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ME 109 E4n - Airfix 1/72


ironwork

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Hi all Sirs,

here my latest tiny beast. Absolute love for these new kits from Airfix.

I still had no idea on how to proceed, this way I gave a (wrong) paintcoat to the interiors, and closed the fuselage.

Then taking things a bit more calm, a bit of putty was thinned in water and spread in 1 to 3 coats into gaps, avoiding overdoing. This way only some cleaning of the excess with ethanol was enough for a neat surface on wing roots.

 

 

me109_e4n_true-earth_w1.jpg

 

 

The bomb support provided into the box,cut and resized,  is welcome to build the "drop" for a camera equipped machine

 

me109_e4n_true-earth_w2.jpg

 

Cartridge ejectors pierced into the lower wing.

 

me109_e4n_true-earth_w3.jpg

 

 

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But,

but,

but...

Lowered flaps on a Messserschmitt also means open slats....

A bit late but the recessed locations were gently scraped with a scalpel blade, then filed until a proper gap was created.

 

me109_e4n_true-earth_w6.jpg

 

Slats made with bent pieces of aluminium shelf (food tools), and raised with a thin plasticard strip

 

me109_e4n_true-earth_w7.jpg

 

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I'm building this one at the moment and I'm now considering putting the flaps into a raised position after seeing your note on the leading edge slats. I'd also missed the cartridge ejection ports - good spot! I shall be adding these in.

 

Good luck with the 3 part canopy by the way, mine was a mare to fit and I have a small step on the port side front section. I'll have to gently blend the fuselage up to it.

 

Cheers, James.

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Great little kit and one of the first ones I build coming back into the hobby.

 

I can recall that some of the bits have quite thick sprue attachments and are incredibly fiddly. I ended up snapping the control stick and the tailplane struts trying to clean them up.

 

Also apparently that riveted strip above the wing isn't molded properly on both sides. Not that I cared back then.

 

I'll be sure to keep up with this one.

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Ironwork wrote: " Lowered flaps on a Messserschmitt also means open slats.."  No, that is incorrect, the leading edge slats (slots) on the Bf 109E series were not connected to the flaps and operated completely independently of both flaps and ailerons.

Also, as MarkoZG observed, camera equipped versions of the E did not feature the streamlined belly fairing over the camera lens aperture; his observation is supported by copies of original Messerschmitt documents and drawings which I have here that clearly state that with the fitting of a vertical camera to E variants the camera lens opening was covered by a sliding door (similar to those used on the G-8 recce version).

 

Aside from these two points, it's shaping up to be a fine model with a good job done making the extended slats out of aluminium.

Cheers

 

Dave

 

Edited by tango98
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Thank you all for your comments.

 

Slats : probably not directly  connected to flaps, but all pictures I have of ground emils with flaps down also show open slats, and so I've made them.

 

Drop shaped camera door : picture (not drawing ) at page 19 of " bf 109 aces of afrika and the mediterranean" shows an e4n of jg 27 with this feature. ( also visible on the net  here )

A drawing from Valiant "bf 109 early series", attached drawing sheets at books end, although a drawing is not probative like the picture above.

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IIRC,the L/E slats on the '109 are spring operated,therefore gradually closed/opened with the increase/decrease in

airspeed.

 

A parked a/c would have the slats fully open on spring pressure.

 

I seem to remember part of a 109's pre-flight checks is to test the slat operation by manually pushing them shut with your hand

then allowing the spring to open them.

Edited by Miggers
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Wing leading edge slats(slots) on the 109E were of the Handley Page automatic design and as such were literally 'free floating' and were held closed by air pressure in flight. This system employed no locks or springs to aid the operation of the slat(s).

Yes, there are many photos which show these slats open when on the ground but there are also many that show them closed and also others that show (on the same aircraft) one closed and one open.

When properly maintained, an extended slat on a 109E could by closed easily by simple light finger pressure alone.

 

HTH

Cheers

 

Dave

 

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Well, we finally  have a great culture on messerschmitt slats :o

 

It seems I'm working in a reverted manner, since I've painted the interiors in a proper color, washed them with a brown-reddish filter, then more details added...

 

me109_e4n_true-earth_w5.jpg

 

me109_e4n_true-earth_w4.jpg

 

Canopy will be left open, just fitted to be hand painted ( i do not like masking)  in the interior color. RLM 02 obtaned by a mix of russian green and a somewhat pale dirty grey.

 

me109_e4n_true-earth_w8.jpg

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Although there are no specifical colors for aircrafts into the SDW range, they can be easily obtained by mixing.

Yellow, ochre and naples for the nose.

Blue, neutral grey and white for the underside.

Khaki and raw siena for the upperside.

 

me109_e4n_true-earth_w9.jpg

 

me109_e4n_true-earth_w10.jpg

 

A little color-test was made with thinned down paint  before actually painting the whole upperside.

 

me109_e4n_true-earth_w11.jpg 

 

Then the painting is completed with SDW shading colors thinned with a bit water and a touch of  their gloss additive.

 

me109_e4n_true-earth_w12.jpg

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Bellissimo!!!

This is going to be beautiful!

Re the slats, I saw photos with them closed on the ground, so that's how I left them on my model.

This kit is a delight and it really portrays a 109, slats closed or open!

 

Have fun.

JR

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Hi Jean, thanks !

 

Speckles finally made thinning a mix of od and olive green thinned ab. 50% in ethanol.

Just a test to try out different methods for this kind of paints into a thin airbrushing. An alternative I'm also testing is the use of unthinned paint at ab. 25-29 psi. 

 

me109_e4n_true-earth_w13.jpg

 

me109_e4n_true-earth_w14.jpg

 

me109_e4n_true-earth_w15.jpg

 

Well, I'm not the king of airbrush, but I can say myself satisfied up 'till now

 

me109_e4n_true-earth_w16.jpg

 

 

 

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I think that aircraft models need subtlety, and still more for this scale. That's why I prefer to go on with filters.

Targets: shape enhance and add depht to colors.

At first some LIGHT & FADING 2, from the range filter & wash, was gently airbrushed in the center of downside panels.

 

me109_e4n_true-earth_w17.jpg

 

To keep a coherent and uniform ensemble, it was airbrushed on upper sides too, but just subtlely along panel joints and details

 

me109_e4n_true-earth_w18.jpg

 

A bit more on landing gear, also to desaturate the rubber tyres.

 

me109_e4n_true-earth_w19.jpg

 

A little note : maybe you need to increase monitor lighting, as these are there subtle effects.

 

 

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That really is looking great.I've never really understood this filter thing, are they separate products sold for that purpose? Are there differant colours for differant paint colours? What exactly do they do?

 

Ian

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  • 2 weeks later...

Hi Guys, thanks

@ Ian : find all here www.true-earth.com

 

Now some weathering. Again with SDW shading colors. A light grey mix, and sand. They are left to get thicker into a jar, for a better feathering on small areas.

 

me109_e4n_true-earth_w31.jpg

 

At first sand color is applied and feathered with a brush on tyres edges and wheel covers.

 

me109_e4n_true-earth_w32.jpg

 

 

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