Greg W Posted February 25, 2023 Author Share Posted February 25, 2023 (edited) Right, probably should have left well enough alone, cause the 3D printed exhausts were looking prerty darned good... but the thickness of the exhaust shrouds on the model distracted me enough that I decided to try and make thinner versions. The front width is set by the back of the intake, so I measured the rear width and made a note of it before removal. I weakened and broke this guy, while sanding down the last of the remaining overly stout shroud. Ok, fortunately the break reassembled like a puzzle piece and didnt look too bad. I glued it back together, reinforced it and set it aside to dry. It was time to pursue more mundane tasks, so I could feel like I was accomplishing something akin to forward progress. Wings and tail feathers are now cleaned up, assembled and glued together. Today, the glue has set up enough to further refine the fit of the nose cowling. I was more in the mood to address that, than make the thin exhaust shrouds. The gaps around the rear cowl closed up nicely after shimming the bottom with .020 strip and lightly sanding the top of the panel my middle finger is pressing into place. At this point, the big cowl was still sitting too high. Note how the small panel I broke off is being pressed inward. Sand a little like this... Then a little like this... Back and forth until... Much better. I think I will not do any more until the fuselage is glued together. Now I have to figure out how to finish what I started with the exhausts. All the best friends, Greg Edited March 2, 2023 by Greg W MikeMaben, mc65, rafju and 11 others 14 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Greg W Posted February 25, 2023 Author Share Posted February 25, 2023 I am appealing to the knowledgeable members of LSP on all accounts regarding this subject matter, because I know very little when it comes to German fighters! My first inquiry is regarding a profile in the 1972 Airfix book. Do any of you have additional info and are there published pictures of this aircraft? Is this profile thought to be based on good information or is it a flight of fancy? TIA MikeMaben, rafju and Anthony in NZ 3 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RBrown Posted February 25, 2023 Share Posted February 25, 2023 The cowling on the Bf 109 E does sit high as photos clearly show. Perhaps this is somewhat overemphasized on the Airfix kit, but it is a feature of the real aircraft. Here are a couple of photos of the machine depicted in the profile... Alain Gadbois, D.B. Andrus, Bonkin and 2 others 4 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MikeMaben Posted February 25, 2023 Share Posted February 25, 2023 Yeah, the Cross / Scarborough series is a trustworthy source, even though old. The sections in the back about the 1/24 Airfix kits looks kinda crude but helpful in it's day. Mr. Brown is right about the gap at the top of the E series cowling. It looks like a clearance for the guns issue. Your progress is looking very good Greg . Alain Gadbois, scvrobeson, Greg W and 4 others 6 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
D.B. Andrus Posted February 25, 2023 Share Posted February 25, 2023 Nice save on the exhaust shrouds, Greg! Thin the trailing edge on the cowling and you should be OK. Cheers, Damian Greg W and Anthony in NZ 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Anthony in NZ Posted February 26, 2023 Share Posted February 26, 2023 9 hours ago, D.B. Andrus said: Nice save on the exhaust shrouds, Greg! Thin the trailing edge on the cowling and you should be OK. Cheers, Damian Agreed, thin the cowling and by the time a micron is removed by sanding the fuse, it will look perfect! Looks much much better with your mods cheers Anthony Greg W and D.B. Andrus 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Greg W Posted February 27, 2023 Author Share Posted February 27, 2023 On 2/25/2023 at 1:27 AM, RBrown said: The cowling on the Bf 109 E does sit high as photos clearly show. Perhaps this is somewhat overemphasized on the Airfix kit, but it is a feature of the real aircraft. Here are a couple of photos of the machine depicted in the profile... On 2/25/2023 at 4:21 AM, MikeMaben said: Yeah, the Cross / Scarborough series is a trustworthy source, even though old. The sections in the back about the 1/24 Airfix kits looks kinda crude but helpful in it's day. Mr. Brown is right about the gap at the top of the E series cowling. It looks like a clearance for the guns issue. Your progress is looking very good Greg . Mr. Brown and Mr. Maben, thank you for providing such terrific photos and calling my attention to the correct hight of the cowl. Should be easy enough to add some thin strip in order to tweek it (up) a smidge. Those images are fantastic. I think I will do this aircraft on 1:32 scale. Since it looks like it did not utilize the additional armor on the windscreen, I will do it at another time. I definitely want to use the complete Airscale canopy set on this project, so the hunt for a paint scheme continues. 23 hours ago, D.B. Andrus said: Nice save on the exhaust shrouds, Greg! Thin the trailing edge on the cowling and you should be OK. Cheers, Damian 14 hours ago, Anthony in NZ said: Agreed, thin the cowling and by the time a micron is removed by sanding the fuse, it will look perfect! Looks much much better with your mods cheers Damian and Anthony, I agree. The back needs thinning as well as the openings for the guns and vents. Some careful work will be required to make the openings for the guns thin and symmetrical. Gentlemen, thank you for the encouraging words and being at the ready with excellent information! RBrown, Bonkin, D.B. Andrus and 2 others 5 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Greg W Posted March 2, 2023 Author Share Posted March 2, 2023 (edited) I definitely removed too much material from the bottom of the cowl and it was sitting a little too low. Easy enough to remedy by gluing it to plastic sheet. The top trailing edge of the cowl needs significant thinning as mentioned above, as do all of the openings in the kit. Todays effort was focused on modifying the forward portion of both exhaust shrouds. They needed to be hollowed out and slightly reshaped at the front. This takes some time because of the amount of plastic that needs to be removed from hard to reach places. One has to work more and more carefully as the plastic becomes thin. Note how thin the purge/cooling vent in front of the windscreen is. Edited March 2, 2023 by Greg W Paulpk, MikeMaben, RBrown and 5 others 8 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Greg W Posted March 2, 2023 Author Share Posted March 2, 2023 (edited) There are numerous latches that are poorly represented on the model which frankly, I don't have the skill to replicate. This is such a prominent feature, I began to wonder if Eduard or somebody else did these in PE. Fortunately, Yahu made this set which took some time to find (appears to be OOP). Looking around online, I found a hobbyshop located in Poland that has some in stock with cheap shipping to boot! Edited March 2, 2023 by Greg W jeroen_R90S, LSP_Kevin, Landrotten Highlander and 7 others 10 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MikeMaben Posted March 2, 2023 Share Posted March 2, 2023 Nice work Greg, wow, lucky find on those Dzus fasteners. Greg W 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mc65 Posted March 2, 2023 Share Posted March 2, 2023 hi Greg, spectacular work and great attention to correcting the age flaws of this kit! Yahu latches are an amazing low effort improvement, implementing these with a bit of wire will look great. I put here two pocs of mine in 1/32, I hope they may interest you. have fun! cheers, Paolo RBrown, jeroen_R90S, LSP_Kevin and 6 others 9 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Greg W Posted March 3, 2023 Author Share Posted March 3, 2023 16 hours ago, MikeMaben said: Nice work Greg, wow, lucky find on those Dzus fasteners. Thank you Mike. Yeah, what a break! They are out there but you have to turn over some rocks to find them. 16 hours ago, mc65 said: hi Greg, spectacular work and great attention to correcting the age flaws of this kit! Yahu latches are an amazing low effort improvement, implementing these with a bit of wire will look great. I put here two pocs of mine in 1/32, I hope they may interest you. have fun! cheers, Paolo I really like how you have used wire with the PE. That is a perfect way to display them in the unlatched position. They look great on 1:32. Yahu made them in 1:48 too, those must be tiny. Thanks for sharing your adaptation, I think it is a brilliant idea! mc65 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Greg W Posted March 3, 2023 Author Share Posted March 3, 2023 The more I use the superglue/Mig Gunmetal Pigment mixture, the more I like it. The edges needed truing up in order to meet flush. The mix was perfect for doing that. I thinned the cowl, what do you guys think? Elger, mc65, Sepp and 13 others 16 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MikeMaben Posted March 3, 2023 Share Posted March 3, 2023 Yep. Greg W 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bonkin Posted March 3, 2023 Share Posted March 3, 2023 Wow. Good job thinning those cowl's out. Sooo much better. Greg W 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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