Airfix 1/24 Bf-109E

[Volksjager]

Thanks guys, appreciated the comments and feedback! 

 

On 10/6/2023 at 5:51 PM, Duncan Doenitz said:

That set is just decals that are nice little additions to the engine block, coolant tanks, oleo legs, etc. I did stencil the markings on my G-6 which I cut by hand and the results are very nice, particularly the underwing crosses. The problem with Luftwaffe aircraft is trying to find the correct shades of everything. I was recommended SMS lacquer PL189 for RLM76 Lichtblau. It looks pale in the bottle but works very well on 1:24 (never spray over acrylic !). I searched for mottle stencils but at this scale, the hard edge just doesn't work. Freehand gives a better result.

 

Enjoy !

 

I use SMS Lacquers for pretty much everything. I agree I find the tones pretty bang on but they also mix very well, which is what I love about them so much. I agree the SMS RLM76 is very good and when shot with a little sky or grey green for tonal difference, I thought it really popped. With low pressure, a 0.2mm needle in my H&S infinity & thinning the SMS paint down a touch I found a freehand mottle came out pretty good & and you said, a much better result in 1/24 than with stencils.

 

Not a massive amout of progress over the weekend as I was busy with the family, being the final weekend of school holidays. Most of the work centered around opening up vents & intakes, removing the starboard side exhaust stubs and cleaning flash from around the engine bay.

 

I also had a go and creating the panel directly in front of the canopy and over the guns. Reports from other builds found the panel to be short one one side near the wing root but I didn't find this to be a problem on my kit. I taped it together before taping/clamping it into place on the aircraft so I could then apply glue while it was in situ

 

 

The result was a pretty good fit on both sides. The top seam has been filled with CA, sanded smooth and top panel line rescribed

 

 

 

As mentioned above I was able to open the vents. I am happy with the round, cone intake behind the starter hole but thinking of anther idea for the rectangle ones as I am just not happy with them. I still have to thin the overall panel down too.

 

 

 

Finally, here is a pic with the engine sat in place to test the supercharger intake extension. Still some refining to do but looks much better then it just stopping short of the body panel. There is definitely a twist in the forward fuselage of the kit, which which is pushing the engine off centre & I haven't worked out how to fix yet but I am sure I will work something out.

 

 

Next step is to start throwing some paint around before adding more parts to the powerplant. I cant really paint until the weekend so it might be time to move onto the cockpit and start the prep there.

 

[Bonkin]

I really enjoyed making this kit. Looks like you're off to a great start. 

[Volksjager]

Another small update but I am very proud of myself for learning something new!

 

Earlier, I had cut out the 4 molded vents in the engine/gun cover in front of the windscreen but wasn't happy with the outcome on such a large kit. They just didn't look right and in one of the earlier pics I had posted, you can see what I mean. Biggest problem was access, or the lack thereof, to open them up.

 

 

So after a bit of thinking and looking at some walkaround pics I devised a plan but it would push my current abilities. Here is one of the pics I have been using as a reference on what I want my vents to look like. See how much deeper the vent is but also how it's mounted to the aircraft's skin.

 

 

First port of call, cut out the vent completely and thin the edges down. Here is the part, mid way through the first one

 

 

Before long I had all 4 cut out, thinned and sanded smooth. I got there by scraping the rear of the area first, thinning it right out, before opening up the area with my knife. After that some needle files straightened up the openings and rounded the corners. Finally some liquid glue to get rid of the fuzzies. To remove some of the scratches that I made when opening them up originally I used some Mr.Surfacer to fill the lines and then sanded this smooth. 

 

 

 

While I was at it I also thinned out the edge of the part, to be more in keeping with the scale 

 

 

So how do I create the vent? Well it's time I caught up with everyone and taught myself 3D design! A few Youtube videos and after a couple of test runs I had managed to create what I had in my head in Fusion 360 before exporting it to STL, then into the slicer ready for 3D printing

 

 

These vents range from 7mm x 3mm for the biggest one, down to 3.5mm x 3mm for the smallest. That flange around the outside is also 0.5mm wide by 0.1mm thick! In the pic below the largest vent has been removed from the support for testing but they look pretty good for a first print. I printed 4 sets with different supports to test out some theories, and to have some spares.

 

 

I will prime them prior to install but here is the largest on in place with tape just to give an idea of how they look in situ 

 

 

 

Hard to really get a good look without primer but hopefully they give an idea of what to expect once fixed in place. Much happier this time around and I have a ton of confidence for future design and printing. Baby steps but pretty big leap for me!

 

Bring on the weekend for painting. 

 

 

[Duncan Doenitz]

It will be interesting to see the scheme you have chosen. I have the 1:24 Stuka reissue on my wish list and it will be a North Africa version. Well done on the openings, they look first class.

[Volksjager]

Smallish update to provide a proof of life on this build 

 

I did manage to prime the powerplant, prop, spinner & my little 3d printed vents with a layer of SMS Micro primer over the weekend. Once dry I gave the parts a light sand to blend in the primer and they were ready for the first paint base coat. No real pics of the work (because they don't show too much) so far but here is the modified spinner back plate. I added the holes you can see though the prop openings in the spinner.

 

 

 

And my printed vents primed before a quick rubdown. The large rear one has a small imperfection so I will use one of the others for installation on to the aircraft 

 

 

But...... what has tickled my fancy in the past week is 3D design. The vents wet the taste buds and I was keen to learn a bit more to see what I can create.

 

Last weekend, while waiting for the primer to dry, I made the decision to start looking at cleaning the cockpit parts of flash and what mods/scratch building I was going to make.

 

 

The first port of call was the map holder and opening that up. I thought about maybe cutting that off and printing a new one if I could teach myself to design it. Well, one thing led to another and here is where it's at as of last night........

 

 

Yes I have a problem, haha 

 

Have been having great fun building the cockpit walls. Once I saw the kit parts we not entirely accurate I just couldn't help myself. The plan is for this to sit on the fuselage half and the small lip on the canopy sill edge will sit over the edge of the cockpit opening so it's all seamless. I also plan to incorporate some of the kit parts into this so its not all new, such as the oxygen system (which I quite like the molding of), flap wheels and the seat once it's thinned a bit.

 

I am almost there with the starboard side, just need to make the final parts like the map holder & bucket underneath, add some rivets and find a way to mount the kit's oxygen system. I have allowed for holes in certain parts for the wiring which I will run myself after it's printed. The port side skin has been made with the main rib & top edge attached, just needs equipment like the throttle etc. I will remake the seat frame as the flap wheel attachment and the seat height leaver just isn't up to it. IP, well haven't got that far yet. Maybe it will be Airscale PE or maybe I will give it a go but either way, it will be changed. Already have a 3D printed gunsight so no probs there.

 

No test prints as yet. If it all goes to poo, well at least I can fall back on some traditional scratch building to pull it through. 

 

This printer has been a blessing and a curse. I am really loving the design & printing aspect, it just keeps me away from the bench doing actual modelling! Still very exciting to see where this leads as it's very useful. 

[Jim Barry]

Great detailing! The 3D Add ons are wonderful 

[Shoggz]

Wow, you're really taking this to another level. Mine can only look on with envy!

[Rob Colvin]

Wow throw in some flaps and wheel well inserts and you will have it. really sharp! 

 

Rob

[Volksjager]

Thanks guys, appreciate the check in and the comments.

 

12 hours ago, Rob Colvin said:

Wow throw in some flaps and wheel well inserts and you will have it. really sharp! 

 

Rob

 

That's the grand plan, to fashion some wheel well inserts, lower the flap as well as some other little plans I am thinking of.......

 

Had an early night last night but did manage to get the map holder modelled. Will keep on the design tonight & over the weekend. Hopefully get a test print out shortly. 

[Shoggz]

If you print some wheel well inserts and have, for instance, an inferior test pair, I know a good home for them.. 

 

It is definitely something I will have to tackle with my own build and I'm absolutely not on the same level as you with regards to the whole 3D printing element of our wonderful hobby.

[Volksjager]

On 10/20/2023 at 5:53 PM, Shoggz said:

If you print some wheel well inserts and have, for instance, an inferior test pair, I know a good home for them.. 

 

It is definitely something I will have to tackle with my own build and I'm absolutely not on the same level as you with regards to the whole 3D printing element of our wonderful hobby.

 

Haha, well once I get around to the wheels I am sure we can work something out. 

 

Managed to finish the cockpit starboard side wall over the weekend

 

 

I have also test printed twice since then. First print, I angled it back at 45 degrees and printed the whole thing, knowing it would fail, but wanted the test. It printed but some parts didn't form properly so made some adjustments and printed again yesterday.

 

The second print was left standing straight up, just like in the picture above, but separated out the crank handle, munitions box and the controller to the left of that. Much better print and everything formed, just want to try and minimize layer lines now. I am new to this whole thing so still playing around with the settings etc. I am printing at 0.05 layer height but I think I will try it at 0.02 tomorrow. 

 

The best part of the test, at least the part fits and with a couple of tweaks around the canopy rail section, will be a drop in part. Here is the part fitted but please note, I had just given it a quick sand to see how it would respond & being smokey black semi transparent resin it doesn't show up well in pictures until I throw on a layer of paint.  

 

 

 

Good detail on the smaller parts, just need to try and remove the layer lines now. I love the little crank handle!

 

 

 

[Jim Barry]

Great stuff! I’m so dying for more 109 

[Volksjager]

The rabbit hole that is 3D design & printing has been taking up most of my time over the last few weeks but it has all been for the 109 at least.

 

Last week saw some testing once again to try and get a balance between detail and quality with my older printer. The week started with cleaning and lubricating the Z-axis. As my printer (Elegoo Mars Pro) was a freebie & I don't know its history, I decided to give it a clean to see if I could get a better quality print.  Having done a calibration test early on, I went ahead and separated out the smaller parts of the panel and printed them again individually, still at a layer height of 0.05mm but this time at different angles to test for quality. Across all of these prints, 60 degrees seemed to be the best balance. So off I went and printed the side panel again at 0.05mm layer height & supported at 60 degrees. Here are some of the leftover test prints 

 

 

As a quick comparison, here is V2 of the panel print, which was printed upright and prior to the Z-Axis clean at 0.05mm layer height

 

 

And here is V3, after the Z-Axis clean and printed at 60 degrees with a layer height of 0.05mm

 

 

Both have had a quick spray of primer to bring out the detail. 

 

After a quick sanding pass, I decided to doll the V3 panel up to test out if it would work or not. Still a couple of things I want to model but worst case scenario I could fall back on this if future prints don't work.  So after a very quick & dirty painting pass I was left with this result:

 

 

The munitions case

 

 

The unit to the right of the O2 system. Both 45 degrees & 60 Degrees finished here

 

 

My favorite part, the crank handle. Its so small yet printed out the best of everything first try!

 

 

and finally the map bucket. Its so thin I had to cure it with something inside of the bucket to hold it's shape. Looks good though 

 

 

To be perfectly honest, I am happy with the design but I just wasn't happy with any of it as a whole yesterday. Maybe I was just painting on an off day but wasn't getting into it at all. Here is the part in place in the cockpit

 

 

And then with the other pieces added (just held in place with bluetack) to get a feel for it compared to the kit part. Still a bunch of wiring to add but this may not be the final piece so yet to be done

 

 

Macro photography is never your friend and doesn't do the parts any justice but I am still not 100% happy yet. The design work has started on the Port side cockpit and so far I have modelled the throttle unit and the T handles. The port side should be quicker as there is just not as much equipment on that side and I know the process a little more now.

 

I am very much still learning about 3D printing and design but any advice would be welcome from people more knowledgeable than myself. I think I will do some exposure tests tonight to dial in the printer at a 0.04mm layer height and try again but any other advice on reducing the layer lines would be welcome.

 

Is this the best I am gonna get from an older Elegoo Mars Pro or am I expecting too much from an older machine?

 

 

[Grunticus]

On 10/12/2023 at 3:51 PM, Volksjager said:

Another small update but I am very proud of myself for learning something new!

 

Earlier, I had cut out the 4 molded vents in the engine/gun cover in front of the windscreen but wasn't happy with the outcome on such a large kit. They just didn't look right and in one of the earlier pics I had posted, you can see what I mean. Biggest problem was access, or the lack thereof, to open them up.

 

 

 

So after a bit of thinking and looking at some walkaround pics I devised a plan but it would push my current abilities. Here is one of the pics I have been using as a reference on what I want my vents to look like. See how much deeper the vent is but also how it's mounted to the aircraft's skin.

 

 

 

First port of call, cut out the vent completely and thin the edges down. Here is the part, mid way through the first one

 

 

 

Before long I had all 4 cut out, thinned and sanded smooth. I got there by scraping the rear of the area first, thinning it right out, before opening up the area with my knife. After that some needle files straightened up the openings and rounded the corners. Finally some liquid glue to get rid of the fuzzies. To remove some of the scratches that I made when opening them up originally I used some Mr.Surfacer to fill the lines and then sanded this smooth. 

 

 

 

 

 

While I was at it I also thinned out the edge of the part, to be more in keeping with the scale 

 

 

 

So how do I create the vent? Well it's time I caught up with everyone and taught myself 3D design! A few Youtube videos and after a couple of test runs I had managed to create what I had in my head in Fusion 360 before exporting it to STL, then into the slicer ready for 3D printing

 

 

 

These vents range from 7mm x 3mm for the biggest one, down to 3.5mm x 3mm for the smallest. That flange around the outside is also 0.5mm wide by 0.1mm thick! In the pic below the largest vent has been removed from the support for testing but they look pretty good for a first print. I printed 4 sets with different supports to test out some theories, and to have some spares.

 

 

 

I will prime them prior to install but here is the largest on in place with tape just to give an idea of how they look in situ 

 

 

 

 

Hard to really get a good look without primer but hopefully they give an idea of what to expect once fixed in place. Much happier this time around and I have a ton of confidence for future design and printing. Baby steps but pretty big leap for me!

 

Bring on the weekend for painting. 

 

 

 

You did a great job on those vents. It's really fantastic to see how 3d printing invades this hobby and opens up entirely new possibilities. Very well done so far on this ancient kit!

[Jim Barry]

Lovely!