Another 1/32 Revell Bf109 G-6

[Canuck63]

Hi one and all,

here's my latest WIP; Revell's beautiful Bf 109 G-6 which,of course, is not devoid of absurd,inexplicable,unexpected,nasty,horrible "fatal flaws" ( )..........easily corrected!
I wanted to do a "detox" build but got carried away big time along the way and decided to add the following AM sets:Brassin Engine,Cockpit,UC legs and cannon pods,Aires Radio Compartment,HGW riveting set and laser-cut seatbelts,Andreas Dahne gorgeous Propeller,Barracuda wheels,radiator and corrected wings-con-bulges,Airscale placards and various bits and bobs and Toms & Jerries off a few "correcting" sets.
The Brassin cockpit "module" is by far the BEST rendition of a Bf109 cockpit in any scale,but it's quite fiddly to assemble cleanly,and having the "ersatzteillisten" of just about any Bf109 I've discovered why it will never assemble correctly as it comes (at least in my case) and I've said "fiddly to assemble cleanly",and not un-buildable,mind you !The engine has its share of "oddities",such as a non-existent whatchamacallit on the top cover to which the cowling top piano hinge is secured (it was part of the round oil tank "shroud") and the bearers are a bit too short and too thin and could and should benefit from a little beefing-up and the front round oil tank which comes with a nice moulded-in propeller pitch mechanism cover is way too small,both in girth and width,therefore I've opted to cast resin copies of an aires radiator and work from there.
If you'll find this project interesting I'll be more than happy to share my work with you!
Cheers
Manu

Edited December 19, 2014 by Canuck63

[modelling minion]

I for one find this project interesting, and would really like to see how you get on with it.

Please keep us posted on any updates/progress.

[Canuck63]

I will, MM ! ;-)
Cheers
Manu

Edited December 19, 2014 by Canuck63

[Canuck63]

First thing first,knowing very well that Brassin sets could be sorta "problematic" sometimes (more of that on the Eduard Brassin sets made for the 1/32 Eduard Emils!),I've started fitting the front bulkhead to the port fuselage half.After a little tweaking I succeeded and coaxed it in its intended position and it's a nice fit now,only requiring a tiny smear of putty.

Edited December 19, 2014 by Canuck63

[Canuck63]

The funny thing is that the front bulkhead oughta be the very same bulkhead the floor of the cockpit is bolted on,i.e. there should be only ONE bulkhead on the Bf 109,at least going by the original "ersatzteilliste" BUT......

[Canuck63]

It's clear that there's definitely something wrong with the measurements taken when they made the masters....the cockpit walls are beautifully done but the need quite a few fitting sessions before you can call it a day and secure them to the floor/rear bulkhead in a way that no steps will be visible on the sills.
IMHO at Eduard use some sort of machinery that turns drawings into what you find in some of the Brassin sets,in fact the front bulkheads and the walls of the cockpit are frightenly realistic-looking...making them fit together is another story altogether!

[matto21]

Looking good! That's an impressive line up of engines in the background of the first pic!

[Canuck63]

I've got this feeling that when it'll come to installing the dashboard there will be sounds of nails scratching a bald head,but I hope I'll be proved wrong!If you take a good look at the two (ABSOLUTELY IDENTICAL) firewalls you'll notice that they aren't aligned the least...as if A designed the engine set and B the cockpit,A being in Iceland and B in Guatemala...with no way to get in touch with each other!
I even had to cut two millimeters from the top of the aft firewall in order to make the cockpit fit

Edited December 19, 2014 by Canuck63

[Canuck63]

Hi Matto,
yes...they're resin copies of the Aires DB605 that I'll use to get a more correct engine by mating them to the MDC 605;they'll be cut to pieces,cleaned and re-assembled...just a scratchbuilding/bashing/crossing exercise!
Thank you for looking!
Manu

[Canuck63]

Those who want to use at least the Brassin cockpit set be warned that the instructions want you to glue the kit's wing spar on the floor of the resin cockpit as per Revell's instructions.....DON'T DO THAT BY ANY MEANS.......the locating tabs on the resin part are two millimiters too forward!Your best bet would be glueing a series of locating tabs made of plastic stock on the inner face of the fuselage halves and use them to secure the cockpit in place.In a next post I'll show you what I've done to solve this little yet very annoying problem!What surprises me is the absolute lack of reviews/builds with this cockpit fitted to this kit!Brett Green has used some on his builds yet he won't mention these issues...on the other hand there's a clear misalignment between the upper part of the walls and the seat backrest in the pictures in one of his articles!
It's a GREAT cockpit,the most detailed Bf109 cockpit EVER but it's not a drop-in,even if,oddly enough,its measures match the ones of the kit's parts!
Cheers
Manu

Edited December 21, 2014 by Canuck63

[Canuck63]

Now on the foremost part of the cowling,the one that houses the oil tank mounted on the front of the engine!
On your left is the Aires part...at first I wanted to use that but it's a bit too wide and the lower profile is different.No use heat-forming it with hot water,I've made resin copies of the kit parts and use them instead!

Edited December 19, 2014 by Canuck63

[Canuck63]

Here's the Brassin oil tank...quite nice,detailed and all but in 1/38(sh) scale!When fitted to the Brassin engine on the kit's un-touched fuselage that will be barely noticeable but if you decide to open up the front part of the cowling like on the real thing the discrepancies between what you see confronting the model with the pictures of the real AC will stand out like a forest of sore thumbs!

[Canuck63]

I've made resin copies of the Aires oil tank (which needs further detailing even if is more accurate than the Brassin part!) and I will glue the front part of the propeller variable pitch mechanism to it.add a few weld lines and joints made of hex rod and I'll be good to go!
If I'll see that this WIP will be of interest (comments and critics are MUCH welcome!) I'll post a detailed how-to,hoping to have you along for the build!
​Cheers
Manu

[fu_manchu]

Looking really good. I have one with all of the Alley Cat external parts, not brave enough to open the engine bay. Will keep watching with interest.

[Canuck63]

Thanks Fu Manchu,
Opening up the engine bay is not that difficult...aligning and making everything fit is!More than 200 visits and only three (much welcome) replies...not very encouraging....I'll post pictures as the build will progress with everything fitted and painted,no use stealing minutes to take pictures and post them I'm afraid...it's boring and only wasted time,especially taking pictures to show what or where to correct things!
Thank you for looking ;-)
Manu

[Gremlin56]

Looking great Manu, fantastic after market goody bags you bought to go with the model too.

[Canuck63]

Thanks Gremlin...and to think that it started out as a "detox" build,as we call them down at the MC!
I'm currently working on the cockpit and ironing out the bugs..gonna post it when it'll be painted and ready to be instaled...gonna pass on the riveting and the radio compartment on this one...will save them for the next one!
Cheers
Manu

Edited December 21, 2014 by Canuck63

[modelling minion]

Great work so far Manu,

And very good of you to point out the problems (or opportunities as we now have to call them at work) associated with the aftermarket sets you are using. The problems with the Brassin interior sets are very surprising, I would have thought better of them than that. It's nice that you are being honest about them as some modellers seem to be on the payroll of some companies and never have any "opportunities" with any of their products at all.

I think the cockpit looks really good, as you say frighteningly realistic.

Keep up the very good work!

[Canuck63]

MM,

first off thanks a lot for your kind words...much appreciated!I 104% agree wit you and I second what you say about certain people seemingly being on the payroll of some companies...a friend and I discovered that a few actually were and got banned offhand from a well-known forum..and the guy who got me banned is lurking here!
Whatever...these Brassin sets are FANTASTIC as far as detail is concerned but there are a few issues that I'll unveil as the build will go on...providing that I'll notice some interest,of course!
I've managed to make the sidewalls fit quite well to the rest of the cockpit and a few well-placed droplets of thin CA will do the rest...I'll show you and the rest of the guys a very simple,yet effective way to make things fit!I may have had a faulty set but I've ordered three more and that should speak volumes about how much I love them...next time I'll be prepared,tho !
Cheers
Manu

Edited December 21, 2014 by Canuck63

[Mattlow]

Well Manu, I'll follow with interest.

I'm in the closing straight of building one of these, mostly OOB and I really like the Revell kit.

After hearing what a hard time some had with the Eduard engine for the 109E I'm not surprised about the DB605...

The Brassin cockpit is going to be limited by the engineering that Revell chose, leaving that horrible seam around the sills. I've also noted a few builds where the rear upper bulkhead hasn't fitted correctly and left a step.

Hope you keep up this thread.

Matt

[HOUSTON]

Manu,,

Good start and as I like the look of that detailed ebgine I cant wait to see how you go on..

SUPER detailing..

Good Luck

[Canuck63]

Well Manu, I'll follow with interest.

I'm in the closing straight of building one of these, mostly OOB and I really like the Revell kit.

After hearing what a hard time some had with the Eduard engine for the 109E I'm not surprised about the DB605...

The Brassin cockpit is going to be limited by the engineering that Revell chose, leaving that horrible seam around the sills. I've also noted a few builds where the rear upper bulkhead hasn't fitted correctly and left a step.

Hope you keep up this thread.

Matt

Glad to have you along for the build .Matt and Houston!

Matt,the Brassin DB605 fits nicely....at least as far as the bulkhead is concerned...the bearers are a tad on the short side,in fact when the're installed they'll push the engine one millimeter further with a resulting gap between the cannon shroud and the engine block..nothing that a shim of plasticard couldn't take care of even if it will be hidden by the turbo on the port side and by other fittings on the starboard!

The cockpit is another story and, apart from the fitting woes between the resin cockpit walls and the tub,you're right when you say that the rest boils down to the way Revell engineered the thing.On this one hand you'll either have to live with thick sills or sand them down until they're wafer-thin,on the other the 109s had rather thick sills,especially the Friedrichs,Gustavs and Kurfurst,therefore you can get away with it quite easily.The gap can be filled just as easily and in my case thinning down the cockpit walls is out of the question due to the solution I had to adopt in order to make things fit.

These Brassin sets are like the proverbial Curate's egg.....I can't speak about the ones I don't own but as far as I'm concerned the1/32 Emil engine and gun mount sets are a detailaholic's dream but a real b#t@h to make them fit to the kit MADE BY THE SAME MANUFACTURER (see my Eduard Emil build),the Gustav cockpit is the real thing shrunk down to 1/32 scale using some sort of pantograph/3D/shrinking machine (dunno how to call it since I can barely tell a cellphone from a micro-wave oven!) which faithfully copies and turn into masters pictures or drawings of the actual thing,ditto for the DB605.The F4U cockpit for the Tamiya kit is neither flesh nor fowl but I can't vouch about the engine for the same kit because it's still on its way!

Another annoying "fatal flaw" with the Gustav cockpit is the seat pan,whose edges are way too thick but which is absolutely gorgeous as far as detailing of the rest of the seat is concerned!You cannot thin down its edges without damaging its details therefore I think that I'll either use a PE one off a Trumpy Gustav and add details to it or any other thinner pan taken from an MDC, Aires or Alley Cat detailing set!

TheBrassin resin dashboard is a little jewel in its own right (they even give you the option to use a colored,PE one) but I've got this feeling that its fit will be quite problematic,but we'll discover that in due course.

Ciao-ciao by now!

Manu

Edited December 21, 2014 by Canuck63

[Canuck63]

Here's a picture found on the net of Brett's very nice cockpit..I'm sure he won't mind if I post it here but if that will infringe any rules I'm more than ready to delete it at any time.As you can see he's basically done one of the things I've done to my cockpit,i.e cutting off two millimeters off the forward part of the wall to make it fit to the firewall(A) but he seemingly hasn't solved the problem of the misaligned walls (B).

Edited December 21, 2014 by Canuck63

[Canuck63]

Here's a picture of the 1/48 wall which is absolutely identical to its bigger cousin,compare that to Brett's and mine

[Canuck63]

I particularly love the Brassin cockpit set because it's the only one which gives a faithful rendition of the forward part of the starboard wall with is "sichereitkisten" for the guns!AFAIK only MDC did that in the past,albeit not with the same results unfortunately,even if Vincent's cockpit remains one of the very best ever and being 1000000% handmade IMHO it remains the #1 contender for the crown!

Cheers
Manu

Edited December 21, 2014 by Canuck63