Zoukei Moura Bf-109 G-14 a Non-Hartmann Build 1/32 Scale

[Gazzas]

Thank you, Guy!

 

For the last year or more I have decided that every kit gets a figure for scale.  It has seriously reduced my rate of completions...  unless you count each figure as a kit.  Though I strove to limit the number of figures per build, I had to follow the dictates of the scene.  My largest scene had 9 figures.  But I'm going to stick with two here.

 

I have some nice figures.  But unfortunately I did not plan well enough in advance to use them.  Had a I placed the seatbelts in a fashion that the pilot could have simply stepped into the cockpit and sat down, then I could have used them.  So I will use my fallback set from Masterbox circa 2012.

 

The Masterbox set has one pilot with a backpack parachute suitable for 190 pilots...   while the other pilot has the seat chute.  The figures will require a little filling and fettling.  But they should do.

 

 

 

[Greg W]

Great job Gazz! In spite of the bumpy road, it sure is looking good. The end result will make you proud for sure.

[LSP_Matt]

Great job on the kit Gaz.  Amazed at how detailed it is. Clever solution for the tail modifications. Thanks for posting your pics. Lol'd at the iceberg photo.

 

Cheers Matty

[dutik]

I think that a 109 might become a little bit cramped with 9 figures inside

 

Nevertheless, the Royal Navy managed during wartime to fit 140 persons into a motorcraft made for a crew of 7(!). Popskis Private Army in full strength that was plus a complement of 73 commandos. They didn't feel the urge to go into captivity so going a little bit cramped was ok with them

 

BTW, a French AF Tiger helicopter manged during the last Mali operation to haul away 3 Frenchies that crashed somewhere in the nowhere of Mali. The Tiger is not a Hind with a troop compartment. Just a twoseater with nothing else  The crew stuffed the most severed man onto the lap of the navigator in his compartment, while the other two lads took a seat outboards at the left and right wheel respectivly. Fresh air and a good view granted. Well, kids, don't try this at home  It's not to the regulations, even French ones, but it worked in these circumstances

 

Regards

- dutik

[Rick Griewski]

Back from vacation and what do I find … wow a very brave and informative build! All good stuff. Thanks Gazzas    Great references gentlemen.  I will build my kit with eyes wide open and sonar for the ice bergs.  

Edited October 13, 2022 by Rick Griewski

[Gazzas]

Hey everyone...

 

 

One of the novel features of this kit is that it takes care of most of the angles for you.  On how many 109 builds have you had to hold radiators or flaps at a certain angle until the glue set.  Simple answer...   all of them, except perhaps the Tamiya 1/48 G6.

 

 

There are four ways you can arrange the radiators and flaps...  With ZM giving you different parts to make it happen with no ambiguity.

 

 

It's a little tricky at first until you realize that part C-2's angle of attack will be decided by the part on the outer edge of the radiator flap.  I went radiators open.

The parts are quite impressive.  Be careful.....   some of that hanging down bit is surface detail.

 

The reverse view:

You'll never see those injector pin marks again....

 

Likewise, the angle of the flaps is determined by which locator lugs you remove.

 

Next, you can see the progression without me having to guess an angle at all.

 

 

And finally, the ailerons.  If you wanna do one-up, one down...   Good luck.

So...   the upper radiator flap is cemented into position while the flap and aileron are held there by friction...  no blutack or tape required.

 

The lower radiator flap is different from any previous as well.  Remember that surface detail I mentioned earlier...

 

ZM had a chance to save modellers around the world from one of the most annoying seam clean-ups known to 109 builders:

Now...   I blew this photo up top very large because I wanted to point out something.  On this image you can see the surface texture on the supercharger intake and on the propeller hub.  It covers most of the model, but not all.

 

I sanded the propeller blades to get rid of it, then covered them with two airbrushed layers of paint.

The top layer of paint was MRP RLM 70 or 71...   can't remember which at this second.  Anyway...   the areas where I didn't sand enough showed the texture badly...   so, I had to sand them again.

 

So really...   the choice you are left with is to either live with all of the texture.  Get rid of all texture.  Or use a lot of paint. 

I chose to sand everything.

 

And then...   I used my favorite primer:  Tamiya Paint.

 

The "primer" is Tamiya's Chrome silver and Titanium silver mixed 50/50 -ish.  I kinda like it.  Tomorrow I will wet sand it with fine grits (3K to 8K) before I can start laying the HGW rivets.

 

Finally...  The aircraft I'm modelling has it's DF loop.  You Hartmann builders will have to snip it off your DF loops but leave the blister on.

 

Happy Modelling!

[rafju]

Hi Gazzas

 Many thanks for posting your build and all the infos dispatched along ;-)

as we can see through your cockpit build the Mk108 cannon blister, do you intend to add the compressed air outlet, starboard side aft of the last exhaust pipe?

By the way, i've not seen anything about in the ZM instruction booklet?

Thx

 

[scvrobeson]

Thanks for blazing the trail on this build.  Shows all of the quirks for the rest of the board.  Keep up the great work

 

 

Matt

[Gazzas]

6 hours ago, rafju said:

Hi Gazzas

 Many thanks for posting your build and all the infos dispatched along ;-)

as we can see through your cockpit build the Mk108 cannon blister, do you intend to add the compressed air outlet, starboard side aft of the last exhaust pipe?

By the way, i've not seen anything about in the ZM instruction booklet?

Thx

 

 

Well sir...  It seems you have me at a disadvantage.  Since it wasn't in the directions and that I didn't know about it, I didn't model it.  Could you show me a picture, please.

 

Just my opinion:  I believe that this model was initially just a G-6 Trop.  I believe that at some point someone decided they needed a gimmick to boost initial sales.  So...   create a few new parts (because many have read that the G-14 was just a standardization measure).  Add the ace of aces and a single-plane decal sheet...   and Voila!

 

True enough, the kit has sold out everywhere.  So much for being "done to death".

[D.B. Andrus]

Gazzas, I believe Rafju is referring to this U-4 detail:

 

 

HTH,

Damian

[Gazzas]

38 minutes ago, D.B. Andrus said:

Gazzas, I believe Rafju is referring to this U-4 detail:

 

 

HTH,

Damian

 

Well...   There are no parts for that though I can see how easily it could be scratch built.  But it is too late for me, now.

[Gazzas]

Well...   I'm at a cross roads.  The HGW Rivets are for the Hasegawa kit and don't fit very well.  I have a Hasegawa kit, so they won't go to waste.

 

So...    What to do. ..

 

I bought a whole bunch of generic rivets.  The only bummer is that I will have to lay them one strip, or string at a time and then move on to a non-adjacent area.  Then I can keep repeating until I decide that I can't do any more without risking touching the ones freshly laid.  Then everything has to sit for 8 hours to fully dry.

Then I get to repeat it all again until I think enough are laid.

My alternatives are:  1.  Foregoing rivets altogether.

                                  2.  Stabbing it full of holes with a rivet tool

                                  3.  Using a beading tool to make my own rivets.

Obviously number 1. is the easiest.  Number 2...  I really hate the look of rivet holes.  And I am notorious to myself for being unable to maintain a straight line, even using a straight edge.   I have used a beading tool for small things...   but never an entire model.  And then I have to worry about spacing as well as maintaining a straight line.

 

Any thoughts you could add?

[rafju]

5 hours ago, D.B. Andrus said:

Gazzas, I believe Rafju is referring to this U-4 detail:

 

 

HTH,

Damian

Hi All

Yes Damian, perfect and great reference!

=> compressed air outlet Mk108 cannon.

Thank You.

 

Edited October 16, 2022 by rafju

[JayW]

Gaz - I am no 109 expert at all, and I am so interested in it now.  A whole world of details and changes from model to model.  Love it.  As for rivet marks, I am using the Mega Tool awl set (Peter Castle turned me on to it).  Works great IMO.  However I too have trouble keeping marks in a straight line.

[tucohoward]

Hi Gaz, I am enjoying your build very much. I have a few thoughts on rivets. Most of you know I am a big beading tool guy but I have also used HGW rivets on a couple of 1/48 projects. One of them was a Tamiya 109 which did require doing the fuselage line by line as the preprinted ones didn’t line up at all. Tedious as you describe but doable. At least in 48th scale they are very, very subtle under paint. Virtually invisible until lightly sanding, which looks great for spots that wear, but seems like a lot of work for not much in most areas. Might be better in 32nd scale. Don’t know.

For me the beading tool is much easier but I’ve done it a lot. The spacing becomes automatic before very long. If the rivet line runs along a panel line I don’t use a guide. Otherwise I use Tamiya tape which gives you just enough of an edge to be a good guide. A good reference and a good ruler are musts. Accurate measurements are very important. Uneven spacing between lines is noticeable. I don’t do the undersides of the wings since nobody looks at them. About 5-6 hours for a 109 I would guess for total time.

 I also don’t care for hole approach.

Hope this helps,

Jay