1/32 Bf109E-4 with PeilG IV (Done)

IainM · July 28, 2022

More progress made on the 109, luckily there was quite a bit of building to be done, as anything painting related (like getting the Hurricane painted) is just not on the cards at the moment. WAAAAY to wet and cold (12°C and RH of 68% in the garage - once the wet cars are parked, it just get worse). Will have to wait for a bit of sunshine to dry things out a bit...

I've managed to get the major construction work out of the way - wings, flaps, ailerons, horizontal stabs and elevators, putty where needed, canopies are masked. All ready for primer and paint.

Quite a bit of filler (Milliput) has been used to try and get a smoother transition between the engine cowling and gun deck cover, plus some rod to fill the gap between those parts (I think this was designed to be a cowl-off kit)

The prop assembly has been modded to accept magnets.

Both the cannon covers and the slats needed some extra styrene fitted to make them fit.

The AM rudder has been drilled and pinned (removable), fitted with the linkage yoke that came with the kit for it's rudder

Underside needs some black in the radiator wells before I attach them and mask off for painting.
Dragon supplies etched brass linkages for the ailerons and flaps (moveable perhaps)- they are fiddly, and although looking the part, I think that the whole system would be way to weak to support the trailing bits. There are only two attachment points for both the flaps and ailerons - no locating pins at either the wing edge (aileron), or the inner face of the flaps where they butt onto the fuselage. So mine are glued in place!
First time I've seen or used those flexible inserts Dragon gave for the wheel wells. I did some reading up on them when I saw them - lot of complaints about being brittle and not usable, but happy to report mine were fine, responded to Mr Hobby S glue VERY well, and worked a treat!

LSP_Kevin · July 29, 2022

Nice progress, Iain.

Kev

Kagemusha · July 29, 2022

Great project, and fantastic work Iain, Owl did make some very nice sets, there was a wonderful build of a Bf 110C nightfighter more than a few years ago by Ralph Reise, and his painting techniques for an all black aircraft were outstanding, hope it proves useful, link.

IainM · July 29, 2022

21 hours ago, LSP_Kevin said:

Nice progress, Iain.

Kev

Thanks Kev!!

1 hour ago, Kagemusha said:

Great project, and fantastic work Iain, Owl did make some very nice sets, there was a wonderful build of a Bf 110C nightfighter more than a few years ago by Ralph Reise, and his painting techniques for an all black aircraft were outstanding, hope it proves useful, link.

@Kagemusha Thanks, and thanks for that link! I'll def take a look at it!!!

Uncarina · August 7, 2022

Very nice! I have this kit as well, and am taking notes.

Cheers, Tom

IainM · August 19, 2022

Been pretty tied up with the work on the Hurricane, but this one is still getting some love every now and then!
After I had laid down some primer in various areas I saw that the fit between the engine, cowl where I had added some styrene to adjust the length, and the gun deck, was pretty lumpy. So I spent some fair time sanding down and sorting that area out.

Cockpit and all the various little bits were added, the canopies were masked (interior and exterior) and painted, as well as adding the grab handles and head armour.

Below is an image of the tub just before the canopies were added. Hopefully I've blown all the dust out - she's going to be a closed-up bird.

And there she is with the glazing on. Pretty happy with the fit, the time I spent fettling and sanding beforehand seemed to have worked. I will be filling the small gaps between the framing with diluted PVA to ensure paint doesn't get inside.
The glazing has just been glued on with Mr Hobby S, still needs some minor blending around the aft section. Once that's done, she's ready for primer!

NigTT · August 19, 2022

Lovely build and nice to see this variant built. Re the engine cowl and gun deck cover fit, I know it’s too late now, but I think Bf109E’s had a notoriously badly fitting engine cowl, usually with a gap and slightly raised where it meets the gun deck. Not sure how to add a photo or link, but a search for bf109e cowl would throw up some examples.

Looking forward to seeing some colour on it.

Edited August 19, 2022 by NigTT

IainM · August 19, 2022

9 hours ago, NigTT said:

Lovely build and nice to see this variant built. Re the engine cowl and gun deck cover fit, I know it’s too late now, but I think Bf109E’s had a notoriously badly fitting engine cowl, usually with a gap and slightly raised where it meets the gun deck. Not sure how to add a photo or link, but a search for bf109e cowl would throw up some examples.

Looking forward to seeing some colour on it.

Thanks @NigTT Yep, it (the gap) will still be visible....109's had that rubber seal which is the piece of styrene I added, plus I think there will be an ever-so-slight step.
I had to sort it out though, my first attempt was horrific :evil_laugh: it would just have been waaaaay to much!

MikeMaben · August 21, 2022

It's true many Es had a noticeable gap at the top. But like many things

109, some did some didn't.

Edited August 21, 2022 by MikeMaben

IainM · August 30, 2022

Got all the building work out of the way, now it's time for rivets and paint.
Going the same way on this as I did on my Hurricane - mottling over a silver base to provide the tonal variance, then the "black" topcoat..

So here she is with SMS Aluminium over Mr Surfacer grey primer (with the moveable surfaces left in grey).
I'll then go over the entire airframe with various colours shot through mottling masks.
On top of that will be a HGW rivet set.

Once the rivet decals are down, it'll be some chipping fluid, and the base colour to be chipped slightly. Hopefully all goes to plan

jeroen_R90S · August 31, 2022

Looks great this way, almost as shame to overpaint it!

IainM · October 5, 2022

Still working on the kit since the last update....should be able to make the GB deadline..hopefully! :lol:

So since the last update - laid down the HGW rivet set, sealed that in, then some chipping fluid, paint, chipping. Then painted all the major markings, together with some kit decals and some HGW Bf109 left-overs from a previous kit. The Englandblitz emblem is from the AML conversion set.

I made numerous attempts to create my own masks of the fuselage codes, but no matter how I tried to adjust my Cameo 4 for force, speed, etc, the codes would just not cut straight. I think it came down to the fact that I was using a font, which I then had to convert into a path to resize the letters properly, and the Cameo was just not happy with it. In the end I ended up using the provided masks from the AML conversion set - knowing I had to get it right the first time!! No extra sets to use if I messed it up. Ended up pretty happy with the result though.
Love the HGW rivet sets - really effective, especially under black.

I used a different "black" formulation for this kit as opposed to my Hurricane build - from what I've read the Germans used a nitro-cellulose formulation for their RLM22, which was in effect the same paint used for the Haken/Balkenkreuz - it had a sheen and didn't lose it's lustre as compared to the British "Night" black. So I started off with a base of AK Blue-black, to which various other colours were added to vary the tones.

The effect of the HGW rivet set is very nice!

I had some paint lift up just forward of the oil filler hatch - but unfortunately it was right at the end stage of everything I'd done, and it was nigh near impossible to fix it properly without having to strip it all down and start from scratch - so I'll just have to pretend it was some sort of damage that was repaired.... :huh:
It may look better once I've put a flat coat on her.

I've sealed the a/c in with a coat of Gunze semi-gloss - now I can get down to doing oil weathering on both this one and the Hurricane at the same time.

Thanks for looking!