Jump to content

Messerschmitt Me-109 E - Hasegawa ST1 - Oldie 1:32


Recommended Posts

Good morning Friends !

I had this 1:32 kit from Hasegawa in my stash :

Hasegawa%20ST1%20Bf-109%20verlin.JPG

This kit is also known under the references "ST1" or "08051".

I bought it during late 2013 while i was thinking to back in the Hobby after a 25 years break, attracted by its low price (less than 30€, including Shipping taxes).

When i opened the box, i've been a bit surprised by the low amount of parts (Only 88 parts) because with a 1:32 scaled Kit, i was expecting a very well detailed kit... It seems that i was wrong :(

Furthermore, a lot of the parts i saw on the sprues was false : The provided stick don't look at all a Kg-13 stick, the shapes of the pilot seat are false, the left and right cockpit sides are also false and suffer of a big lack of details, the rudder pedals are false...

Well... it seems that kit was not an as good deal as i was thinking...

I started the build with the engine and, here again, i've been disappointed by the :

Bad adjustments :

1.jpg

2.jpg

4.jpg

And the engravings which do not correspond form a part regarding the other :

3.jpg

I was so much disappointed that I decided to close the box and to send it back in my stash (then i started to build the 1:48 Revell/ICM Messerschmitt Bf-109 F kit that i ordered with this Emil)

As i was not understanding why this kit quality was such low regarding the nowaday standards, i made some research on the Internet and i finally found that this Kit was in fact near as old as me : The molds used for this kit are from the mid 1970's !!!

As the weather in South of France still don't want to turn in summer mode... I decided to bring it back on the workshop and to give a try to do something with this vintage kit...

The last 1:32 kit that " i " built was built sat on my father's knees in the 80's (don't remind me exactly if it was the "famous" Mk22/24 Spitfire or the Tiger Moth) so... i think you can consider that thiswill be my first try building a 1:32 kit ^_^

Kind regards

Edited by Dreamcatcher
  • Like 2
Link to comment
Share on other sites

Hi !

Some news of the Emil :

Engine and cockpit modules are now stuck together :

_PCH4217.jpg

There was no decal provided for the instruments pannel, i had to use a tooth pick to paint some switch and needles on it (Work in progress) :

_PCH4230.jpg

The genuine throttle stick did not please me, so i scratched a couple of new levers (One for the Throttle, the other for the oil radiator). A card holder made from thin card board had also been added on the right of the cockpit :

_PCH4264.JPG

That's all for today.

Have a nice day !

Edited by Dreamcatcher
  • Like 3
Link to comment
Share on other sites

The fuselage is closed since yesterday night.

No major problem except the fact that the front part of the left side half fuselage was seriouly bent (about 20°) and so i needed to use a bit more tape than expected :

DSC02900.JPG

I will have to use some putty, but i could have been worse.
DSC02901.JPG

The genuine wheel wells was only 2mm deep, so i "opened" them by removing their bottom.

I will have to sand a bit their outline and to build some "walls" from scratch.

_PCH4283.JPG

A blank assembly of the wings on the fuselage : Not to bad :)

DSC02908.JPG

To be continued...

Have a nice day !

Pascal

  • Like 1
Link to comment
Share on other sites

Hi Pascal,

Hope you are well. Nice to see you back with something in plastic!

I had posted a reply on here after your first post but it was just before the server was upgraded and the post has disappeared. I then had over a day when I couldn't get on the site so I'm just catching up.

Seems like you are motoring on this one. Shame there are so many issues with this kit but you seem to be getting it under control well. I do like what you've done with the engine and cockpit.

I shall follow your build with interest.

Did you get any work doen on your RC stuff?

Kind regards,

Stix

  • Like 1
Link to comment
Share on other sites

Hi Stix,

Yes, i'm doing good, thank you. I hope you too ?

Pleased to see you here :)

I've also been disturbed a bit by the server upgrade, but i think it was for a good cause. Thanks a lot to the server/forum admins for their work.

I was planning to start the 1:48 Zvezda La 5 FN but when i saw the sprues full of marvelous parts full of sharp details and the PE parts, i thought "Wow... Wonderful, but this build will be VERY long to complete"...

The Spitfire Mk.XVI build took me near than 3 monthes to be completed and i did not want to start another very long build for now, so... i turned my mind on this oldie Me-109 E Kit and its only 88 parts !

I have to admit that, hopefully, the Daimler Benz seems to be the worst part of this kit.

With this kit, i will try to learn how to paint a pilot (it seems it's not so simple to do...) and i will also have to discover some other weathering technics because 95% of the pannel lines and details on this plane are not hollow engraved....

For the Engine i tested to paint it with an real rustproof paint spray i had in the workshop : It looks to work rather well and that had given the Daimler a nice flat color between dark grey and light black and a surface quality that looks like a lot a real engine body.

The engine cowl seems not to fit very well on the plane's nose so i'm affraid that i may have to stick it and hide the engine.... So i don't plan to add much more details from scratch on it for the moment - i will "play" this game on the Eduard kit that i have in my stash... latter...

Yesterday at night i just started to work a few minutes on the wheel wells before to go to sleep :

DSC02909.jpg

DSC02910.jpg

But it's nothing very interesting yet...

About R/C models : The balsa wing tips of the 109 are now done. The drawing of pannel lines of the spitfire are near to be finished, i still have to add the radio and first aid kit hatch doors and all the circular hatc under and upper the wing (not very pleasant to do and very looonnngggg... Pfffff) and seeing the MkXVI plastic model Kit, i saw that my Engine cowl shape was too short... I should rebuild this part once again... GRRRR

Add to all this a big lack of motivation because since some monthes now the weather during the week-ends is not good enough to allow to fly R/C models and near all my R/C buddies are in holidays for two or three weeks...

I hope your Mk. IX build goes well and your Typhoon looks very nice.

@ Dennis : Thank you very much for your kind words !

I will try but i'm not sure to be able to post some more update until the next week-end...

Have a nice day !

Kind regards

Pascal

  • Like 1
Link to comment
Share on other sites

I remember this kit from the early 1970s, released by Frog and Hasegawa at the same time as they had a close relationship. I was it built up in my LMS window, and read at least one review - there was some mention of the fuselage being a little narrow, and it did look it at the LMS.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Hi !

I only had a short time for modeling this last week-end, so the update is rather short :

I worked on the front part of the fuselage :

The engine cowl needed a little reshaping to be able to take its right place (it was to wide on cockpit side and to narrow on the propeller side) :

DSC02955.jpg

The height of the turbo's air intake scoop is a bit to small. i will have to add about half a millimeter of putty to correct its shape.

Putty also will be needed to close the (small) gaps all along the fuselage's joints and in the bottom wing/fuselage area.

DSC02956.jpg

The wheel wells outlines had been sanded and are now ready to receive their lateral enclosures

The upper covering of the right wing root don't fit very well with the fuselage. I think i will use some plastic thickness shims cales that will help to regain the half millimeters that are missing here and there.

DSC02957.jpg

Well... That's all i managed to do during the last week end...

Have a nice day !

Pascal

  • Like 2
Link to comment
Share on other sites

Hi Pascal,

Hope you are well.

Good to see this one back with some progress - even if it's not a lot. You do seem to be having some interesting times both with your RC planes and this one. I'm sure you'll be able to get it into shape before long! You'll have have a go at something 'shake 'n' bake' next time - like something from Tamiya or a New Tool Airfix kit!

Keep up the good work.

Kind regards,

Stix

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Hello,

Thank you so much for your kind words friends !

Last night i spent a couple of hours on the Emil :

I built the plastic thickness shims cales and stuck them in the wing :

DSC02964.JPG

The result is not 100% perfect, but they improves rather well the vertical adjustments :

DSC02974.JPG

DSC02973.JPG

The wings and the horizontal stabilizers joined the fuselage :

DSC02981.JPG

DSC02982.JPG

No miracle to expect, i will have to use some putty and sand paper to fill some gaps as here all around the instruments pannel and in the wings root / fuselage area (top, bottom, leading edges and trailing edges) :

DSC02980.JPG

DSC02969.JPG

The major problem i still have to solve on the fuselage is a defect of alignment of the propeller shaft :

DSC02983.JPG

It may be caused by a problem in the motor mount geometry because the fire wall is at the right place in the fuselage...

I will try first to push up the engine in the fuselage and if it's not enough to correct the bug, i think i will have to cut the propeller shaft and to stick it upper on the engine to allow it to be correctly centered...

To be continued !

Kind regards

Pascal

@Stix: I'm sure you are right speaking about Tamyia "Shake'n'Bake" kits and I'm happy to learn that the New Tool Airfix kits are now in this same category, thank you very much for the information !

I have not build any Airfix kit since near than 25 years now - My last was a 1:48 Spitfire Mk.Vb "High-Tech serie" - made from some 1979 molds and provided with some nice white metal parts but also with some rough unpainted PE parts taht i did not managed to use correctly at that time.

airfix-series-10-pic-100081.png

  • Like 1
Link to comment
Share on other sites

Hi there !

Yesterday i spent some more hours on "Mister Emil" :

I started to mask the clear parts

DSC02995.jpg

A quick check of their future adjustments : It seems that all will be Ok !

DSC02996.jpg

As the propeller's axis was not correctly centered through the plane's snout (probably because lack of control from my-self added to some narrow parts on the fuselage and/or the engine mount), i cut the shaft out and managed a solution to be able to re-center it with a small part of a plastic card :
DSC03002.jpg

And finally i finished the evening by applying some tamyia putty on most of the fuselage and wing's joints :

DSC03000.jpg

DSC03001.jpg

To be continued ...

Best regards !

Edited by Dreamcatcher
  • Like 1
Link to comment
Share on other sites

Hi Pascal,

Looks like you are making good progress with this kit. This is probably a daft question but won't having the plastic strip on the front mean that there is a gap between the propeller and the fuselage? Or is there some way to adjust for this? It's probably me just missing something but I thought I'd better ask.

With regards the Airfix High Tech kit: I didn't know about them at all! It looks like it was excellent for it's time.

Hope you have a good evening.

Kind regards,

Stix

  • Like 1
Link to comment
Share on other sites

Hi Stix,

Sorry for the answer delay, i was not informed that you posted here :(

That's not at all a daft question my friend : This kit's spinner is built in 2 parts : The "back plate" and the "main spinner" and hopefully, the "back plate" have a hollow back (not sure of the good words in English - sorry) - i.e. there is a small lip of about 1 mm that overtakes all around the back face of the spinner.

So i just had to sand the plastic strip at the good thickness to allow the spinner's back plate to come as close as possible of the first fuselage's bulkhead. I will take a picture and will try to post it tonight.

Yesterday at night, For at least the third time, i was playing with Tamyia putty and sand paper.... (I hate that.... But had no choise).

The wing/fuselage junction was not so perfect.

A question : Does somebody here knows a kind of putty easier to apply and to sand than the classic Tamyia Putty and which would not melt the plastic, please ? (Because the relief engraving on this kit is very thin and fragile and disappear at the slightest sanding... Not good... )

Well... As i was fed up with putty and sanding, I changed my mind by starting to work on the wheel wells.

This will be another hard point to solve on this kit.

I tested an idea to build the inner enclosures : i used some strips of inkjet photo paper.

This is the result :

DSC03043-s.jpg

Not very good, but not to bad...

Some years ago i took some pictures of a Casa HA-1112 "Buchon" wheel wells (The "Buchon" is a Spanish version of the Me-109 fitted with a Rolls Royce Merlin instead of the Daimler Benz Engine)

_DSC1115.jpg

_DSC1116.jpg

I think i will try to print the fabric and lacing at the good scale and stick stick printed stuff all around the inner enclosures once they will be finished and wheel wells painted- after all, modelers use photo eched parts, why not using photo printed parts too ? :whistle:

Well... That's all i managed to do on the plastic 109.

[ a bit off topic - ON ]

Last week-end I also managed to work a bit on the R/C Foamy 109 E from scratch.

The Wing / Fuselage binding system is now ended, the hinges of the horizontal stabilizer and rudder moving parts have been done too

a6984123-199-DSC03032.jpg

And the reinforcing bars took place under the stabilizer

a6989352-166-DSC03034.jpg

[ a bit off topic - OFF]

Well... That's all for today folks...

Have a nice day !

Pascal

Edited by Dreamcatcher
  • Like 1
Link to comment
Share on other sites

A question : Does somebody here knows a kind of putty easier to apply and to sand than the classic Tamyia Putty and which would not melt the plastic, please ? (Because the relief engraving on this kit is very thin and fragile and disappear at the slightest sanding... Not good... )

Pascal

Hi Pascal; I use this one

stucco_zps02463737.jpg

It's water based, so it doesn't melt plastic and you can clean any excess of it just using a brush, a cotton bud or a soft cloth moistened with regular water.

Not good for "heavy-duty" tasks (no rescribing on it, for instance), in my experience, but perfect for filling small gaps, seams and so on. You need to sand it very gently, but it turns out very smooth.

You can see it applied in my RE2002 WIP (see my signature).

By the way, very nice job you're doing with this old kit, I see you've been caught by the scratch-building fever ;)

à bientôt

Ciao

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Hi Pascal,

Good to see this is still progressing well. I'm also glad you have a plan for the prop and spinner. Using a photocopy for the inside of the wheel wells sounds like a good plan too.

Re: the off topic bit - I like your R/C 109 - I won't complain if you want to keep posting a few photos of it!

Kind regards,

Stix

  • Like 1
Link to comment
Share on other sites

Hi !

This is the promised pictures of the Spinner's "back plate" :

DSC03048.JPG

This lip is finally very usefull ! (Oh, Noooo... i see on this picture that i still have to play with putty and sand paper... )

DSC03050.JPG

I'm glad you like the R/C 109 but as for the plastic models, I build slowly so... i will post some new pictures of it as soon as possible !

Kind regards

Pascal

Edited by Dreamcatcher
  • Like 1
Link to comment
Share on other sites

Hi Pascal,

I see what you mean about the back plate being hollowed out. That was lucky considering the issue you had. Glad you managed to centre it okay.

Kind regards,

Stix

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Hi !

I worked a bit on the Emil yesterday at night :

I started to build the second wheel wells enclosures.

DSC03060.jpg

Now i know how to do, so I think they will be finished soon :

DSC03061.jpg

While i was cutting some photo paper, i also built a part that will emulate the door of the cockpit hatch behind the pilot

DSC03063.jpg

The engine have been covered with "post-it" paper and all the engine cowl's openings have been closed with tape to avoid the painting to infiltrate in the fuselage.

I also finished to mask the clear parts

DSC03070.jpg

I think the paint job will start soon...

Cheers !

Pascal

  • Like 2
Link to comment
Share on other sites

Thanks a lot Giemme !

It's the first time i do such a thing...

The Gunsight had also been added in the cockpit :

DSC03096-s.jpg

I started to paint the pilot provided in the kit ( a very poorly detailed part) : Well.. I think I will have to go to learn some serious lessons in the figures area of the forum... :boom:

To be continued ...

  • Like 1
Link to comment
Share on other sites

Well.. I think I will have to go to learn some serious lessons in the figures area of the forum... :boom:

Be careful ... if you get that fever, it'll never leave you ... I warned you ... :winkgrin:

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Hi Pascal,

Good progress again. I know what you mean about painting figures!! It's strange - I can detail small items of the actual vehicles but make a figure look like a person? Not a chance!!! :weep:

I still intend to try and do some 1/48 figures for the Mk.XVI and Mk.IX Spitfires but I'm not really confident about them!

Hope you have a good weekend.

Kind regards,

Stix

Edited by PlaStix
Link to comment
Share on other sites

@ Giemme : i hope not to take the virus... I have enough passions to fill my free time !!! :winkgrin:

@ Stix : I have the same problem with painting this 1:32 pilot and the lack of details on it don't help...

I would like to let it in the cockpit because this old kit is rather poorly detailed and most of the cockpit is false. I hope i will manage to paint something acceptable but it's already se second time i clean the paint on the pilot face and i'm still not happy at all with the result.

I think i will be a long hard road.... but i hope it will be instructive (?)

I also will have to find how i will add the seat harness over the pilot.

Have a good week-end and happy modeling !

Edited by Dreamcatcher
  • Like 2
Link to comment
Share on other sites

Create an account or sign in to comment

You need to be a member in order to leave a comment

Create an account

Sign up for a new account in our community. It's easy!

Register a new account

Sign in

Already have an account? Sign in here.

Sign In Now
×
×
  • Create New...