Airfix 1:72 Messerschmitt Bf 109E-4

[Navy Bird]

Hi mates! For those that haven't been following the WIP, here is my first model of the iconic Messerschmitt Bf 109. That's right, my very first in nearly 50 years of modelling military aircraft. Why did I wait so long? I don't know - I haven't built a Fw 190 or Me 262 either!

Project: Messerschmitt Bf 109E-4

Kit: Airfix Messerschmitt Bf 109E-4 (kit number A01008)
Scale: 1:72 (because I don't want my thumbs to turn into sausages!)
Decals: From the kit, representing the aircraft flown into a field in Love's Farm, Marden, Kent by Oberleutnant Franz von Werra, Gruppen-Adjutant I/JG 3, September 5, 1940. Also, swastikas from Techmod sheet 72101.
Photoetch: Eduard Detail Set No. 73 453

Masks: Eduard Set CX 331

Resin: BarracudaCast BR72091 Messerschmitt B,C,D,E Main Wheels
Paint: Gunze H70 RLM02, H67 RLM65, H64 RLM71, H65 RLM70, H416 RLM66, H90 Clear Red, H94 Clear Green; Tamiya XF-69 NATO Black, XF-2 Flat White; Testors 1180 Flat Steel,1149 Flat Black, 1790 Silver FS17178, 1795 Jet Exhaust; Floquil 110004 Crystal-Cote; Future; Alclad Klear Kote Flat
Weathering: All weathering was done with pastel chalk dust, and is sealed underneath the top coat of flat varnish. No panel line wash was done externally; a light burnt umber wash was used in the cockpit.

 

Improvements/Corrections

• Applied the Eduard PE set to the cockpit, including the canopy retention cable.
• PE hand holds on front windscreen.
• Eduard PE used for both main wheel wells and landing gear doors.
• Replaced kit wheels with resin set from Barracuda Studios.
• Lowered the ailerons by 11 degrees to match typical landing configuration (leading edge slats were previously stowed by der Erksters).
• Scratch built the starboard wing fairing attachment plate (to match the detail that Airfix forgot, even though it was properly moulded on the port side).
• Radio mast from kit was broken; replacement part from Academy kit was shortened and its profile altered.
• Added antenna and lead-in wires with 0.005" diameter Nitinol wire.

 

Build thread: Link

 

What a sweet little kit! I only encountered a few areas that were strange - for example I had to remove the alignment pegs from the wings in order to get the top and bottom halves to line up properly. Once I did that, the alignment was very good, and the wing assembly joined the main fuselage with the proper dihedral. I also had to remove an alignment peg from one of the tailplane struts so I could mount it in the correct position. The propeller can be mounted either way - you have to be careful to make sure that the straighter edges of the prop blades are the leading edges.

 

Very little putty was used on this kit. Some of the small parts were quite difficult to remove from the sprues (I was using a new #11 blade to carefully cut through the sprue gate). I only broke one part, namely the aerial mast which I replaced with an altered piece from an Academy kit. All told, I really enjoyed putting this little guy together!

 

By the way - no attempt was made to "fill" the panel lines with anything other than the normal amount of paint that I used in airbrushing the camouflage scheme. The next time you read someone saying this kit has "trenches" please direct them to this build, give them a light tap on the head, and tell them to stop believing all the nonsense you find on the Internet. Except for this thread, of course.

 

The paint scheme and markings are of course from the famous 109 shot down over Kent. I think I represented the aircraft with the proper colours and weathering, at least based on current research. A fellow Britmodeller sent me a copy of the crash report which included descriptions of some of the colours; for instance the black and white spinner and the fact that this aircraft had no armor protection in the canopy.

 

Enough of all this stuff - here are the pictures! Enjoy!

 

Edit - My fellow modellers pointed out some errors in my build, which I quickly corrected. Updated pictures on further down the thread. Thanks mates! 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Cheers,

Bill (who can never decide what to build next...)

Edited November 5, 2017 by Navy Bird
Photobucket eradication.

[John Laidlaw]

As I said on your build thread, beautiful. Excellent work, sir, and also a very good point regarding the panel lines... they look great, too .

[Les Moore]

Outstanding...looks every bit as good as my Tamiya...got to get some of these.

[blueliner]

Superb build!

Could pass for a much larger scale.

[VG 33]

Thank you for sharing this little gem and such a complete report as well.

Patrick

[pascal JMW]

hello

beautiful 109 !! gorgeous work !

[PlaStix]

Stunning 109 Bill! As others have said - looking at the level of finish and detailing it could easily be mistaken for a much larger scale. One of the best on BM in my opinion.

[spruecutter]

Lovely work Bill and I fully concur with your point about the panel lines.

Cheers

Richard C

[Notty]

A masterpiece. I don't like 1/72 as I don't have the skills to finesse it to anything like your level. Wish I did I'd be able to fit many more models in my office.

[Duncan B]

What can I say that hasn't already been said? How about send it to me right now? That would get the best spot in my display cabinet but I'd have to throw all my 109's out. What a beauty.

Duncan B

[Spitfire31]

A artful build of von Werra's machine, betraying 50 years of modelling experience…

In fact, if the origin of the kit hadn't been so carelessly revealed ;-), I would certainly have taken it for 1:48th scale. And the drooped ailerons are duly noted!

A tiny detail: : since the front end of the exhaust sheet metal 'housing' is open, perhaps this could have been simulated by dark grey paint?

Inspiring expertise on display!

Kind regards,

Joachim

[occa]

Masterpiece !!!

And I like what you said about the infamous and notorious panel line bashers

[Navy Bird]

On 8/10/2014 at 5:08 AM, Duncan B said:

What can I say that hasn't already been said? How about send it to me right now? That would get the best spot in my display cabinet but I'd have to throw all my 109's out. What a beauty.

Duncan B

Thanks, Duncan! I've seen some of your 109s, and I wouldn't be throwing any of those in the bin - they are superb!

On 8/10/2014 at 5:21 AM, Spitfire31 said:

A artful build of von Werra's machine, betraying 50 years of modelling experience…

In fact, if the origin of the kit hadn't been so carelessly revealed ;-), I would certainly have taken it for 1:48th scale. And the drooped ailerons are duly noted!

A tiny detail: : since the front end of the exhaust sheet metal 'housing' is open, perhaps this could have been simulated by dark grey paint?

Inspiring expertise on display!

Kind regards,

Joachim

 

Yikes! I forgot all about the opening at the front of the exhaust shroud. That was on my list of things to do when building the kit. My original intent was to open it up - I guess when I forgot to do that I didn't think about it again. Your suggestion should work just fine - thank you!

 

(And it's nearly 50 years of experience - don't make me older than I already am!)

 

Cheers,

Bill

[Dave N]

Effortless looking finish make it look much larger scale than it is. I mucked mine up but seeing this beauty makes me want to have another go..

[Winenut]

Bill....

That is amazing.

Beautiful in every way...what a technical masterpiece AND work of art.

Brilliant

Cheers

Bruce

[It's a disease]

Cracking job. I read the WIP, well researched. (I built mine before I found the etch, I'd like to rebuild it using that set, cockpit definitely needs it)

I went red on my spinner, I'm a sucker for red spinners.

Yours is better overall. Actually I referenced the wip in my ready for inspection log as an example of what could be done with the kit and to highlight the Eduard set.

[Vulcanicity]

That's superb Bill! As others have said it could easily be a larger scale. Love how you corrected the various errors and oddities in the kit

[sean]

A beautiful finish to a great w.i.p, the paint is really something else. I shall most definitely use this as a guide while building mine,

Sean

[2wheels]

The more of these Airfix 109's I see built the more appealing I find them.

If you were a sales man you've just sold me one!

[batcode]

very nice 109 and great job on the paint

[Fritag]

Beautiful build Bill, beautiful finishing. Just sooooo neat. I really don't know how you do that time after time.

[woody37]

Another epic build Bill, this time packed tightly in to a little airframe. Great build thread, just shows what can be obtained out of these little kits with some skill and commitment

[Val]

Stunning little model, top work!

[Navy Bird]

On 8/11/2014 at 4:47 AM, Fritag said:

Beautiful build Bill, beautiful finishing. Just sooooo neat. I really don't know how you do that time after time.

 

Thanks! I've had a look at your work, and you seem to do an outstanding job yourself, Herr Fritag. If the reader hasn't had a look at some of Fritag's builds (and the WIPs that go with them) he's missing a treat. Look them up and enjoy!

 

On 8/11/2014 at 5:13 AM, woody37 said:

Another epic build Bill, this time packed tightly in to a little airframe. Great build thread, just shows what can be obtained out of these little kits with some skill and commitment

 

They do seem epic at times - for some reason the smaller kits take an inordinate amount of time, at least for me. But then, nowadays the small kits have just as many parts in them as the big kits.

 

One comment that I forgot to make during the WIP concerned the infamous Airfix soft, grainy plastic. Many modellers prefer the much harder, and smoother, styrene from the likes of Hasegawa, etc. Although I have no complaints about the harder plastic, I found that I quite liked the Airfix blend, once I had a chance to build a few kits. It certainly is very soft, which for me translated into easier and faster sanding. It also means that you have to be very careful trimming the parts, as I found that light pressure from a new #11 blade went through the plastic quite easily. The one part that I broke, the radio aerial, wasn't broken because of my knife, it broke because of the way I was holding the sprue. If you've been holding back on buying any of these new Airfix beauties because of the soft plastic, don't let that hold you back. FWIW...

 

Now, many of you commented on my painting style and how "neat" things are. I attribute this almost entirely to the paint I use! I use GSI Creos (Gunze) paints almost exclusively, mostly the Aqueous Hobby colour, and occasionally the Mr. Color lacquers. The pigments in these paints are so fine that it's possible to spray very thin coats of paint. It's almost like watching the plastic change colour without any noticeable thickness of paint being applied. To do this, I thin the paint down quite a bit (never try to cover in one coat), so I have to be careful to not spray a lot without moving the airbrush lest the paint run.

 

And I keep things simple - just a simple single action, external mix airbrush for me. Simple means less skills to learn!

So what to builld next? I have votes for the Whitley, Beaufort, and the Firebrand. Man, I hate decisions...

 

Cheers,

Bill

[vppelt68]

I would love to see You give some obsolete Frog Beaufort the Navy Bird- treatment you gave to the Revell PB.. PY.. BY.. eh, whatever blue Liberator :-)