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1/72 Bf 109 G-5/AS - Gunter Specht


109 fan

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Thanks to everyone for the kind words. Duncan, Painting decals works remarkably well. I've only used Gunze acrylics for this, but I've never had a problem with adhesion or flaking. Painted decals also take Micro Sol very well.

The first oil wash has been applied. As always, there will be a number of additions and touch-ups. It's amazing the things you see on day two, to say nothing of the things you find after applying the next gloss coat and it's too late to fix them.

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More soon, thanks for the compliments.
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Thank you, George. I've got the flat coat on a few nights ago. This time it was a 50/50 mix of Vallejo flat and semi gloss, thinned about 2/1 with Tamiya thinner. I'm still not 100% convinced that this is the way to go. Again it seemed chalky and had to be buffed with a t-shirt to even things out. Perhaps it is the Tamiya thinner. Have any of you used this stuff, and if so, what do you use to thin it? The 109 also got to try on its spiral spinner. They always look better dressed up this way.

George, you've mentioned Gunze 182 flat, which I have. Since I'm running against a deadline with the IPMS Nats coming very soon, I didn't want to experiment. It looks almost like Tamiya's flat base. I'm guessing that it just needs to be thinned to within an inch of its life to work. Is that the case?

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Some final work on the drop tank. I threaded the pins through holes in the mount and fixed them with diluted white glue. They were then trimmed from the inside.

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Here the tank is set on the inverted airframe to check alignment. In these photos you can also see the leather (or canvas) wheel well inserts. These were made from lead foil pressed over photo-etched parts from an Eduard set. They were then cut out with a razor blade, airbrushed, drybrushed and and given a dark wash. Lead foil is much easier to apply than photo-etch, so the extra work is worth the effort. They were attached with diluted white glue.
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What you do when you're just not happy with the masking of a small section of the canopy frame. This is one of the reasons why this build is taking much longer than anticipated. All came out well in the end.

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The arms for the movable leading edge slats were cut from rather stout aluminum from a pie pan, then superglued in place. The approximate positions were then marked on a bit of Post-It-Notes and the lengths indicated by black paint. They were then snipped with sprue cutters. The advantage of the aluminum is that the positions can be easily adjusted when the slats are glued in place.
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Here are some of the doo-dads in the rear cockpit. The rim was made from .015" solder, bent around a template. I initially tried wire but it was too inflexible. On the other hand the solder is almost too flexible. I gently stuck it on another Post-it-Note for painting. Fortunately it came off intact and unbent. After attaching the bits with diluted white glue, they were highlighted by dry brushing with light grey oil paint, then overcoated with Vallejo satin. I did have some Vallejo Air satin, which works much better than the regular top coats.
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Approaching the final stretch. She's on her wheels now and it's on to the remaining fiddly bits.
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Edited by 109 fan
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I'm calling this one DONE! Finally.

The last stages involved the use of a styrene brace to hold the Rob Taurus canopy in place while the white glue set up.


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The canopy restraining cord and spring were made from the same very thin armature wire. The spring was wrapped around some very stiff wire then the cord and loop were threaded through it. It pays to make two, since one usually is destroyed along the way.

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Here are some photos of the completed model. I'll take some glamor shots and post them soon.


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Thanks to everyone for their kind words and encouragement along the way. They were very much appreciated.

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