Croatian Bf 109G-14/AS, 1/72 scale

[Mitch K]

The next project is “Black 4”, one of the much-photographed Croatian Air Force Bf 109G’s that defected to Italy. The Print Scale decal sheet (and in fairness several other sources!) describe these as G-10’s. Now, I needed a go to reference for this and other later Bf 109G builds and I think I’ve found it in the Mushroom White series “Bf 109 Late Models” book, by Krzysztof Wolowski.

 

In this book, Wolowski identifies the aircraft not as a G-10, but as a G-14/AS. The differences are numerous, but relatively subtle.

 

This version was fitted with various sub-models of the DB 605ASM engines and were (except a few very early ones), fitted with the larger, deeper 987 model oil cooler as seen on the G-10. Most, though, had the smaller supercharger intake characteristic of the G-6 etc.

 

The photos of “Black 4” are pretty grainy, and the goat’s head squadron/unit mark below the cockpit is pretty hard to pick out. However, what you can see is that the aircraft had the “standard” wheels and tyres, rather than the larger, thicker ones with the large overwing fairings seen on the G-10. Also, the bulges on the lower cowling for the larger, wider crankshaft can be seen and the tailwheel is clearly the long, non-retractable type. This is my starting point:

 

 

So, the task becomes converting the Revell G-10 to a convincing G-14/AS. There’s a school of thought that the Revell kit is “fatally flawed” or “unbuildable” due to an issue with the undercarriage. The Bf 109 had an incredibly narrow undercarriage track (to facilitate rail transport, and a major cause of ground handling accidents), with the legs attached to the fuselage. Revell’s kit positions the undercarriage legs too far outwards, effectively attaching into the wings outside the wing joint. Careful, repeated measurement gives a value for the “fatal flaw” of 1.41 mm, which scales out to exactly four inches on the real aircraft…

 

I’m sure the impact is real, but hardly “fatal” and I would also characterise it as “relatively easy to fix”, so I would suggest that describing the kit as “unbuildable” smacks more of histrionic exaggeration that data. Dimensionally, it seems accurate to within a millimetre, and shapewise it's as close as I can read. So, onwards...

 

Here's the wings out of the box. I've marked up the changes to the wheel wells that are needed to make good the inaccuracies, and indicated the new position of the undercarriage legs.

 

 

Miniature razors saws, assorted scalpels and riffler files opened up the wheel wells is short order. I'll back fill the gaps and holes with white milliput as it's easy to wet shape and strong enough to support drilling new holes for the U/C legs.

 

 

Of course, where one can go, another can follows. This is for a G-6/AS.

 

[Mitch K]

A particular difference between the kit and the actual aircraft are around the wheel wells and the supercharger inlet. The 109G-14/AS had the smaller supercharger inlet seen on "normal" G-6's, as opposed to the larger one on the G-10. Whilst the AZ kit has both larger and smaller inlets in it, I used them all up! However, I have a cunning plan!

 

This is two-pack silicone moulding material. I've used it quite a lot over the years to cast for wargame materials, and it takes good detail and the moulds can be used quite a number of times.

 

 

You mix equal parts of the two colours until it's streak-free, then press you master item into it. 

 

 

You leave the master in situ, and the silicone hardens in about ten minutes. It's semi self-lubricating, so the originals (an old AZ Bf-109G I never finished) pop out easily.

 

 

The left side is the shallow, short-chord upper wing bulge seen on Bf-109 G's with the slightly thicker tyres (as per normal G-6's) rather than the huge full-chord bulges seen on the G-10 and K models with the thick wheels (as provided in the kit). On the right is a mould for the normal-sized supercharger inlet. Next step is to cast some parts using two-pack acrylic filler.

 

 

[Mitch K]

Here's a wing with the wheel well re-cut and filled with white Milliput.

 

The seat is wrong - the Bf-109G didn't have a seat back as such, just rails on the rear bulkhead.

 

But cutting them down is easy enough

 

Here are the assembled, detailed cockpit units, with pipework, oxygen equipment and seat straps added. The instrument panels are quite nice out of the box.

 

And the next step of course is to hide it all! The Revell kit includes a solid armoured headrest moulded in situ on the fuselage. This is roughly the equivalent of the main belt on HMS Ajax, so of course that went!

[Mitch K]

These models of the Bf-109 all had the wide-blade wooden prop. The AZ kit includes these as well as the "standard" narrow blades. 

 

The AZ wide-bladed props are not considered to be perfect. However, the ones in the Revell kit are even worse!

 

However, a bit of knifework means you can put the AZ prop on the Revell spinner back!

 

The tail hinge on the kit is wrong. In Revell's defence, there are about eight or nine variations on the fin and rudder (hinge shape/position, trim tab number/position and shape, tail light...), so it's a case of getting a photo of your subject and make it right, and Revell's version WILL be right for some aircraft. The angled line was filled and a plastic card "filler" added into the seam line so that it gives the appearance that the rudder and hinge are one unit.

 

[Mitch K]

Remember the silicone moulds above? Here's the results. First, the wheel well bulges for the upper wings:

 

And the smaller supercharger intake. The home-cast small version is on the left, and the somewhat crude kit item is on the right. Both sets of these are cast in two-pack car body filler, forced into the moulds then popped out once everything has hardened (after about 20-30 minutes). The "failure rate" is fairly high (roughly 50%), but each attempt is dirt cheap! There's a little bit of flash, especially on the wing bulges but the stuff is tough enough to make cleanup pretty facile.

 

Here they are  in situ. They needed a little sanding to account for the contours on the back and a trace of filler at the edges but fit-wise these are as they came out of the moulds.

 

 

[Mitch K]

Underside views. Another issue with the kit is that the open rear exit/outlet from the oil cooler is absent. I intended to make the small opening and engrave the flap, which worked reasonably well with the G6/AS. You can also see the effect of grinding away the bomb/tank rack which is absent on this aircraft.

 

On the G14/AS, things went South... When I cut the small slot, I managed to split out part of what would have been the flap, and the only solution was to chop the whole thing out and leave a new flap which I took the opportunity to leave slightly open.

 

The reinforcing struts/drain tubes at the front of the oil cooler and underwing radiators are an easy add with stretched sprue, and I think they really help the look of the build.

[Mitch K]

I've got the canopy on and masked up. My luck with masking individual frames then spraying isn't good - I find I have to do a lot of brush painting to deal with creep/tear-out etc and most of the time I just hand paint the whole thing! Well here goes...

 

The frames got a good, stiff coat of RLM 66 to start with, so now it's onto the main colours, beginning with yellow for the nose and tail.

 

[John Masters]

Looking good!  I anticipate a fine 109...and from a not so usual air force!

[Mitch K]

She's had a coat of yellow on the nose and rudder, then RLM 76 pretty much overall, and I've masked up here for the upper colours. References suggest that airframes from this block of numbers were painted RLM 82 and 75 on the upper surfaces, so that's the next step.

[Dave Fleming]

Re the supercharger intake, are you sure it as smaller? Pics of her in RAF colours suggest the larger one. I posted the three known ones here.

 

https://www.tapatalk.com/groups/airfixtributeforum/was-there-ever-an-raf-bf-109-t25001-s30.html

[Mitch K]

8 hours ago, Dave Fleming said:

Re the supercharger intake, are you sure it as smaller? Pics of her in RAF colours suggest the larger one. I posted the three known ones here.

 

https://www.tapatalk.com/groups/airfixtributeforum/was-there-ever-an-raf-bf-109-t25001-s30.html

Based on the pictures I've got, I'm pretty sure it's a smaller, earlier one.

 

Thanks for looking in and commenting!

[Kagemusha]

Nice work, interesting project.

[Dave Fleming]

5 hours ago, Mitch K said:

Based on the pictures I've got, I'm pretty sure it's a smaller, earlier one.

 

Thanks for looking in and commenting!

 

 

Thanks, I'm looking to do her in the RAF scheme, so all info is useful!

[Mitch K]

The upper surfaces got RLM 82 and RLM 75, with a scalloped edge on the fuselage. This is visible (just!) on the photos, but the contrast appears to be somewhat less than my masking would suggest. I'll soften this demarkation with the airbrush when I add some mottling to the fuselage sides and the top of the supercharger intake.

 

This aircraft shows a very roughly-painted band around the fuselage ahead of the tail on the photos. The actual colour and shade of this seem to be completely unknown, but most sources quote a "dark green". In the absence of any more robust evidence, I'll go with RLM 71! On one of the photos, the presence of the German upper-wing markings can be seen. These would have been white outline crosses, but in the photo they appear as very dark, almost black. Whether this is an artifact of the photo or it really was very neat overpainting with a colour that stood out as much as the original I'm not sure! I'm perplexed, shall we say...

 

[Mitch K]

I did some more spraying, first to add some very limited mottling and to soften the line between the upper and lower colours. Next was a soft-edged colour band in RLM71 close to the tail. Consensus is that this was a dark green and RLM71 seems as good a bet as any. The decals, the same Print Scale ones I got on so well with on the Romanian and Hungarian 109's, let me down. The tail shield and the large black "4" were fine, but the Croatian Crosses/Iron Trefoils were a total bust - the whole lot where the wrong size. Luckily I had some spares from an odd set of Croatian-made decals which cover pretty much every Croatian 109G of any model. These came in two parts: white backing pieces, and then the black outlines.

 

Here's the painting done and the white backers on.

 

 

And then with the trefoils added. Getting these two to work together was easier than I expected.