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Airfix 1:24 Scale Bf 109 E-4/N


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Some may have noticed my interest in the 109 that's displayed in the BoB hangar at the IWM in Duxford. More than 10 years ago when my BoB interest led me back into a/c modelling after 50 years or so, I laid my hands on the 109 E then marketed in 1:24 scale by our friends at Airfix. Having re-started modelling with a Tamiya 1:48 E-3 to portray Horst Perez' White 4, which then looked OK to me, I decided that the 1:24 scale version would give me scope to do my fascination justice. I'd seen a couple of builds in this scale on Brett Green's Hyperscale website and thought following some of the ideas from these, I could produce something that might stand the test of time, particularly if I added my own twiddly bits.

 

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This was probably my first serious effort to add what I thought would be realistic weathering to the overall finish and, looking back on it, I'm still quite pleased with the finish apart from one fundamental questionable element that has only become apparent to me since I joined the Britmodeller Forum. I'd been aware that there was some confusion over what was the composition of the upper surface colours, although my first 1:48 scale effort followed the standard RLM 71/02 philosophy straight out of the bottle. The renovated Duxford a/c has been painted in an interpretation of the locally-mixed greys that were identified in some of the early CAR reports and even from paint samples taken from the a/c prior to its last restoration. Anyway, I took numerous pics of the a/c in Duxford and decided to mix colours that copied as closely as possible those used in the renovation. I've since concluded that, while JG 26 generally followed closely the RLM guidelines and were also experimenting with darker hues in the autumn of 1940, the colours on the Duxford a/c look too much like the shades adopted in 1941 for my taste today. It's all a matter of personal interpretation, but I prefer to think that Perez' 109 was probably painted in what had become weather-faded standard 71/02 and any traces of other tints were perhaps simply overpainting damaged areas or perhaps the result of earlier renovation attempts. I followed this theory on my 3rd model of this a/c (also posted on the Forum based on Eduard 1:32 scale E-3)

 

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The fiddly bits caused endless entertainment. I decided I'd display the DB 601N and add various items of plumbing that are obvious from most engine bays pics but absent from the Airfix kit. Extensive surgery was required to do this, not least thinning the thick plastic engime cover and hacking about various other items on top of the engine bay to allow the engine cover to be replaced in  any sort of flush-mounted style. Undoubtedly there are omissions in this area, not least the MG 17 supports and shrouds, as well as endless bits of wiring that pushed me close to the point where I'd lost the will to live. Apologies also to Dave W whose info on the actual engine number I didn't have when the model was put together. The inside areas of the wing undersurfaces, where the oleos would sit with sheels up, were built up with styrene sheet and tubing, suitably attacked surgically and with heat before the upper and lower wing sections were joined - not that that this visible in the pics attached. Fuse wire brake lines and rudder actuating rods were also added.     

 

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Inside the cockpit, I cobbled together the two instrument lights at the base of the windscreen frome each side, using some plastic tubing, fuse wire and some lead foil, drilled some holes in the top forward edges of the windscreen to take some bent fuse wire for the pilot's grab handles and added a restraining loop to the rear of the opening canopy and the top of the fixed rear section to stabilise the canopy as it opens and shuts. I scrapped the kit's aerial mast and built one from aluminium tubing with fine brass wire running through it to produce the proper hook at the top to accept one end of the aerial wire, with a  couple of cms at the bottom bent to fit through the cabin bulkhead and along the spine of the aft fuselage in order to give the aerial some support to tension the aerial itself. This is made of twisted fine copper electrical wire threaded through cunningly-made, if not perhaps exactly to scale, insulators from shaped and drilled square section plastic rod.

The decals from the kit were used to some extent, although most of the unique markings of the model are either hand painted (not really happy with the tiger head emblem - see a better one on my 3rd model) or painted then transferred to inkjet decal paper. The weathering, oil and exhaust staining were applied to the finished a/c with flat alumimum acrylic, Tamiya smoke and a mixture of burnt umber and ochre oil paints.

I no longer have this model in my collection. Like all the Airfix 1:24 scale kits, it is a BIG model to display and during an Aerojumble some years ago I had a stall selling some of my BoB books and took this and some other smaller models along. Someone made me an offer for it I couldn't refuse and it wasn't Marlon Brando.                                      .

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Excellent job! Much better than the hash I made of mine when I were a nipper. I would love to do the entire 1/24 Airfix range, but as you say, storage is a problem, so I'm stuck in the land of 1/48.

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You've certainly done justice to the old large scale Airfix 109 - really looks great.

 

Regards

 

Dave

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Fantastic job Paul - I invested in 2 for the stash - but I'm too scared to attempt them at the moment.  This is an inspiring job though - something for me to aspire to in the near future - thanks for sharing.

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Hi Paul,

 

Your 109 is a work of art. I love the hand painted markings, the self made details, and the weathering.

 

Excellent work.

 

Cheers

 

Greg :clap2:

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Steve - If you do decide to have a go at the Airfix 1:24 scale 109, there's a couple of things you could bear in mind. First, it's an old moulding and can't compete in areas like panel lines and rivet detail with the likes of Eduard. Airfix didn't bother with lots of this detail as well as lots of other stuff that modellers 40 years ago were not considering important. We've all become a bit precious since then. I've got an old one in my stash which I occasionally do bits with when the mood takes me, and I've recently pencilled in all the panel lines that simply aren't there on this kit between the underside of the wings. Worth it though. Secondly, it's a ****** big kit so you'd best be aware of how much room it takes to display. I probably won't finish mine for a long time, and haven't really decided what subject to use as a base. The kit comes with most of the bits to build either an E-3 or an E-4.

Good luck though if you decide you have the time and some patience, tinged with a bit of ingenuity.

Paul

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