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1:72 Heller Bf109G +++FINnISHED+++


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Hello. This will be my first entry into any group build ever, anywhere, and I promise this will be a very modest one. I will try to do this:

1-Bf-109G6-FAF-HLeLv34-MT-462-Katajainen-WNr-20041-Finland-1944.jpg

A Finnish Air Force MT-462 out of this old kit, out of the box and painted with my old hairy sticks and even older Humbrol enamels:

Heller_230.jpg

This really was one of our Messerschmitts, no longer Luftwaffes´, but it seems like in the summer of 1944 there just was no time to repaint all planes before they were sent to combat!
This particular plane was a G-8 but it never had the reconnaissance cameras installed so the model will look like yet another very generic Bf109G-6.

More pics to follow, please remember what Elvis said: Don´t be cruel :winkgrin: Regards, V-P

Edited by vppelt68
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  • 2 weeks later...

Hello all, a small update just to tell I´m still in with this GB and making a modest progress.

MT_462_01.jpg

Here she´s still untouched. Nice kit for it´s age (and price!) See the green bottle (?) of plastic cement included, still there.

MT_462_03.jpg

Some of my references. Most of these books are available in all public libraries in Finland. Lucky me.

MT_462_04.jpg

And here I am today. Don´t look too close! It´s puttied but not sanded yet. This will not be an OOB build after all, but definitely Retro. I have molested the flaps open and ruined the wings but who cares, it´s the first time ever I´ve done that to a model airplane kit. In this tender age of 44! I also made a rude attempt at seatbelts with plain ordinary masking tape strips but fortunately one should be a whole lot closer to notice them.

The mail should deliver both Finnish Air Force G-6/G-6AS/G-8 decal sets available from our InScale 72 Productions, so maybe this won´t be wearing Balkenkreuz, after all. Sorry to have shown you so bad pics. I truly admire the craftsmanship shown by other members of this forum.

Regards, V-P

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  • 1 month later...

Looks like I must do a written-only update on my groupbuild to tell you I´m still with it. Is it ok to change the subject during build?

The Heller 109 has been ready for paint shop before Christmas. As someone here cheered about variety in colour of the Croatian and Hungarian Messerschmitts I thought who am I if I don´t do mine in Finnish Air Force colours? I got a pair of InScale72 decal sets and the Heller kit will be wearing numbers for one of them. Maybe the other FAF G-8, MT-483?

I wanted to practise my painting skills and bought an Airfix G-6. Yes, I knew what I was buying! It was a quick and easy build for practise purposes only. It´s now painted in RLM 74/75/76 and waiting for the yellow theater insignia and the decals. That one will be the MT-462 in minimal German markings, shown in the pic above. That´s a terrible scheme for brush painter, by the way :-(

Regards, V-P

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Surely not 80mm unless you mean scale-mm:s? If I recall correctly the super-G model of the eighties should´ve had Heller nose and tail with the Matchbox rear fuselage sliced between them! Those were the days :-)

V-P

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Oops -I meant 80 thou! Two pieces of 40 thou plastic card. Which is about 2mm in the model.....rather more than 80mm on the real thing. I don't think I did that on my first one - also Finnish by chance but post-war. Yes, I used to do similar cross-kitting in the 70s/80s but not that particular one. I did make one Spitfire from the Frog and Matchbox kits to get a wing of appropriate thickness - and as it was a Seafire there was rather more involved in it too. I think it took me three kits to get a decent Hurricane, though the Airfix Mk.IV only contributed a canopy.

Edited by Graham Boak
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Indeed! Not to mention how much time they save. Against this is the psychological problem of not wanting to touch a really good kit for fear of ruining it! Maybe not everyone feels that. Also, there is a lot to be said for the sheer pleasure of cutting and carving to get things right - or at least a little better. I find the assembly much more pleasurable than the painting and sticking. Hence the started but unfinished Heller 109Gs.... and all the rest.

PS I've just been looking for old Heller 109Gs to actually measure this extension, but the only one I could find was a hybrid with a Frog tail. Which does illustrate the discussion above. I did find a K and a Jumo-engined Hellers, but they had better shapes - at least, the revised K did!

Edited by Graham Boak
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VP, changing the markings during assembly is not only acceptable but encouraged!  The build process is what these things are about... hell, I even made a poll on what markings to use and then rejected the democratic decision!  It would be great to see a Finnish aircraft.   I can't personally see the value in correcting anything unless you're going to give it a cockpit, wheel wells and fix all the compromises inherent in a kit reflecting what was acceptable in the 1970s. The other approach is to just paint and enjoy and find out what techniques work for you, both in process and aesthetics.

 

Have fun and keep us posted mate.

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  • 4 weeks later...

Hanging in here and still planning to finish my first GB! This doesn´t look too pretty but who cares, next time I´ll do better :-) So I altered my plans and decided to do a Bf109 G-6/R-6 in Finnish Air Force markings. The one most suiting the Heller kit, with low stabilizer and no Erla- haube, was the MT-453.


mersu_453_1_zps03dc8914.jpg

Here we are as of today, one day of time including 10 hours working as an organizer of a junior floorball tournament still left to add the decals!

mersu_453_2_zpsc0c1c687.jpg

I should upload these pictures a lot smaller, they just show how awful my model looks like!

mersu_453_3_zpsf360558e.jpg

Regards, V-P

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Cheating by airbrush... I did that mottling in 2x5 minutes including the time to stir the paints and clean the brushes and the result really can´t be compared to, say Peter, your Zvezda Friedrich.

To be honest, this is my fourth model airplane that I have painted so thank you for your kind words, they make me strive for better next time. This is not a modelling masterpiece but it´s my masterpiece, It´s never too late to end armchair modelling!

EDIT: If that Heller kit was still in production I´d say it should still sell well. I´m not sure whether I´ll collect more of the #230 Bf109G-2/5/6 and the original #074 Bf109K kits for my Lappeenranta 2.7.1944- project or just go shopping fresh Academy G6 and G14 kits. I need 2 short rudder, original cabin kits and 6 tall rudder, Erla- haube kits, but that´ll be one day...

Regards, V-P

Here´s one more for the road... The model isn´t crooked, it´s just my lousy camera and lack of skills!

mersu_453_6_zps31a9e034.jpg

Edited by vppelt68
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