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Academy 1 48 Messerschmitt Bf109 G6 - Completed!


giemme

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Cracking work Giemme,

The seat belts look first rate, better than commercial ones, by using lead foil you can get them to bend and fold more realistically that ones made from brass or nickel, they really do look the business.

Looking forward to more updates.

Al

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Thanks Al! :thumbsup: Yes, definitely the lead foil looks pretty real as a belt, and was very easy to bend in a "natural" position. I only wish I could find a better solution for the buckles, I'm still not very happy with them ... guess I'll have to keep experimenting.

Ciao

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I agree with Al about the belts G. I see that you painted them before bending them and it seemed to work out ok. Did it not crack or flake at all?

Thanks Steve. Actually, I only brushed the primer coat on before gluing and bending the belts. This Vallejo Grey Primer is pretty tough, so after positioning I only got a couple of very tiny dots where it came off; but then I brushed on Tamiya Deck Tan (and the gloss/washes/flat coats) with everything in position, so it's easily fixed.

BTW: I did the same with the pedal straps, only that I let the primer cure for a couple of days (as opposed to the 20 minutes for the seat belts). This way, they held up very well to some fairly heavy manipulation, with no cracks or flakes whatsoever

Ciao

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Thanks HLB! :thumbsup:

It's not a photo etch, but lead foil coming from wine bottles, the one wrapped around the cap. But whenever I use photo etch, I always prime them before painting - unless they are pre-painted, of course (just some touch-ups plus some weathering, maybe :winkgrin:).

Ciao

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Hi everybody;

spent some time on test fitting the radiator, IP an tub mount before I glue the fuselage halves together. Let's start from the radiator: I slapped some paint and dark wash on it:

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The plan is, as for exhausts, to add it later in the build, after having painted the underside with RLM76 (and the Yellow nose band). Looks like it is possible:

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But here I have two problems: first, the kit radiator sits too far forward, close to the intake mouth, and second .... it doesn't look like a radiator to me.

So, with some Tamiya tape and a pencil I made a small template:

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cut out a small strip from a beer can and stuck the template on

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cut the excess away and scribed some fine parallel lines using an Exacto knife

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Out comes my razor saw, to allow for the radiator to sit back into the right position:

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and my new scraping tool (credits to Steve - aka Fritag :winkgrin: ), to level out things

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I've also added a couple of very thin plastic shims on the radiator holding structure, glued the radiator front on it and added some cooper wire

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Here it is in place (not glued, of course). A bit of an "artistic license", but I like this better than the kit offering:

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As I said earlier, i did some dry-fit tests for the tub and the IP:

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The IP is misplaced, that is: if I put where Academy intended to, it's too high compared to the fuselage in the windshield area. The top part should be underneath the fuselage, and not protruding outside as in my pics. I'll have to test the gunsight in position and see if there's anything I can do to correct this (thinking of scraping away a bit the top part of the IP and add a sort of top cover, to be blended into the fuselage)

Another issue is with the windshield itself:

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it's much narrower than the fuselage, I'm probably going to thermoform a new one. By the way, the kit piece has a framing that is barely visible, I fear I'm going to loose the detail completely when thermoforming ... :banghead:

Comments and suggestions welcome

Ciao

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Lovely work :)

But:

The main goal of this build is practicing for German Mottle camo painting - first time for me - as I Have a Eduard FW190 in my stash but don't want to risk a messy painting on that, rather do it on this cheap kit.

For this reason, I'll try to make a quick and simple build ... (I'll try, I promise ... :whistle:)

What about the promise? :)

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I know, I know ... :banghead::crying::innocent: It's just stronger than me ...

Anyway, after this I'm definitely buttoning up the fuselage halves. And I said definitely! (but then, there a couple of radiators in the wings as well ....)

Wait: are you trying to say that you'd prefer to see me going straight to the painting stage, just slapping the remaining pieces together? :unsure:

Ciao

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Giemme the kit is a bit of a dog then is it? Nice radiator job btw.

Thanks Homer! I wouldn't say it's a dog (that would the be Italeri RE2002 I did last year, for instance); it's rather very simplified - but that's ok, for the price.

Ciao

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Great work, its all looking very 109-like! I like the improv with the radiator, but i don't know what you'd do with the canopy other than get a vacform replacement? Theres been much sniggering about the state of the kit/moulds but i think its looking great with all the extras you've added. :goodjob:

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Thanks Greg! :thumbsup:

but i don't know what you'd do with the canopy other than get a vacform replacement?

I was thinking of adding some scratch built framing to a home made thermoformed copy of the kit front canopy.

Then of course Steve remembered me my promise of doing a quick build, so I'll probably just mask and paint it carefully ... :whistle::ninja::winkgrin:

Ciao

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Well I have the Royal Eduard Bf-109G twin pack so I'll be watching the master builder turn this pumpkin into a carriage :)

That's exactly what I'd need:a bit of magic! (or " A kind of Magic", if you're a Queen fan - I am!)

Ciao

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I like the progress report ... keep up the good work. Bob H.

Cheers Bob, thanks! :thumbsup:

Details, please?

Here you, Gene: http://www.modelsrgo.co.uk/modelling-tools/cutting-scribing.html

along with others, as you can see. They're out of stock now, but when I received mine, they told me they were going to get a restocking in a couple of weeks

Ciao

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Not much of a progress report (but it actually took me a good couple of hours last night to get to this point), but here it is:

IP and tub glued to the fuselage halves

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and fuselage halves eventually joined

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I had to make a few adjustments before buttoning them up (mostly because of self induced issues); anyway, I had to scrape away some plastic from the port side of the tub, both along the floor and along the back plate.

Same for the IP, starboard side. I used Tamiya Green Cap (capillary) along the join and also some CA - both liquid and gel - to fill in a few seams and, from inside the fuselage, to reinforce the overall bond.

Ciao

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