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This is my first build in this STGB.

It is also a very special build for me. I will be using the Revell 1/48 Bf109G-10 kit. This kit has been in my stash since 1979, the year of its release. That is more than half of my life!

I remember when the kit was released and modelling magazines raved about it. They all said how accurate it was and how the engraved panel lines set the standard for the future. I was a little overawed by the superb standard of this kit and so I didn't build it immediately. I always told myself that I would just hone my skills a teensy bit more, to make sure I did the kit justice. :D

In the three decades since, I never quite got round to building the kit. However, all that time sat in The Stash has meant that the kit has become a dear friend, much loved and much fondled! Finally, I believe that I can build it...

However, the kit lacks the details that a modern kit would have - although in my opinion the standard of surface detail would give the likes of Tamiya and Eduard a good run for their money even today. So, I will augment the interior with some leftover resin and etch which were intended for other kits.

The decals will be from Eagle Cals sheet EC72-16. The subject is White 3 of I/JG52 in May 1945. This aircraft was crashlanded behind American lines by its pilot who wished to prevent his capture by Soviet forces. The Eagle Cal instruction sheet claims that this aircraft was finished in the standard 74/75/75 scheme. However... this is where I may be a little controversial. The Eagle Cal instruction sheet includes a colour photo of the aircraft lying on its belly in a field. To me, the colour scheme looks for all the world like 75/83 uppersurfaces with that weird late-war version of RLM 76 that Bf109s carried on the undersurfaces. It isn't a light blue-grey; more of a pale tan.

Now I know that Jerry Crandall did the research for this sheet. And I know that there are all sorts of odd things that can happen with colour photographs - how many times have we seen P-51D Lou IV represented with blue uppersurfaces? But there is just something so compelling to me about my interpretation of this scheme. So that's what I am going to do. The wing undersurfaces will be natural metal, with standard RLM 76 on the flying control and tailplane undersurfaces.

I know! Outrageous, eh? :tomato:

Anyroads, here are the bits and pieces.

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The kit parts:

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And the resin bits. These are leftover parts from an MDC set used on a Hasegawa G-10 about six years ago.

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Now that I have finally started to build this model, I'm going to find another one to replace it and sit in The Stash for the next 33 years. Let's just hope I survive to 2045 so I can build it then. :lol:

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Loved your introduction! I actually did build it right away, and it is the only 109 I have built, but I have intentions of more (including this kit) eventually, but probably not for this GB :sorry: - I even used "accurate" paints, brushed, though I think that was a bit before I discovered putty!

bob

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  • 2 weeks later...

Okay then... cockpit parts fitted. And photographed in excruciating close-up!

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As you can see from this photo, one of the rudder pedals came adrift from the cockpit tub. I only noticed later on but I managed to rescue it before the Carpet Monster got his filthy paws on it!

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The fuselage halves assembled. I cut off the MW50 housing from the rear cockpit panel. I'll replace the door with PE and a scratched housing. For the time being the gaping hole is filled.

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I now see where the Revell G10 in 1/72 came from, the Fuselage moulding looks identical (I do realise that most Me109G10's should, in theory, look the same so it does sound a bit "Blonde" but I mean the style of moulding I think?).

Must be quite a feeling to finally start cutting things off the sprues Enzo?

Duncan B

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The decals will be from Eagle Cals sheet EC72-16. The subject is White 3 of I/JG52 in May 1945. This aircraft was crashlanded behind American lines by its pilot who wished to prevent his capture by Soviet forces. The Eagle Cal instruction sheet claims that this aircraft was finished in the standard 74/75/75 scheme. However... this is where I may be a little controversial. The Eagle Cal instruction sheet includes a colour photo of the aircraft lying on its belly in a field. To me, the colour scheme looks for all the world like 75/83 uppersurfaces with that weird late-war version of RLM 76 that Bf109s carried on the undersurfaces. It isn't a light blue-grey; more of a pale tan.

I think I know the photos you are referring to. There is quite a bit of speculation as to whether that lighter colour is actually just dirt thrown up from the crash landing as in the shot taken from port aft it appears that the same coloured earth is thrown over the port wing too (if I'm referring to the same photos). I'm not sure but it will make a striking colour scheme none the less.

Duncan B

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Must be quite a feeling to finally start cutting things off the sprues Enzo?

Indeed it is. As the thread title says, this kit is an old friend. I can't afford to botch it up as that would feel like a betrayal.

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Nice one, that old Revell kit is rocking and one that I've got in the stash.

I always knew it was a nice kit. It's turning out to be very easy to build. It also now has me looking at other Bf109 kits. The standard has always been the Hasegawa kits but now I'm wondering what the Academy 109G-6 and 109K are like. Even though they don't have the seperate wing and radiator flaps of the Hasegawa kits, they are going to be far cheaper and - lets face it - cutting and lowering th flaps isn't exactly a chore.

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  • 2 months later...

Yet another thread which I haven't updated in a while. :banghead:

I cut out the flaps and lower radiator flaps. I then details upe interiors of the upper radiator flaps with plastic card.

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I then forgot to take photos of the main assembly and priming stages. :wall:

So here it is, painted...

The RLM76 for the wing and tail undersurfaces is Xtracrylix XA1208. The RLM75 grey is Xtracrylix XA1207 and the green is Xtracrylix XA1212. I believe there has been some jiggery-pokery with the RLM 82 and 83 lately...

The fuselage undersurfaces was a mixture. A lot of Luftwaffe aircraft had weird paint colours towards the end of the war. This has led to a belief in a paint number of RLM84, which is similar to RAF Sky. It is very probable that "RLM84" is in fact abadly produced batch of RLM76. FW-190s aircraft seemed to have the "sky" mix while Bf-109s had a mix which appeared to be more tan in colour. In order to produce something along those lines, I made a 50:50 mix of Lifecolor UA436 Summer Uniform Linen and Lifecolor UA509 RLM76. I'm quite happy with the way it all turned out.

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go Enzo!

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Disaster!!! :frantic:

Everything was going so swimmingly. Only the canopy to do. And now I've knocked it off the shelf! :weep:

I've knocked off a couple of small parts which I have managed to save from the Carpet Monster. The big problem is that the port undercarriage leg has snapped clean off. :wall: AAAARRRRGGGGHHHHH!

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You can recover, do not despair. You have the skills to rebuild him..................

If the worst comes to the worst, I will rob the undercarriage from a Zvezda 109F in The Stash and replace that further down the line with an SAC white metal set.

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Finished! :yahoo:

And I managed to recover from The Disaster! :smartass:

I'm quite pleased with this one. As I said in my opening post, this kit has been in my stashh for over thirty years and had become a very dear friend. Messing it up would have felt like a betrayal. :)

I thoroughly enjoyed the build and am now looking for some more of these ancient kits to build a few more late-war 109s.

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