sent to you without having to butcher an old model.

[Dpgsbody55]

On 6/22/2022 at 1:46 AM, Thunnus said:

Great work Michael!  The Quinta cockpit details look great and the engine work looks good too! Hopefully your missing part is sent to you without having to butcher an old model.

 

The old model is going to get butchered anyway, as I need the space .  It was one I did 30 years ago, and was all brush painted.  I can do much better now, and I have a Trumpy E-7 desert scheme in my stash, so that will replace it.  And I have plans for the engine in it.

 

_____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

 

In the meantime, the E-3 has moved on a little, though it still looks like something from a scrap pile .  The wings on this are a little more complex than many kits, and while they're now on, they're still not complete.

 

The wheel wells have gone on first, after painting, followed by the guns.  The bits taped to the wings are the surrounds to the gun barrels, which I was fiddling with as I've seen a review which says that they're not a good fit.

 

 

Next, the leading edge slats were glued to their respective retaining brackets and allowed to dry, then painted before setting that assembly in place in the wing tops.  Then the wing halves were glued together.  I'm not totally sure, but I suspect H2K have allowed for the slats to move in and out as per the real thing, as shown in the next pic.

 

 

I'm not sure about that feature, so time will tell as to whether the slats get glued into place, as they don't droop as they should.  I've check my books which show lots of pictures of 109E's with the slats closed, and only a few open.  Once the glue had set, the wings were cleaned up and a little Mr Surfacer painted on a few gaps, then sanded back after drying.

 

Those gun barrel covers were then fitted with no problems found so the wings have been glued into place.  This was an easy job on this model, thanks to the spars molded onto the floors.  A little tape has been used to pull the parts together tightly, and the joint looks good.

 

 

 

As you can see, I've also done some work on the joints around the fuselage halves and cockpit bottom joint.

 

My next task will be the ailerons and flaps, and attaching these to the model.  These are tiny etch hinges that look very insubstantial, and there are three each side - the hinge on the inner aileron is shared with the flap.  They're very fiddly, and the whole lot might end up getting glued in place.  Then the tail planes can go on.  That's for next time.

 

 

Cheers,

Michael

Edited June 25, 2022 by Dpgsbody55

[TankBuster]

On 6/21/2022 at 6:39 PM, ade rowlands said:

Just started on an E-4 boxing myself. Check the wheel well rubber inserts for your kit. I had 2 for the same side wing in the little bag, luckily I’d bought a pair of these kits and an E-7 Trop so could raid these for spares. I’ve built the Dragon versions a couple of times and I’ve always made a mess somewhere so bought an E-4 as a donor kit or if all went well with the first build then I’d have a spare for another scheme later on. Had to raid the spare E-4 for the well insert. So iI’d check yours whilst you have a line of communication open with Hannants. I’m off to check the E-7 boxing now. 

 

Edit…. The E-7 has the same issue as one of the E-4 kits. So 2 out of 3 kits I bought had the same sided inserts included. Message sent to the shop I got mine from. We shall see what happens. 

Hi, thanks for the heads up, just checked my kit and the wheel well rubbers are the same. Will be emailing the place of purchase next to see if they can obtain a replacement. Cheers.

[Dpgsbody55]

Readers will have to excuse my slow progress with this build, as I'm spending more time flight simming this last week.  My controllers had begun to die, with increasing amounts of noise in my very old throttle controllers, and a not so old yoke that gave increasing troubles with not being able to hold their calibration.  All that changed last Friday with the arrival of new and much more advanced controllers for the yoke and throttle functions, and these new ones have much greater functionality thanks to lots of inbuilt switches for flaps, undercarriage, lights and my mate, Otto Pilot.  Incidentally, the yoke manufacturer was taken over by another company a while back, but research revealed that my problems with this were quite common.  I think the yoke was only about five years old.  Here's what the new set up looks like in the new MS flight sim.

 

 

A closer look.

 

 

And, I scored them at $270 below normal price .  Equally as good is that these controllers are so much more realistic with a better range of movement.

 

I'm very much a would be pilot, and late in my working life, I was taking flying lessons.  I have a few hours solo too, but then I was made redundant, and while I had no trouble finding a new job, a health episode soon after and the subsequent stint in hospital caused my priorities to change, and I never went back to it.  But thanks to this sim, I can still at least practice, though I'm waiting for a certain flightsim addons company to release their first offering for this new sim.  From experience, their products are very much closer to the real thing in terms of flight characteristics than anyone else's.

 

So thanks to this distraction, not a lot of progress has been made, but the model is starting to take shape.  Flaps and ailerons were next on the to do list, and H2K's hinges are more fiddly than some of Trumpeter's early offerings.  For each hings, you're supposed to use these little pins (parts 37 & 38) to create a pivot between the mounting bracket and operating arm.  I can barely see them, let alone cut them off the sprue and slide them into place through each side of the bracket with the arm trapped in the middle.

 

 

My solution was to use 0.5mm rod passed through, then heat the ends to make a rivet.

 

 

They needed a little filing, but turned out ok.  There's three of these each side; one each for the aileron and flap, and one that mounts between each flap and aileron to provide articulation.

 

 

Once this was done, I could mount the tail planes.  These are a little trickier than most other kits I've built, as they attach to the fin via a 2mm pin in each that is glued, then the brace struts added.  Care needs to be taken setting the tail planes in place, as it's possible to mount them with differing amounts of camber.  On the real thing, the centre of the leading edge was mounted on a screw jack mounted in the base of the tail fin, and the trim wheel in the cockpit rotated this jack causing the tail plane camber to change giving nose up or down trim.

 

 

While this was drying, I started on the rudders and elevators.  For the elevators, again as with the flap hinges, I found this impossibly fiddly, thanks to tiny pivot pins that mount onto tiny brackets that are supposed to be sandwiched between two parts. 

 

 

The parts are smaller than shown in this picture.  I found that there was no way I could get both pins onto the bracket.  Get one on, then try the other and the first one falls off.  Put that on, then try again with the one that fell off, and the second one falls off.  There's only so many times I'll repeat this lunacy and in the end, these parts were "dispensed with" and the cover glued in place.  I then drilled out a 0.5mm hole at each pivot point and set some rod in place, then glued the rod into the pivot mounts on the tail planes.  The rudder had a much larger set of pivots and brackets, so this went together passably well.

 

 

Success, I hear you say....   WRONG!!  See those nice shiny pivots, that you glue into the rudder post on the fin?  Well the bottom pivot mount in the rudder post was 5mm or so lower than the shiny pivot on the rudder, so no way to attach.    So the brass bits were "subtly and delicately" removed, and more holes drilled for 0.75 rod to go in each hole, then this was attached to the model.  Because rudders and elevators are now fixed, a little extra thin glue was dribbled into the gaps on the flaps and ailerons so these are now fixed as well.  Not shown in this picture are the two small bumps (parts A12 & A13) which go onto the wing roots, and not onto the lower fuselage (part A19) as shown in step 3 of the instructions.   My thanks to Jens for pointing this out on the first page of this build , and before got to that point too.

 

 

The last job to report on was the radiators being fixed into place.  The radiator blocks are glued in first, after having been painted flat black and the surface dry brushed in silver, then the covers glued into place.  The left radiator also has a pipe added, which I assume is for gun heat.

 

 

My only comment here is that given the pleasing level of detail in this kit, it's a pity that the radiator flaps were not a separate part so that they could be displayed in the open position which would be more appropriate if modelled with the undercarriage down, as most will be.

 

So this is where it is right now.  Next, I'll be finishing off the cockpit with the addition of the gun sight, canopy jettison lever and the canopy itself.  Then, I'll finish off the engine and attach it to the model.

 

On another positive note, I've had a response back from Hannants regarding the missing fuselage gun cowling (part A1).  H2K will be sending the part to Hannants in the next day or so, who will forward this part on to me.  With luck, it should arrive about the time I want to start painting.

 

 

Cheers,

Michael

[MikeMaben]

12 hours ago, Dpgsbody55 said:

 Not shown in this picture are the two small bumps (parts A12 & A13) which go onto the wing roots, and not onto the lower fuselage (part A19) as shown in step 3 of the instructions.   My thanks to Jens for pointing this out on the first page of this build , and before got to that point too.

 Yeah those are easy to miss. I looked forever to find them in the instructions.

Progressing nicely Michael 

[Dpgsbody55]

Progress has been very slow over these last couple of weeks, in part because I'm still waiting on the missing gun cowl which discourages enthusiasm for the build, and also thanks to new controllers for my flight sim.  However, it is starting to look like a 109E-3 now.

 

The canopy was the next part to go on, and if you've followed any of my previous builds, you'll know I like to be able to open and close canopies etc.  I'd already let in two hinge pins into the right side of the fuselage so how the canopy itself was notched to accommodate those pins, and a length of 0.5mm plastic rod then passed through both hinge pins.  After a little experimentation, the outside of the canopy was slightly chamfered on the canopy framing to help with the tilt and a length of white tape placed inside to mask where I wanted to paint the inside of the canopy to blend all this in.  Then the canopy was glued to the rod and left to set in place.

 

 

Once that has set, the rod was cut down to allow the fitting of the windscreen and aft glazing, and the hinge painted.  Here it is complete.

 

 

 

Next, I painted the canopy framing in RLM02.  I paint the outsides of the canopy with the inside colour because I'm not clever enough to make masks to fit the insides properly.  It looks better than just painting the exterior colours.  Then I added added some wiring to that box on the gun magazines.  Not sure what it's for, but it corresponds with pictures I've seen.

 

 

After this, I turned my attention back to the engine.  When I came to test fitting the lower cowling to the radiator, I found that I fitted the ducting wrong way round .  So the radiator was prized off the bottom of the engine and that ducting fitted properly, and this time into the lower engine cowl, not back to the engine as per the instructions.  I did it this way, not as per the instructions, to make sure the cowl and ducting all lined up from the outside view.  There's a lot of parts on the lower engine that have to go in exactly the right spot, or nothing lines up when you add the cowlings and engine to the rest of the plane.

 

 

I tested refitting this assembly back into place on the oil lines on the bottom of the engine, and it all lined up OK, so I turned my attention back to the engine itself.  The instructions have you fitting the exhausts into the left and right covers then fitting these to the engine but there's very little to attach the exhausts to, and only at the back.  So I decided to fit the exhausts to the engine along with the engine mounts.  Here it is at that point.  The covers get attached later, as you'll see.

 

 

The right side engine mount had some pipework molded in, so this was painted in and the pipes extended to some sort of actuator which I think is for the pitch control on the propeller.  The last of that will be fitted later.  I may also make the small coolant pumps that go on either side of the block, which are plumbed into the header tank.  That is also for later.

 

 

At this point, I decided to paint the three lower cowling pieces before attaching them.  This will help ease the masking of the exhausts when the model is fully painted.  Then the lower cowl/radiator assembly was glued carefully into place, being very careful to ensure all pins had engaged properly.  After this had dried, I attached the right exhaust cover only to find I had an alignment problem.

 

 

Remember, that lower cowl is attached to the pipework you can see poking out at either end.  The blue cowl taped in place aligns properly with the locating tabs, so I can only assume that I've bungled the fitment of the pipework that goes onto the bottom of the engine.  That being the case, I spent some time pushing the cowl up into place against the exhaust covers which are glued to the lower pat of the header tank and again to the rear of the exhaust piece.  Part of the engine cover has been molded on to the exhausts, so these were also painted blue to match, and the exhaust covers glued carefully to that with quick setting CA.  The part was left to dry like this for twenty four hours before the other side was fitted, which test fitting showed no strange gaps.  This was also fitted to the header tank and exhausts, as well as the right half, and a small cover (part B22) was fitted between the two halves.  Then I drizzled some Tamiya extra thin glue around the front edge of the lower cowl and pushed it properly into place, taping it tightly to preserve the positioning.  Here's the left side.

 

 

And the ill fitting right side, looking a lot more respectable.

 

 

My next task was to spend a little time tidying up the joins, so a little putty was applied and later sanded.  I will also apply a little Mr Surfacer to finalise that after I've checked the joint between the lower cowl and the wing.

 

Tonight, I've glued the engine onto the rest of the model, so now it looks like a 109E.

 

 

This is where the model is at present.  Tomorrow, I'll remove that tape and see if it has kept the position in which I glued it.  I know others have had problems here, so we'll see how mine turns out.  This is why I've left it sat on the engine to discourage any movement.  It's also taped tightly on the bottom.  My next jobs will be to fit the guns and main engine cowl, build up the prop but not fit it yet, finish those last engine details I mentioned, and add the last few parts like the aerial before arriving at the paint stage.  If the gun cowl has arrived by then, that is.

 

 

Cheers,

Michael

[Dpgsbody55]

Ripped all the supporting tape off it this morning and took a few shots.  Happily, there's only a little clean up needed and everything aligns OK.

 

 

 

 

With the engine cowl fitted.  This fits on nicely, so I've got all the alignment right in the end.  In this closer shot, you can see a slight gap between the fuselage and lower engine cowl, but a little carefully applied filler should fix that.

 

 

 

I can't fit the cowl behind, as that is the part I'm missing.  I'll be chasing this up later on today.

 

That's it for the moment.

 

 

Cheers,

Michael

[Dpgsbody55]

Thanks to the still missing gun cowling, this project has stalled.  I'm not yet ready to consign it to the shelf of doom, but the delay in obtaining the missing part is very frustrating.  I'm presently waiting on a delivery from Hannants and I'm hopeful that they've included said missing part which they say they've received from H2K with that delivery.  If not, we shall be having words........

 

I have made a tiny bit of progress, however, and the machine guns have now been installed, with a little extra wiring added.

 

 

I used the engine cowl to set the appropriate alignment, and both can be seen directly through the apertures.

 

 

As I've mentioned before, I have an old Hasegawa 109E and had visions of using the gun cowl from that.  But there's an issue or three.

 

 

Thankfully, I've had a very generous offer from a member here to cast a resin part, but I'd rather wait until I see what arrives from Hannants either this week or next.  If someone is gracious enough to make such an offer, I'd rather not waste their time until all other avenues are exhausted. 

 

There's still a few more parts to add to the model before I can begin painting, too, but one way or another, I intend on finishing this.  It's just a question of when.  In the meantime, I'm starting a model for the Nocturnal Activities GB.

 

 

Cheers,

Michael