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Hallo again This is my Me-109 K-4. 1/32 Kit is Trumpeter. All painting, insignia, and stencils are as explained in: Stencils are wet transfer from HGW. Happy modelling

Hallo again This is my Me-109 G-6. 1/32 Kit is Hasegawa. All painting, insignia, and stencils are as explained in: Stencils are wet transfer from HGW. Happy modelling

Awfulschmitt oneOnine again... Sigh. KA-Models (http://www.ka-models.com/index.php?route=common/home & https://www.facebook.com/KAMODELS2007) is to release (has just released?) two 1/48th Messerschmitt Bf.109 kits. Some people in Hyperscale forum say they've recognized the injected parts from the old Fujimi kits. Time will tell. Source: http://www.themodellingnews.com/2015/01/ka-models-bf-109-g-10-g-6-deadly-new.html ref. KP-48001A - Messerschmitt Bf109 G-6 "Red Tulip" Source: http://www.ka-models.com/index.php?route=product/product&product_id=643 ref. KP-48002A - Messerschmitt Bf.109 G-10 "Rita" Source: http://www.ka-models.com/index.php?route=product/product&product_id=644 V.P.

I found this aircraft listed as a future release for October on the Hannants website, and I´m wondering if it´s going to be a reboxing of the Eduard Bf 109F-2. The price is really tempting too. https://www.hannants.co.uk/product/RV3893

After becoming frustrated with ICM/Revell´s Mustang Mk.III in 1:48 (and sending it to my spares box with most pieces on their sprue), I decided to pull this model out of my stash and build it as a relaxing build, which it was! The model offers the flaps and slats in the down position, and you can pose them up by cutting their respective mounting tabs. However, while removing the tab of one slat, I also removed a chunk of it, which was repaired by filling the area with CA. I also feared that, due to how thin the plastic on the slats was, that the plastic would damage if I used regular glue, so I used CA to glue the slats.

Formerly on 1/JG 7, yellow 17 was captured by 616 Squadron at Fassberg at wars end. It was ferried to the UK where it was designated Air Min 52 and brefily evaluated until being sold off to Canada. It was scrapped with 300 odd other surplus aircraft in Canada in 1947. The kit is the very nice Tamiya 1/48 offering with Cutting Edge decals.

Bf.109G-10 Mtt Regensburg ProfiPACK (82119) 1:48 Eduard There must have been billions of words written on the Bf.109 over the years, which was the mainstay of the Luftwaffe's fighter arm, despite having been supposedly superseded by the Fw.190 and others during its service life. It kept coming back to prominence due partly to it being a trusted design, the manufacturer's substantial sway with the RLM, and the type's ability to be adapted as technology advanced. The G or Gustav as it was known was one of the later variants, and is widely regarded as one of the more successful, with improved armament that give some variants a distinctive pair of blisters in front of the windscreen, plus mounting points for the 210mm rocket tubes used to disrupt the bomber streams in long range attacks using timed detonation. The other minor changes were targeted at Defense of the Reich, removing the mounting points and hardware for long-range tanks etc. The G-10 was fitted with the new DB605D-2 engine that was later seen on the K, and became the de facto standard Gustav once introduced, often using as-yet unfinished G-14s as the starting point, which has confused some researchers in the past. It was fitted with the sleek Erla-Haube canopy and a deeper oil cooler under the nose that sets it apart from previous issues along with some small blisters just forward and below the exhaust stacks. It also had a swept-forward installation of the radio antenna under the wing leading edge, all of which you can see on the box art. The Kit This boxing depicts airframes that were manufactured at Messerschmitt's own Regensburg factory, and as you can imagine, it shares some sprues with earlier variants from Eduard, most notably the G-14 that came before and overlapped its tenure. With this being a ProfiPACK issue, it arrives in the orange banded box, with four sprues of grey styrene, a clear sprue, two sheets of Photo-Etch (PE), a sheet of yellow kabuki-style masking medium (not pictured), two decal sheets for markings and stencils, and of course the instruction booklet. The build process will of course be familiar to anyone that has either built a 109 before, and/or owns one of Eduard's other Gustav offerings. Where it differs is in the new fuselage halves, which have all the requisite lumps and bumps mentioned above, plus a new lower wing sprue (half) that has a small hole for the clear isolating panel at the base of the antenna. The build of course begins in the cockpit, with PE and styrene parts aplenty, plus a nice transparent fuel feeder pipe, which is clear so that you can mask the vision port and paint the rest. This was a lo-fi way for the pilot to quickly check whether his engine was sucking vapours, or had gone pop for some other reason. PE seatbelts are included, and a choice of PE or styrene rudder pedals, depending on how dexterous you are feeling. The instrument panel is laminated from layers of pre-painted PE, with the new glossy, slightly domed dials already present on the frets, which Eduard have slyly introduced recently with little in the way of fanfare. The sidewalls too are decorated with more painted PE parts, after which you can close up the fuselage unless you're treating yourself to a resin engine or other goodies. Don't forget to trap the tail wheel between the halves, or you'll regret it later. The backplate for the spinner and exhaust stubs are installed, and the top cowling with gun inserts is glued into place along with the intake for the engine's turbocharger, a PE hinge section on the top of the cowling, and a choice of PE flame-hiders for the exhausts, which vary between markings options. The G-10 had an extended fin, which is separate from the fuselage on this boxing, breaking at a convenient panel line to ease the way. The elevator fins are each two parts and fit using pins, with separate elevators and a choice of two rudder types. The wings are only slightly different from the norm, with the usual (but new) full-width lower, main gear sidewalls and split upper wings, plus a gaggle of separate parts for the leading-edge slats (gravity deployed when stopped), ailerons, and the two-layer flaps that butt up to the back of the radiator bays, which have PE skins front and back, as does the extended chin-scoop that identifies it as a G-10. A scrap diagram shows the correct positioning of the flaps when they are deployed. The main gear is the same narrow-track stuff from earlier models, with separate tyres and hubs, plus captive bay doors, socketing into the bay using nice strong parts, and with hub masks for easy painting of the wheels. A tiny square clear part is supplied for the aerial isolator and a mask is on the sheet, with a choice of styrene or PE aerial, and here my review sample had a short-shot of this delicate part, which is the first time ever that I have seen this happen on an Eduard kit. The PE backup is there of course, and as it happens I have a set of the resin FuG16 antennae that we reviewed recently here. You'll want to check part I17 on your sprues however, just in case. Horn-balances are fitted to the ailerons, a small raised panel under the wing trailing edge is added from PE, and a circular panel on the flank of the fuselage needs to be filled for authenticity's sake. As the build draws to a conclusion, the gunsight is added from a partially painted (by you) clear part, and if you add a little translucent green/blue to the edge to simulate the thickness of the glass, it will improve the look of the finished part. The windscreen has a couple of small PE parts added to it before you can glue it to the front of the squared-off cockpit opening, and the uber-sleek Erla-Haube canopy has a windowed head armour part that will need masking from the enclosed sheet and painting before it is fitted. If you have treated yourself to a set of Tface masks that allow painting of both interior and exterior surfaces of the canopy, the additional small parts added will gel nicely with this improvement. A stubby aerial fits to the top rear of the canopy, and you have a choice of PE or styrene DF loop antenna for the spine a little way back. The canopy can be posed open by using the thin PE restraint that's included on the fret, which allows you to set the correct angle when open. The prop is a single part, which has the two-piece spinner fitted around it, after which you can either glue it in place, or leave it loose for travel and impromptu spinning if you like. A trim actuator for the rudder and a tiny aerial under the fuselage are the last parts on the PE fret, which ends the construction phase unless you have chosen markings option C, which has a two-part drop-tank on a four prong mount under the centre of the fuselage. Markings As is usually the case with ProfiPACK editions, there are five marking options included in the box, with a nice broad range of colour options, some of which have interesting and fairly unusual quirks to them. The main sheet contains all the national, unit, and theatre markings, while the smaller sheet is full of stencils, which are detailed on a separate page to avoid cluttering each full page set of profiles. You get spinner decals where appropriate, so you're not left wondering how on earth you're going to do them, so all you have to worry about (if you do) is the various mottle and scribble patterns that are seen on all but one of the aircraft. Option B is perfect for the mottle-phobic, as it is a bare metal Mosquito Hunter from Fassberg, which was stripped and polished to give it the best chance of swatting those superbly swift Mossies. 1./ KG(J) 6, Prague – Kbely, Protectorate of Bohemia and Moravia, March/April 1945 W. Nr. 130342, 5./ NJG 11, Fassberg, Germany 1945 W. Nr. 130297, flown by Fw. Horst Petzschler, 10./ JG 51, Bulltofta, Sweden, May 1945 13./ JG 27, Schleswig – Holstein, Germany, May 1945 W.Nr. 130282, flown by Hptm. Franz Wienhusen, CO of IV./ JG 4, Frankfurt/Rhein-Main, Germany, November 1944 All the decals are printed in the Czech Republic with good registration, sharpness and colour density, with a thin gloss carrier film cut close to the printed areas. The black is a little dominant on the instrument panel decals, but as we have a PE panel anyway, it's hardly of great importance! Conclusion Another great 109G kit from Eduard that has plenty of detail out of the box, and can be upgraded even further in the detail department if you're minded to add the extra resin and PE sets that are patterned for the kit and available separately. ProfiPACK Kit EduART As Eduard have such consistently good box art they began offering prints in special editions of their models, but have now modularised the art so that you can buy it separately, or along with your kit. The print arrives in a cardboard folio, the flap of which is taped shut, and has a card flap to lock it closed again once the seal is broken. Inside is the print, safely sandwiched by two pieces of white card to prevent any scuffing of the printed surface during storage or shipping. The print measures 59.5cm x 42cm, and there is a border around the artwork to make framing easier, plus a caption underneath for those that don't immediately know what they're looking at. I have outlined the canvas of the accompanying picture in black to demonstrate the proportions and size of the artwork in relationship to the overall size of the print. The EduART logo is found at the bottom of the caption in the centre. Print quality is impressive, and at this size it makes for an imposing picture, eliciting a "whoa!" from my son when I pulled it from its folio. EduART Print Overtrees (82119X & 82119-LEPT) If you have one of these new kits but wanted to do another decal option in addition, or have an aftermarket decal sheet in mind, you'll be pleased to know that you can get just the sprues from the Eduard site, and if you want to add some detail, you can also get a set of Photo-Etch to go with it. They arrive in a white box with a sticker on the end, with all the styrene in the one bag, and the clear parts bagged inside that for their safety during transport and storage. The Overtrees as they're called can only be bought directly from Eduard, so click on the button below to pick up yours. You can also download the instruction booklet if you don't already have one from the main kit page. Kit Overtrees Photo-Etch Overtrees Review sample courtesy of

Hi all! After really enjoying the Hawker Sydney group build and seeing everyone's builds come together, I thought I'd get involved here too. I've had this Airfix kit hanging around for a while. Looks a basic but good little kit. Not half as nice a the Eduard 109s, but then again, looks a lot simpler and should be a nice quick build. This is the exact aircraft I shall try to reproduce. The main reason I bought this kit is the beautiful scheme! I shall see how I get on with it... Here are the sprue shots: First up is work on getting rid of pesky ejector pins... circled in red Which has been done here: And then I got the cockpit tub together. Detail is ok in here, but nothing too special. She's going to be a quick-ish OOB build so I'll leave it as it is and have the canopy closed. I also got a few other items together: So, time for a quick dry fit. So will need a little filler at the rear wing root, but other than that it looks excellent. Liking this kit! Next stage was to undercoat all the RLM 02 areas in black. And then paint them RLM 02, shading where required. Excellent... But I've now discovered it should be RLM 66 in the cockpit areas of the Bf109E-4! 😂 Bit if a problem... I don't actually have any. What I will do is use Tamiya German Grey. I think that will close enough with the cockpit down. We'll see. Ok, more soon! Cheers, Val

Photos of my latest model, a Bf 109G-6 with markings for Erich Hartmann´s aircraft. I used Hasegawa´s painting instructions instead of the kit supplied ones, and a real life photo to prove this aircraft didn´t have the fuel tank, its rack, and the two underwing cannons Hobby Boss tells you to use. Here´s the work in progress thread:

Eduard 1/48 Messerschmitt Bf109G-4/Trop. This is one of the options in the Bf109G-4 Profipack edition, which comes with mask and cockpit etch. This kit was a nice one to build with no major fit problems. The etch on the tropical filter was a bit tricky to fit but that's about it! That was only because you had to bend it in a curve to fit, the rest of the etch was easy to use. It's nicely detailed and I even tried a bit of pre-shading on the top but I've tried to keep it subtle. It's painted with Vallejo Model Air and while it won't win any competitions, I'm quite happy with the finished model. If you build in 1/48 and you like Bf109's, you really should build some Eduard kits! thanks Mike

It was nice to finally open again Revell Germany´s rectangular blue box. I had built this model twice in the past, both times I ended up with a mess instead of a plastic model (the second time I ended with melted plastic because I used too much glue on my weight in the nose), but this time I got a fully assembled aircraft without much trouble. Time has not been kind to the model, the moulds are worn, resulting in a lot of flash, particularly in the lower nose assembly. Instructions forget to mention to open holes for the lower antennae and the circular one over the fuselage. I was able to open the hole for the circular one, but the lower one won´t be present on this model. Tomorrow I´ll try to begin and finish painting it, so I can decal it the next day.

Bf.109G-14 ProfiPACK (82118) 1:48 Eduard The G variant of the 109, colloquially known as the Gustav was one of the primary fighters available to the Luftwaffe during the closing years of WWII, and saw extensive active service, all the while being upgraded to combat the increasing Allied superiority in the air. Happily for the Allies, the supply of experienced pilots was fast running out, so as good as the upgrades were, they couldn't make an appreciable difference to the outcome. The G-14 was brought into service at a crucial time for the Axis forces, as the Allies pushed inland from the beachhead at Normandy, and it had an improved water injection system that gave the engine extra performance, plus the new clear-vision Erla-Haube canopy as standard. It was also an attempt to standardise the design to ease the job of construction, which had become decentralised due to the ferocity of the bombardment of the industrial areas by the Allied bombers at that stage of the war. As a result, few sub-variants were made of the G-14 even though over 5,000 were built, with command fighters and high-altitude variants the main exceptions, but the U4 had a high powered 30mm MK108 cannon fitted through the engine and firing through the centre of the prop. The Kit The 109G has been fairly comprehensively retooled by Eduard from their original, and while this is a new variant some of the sprues date back to the re-tool after issues with the original kit were found. The five-digit product code is a clue to this do-over. The ProfiPACK offers additional decal options as well as other upgrades to the basic kit, and alongside the four sprues of grey styrene you will find one of clear, a sheet of nickel-plated and pre-painted Photo-Etch (PE), a sheet of pre-cut yellow kabuki tape masks, two decal sheets and the usual Eduard colour instruction booklet printed on glossy paper. There are a lot of these new Gs out there amongst everyone's stashes by now, so most of us are familiar with the fine surface detail and dainty riveting on the outer skin, and the level of detail that has been crammed into this excellent tooling. There are also tons of aftermarket parts available from Eduard for those that want to add even more detail to their models, from engine, cockpits, to wheels, bronze gear legs and flying surfaces. The world really is your oyster when it comes to how much you want to throw at your build, but for many the included PE will be more than adequate. It's all up to you! Predictably the build starts with the cockpit, which has a number of PE controls added to the floor, and a full set of PE instruments that are ready to add to the painted cockpit, as well as the fuel line part that is supplied on the clear sprue because it has a glass section as it runs through the cockpit to allow the pilot easy access for checking if there's fuel getting to the engine. A choice of humps between the pilots knees cater for the cannon fitted U4 sub-variants, and a full set of painted crew belts are supplied on the PE fret, plus rudder pedals for good measure. More PE is attached to the cockpit sidewalls, and with all that glued and painted you can close up the fuselage around it, not forgetting the retractable tail wheel used in one of the decal options, with a spinner back-plate fitted to the front of the fuselage, and the exhaust stubs with their slide-moulded hollow tips inserted from inside into their slots. The nose cannon insert, supercharger intake and cannon bulges in front of the windscreen fit into their respective areas, and a set of flame deflectors made from PE are added over the exhaust stacks to prevent blinding the pilot in low light flying. The G-14 had a couple of options for the tail fin, with the increased use of non-strategic wood, so the fin base is moulded to the fuselage, while the tip is one of two separate choices, with a straight rudder hinge, or the more familiar cranked hinge-line. The fixed tail wheel for four of the decal options is fitted to a recess under the tail at this point too. The wings are full span underneath, and depending on your decal choice you may need to open up some holes for a centre-line rack and on the port wing for the forward-raked antenna carried by most decal options. The wheel bay sides are modular and mate with the inner surface of the upper wings to give an excellent level of detail once finished. A small pair of rectangular panel lines are scribed into the fuselage just in front of the windscreen using a PE template that is provided on the sheet, and a pair of teardrop masks are supplied for the wingtip lights, which are moulded into the wing, but can easily be replaced by cutting out the area and fitting some clear acrylic sheet of a suitable thickness, then sanding it to shape and polishing it back to clarity. A depression depicting the bulb can be drilled in the clear part before gluing to further enhance the look if you feel minded. Separate leading-edge slats, ailerons and flaps are supplied, with the latter fitting around the radiator bays under the wing, which have PE grilles front and rear. A scrap diagram shows the correct orientation of the parts to ensure that both layers align correctly as per the real thing. The narrow-track landing gear consists of a single strut with moulded-in oleo scissor, a captive cover that glues against it, and the two-part tyre with separate hubs on each side. A choice of radial or smooth tread is offered with no decal options suggested for each, so check your references, or just make a random choice. The legs fit to scokets in the wheel bays, and horn balances are fitted to the ailerons, the antennae under the wing are added, and a small PE access panel is glued under the fuselage behind the wing trailing edge. Before fitting the canopy, the clear gunsight must be partially painted and fitted to the top of the instrument panel, and a pair of PE grab handles are attached to the inside of the windscreen, which should be partially painted RLM66 inside or outside before the exterior colours. The canopy opener also has PE parts added plus the pilot's head armour and an aerial on the rear, with a PE retaining wire included for posing the canopy open. A manual starter handle is also present in case you wanted to show your G-14 in a more candid pose on the ground. The prop is a single part and is sandwiched by the back plate and spinner before being inserted into the hole in the front of the fuselage. Two styles of additional fuel tank are supplied, one with a flat bottom edge for ground clearance, and the other with a smoother exterior. These fit on a rack that sits on the centreline for two of the markings options, a rudder trim actuator is fitted to three of the options, and a small twig antennae is fitted to all options with a tiny circular base, both of which are made of PE. Markings Decals are printed in Czechia and have good registration, sharpness and colour density, with a thin gloss carrier film cut close to the printed areas. The main markings are carried on the larger sheet, while the stencils are on the smaller one. Stencils are drawn on a separate page of the instructions to reduce repetition and clutter, and each marking option has a page all to itself to cut down on confusion and give the modeller good sized diagrams to follow. From the box you can build one of these five options: Bf 109G-14/U4, flown by Hptm. E. Hartmann, 4./ JG 52, Csór, Hungary, October 1944 Bf 109G-14/U4, W. Nr. 512382, flown by Lt. H. Schlick, 4./ JG 77, Schönwalde, Germany, November 1944 Bf 109G-14, W. Nr. 464380, flown by Magg. M. Bellagambi, CO of 5 Squadriglia, o2 Gruppo Caccia, Aeronautica Nazionale Repubblicana, Osoppo, Italy, March 1945 Bf109G-14, flown by Oblt. R. Schlegel, CO of 10./ JG 4, Jüterbog – Damm, Germany, March 1945 Bf 109G-14, W. Nr. 464534, EJG 2, Pilsen, Czechoslovakia, May 1945 The masks (not pictured) cover the armoured glass in the pilot's head armour, the wheel hubs and of course the canopy, with the curved part having frame-hugging masks that need filling in the compound curved areas with scrap tape or liquid mask. These are a great time-saver and the fit of them is usually spot-on. Conclusion These are superb kits from Eduard, and they are priced well, considering the detail and markings options included. They don't bother with novelties such as magnets to hold cowlings in place, but if you should perchance want to show off your engine, you can get a superbly detailed resin one separately and those that don't want to show off their engines don't have to pay for parts they aren't going to use. The G is my personal favourite, so I'm more than happy to see another one from Eduard. Very highly recommended. Review sample courtesy of

I remember when I first built Academy´s Bf 109E-3 in 1:48, that the tailplane struts were molded too long and the forward bulkhead had to be trimmed quite a lot to allow for a good fit between the fuselage and the wing. Both issues were solved, the first one by cutting the struts in half and the second one doing what I did above. When I bought Hobbycraft´s Ha 1112 "Buchón" with decals for the BoB movie, it also came with too long struts, which had to be cut in half and trimmed. After that, I made the connection between both companies. Some months ago, I was checking kit´s instructions, and I came across Hasegawa´s Bf 109E instructions, and they were the same as the ones that came with the Academy kit, and I assume the same with the Hobbycraft kit. TL.DR, my question is, who copied who? And if Hasegawa got copied, does that mean the Hasegawa Bf 109E tailplanes struts are too long and it´s a factory defect? If its a factory defect, I´ll go and buy the Airfix kit or the Pegasus Hobbies one. I hope you guys can help me with this question.

First aircraft I built after coming back to scale modelling. It was brush painted with Revell acrylics 45/39/40/49 (RLM 02/71/70/65), the pattern masked with common masking tape and the paint ridges sanded down as best as I could with a 1000 grit sandpaper. Note: I currently have four models, this one, two Fw 190A-5s, and an A-4B/P, none of them with their seams filled. I´ll try to use CA for my fifth model. Edit: I forgot to add that I had to cut and trim the tailplanes struts because they were molded too long. The Academy kit looks the same as the Hasegawa Emil kits, I don´t know if the latter has the same issue (I´ll make a topic about that later).

Well, one thing I've figured out about myself is that making a new WIP thread is what should help me get cracking with this... My studies are trying to keep me away from modelling, but I'm not ready to pause with it just yet... Let me quickly introduce you to this little Italeri's kit. Two A4-sized sprues, one with clear bits and a disappointingly small decal sheet... I'll also use that big left-over sheet from Bf-110 I made a short while ago... The idea for finished model right now is to make it quite asymmetrical, with port side having exposed DB-603 engine (to be scratch built, having done two DB-601 for Bf-110 should prove helpful), flap, aileron and slats in landing position, radiator cowling flaps opened fully as well, while starboard side should be clean, just to show this bird's (what I consider) beautiful lines. Of course, this being a conversion, one - two actually - obvious things that need to be taken care of are wings - outer halves of 'em need to be swept forward to begin with (I haven't a clue why 210 has swept back wings in the first place, I guess Germans decided to experiment a bit with aerodynamic effects of that, maybe they needed to regulate center of gravity). Luckily, studying a number of technical drawing revealed that I should be able to use those outer sections, just rotating them around a specific point should prove enough. Fuselage shouldn't require too many changes, 210 A-1 has elongated fuselage in the first place, so that doesn't require any work, just a bit of rescribing should do the trick... This kit isn't very detailed (if I got it right, this should be a rebox of an old kit, from the early nineties), not that it matters since I'll be glad to add a few of my own, but fit looks good for now... ... though a few places seem to require a bit of filler (left and middle picture). Italeri have got intake cross-section right (right picture), it's a circle as it should be, I think Revell got that wrong on all of their models of 210 and 410, both 72nd and 48th scale, with an elliptical cross-section. A bit of work down under as well, other than filling I'll also open up wheel wells, aforementioned radiator flaps, stuff like that... These two were developed at the same time, one was given a second chance, mostly in Africa if I got it right, the one I aim to change didn't, it just wasn't a good war-plane. A lot of similarities between them (length, wingspan, cockpit position, same engine family), obviously... This picture shows the major differences between 210 and 410, wings being the biggest on of course... ... and this paint scheme is the main reason why I chose to convert it... Hopefully, it should like a bit like this in the end... Love the way engines stick out of wings... I'll be using whatever pictures I can to get the details right, like this Aires wheel well... ... as well as number of impressive build stories, like this one... http://www.modelersalliance.com/forum/chukw/147807-me410-all-the-way ... and some reviews of bigger scale models... http://www.britmodeller.com/forums/index.php?/topic/234949148-messerschmitt-me410a-1-hornisse-148/?hl=%2Bmesserschmitt+%2B210 Some of you may have noticed a cutting mat that wasn't there while Bf-110 was on the bench, got it today as well as Humbrol filler and a nice little model of Rogožarski IK-3 "Belgrade Defender", a bird that tried to keep the Luftwaffe busy once bombing of Belgrade started... Unfortunately, Royal Yugoslav Air Force only had 12 of them, 6 weren't operational as it was still tested, but still our pilots took down 11 Bf-109 in fights in April '41, 3 of which were taken by Sgt. Dušan Vujčić, whose IK-3 I'll be making once it gets its turn... For those interested in it, IK-3 was reported to be an overall improvement on Hawker Hurricane and more maneuverable than Bf-109 (pilots of 51st Fighter group were in charge of experimental work and RYAF had both Hurricane and 109 in its air fleet), but it had poorer rate of climb than 109 and it was slower as well (difference in engine power)... Got all my tools and paints on the mat once I got it, it's not a large set, though you can see that I got myself a good number of new stuff (all of that during Bf-110 build) on the right... During this build, I'll buy a wheel riveter (store was out of them today) and an airbrush for the final paint job and that should be enough for the next couple of builds as well... Back to Me-410, I hope to get some real work done during the weekend, however I expect this to be a slow-starter, since I'm a bit busy with some faculty stuff... Anyway, I hope this was enough for an intro post, I'm looking forward to this build as well as all of your comments... Cheers!

Just received my pre-order copy of this booklet: Yep, that's a 2€ coin there. The subtitle says "Messerschmitt Bf 109 G in the Finnish Air Force" and that sums up nicely what this book is all about! Larger than A4- format, 400 pages, 479 b/w- and 6 original colour photos, 24 colour plates by Karolina Holda and Thierry Dekker, 32 line drawings in 1:72 and 1:48 scales. All the plane histories, kills and losses... What am I doing writing all this, I should go reading! Available in Finnish, of course from here http://www.koalakustannus.fi/kirjat/kirja.php?id_prd=233 V-P

Messerschmitt Me 262 Schwalbe. Me 262 A-2a W.Nr.112372 at The RAF Museum Hendon, pics mine.

Hello fellow Modellers! This is my Heller 1:72 model of the little bangladeshi trainer with additional details. Decals are Letraset, Verlinden rub ons, from Fujimi MiG-21 and archive. Started on January 07, 2002, Finished on June 29, 2002. This Magister was built by Messerschmitt in Munich-Riem. It´s so a Me 170! It was AA-283 in the Luftwaffe, then it went to Austria as 4D-YD and was refurbished and sold to Bangladesh 1989. It´s there a IA for students now. It´s trainer yellow, international orange and red dayglo. I hope you like it! Cheers!

After much anticipation the AMG 1/72 scale Jumo engined Bf 109s are finally available. Over the years I have considered and even tried many alternatives for an acceptable 109 A through D, including modifying the Heller kit, grafting the Heller nose on a Tamiya E, Grafting the DB Products nose on a Tamiya E, learning to live with the Heller kit and finally, waiting for a good kit to come along. I've read a number of reviews of the AMG model online, none of them glowing. One of the best assessments comes from our own Woody, which I will reprint here: "I've had one of these for some time now. While the initial viewing makes it look very good, it has issues. As far as the shape goes it is very good. Nice scribing and most of the small parts are done well. Photo etch and masks included and all of the parts for all of the variants are apparently included in all of the kits. However... there's no canopy framing and the engineering of the wing is preposterous. The wing does not for the most part break on panel lines. The wing root is split up the middle, cleaning up this seam will most likely take out the fairings that cover the spar bolts requiring their replacement. At the trailing edge of the wing root are rather wonky keys on the lower surface of the fuselage that are supposed to slot into openings on the lower wing panel. They don't fit. Then there's the join at the trailing edge. Most 109 kits I have seen the lower wing panels aft edge is at the flap/aileron juncture on the underside. Not here, no that would be much too simple. Instead there is a sweeping joint that runs through two panel lines on it's way to the wingtip. In addition the lower wing is too thick to sit flush in it's provided recess adding insult to injury. Then we get to the cowling. I believe there are ten pieces involved in the cowling assembly. It appears that the lower radiator area will fit fairly well, the rest of it looks like it will be a challenge. Another issue with the cowling is that the rather prominent angled vents fore and aft of the exhausts are merely represented with a scribed outline rather than an indentation. This will also be a challenge to rectify. So what do we have at the end of the day? It's got a better shape than the Heller kit. It's got better detail, better fabric surfaces and it's scribed. It also looks to be a bitch to build. The Heller kit, which has just been rereleased, will be an easier build but not as accurate. Which you choose will depend on your priorities and skill level. I was really hoping for a reasonable kit here, but the engineering of the wing has really put me off. Which is a shame as I would have bought about two dozen of these things. I guess I'll have to wait and see what the competition brings out. Now for a little editorial content. I have it on good authority that the 1/48 scale early 109's by AMG do not have the ludicrous engineering around the wing. So why did they do this on the 1/72 scale kit? The only thing I can think of is to leave fingerprints. So that if one of the less principled manufactures tries to copy the AMG kit it will be glaringly obvious that they did so or they have a lot of extra work to do to cover their tracks. I can see their point but the disservice they did to the consumer is appalling." Not to be dissuaded, I decided to make this kit my next project. So here goes. The most daunting part of the build will be the (too) multi-part nose; but how should it be approached? Glue the cowl panels to the fuselage, then add the exhausts or stick the upper cowl together first, attach the exhausts to the cowl, then proceed? This thing is like an erector set. A bunch of loosely fitting parts interlock to make a rigid structure. The key seems to be, oddly enough, the wing. The lower cowl is integral with the lower wing part, so let's start there. As Woody mentioned, the wing parts breakdown is utterly ridiculous. See here: What the hell were they thinking?? Their 1/48 kit has the upper/lower wing attachment at the aileron and flap line. Easy! Not here. And if it fit you could accept it. It doesn't. In the photo you can make out the very coarse sanding I did on the outer lower wing panels. It wasn't enough, so I took a #10 scalpel blade and scraped off some of the mating area on the upper wings. This just about did it, but it still wasn't perfect. More of that below. I will give AMG credit for the wheel well breakdown. The wells are inserts, a little too thick (who's surprised at that), but this enables them to be painted in a simple way. First I painted the upper wing structure, the wheel well insert and the rim of the well on the lower wing in Pollyscale RLM 02. Then I brush painted the leather area of the insert with an acrylic brown. When sandwiched together, this is much easier and effective than a single part. While I was at it, I painted the cockpit RLM 02 as well, gave it an oil wash, and picked out some details with Vallejo acrylics. This kit has perhaps the best cockpit of any 1/72 scale 109 model on the market today. The details are very crisp and an included photo-etched fret contains quite a few minute items. One thing became apparent to me when some references. The map case is molded on the left side of the cockpit, which is actually correct, but only for the Bf 109 A. From the B - E versions, it is on the right side. AMG provides a photo-etched case, but there are two issues. First, it lacks one indentation where it should be folded. I tried brute force but that didn't work. This is also the case (no pun intended) with the 1/48th kit, on which I also experimented. There I tried scribing the missing groove, again to no avail, even though it is significantly bigger. My advice to you; make one from .005" plastic card. Again, I was elated to discover that the kit is correct for the A variant. Incidentally, this is pointed out in the two essential references for the early 109s. The first is a superb Kagero monograph: http://www.britmodeller.com/forums/index.php?/topic/234990602-messerschmitt-bf109-early-versions-a-d/ The second is vol. 1 of Lynn Ritger's excellent two part series on the Bf 109: https://www.amazon.com/MESSERSCHMITT-BF-109-PART-Prototype/dp/0955185807/ref=pd_cp_14_1?_encoding=UTF8&pd_rd_i=0955185807&pd_rd_r=NZA1Q7MJVHM5SKF9Q21G&pd_rd_w=e82hI&pd_rd_wg=8RKBp&psc=1&refRID=NZA1Q7MJVHM5SKF9Q21G So here is the wing after quite a bit of effort. The wing joint has been slathered with a mixture of talcum power and super glue (thank you Mr. Dedig) and sanded. I then brushed some Gunze Mr. Surfacer on some suspicious areas and re-sanded. I then masked the wheel wells and shot a rather heavy coat of Mr. Surfacer 1000 on the rest of the lower wing. So far, it looks OK. I will sand and polish this area, then it's on to rescribing the lost panel lines. The would have been a much more difficult job without these very simple tools from John Vojtech at UMM Models: They are simple, shaped aluminum bars to which you attach sandpaper to using double sided tape. But the advantage is that they don't "give". They stay perfectly flat, just what is needed for sanding the uneven lower wing surfaces. Finally (you thought you'd never get there), here's what I meant about the lower wing being crucial to the nose alignment. Again, I'm not sure how to proceed. The cowl panels are stuck on with blobs of Blu-Tack. I have thought about leaving them there and glueing everything together with 5-minute epoxy. Of course I would align the parts better than this, but that just might work. Or, use epoxy putty t for the same purpose. Epoxy putty would also act as the adhesive, but once pushed beyond where you want it to go, you can't really pull the part out again. Blu-Tack is "gummier" and will allow that. So that's part one of the saga. If you've gotten this far, you deserve a medal for endurance. I also have a cobbled together Heller 109 B/D from the shelf of doom. When the AMG kit catches up, I will proceed with both models. Thanks for looking.

EDITED 26.4.2017; here are the rules to be followed in this STGB: Welcome to the Britmodeller Bf 109 STGB II! (actually the first was a Me 109 STGB...) When: 6th May to 6th August 2017 Host: vppelt68 Eligible builds: Messerschmitt Bf 109 including prototypes and racers, production models from A to Z and their direct descendants, Hispanos and Avias! Regarding Me 209:s, 309:s etc… I´m sorry but I need to say "no" to them. If you want to build a V-tail G-0 go ahead, as long as you build one of the actual prototypes! SO, NO WHIFS! Spanish Civil War, WW2, Israeli early years, WW2 movie planes, post war- use in various European air forces - you just can´t say there isn´t enough build options in planes that actually existed. WIP thread: All builds must have a work in progress- thread. Multiple builds in one build thread: Allowed. All builds should have their own gallery entry, though, with five pictures being good a good number as any number can be posted at the build thread. Commenting on gallery thread is a no-no, please do that in the build threads only. No trading: Any parts/decals/kits etc that you want to buy or sell MUST be posted in the Buy/Sell area only, not here in the GB forum. No ready-mades: Entries must be under 25 % complete. If there's any doubt, get in touch with one of us or post your progress in the GB Chat thread, things usually get sorted out. Prizes: AZmodel / Kovozávody Prostějov is sponsoring us. Stunning details to be announced next saturday when we hit the Current GB- section Please note: We WILL certainly have a regular Britmodeller Gallery feature but NO POLL there. Recommended aspects: Having fun! Regards, V-P Here´s the original rules discussion: When next time: 6 May 2017 to 6 August 2017 When last time: actually my 1st GB and my first Britmodeller build took place from 1st November 2012 till 3rd February 2013 Since then happened: all those AZ Model and KP 1:72 kits, Eduard 1:48 G-6 and hopefully Zvezda too, and of course the Revell 1:32 Eligible: Messerschmitt Bf 109:s from prototypes and racers, production models A to Z and direct descendants, Hispano Buchons and Avia S-you know what:s that I now can't recall by name, but are just re-engined Bf 109:s. Is there the 25% rule: Let´s use common sense! An unstarted 1:72 easy build kit to be built OOB has a lot less job left to be finished than (say) a 50% done 1:32 kit with resin, PE or both. So why should we not allow such mountain of work not to be finished within a STGB? I say we should! Tell me if you object, please, before we start. Why: well it's almost five years by then, there'll be Mustang STGB number 3 (!) this year, and just FW 190 and Ju 88 Luftwaffe subject STGB:s above horizon in the next 16 months, plus those new kits that weren't available last time, and because I'd like to have one! Who: 1: vppelt68 (that´s me, host) 2: Mish 3: dazdot 4: Knight_Flyer 5: bubbasparksuk 6: Arniec 7: Prenton 8: jrlx 9: Caerbannog 10: Mottlemaster 11: GREG DESTEC 12: smuts (co-host, thanks Andy!) 13: usetherudders. 14: stevehnz 15: specky 16: Black Knight 17: Ettore 18: Erwin 19: Bill Ficner 20: kpc7676 21: Paolo6691 22: -Neu- 23: Enzo Matrix 24: Duncan B 25: Rob G, thank you mr.25 as now we are ready for take off! 26: jean 27: trickyrich 28: SAU 29: Mikemx 30: AndyC 31: TonyTiger66 32: Kahunaminor 33: planecrazee 34: Ozzy 35: Blitz23 36: Ettore 37: tango98 38: Sabre_days 39: Knetterik Camberry Sauce 40: Doug Rogers 41: PlaStix 42: delta7 43: DaveJL 44: wayne 0 45: Greg in OK 46:... So blame me crazy for proposing a new STGB to happen a year and a half away... I'm guilty as charged! It seems we´re all crazy! Regards, V-P

Hi guys, I'm not usually an aircraft builder however I decided to incorporate a diorama into this build and have a go at adding an electric motor to one of the engines, also this is my first attempt at modelling a grass base. I wanted a patchy and worn looking effect where a lot of work seems to have been carried out under the plane and the grass has suffered for it. I hope you like the results.

Hi guys, I'm not usually an aircraft builder however I decided to incorporate a diorama into this build and have a go at adding an electric motor to one of the engines, also this is my first attempt at modelling a grass base. I wanted a patchy and worn looking effect where a lot of work seems to have been carried out under the plane and the grass has suffered for it. I hope you like the results.

Hi guys, well after finishing the Hunter Killer diorama, I am building a new kit which will be another diorama with ground crew, but anyhow here are a few photos of my progress from this weekend.

RS Models is to release 1/72nd Messerschmitt Me.609 kits - ref.92197 - Messerschmitt Me.609 Heavy fighter - bomber Source: http://rsmodels.cz/cs/modely-letadel/plastikove-modely/1-72/92197/me-609-heavy-fighter-bomber - ref 92198 - Messerschmitt Me.609 Nightfighter Source: http://rsmodels.cz/cs/modely-letadel/plastikove-modely/1-72/92198/me-609-nightfighter V.P.

Is this a common practice to attach the harness as seen in this picture? I never seen it like that before. And another question regarding some cockpit equipment. What are the items circled in red used for? The leaver on the left has something to do with cooling / air circulation (entlüftet). Would be great if someone knows. Cheers, Peter