Bf109 A from Anton...1/48 Academy

[giemme]

HI One-Two, excellent progress! PE bits add a lot to the whole appearance, but can be a little of a pain. I used some in my F4 build, and ended up using different glues for different situations. CA glue is good, but you have to apply it very sparingly, literally small drops with a pointy toothpick. I've also used PVA glue: that gives you room for adjustments, and works well for instance on IP panels (enough surface to work on, both the PE and the plastic. After it has set, secure it with very small drops of CA along the edges. For transparents, again PVA glue and, once set, Tamiya Green Cap along the edges (again very sparingly). You'll have to practice a bit, anyway. HTH

Ciao

[Tempestwulf]

These builds are always so fascinating.

[giemme]

HI One-Two, excellent progress! PE bits add a lot to the whole appearance, but can be a little of a pain. I used some in my F4 build, and ended up using different glues for different situations. CA glue is good, but you have to apply it very sparingly, literally small drops with a pointy toothpick. I've also used PVA glue: that gives you room for adjustments, and works well for instance on IP panels (enough surface to work on, both the PE and the plastic. After it has set, secure it with very small drops of CA along the edges. For transparents, again PVA glue and, once set, Tamiya Green Cap along the edges (again very sparingly). You'll have to practice a bit, anyway. HTH

Ciao

I realized I didn't properly answer to your question: the CA glue I'm using is Loctite Flex Gel. Much easier to control than a regular liquid CA

Ciao

[azureglo]

What kind of CA do you guys use for glueing PE?

Is there some sort of superglue which does not leave those "frosting" traces?

Regards,

Hey 1-2

There is clear CA available, google odourless CA and you'll find it: Roket do this one that I use for PE/Canopies which wont frost or fog (unless you use accelerators). As for applying it and (micro) man handling

the PE have a look here at my PE adventures, with the right tools its great fun! The pickup tool is home mode and is a cocktail stick with Humbrol Maskol. The CA applicator is by

Eduard and you can create microdots as small as .25mm. Radu Brinzan does one as well

An alternative to CA is Gator Glue (there's a new "thin" version as well as this). This is some type of acrylic (PVA-ish but not quite) but dries clear (ish) and is flexible - I have found very

fine bits can come off due to the brittleness of the dried CA and anything stuck with this seems to hang on forever as the bond is slightly elastic

Here's my current build and the crank handle is actually less than 1.5mm and was glued to the silver crank wheel etch without any problems.

- Anil

[One-Two]

Ok. Time to resurrect this baby.

 

Some work in the cockpit...lots of PE parts, which although difficult to work with, are raising the level of the interior. Actually, from the original cockpit pieces, only the pilots' seat was used.

The paint is RLM 02...with RLM 66 on the IP. Various other colors used for details.

The fit of the eduard PE is not perfect, especially in the case of the IP.

For the oxygen installation you get only the hollowed case...the O2 bottle itself (with regulator, O2 instruments, etc) was made from scratch. Still thinking how to make the O2 hose.

Also I have to somehow modify the stick. In the box I have a stick which is ok for later variants of the 109....but in the A-B series, the stick was that round type, like Spitfire.

 

That's all for now.

Cheers.

 

[giemme]

Good to see you back at this, One-Two  

 

Great detailing job in the cockpit  

 

Ciao

[TonyTiger66]

I just caught up with this. What a lovely subject to choose.

I agree with many sentiments already voiced regarding colour.

There really was no such thing as an 'RLM' standard at the time of 6-7's involvement in SCW/GCE. It's well documented. Network 54 is your place for the exhaustive discussion of that.

 

Two things I would suggest; there actually are vents in the cowl: lots of holes directly behind the propellor. The large two blade wooden prop boss is of a slightly smaller size than the cowl face behind, this face has small, perfectly circular vent holes in it.

 

Whatever paint finish you decide, it has to be accepted it is opaque on the rear fuselage, as otherwise, the puttying of the rear fuselage joins would show. It doesn't.

 

If you reference the pictures you've posted here, you'll see 6-7, like a few others in the early number range in Spain, has had, especially the rear, fuselage panel lines entirely smoothed over.

 

In certain photos you can see that some panels (rear cowl port, wing root) are more likely to be in the possible semi-transparent laquer many discuss.

 

There is absolutely no discovered 'right' here; just enjoy yourself, but that rear fuselage is smooth, and no putty shows, so it's opaque. 

 

Remember the different position of the oil cooler on these early birds ( I think you mentioned it already). Also the electric input on the starboard side fuselage , vis-a-vis fore and aft proximity to cockpit, it's different to that scribed on the Academy.

 

Looking forward to seeing a lovely 6-7.

All the best

TonyT 

Edited January 27, 2017 by TonyTiger66
Spelling

[Jessica]

The best way to do oxygen hoses is to get a length of guitar string, anneal it in a flame, bend and paint to suit. If you have nobody who plays guitar in your life, try wrapping a strand of copper electrical wire around a drill shaft or other cylinder of the proper diameter, then pull it off, bend it and coat it with white glue before painting it.

[melvyn hiscock]

2 hours ago, Jessica said:

The best way to do oxygen hoses is to get a length of guitar string, anneal it in a flame, bend and paint to suit.

I have discussed this before. Using a .030 guitar string scales out to 1.44 in and you will hardly see the wrappings

[One-Two]

Thank you for your thoughts and advices, guys. Much appreciated.

 

TonyT, it is very clear to me that the rear fuselage was puttied on 6-7. This will be reproduced also on my model.

Regarding the painting...I am more and more tempted to go for something like RLM63. Maybe I'll use Tamyia XF-20 or XF25... these are shades of grey which, maybe lightened with some white, might result in a reasonable appreciation of the light gray which was supposedly used at that time for the machines sent to Spain...we'll see...

Whatever shade of grey I'll use, it is clear to me that some of the engine panels were of different shade than the rest of the aircraft.

 

Speaking of vents in the cowl...those behind the propeller...luckily they are present in the PE set for this kit...you can see in the attached picture.

 

Not much time for modeling lately, I just assembled the wings, after bringing them to 109 Anton standard. The wings are designed for 109C-D variants, so quite some filling and engraving was needed....new panel lines, hatches, etc.

For the wheel wells I used some PE parts, which are definitely improving this area.

Speaking of wings, it seems strange to me how Academy designed this area. I mean the flaps area. The flaps are molded separately from the wings...but there is nothing but open space on the wings' trailing edges, where the flaps is supposed to be mounted!

But rather than a disadvantage, this might be actually better for aligning the upper part of the wings with the fuselage, when the time will come.

 

Thanks and regards,

[One-Two]

Working at the office.

 

I installed the oxygen equipment on the right cockpit wall.

I scratched some sort of hand pump which, according to my documentation (pictures with the Berta captured and delivered to the Russians), was mounted very near the oxygen case. With this, the right-hand side of the cockpit is ready.

I also made a new tail wheel mount.

Next, I have to install the IP, the stick (which is also in works) and tail wheel before closing the fuselage halves. 

 

Thanks for looking,

 

[giemme]

 More interesting detailing job!

 

Ciao

[One-Two]

I installed the IP in the cockpit. Not a very good fit, I was forced to sand heavily on the fuselage sides. In order to get a solid bond, I made a plastic back plate for the IP...and this plastic back-plate was glued to the fuselage side and then reinforced with a piece of sprue.

I also installed the stick...which is the original joystick modified with a spade grip, as in the very early models of the 109.

The tail wheel was painted and installed. I modified the tail wheel itself, but also its mounting system - the tail wheel is movable in this  new configuration.

A new cooling slot was cut in the engine cowling, as per 109A specifications.

 

Now  I'm pretty much ready to close the fuselage.

Cheers,

 

 

[giemme]

Impressive, those interiors really look the part!  

Nice job on the tail wheel too - are you going to tone down the tire itself? It looks a bit shiny from here (although this might just be a light effect, in which case just disregard my comment   )

 

Ciao

[One-Two]

19 hours ago, giemme said:

Nice job on the tail wheel too - are you going to tone down the tire itself? It looks a bit shiny from here (although this might just be a light effect, in which case just disregard my comment   )

 

Ciao

Hi Giemme. Glad you like it.

Yes you are right...the whole tail wheel assembly is shiny. I gave it a coat of future for protection reasons.

On later stages of the construction, it will be toned down with some flat coat.

 

Ciao

[One-Two]

Fuselage closed.

The pilot's seat will be installed later, after some PE pieces that must be glued on the back of the cockpit.

The cockpit tube was reinforced with all sorts of plastic bits, in order to ensure a solid bond.

 

Cheers,

 

[giemme]

That cockpit really looks the part!  

 

Ciao

[One-Two]

Not so much time for plastic work, lately.

I drilled out the exhausts...but this is not sufficient, a lot of additional work has to be done in this area.

I finished the aperture in the lower part of the engine cowling, installed the PE part representing the front part of the radiator and its related plastic coverage.

Also I filled with putty and sanded the panel lines from the rear fuselage, because all the early 109's sent to Spain had smooth fuselages,

Heavy sanding was necessary on the exterior sides of the cockpit, in order to thin down the cockpit exterior walls. This is because I'll be using the Eduard 109E1/3 transparencies... and grafting them on the Academy fuselage needed a lot of work.

I also installed some PE pieces on the rear cockpit area...and after painting them, I will be able to finally install the pilot seat and finish with the cockpit.

 

That's all for now, cheers,

   

[One-Two]

Hello.

 

Small progress...I painted the back of the cockpit ant installed the pilot's seat.

There was some sort of transparent plastic pocket on the small hatch on the rear of the cockpit...it is clearly seen on the detailed pictured of Berta 6-15 which was captured and tested in Russia. Maybe it was used to store documents or to display some sort  of labels (at the time, in German air force the notion of checklist didn't exist). 

Anyway, I tried to represent it by using a small decal from the spare box.

With this, only the gun sight is missing for a complete cockpit.

I also installed the exhausts...but I had to modify them pretty much. Besides drilling them, I had to cut them shorter and to make from plastic those vertical slots which were not represented. 

The academy guys made a real mess out of the nose area...the mating surfaces of the various parts have nothing to do with the natural panel lines, etc...all the panel lines from this area will have to be redone.

 

I also prepared and masked the Eduard transparencies which I will use for this kit. What a vast improvement over the original transparencies!

It is also the first time when I'm using the pre-cut masks provided by Eduard...good stuff, is making the job a lot easier, but they are not perfect. I had to correct them in some places.

 

That's all for now, cheers and thanks for looking

[giemme]

One-Two, you're putting a lot of effort in this cockpit, but it's well worth it!   I love all the details you put in it, they really make the difference

 

Ciao

[One-Two]

OK...back to this Spanish beauty.

I finally managed to install the windshield and the back-part of the canopy (the fixed piece).

However, I had many problems in installing the transparencies...because these are not the original Academy/Hobbycraft transparencies (which are really crap), but the Bf109E1/3 sourced from an Eduard kit.

Now, the Eduard canopy is a vast improvement comparing with the Academy piece. But...of course there's a price to pay.

The Eduard transparencies did not match at all with the academy cockpit opening. The academy cockpit opening had to be lengthened substantially.

Once  the length issue solved, there was a thickness one...because the Eduard canopy is clearly narrower than the academy cockpit opening. Consequently, I had to sand heavily on the cockpit/fuselage sides, in order to get a clean fuselage/canopy join. Some of the fuselage walls in the cockpit area are literally paper-thin.

Once solved the thickness issue, there was a profile one:)

However, it is done now.

I also installed the gun sight (quickboost Revi 12) and various other levers&stuff.

The central movable pat of the canopy will be attached at later stages, since it will be posed in open position.

 

That's it for now,

Cheers

[giemme]

Great job with those transparents!

 

Ciao

[One-Two]

This bird got wings.

Fit was pretty good, but there is a lot of re-scribing that needs to be done, especially in the area where the wing meet the fuselage, on the underside...and on the radiator area...because many panel lines are incorrect or missing.

I also installed some other detail in the cockpit, like the cockpit lights that were mounted on the right and left-hand side of the windshield.

 

After I finish with the re-scribing, next step is to install the rear face of the coolant radiator, which is a big PE item. Once this solved, I can close the upper cowling area and start working on the nose...which will need serious re-scribing also (actually complete re-scribing).

 

Cheers,

 

[giemme]

Glad to see you're keeping on with this. Looking good already with wings on     Good luck with the rescribing, sounds like a big chore

 

Ciao

[TonyTiger66]

Hello!

I don't know why, but I stopped receiving notifications of this great build.

 

Your attention to detail is wonderful. A superb rendition of the cockpit  

 

I wish I could have mentioned it sooner: Jay's Model Kits in New Zealand do a 1/48 Bf-109 B. It's short run, but worth the effort.

 

I mention it because they sell the canopies separately:

 

http://www.jaysmodelkits.com/jaysmk/index.php?main_page=product_info&cPath=102_104&products_id=335

 

It's New Zealand dollars so not very expensive.

 

Regardless of that, you've shown great tenacity in getting the Eduard canopy in there. Well done.

 

I'm looking forward to your rescribe of the nose area. Nice work on the exhaust outlet panels 

 

Best regards

TonyT