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Eduard 1/32 Messerschmitt BF109E-3 "Weekend Edition" - "FINAL REVEAL!" (8.18.15)


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yes ,i agree wih Basilisk , an easy to follow build and an insight into how you build and paint your modells. Like you i'm a prolific consumer of cocktail sticks :)

Thanks Mottle, much appreciated! Cocktail sticks are a God-send for the modeling community!

Cheers :)

Martin

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Absolutely superb!

I love the effect with the paintwork, very convincing. This is going to look fantastic when you have finished it.

Craig.

Thanks for following this build Craig and for your kind comment, much appreciated! :):thumbsup2:

Cheers :drink:

Martin

I am really liking what's going on here, plenty of stuff to learn in your build techniques. Going to be a stunner once she's done.

Thanks Airgunner, much appreciated! :):thumbsup2:

Cheers,

Martin

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Your build is looking stunning.

Nice save on the engine fit.

Karl

Thanks Karl, greatly appreciated! That engine fit took some work and patience, but, I think it all paid off in the end. :)

Cheers, :drink:

Martin

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Great build and very informative especially as I have one of these in the stash.

Thanks Davek much appreciated! I hope yours isn't as bad as mine was regarding the engine and bulkhead fits. Maybe this was just a one-off bad kit wherein the fuselage parts were molded with an incorrect processing set-up causing them to shrink more length-wise, thus affecting the overall finished dimension which would inevitably screw up the fits?

Enjoy building yours when you get around to it!

Cheers :)

Martin

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Eduard 1/32 Messerschmitt BF109E-3 "Build Update #4"

Hello Guys,

I've been away taking a few days break with the missus, visiting family in Augusta, Maine and just got home, so, now it's time to play catch up. The following images are where I had got to before we left, but, I didn't have time to post, so here goes....

I started off by masking the central hub of the propeller assembly, then airbrushing RLM 70 Schwarzgrun onto the propellers and the spinner. When dry, I removed the masking and assembled the spinner around the propeller:

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Next, I moved onto the canopy and windscreen section. First, I masked the three separate sections, then airbrushed the internal color of RLM 02 Grau. I let that dry, then I airbrushed the RLM 71 Dunkelgrun top-coat onto them. When that had dried, I airbrushed a coat of matt/flat varnish to seal the paint. When the clear coat was touch dry, I carefully removed the masking tape, but, there were a couple of spots where paint peeled that would require some touch-up:

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It was now time to give the plane and peripeheral parts a gloss clear coat in preparation for decaling. I allowed that to dry overnight, then started to apply decals. I began by applying the main decals, followed by the smaller stencils, onto the upper and lower wings, the portside fuselage, the starboard side fuselage, the cowlings, the drop tank and lastly, the propeller blades:

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When the decals and stencils were completed, I sealed them in with a gloss clear coat and allowed that to dry overnight. I was then ready to move forward with the weathering stage, and first, I applied some delicate chipping with XF-16 Flat Aluminum to the plane, cowling and wheel bay doors. I then removed paint from the propeller assembly to reveal the aluminum paint beneath the topcoat.

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After completing the chipping, I then mixed a dark dirt wash using a pea sized amount of black oil paint, a smidgeon of white and odorless mineral spirits, ensuring it was a nice water consistency. This was then brushed liberally over all parts and allowed to dry for 30 minutes. I then removed the excess with Q-Tips/Cotton buds to leave an amount on the surfaces that provided the weathered appearance that I liked:

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This was followed by mixing three different color washes for applying oil, dirt and fuel streaks onto everything:

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I then applied a mud wash to the main wheels and painted the rear wheel. Everything was then given a final matt/flat clear coat:

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When the final matt flat clear coat had dried overnight, I then mixed a wash for applying the exhaust and oil stains with using a black and a tan acrylic wash mixed together, then I scraped the end of a 6B pencil to produce some graphite dust which I used in the mix to simulate soot. This was also used to apply the gun powder residue stains around the two wing mounted machine guns.

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Next, I assembled and fitted the wheels onto the plane, followed by the propeller assembly and then the wing mounted machine guns:

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Next, I painted the gun-sight and super-glued it into its location:

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After fitting the gun-sight, I glued the windscreen into location to protect the gun-sight from accidentally being knocked off. I then assembled the bullet-proof head-rest into the center canopy and glued that in the open position:

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Now, I moved onto fitting the smaller fiddly pieces- the pitot tube and the aileron counter-balance weights:

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And, finally for this update, I fitted the aerial onto the rear canopy section...

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The only thing that I had left to do to complete my build was to add the open canopy tie-cable and antenna cables. I did this using 1.010" EZ-Line fixed with super-glue applied with the tip of a cocktail stick.

So, that's it for this build update! If you'd like to watch my YouTube "Build Update #4" video then here is the link for that:

https://youtu.be/IUE6BTVeqX8

The "Final Reveal" photos will be coming soon!

In the meantime, thanks for following this build, thanks for watching the update videos and thanks for leaving comments, greatly appreciated!

Enjoy the rest of your weekend, happy modeling and have fun! :):thumbsup2:

Cheers :drink:
Martin

Edited by UKguyInUSA
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Wow, that was some post. A great how to on weathering effects, very informative, and although I'm

not one for weathering, I like your results

Sean

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Truly superb model building on all levels! Your attention to detail is outstanding! Keep up the great work!

Edited by PlaStix
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Wow, that was some post. A great how to on weathering effects, very informative, and although I'm

not one for weathering, I like your results

Sean

Thanks Sean greatly appreciated! :)

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Amazing work Martin.

Dave

Thanks Dave, greatly appreciated! :)

Cheers,

Martin

That is seriously good Martin.

Some superb weathering, I can see myself and a few others using some of these in the future.

Craig.

Hello Craig,

Thanks for following my thread and your kind comment, greatly appreciated!

Cheers :)

Martin

Truly superb model building on all levels! Your attention to detail is outstanding! Keep up the great work!

Thanks Plastix for your very kind compliment, greatly appreciated!

Cheers :)

Martin

Stunning. Nothing I can say which hasn't already been said - Great stuff.

Cheers, Peter

Thanks for your very kind compliment, Peter, greatly appreciated!

Cheers :)

Martin

That's looking really nice, great weathering

Thanks Robert, greatly appreciated! :)

Cheers!

Martin

Like your close up photography showing the great level of detail

Thanks MottleMaster, greatly appreciated! :)

Cheers!

Martin

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Eduard 1/32 "Weekend Edition" Messerschmitt BF109E-3 "Final Reveal" (8.17.15)

Hello Chaps,

So, she's finally completed and here are my "Final Reveal" photos of her. I hope you like?! :)

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If you've followed my build updates for this kit, you'll be aware of the fit issues that were present when trying to assemble the engine, bulkhead and firewall into the space provided, having to file around 2.0mm away on the width and length of the engine assembly and fuselage internal walls combined, along with filing down the length of the internal assembly and its location points within the fuselage to get it to fit. I also had to jack up the engine with spacers to ensure the exhausts stacks lined up with the apertures that they go through, as well as file the exhaust aperture to make them wider and longer due to the exhausts being larger and not going through.

Regarding whether I think this is a VFM kit - "Value For Money" kit, the answer would be an unequivocal and resounding "No"!

I base this on the cost of the kit compared to the newly tooled Revell Germany 1/32 BF109G-10 that I modelled. Although the Revell kit doesn't come with a Daimler-Benz DB601A engine, it does have nice cockpit and external details and goes together extremely well without the need for filler. The Eduard kit is 50% more expensive than the Revell Germany kit and one has to ask oneself..."Do I want to pay 50% more just to include an engine that is problematic to fit?". Also, if you chose not to display the engine with the Eduard kit, then I would say that you'd be wasting your money paying the extra for a kit that includes an engine, for it not to be used...you definitely should choose the Revell kit if you take that option and save yourself $12.00.

The Revell Germany 1/32 BF109G-10 was $23.95 and the Eduard 1/32 BF109E-3 was $35.95.

Regarding providing my scores for the overall quality of engineering, quality of molded product, quality of details included, quality of the instruction manual and the decals and packaging, I score as follows:

Quality of Engineering Fits: 4/10 based on how badly engineered the internal assemblies were when fitting inside the fuselage halves. Filler was required in a few places. The worst gap was at the underside front end of the two fuselage halves. The gap was around 2.0mm, which led me to file down the sides of the oil cooler, the front exhaust stacks and the inside faces of the fuselage halves where they mated. Without destroying the exhaust stacks, there was still a gap of around 0.75mm that I filled. There were also gaps of about 1.0 to 1.5mm all around the rear area of the wing assembly where it joins the fuselage on the belly of the plane. I had to fill these areas, too.

Quality of molded product: 9/10- the product is very nicely molded, parts are crisp and clean with just a few spots of flash. No warp was present on any of the parts and ejector pin witness marks were away from visual areas. I didn't have any sink marks to contend with and the canopy parts were nice and clear with minimal distortion when looking through. There are finely recessed panel lines and rivet details, although some of the rivet details are too fine for them to show when the plane is given a dirt wash during the finishing stage. A good rivet forming tool would cure that, should you have one and want to attempt improving them.

Quality of details included: 8/10- The included engine, bulkhead and firewall have nice details that look good at the end of the build, but they require a lot of patience to get them to fit. The undercarriage is nicely detailed too and includes brake lines and treaded tyres. The cockpit is very nicely detailed and would be enhanced more with after-market seatbelts and foot pedals, but as always, I build "Out of Box" to establish a fair assessment of what you're getting for your money compared to similar kits.

Quality of the instruction manual: 9/10- I thought it was very easy to follow, but, it would be nice if the painting instructions were in color. They are if you chose to buy the "Profi-Pak" version instead of this "Weekend Edition" version.

Quality of Decals: 8/10- There is only one option for color and markings. The main decals are very good and go down well onto a gloss clear coat in combination with a good decal setting solution, adhering to recesses and surface features. However, some of the smaller stencils had a tendency to "Silver" which I hid with weathering and painting ove the silver areas.

Quality of packaging: 9/10- the box is a two part base and lid construction with the base being very sturdy cardboard. I prefer the base and lid style rather than the open end version provided by Revell. Sprues are packaged in clear polythene bags.

Further notes: I wouldn't recommend this kit to a beginner because of the fit issues, it's definitely a kit for the more experienced modeler who has patience to overcome the fit issues.

Did I enjoy the build?- I did up until the fit issues arose, then it was a "Debbie downer" until those were overcome. Then after that, the rest of the build was smooth sailing.

Would I buy this kit again? NO! I'd hope that Revell Germany would Introduce the engine details into their kits for an extra $5.00 which I'd pay willingly, as long as there were no issues. Or, I'd recommend the Trumpeter 1/32 BF109E models that come complete with engine details, a fret of PE and rubber tyres.

If you'd like to see my "Final Reveal" video for this update, here is the link to that:

https://youtu.be/ej54LH-n8iY

Thanks for following along with this build and for your comments, much appreciated! :):thumbsup2:

Time to get back onto the Revell 1/32 Spitfire Mk.II when the replacements for the missing and damaged parts arrive next week!

Happy modeling and have fun!

Cheers :drink:
Martin

Edited by UKguyInUSA
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Martin you have produced one of the nicest Bf-109's I have ever seen!

Your attention to detail and quality of both the build and painting are outstanding, I hope to get somewhere close with my own build.

I like your honest and frank summing up of the kit, nice to hear an honest review rather than one which just sings the praises of a kit whilst avoiding or covering up the truth of the build.

Very well done.

Craig.

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