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Messerschmitt Bf 109F-4 orginally 9./JG 53, after capture used by No. 1 Squadron SAAF, Lybia 1942. Model painted with MR hobby, wash AK interactive and Vallejo.

Hello everyone, New member here, with just a few years of experience building models. After a few disappointing results when I was young, I have decided to invest time and resources to make better models, and therefore enjoy this hobby even more! I am currently finishing my latest project, a 1/48 Eduard BF 109 F-2, and ask, humbly, for your help and experience. After setting all the decals, and spending too much time on YouTube, I understood that the next step was to protect everything with a gloss clear coat before moving on to weathering and emphasizing the details. I've used Mr Color Super Clear III (UV cut) diluted with Mr Color Leveling thinner 400, 1 part clear for 3 parts thinner, as recommended by Plasmo. Sprayed with an airbrush, it works wonders! Now time for the panel line wash from Tamiya, and the start of my problems... From looking at various modellers and their works, the panel liner is meant to flow quickly in the panel lines, and stay there. Only a small amount of enamel paint should be left on the panels themselves, and it should be easy to remove with a brush or a cloth dampened in enamel thinner. This can bee seen in the circled areas in the picture bellow (scalespot.com for credits): When I tried to do so, the result was quite different. The panel liner flowed onto the panels themselves, and it looked like it was getting mixed with the grey paint itself: (the paint is Tamiya acrylics, thinned with X-20A thinner, covered with at least three layers of gloss clear coat, as described at the top of the post) The excess panel liner was therefore quickly removed with a brush dampened in enamel thinners. Most of the excess panel liner could be removed, but it left a small but noticeable dark spot on the model, while removing what little paint had managed to stay between the panels: What should I do? Are the clear coats and the panel liner made from the same solvent, which explains the "mixing"? If yes, should change one of the two ? Should I try and polish my model with Tamiya polishing compounds, to create and glossy and hard shell over my paints and decals ? Should I add more layers of Mr Color Super Clear III ? Should I use Tamiya X-22 instead of Mr Color Super Clear III ? Am I missing something else ? Or is everything normal, and I'm just worrying for no reason ? 😁 I thank you all for your help and advice. Cheers, Mat

Dear Fellow Modellers Here is the Zvesda Bf109F-2 kit with Master Models MG.17 barrels and Eduard PE interior. Using the Mushroom Model publication I added some panel lines and rivets to the upper wing surfaces. Markings are for 9/JG54 of Hans-Ekkehard Bob (quite a name) Hope you like it? Andrew