Two Tamiya Emils in 1/72 - not German

[109 fan]

Things have been a bit slow at the Messerschmitt Werke, but these Tamiya E's have been making some progress. I like to alternate OOB builds with more detailed projects, and the nearly fall-together Tamiya kits fit the bill. The Tamiya Emil is still the best on the block IMHO, but it (as any kit) is not faultless. The main wheels are vague approximations and the tailwheel is ridiculously small. But the outline is excellent and fit is very good. I find that I have to sand either the wing root or inner edge of the upper wing parts to insure a good fit. If not, the fuselage pushes out the wing, resulting in too little dihedral. As the title suggests, neither of these birds will wear German plumage, but more of that later.

Out of the box builds provide a good opportunity to try new techniques. If you screw it up, there are less sweat and tears invested. On this instrument panel, I tried using Future, water (50/50) and some acrylic black and brown paint to make a wash. The concept seems unlikely; Future dries too fast to give any working time. But it actually works. I have a line-up of Tamiya 109 E interiors and used variations on this theme; lighter, darker, and multiple applications. With very little effort, a you get a very acceptable finish.

This one is punched up a bit, but in 1/72nd the effect is everything.

I painted the wheel wells RLM 02 before assembling the wing, then hand painted the leather liners with acrylics. The area was masked with Blue Tack, then the surrounding area was sprayed RLM 65. After the wing is assembled this section was masked and general painting continued. I've tried to come up with a better sequence, but none occurs to me.

The canopies were masked with Bare Metal Foil, then painting began. As always, Gunze acrylics were used.

More soon; thanks for looking.

[stevej60]

Now I,m looking forward to seeing who their owners are! beautiful work so far

[modelling minion]

A couple of very nice 109's, like Steve I'm very interested to see what nationality they turn out, I think the one with the paint on might be Japanese but with that colour scheme it could be almost any country (except Romania).

Looking forward to seeing your progress.

Craig.

[Fearless Frankie]

What's special about using BMF for masking the canopies?

[109 fan]

Frankie, BMF makes a very good canopy mask. It sticks very well (too well actually), conforms perfectly and can be cut in place with a scalpel. About the sticking too well part; it does leave a sticky residue. However that can be easily removed with a cotton bud and Goo-Gone.

[AntoineG]

Hi,

Beautifull job with the painting of your first 109!!

Like Steeve and Craig, I'm curious to see their finals colors.

One Croatian maybe?

Cheers,

Antoine

[109 fan]

You nailed it, Craig.

Number 1 identified.

As you can see, all of the national markings were painted, which was way more trouble than it was worth. Initially, I sprayed the red for the national markings directly over a white base before the camo was applied. But the paint was way too thick, and I removed all of it with denatured alcohol. Then I tried different undercoats with various reds. In the end I used Gunze white primer with their wine red. The white surrounds are decals cut with an X-Acto circle cutter. Again, not much fun. There were probably 20 attempts and more paint touch-ups are needed. The Number 1 on the rudder was cut from white decal sheet.

[Val]

Simply amazing paintwork!

[modelling minion]

Fantastic job on the national markings, well worth the effort.

I look forward to seeing what markings the other one will be in.

[109 fan]

Thanks for the compliments, guys.

The first round of oil washes have been applied.

[Bordfunker]

That's a stunning looking paintjob.

Nice to see Emils in different markings.

Karl

[modelling minion]

Very nice effect, really brings out the detailing.

Craig.

[109 fan]

Again thank you for the comments, gentlemen. They are very much appreciated.

The Japanese bird has gotten another clear overcoat, then an application of Gunze C 182 Flat. This is the first time I've used this flat. It went on fairly easily, but not as well as the GX 100 Gloss. This is now my hands down favorite glosscoat. He also got to try on his prop for the first time.

[woody37]

Love how you've done the mottling on this one, it's hard to believe that this is 1/72 scale, stunning

[AnonymousLL45]

looks excellent

[109 fan]

The Mike (Allied code name for the Japanese Bf 109) is getting close. I've removed the canopy mask and done some touching up on the frames. This was done with Clear decal strips, first painted RLM 66 then RLM 71 to represent both internal and external colors. Cut into thin strips, it makes an excellent patch for chipped areas on the frames. The exhaust stains were painted with Gunze flat black (which is very flat) and further over coated with Vallejo clear flat (even flatter). Final bits coming up.

The undersurface was also weathered with oils, but a lighted shade was used.

[Rich G]

Simply amazing paintwork on a 1/72 Emil, did you do the mottling freehand? If so what set-up do you use?

Rich

[109 fan]

Thank you, Rich. Yes, the mottling is done freehand. I use an Iwata Custom Micon CM-B airbrush. The paint is Gunze acrylics. The key to good mottling, in my opinion, is thinning the paint significantly. I usually begin with 2-3 parts thinner to 1 part paint and adjust from there, usually by adding more thinner. The mottles are then built up, often in several passes. Often they are very faint after the first pass. Air pressure is fairly high for this sort of work. My primary setting is 18 PSI and can go up or down from there, depending on how the paint is flowing. I haven't used a compressor in decades, preferring a CO2 tank. The pressure is more consistent with very little bleed-off when you press the airbrush trigger. All of this is variable, with some colors spraying better then others. Hope this helps.

[109 fan]

The Mike is done. I put on the final bits last night, but was nagged by the too-thick landing gear doors. So I grabbed a set from another kit and sanded them to a more appropriate thickness. Tonight I sprayed the interior RLM 02, exterior RLM 65, gloss, oil wash, another coat of gloss and finally flat...all sequentially, virtually without pause. This would only be possible with the Gunze Sangyo lacquers. A small hair dryer set everything nicely.

I'll take some better photos soon.

Thanks for all of the compliments and encouragement along the way.

[Jake Moon]

Simply incredible, would've never believed it was 1/72. Canopy frames are perfect too!

[modelling minion]

Superb work on your Mike, absolutely fantastic.

I'm really looking forward to seeing what you do with your other build.

Craig.

[Duncan B]

Lovely stuff as always. I agree about the GX100 however I have recently started using Mr Color UV Cut Super Clear Gloss decanted from the aerosol and it is superb stuff too, dries very tough and super glossy.

Duncan B

[109 fan]

Thank you for the kind words, gents. And Duncan, thank you for the tip on Mr Color UV Cut Super Clear Gloss. I have that somewhere in the stash; will have to try it.

[Nigel Heath]

Lovely work and some good tips there.

[109 fan]

I've been itching to get back to a 109 so I put the Me 323 back into semi-hibernation. The second Emil has been painted and the areas of German markings overpainted.

Here the clearcoat, Gunze GX-100, has been applied.

No one has guessed the nationality of this one, but after applying the camo and overpaint, it should be obvious...