1/48 Eduard Bf 109E-7 Trop, Libya, June 1941

[Kahunaminor]

Welcome back!

 

I was sitting there looking through the stash and contemplating my next project, the re-released Eduard Bf 109G-6, when I had one of those "Eureka" moments. The G went back into the shelf and out came an overtrees Bf 109E-7 Trop. Now as those of you familiar with the overtrees concept are aware, you get the bare bones plastic in a plain box. No PE, no decals, no masks, not even a set of instructions. It is designed to be used after you build up a profipack kit and have some of those pesky decals left over:

 

 

So I went to the stash and dug the instructions, decals and mask out of my Profipack kit and decided upon this scheme:

 

 

Here is the sprue shot:

 

 

Very basic and probably stress free. But I ask where is the fun there? So I also dragged out the Bf 109E "Bigsin" box which contains almost absolutely everything in resin you could want to add to a basic build: cockpit, engine and radio, guns and wheels! Now we are talking! Throw in some extra Eduard PE, Master Barrels MG 17 and MGFF Barrels, Airscale LW cockpit placards and a set of Finemolds  "Nano aviation" German aircraft seabelts and we have a staggering amount of AM to test our mettle and frustration levels:

 

 

Let the games begin!

 

I started by getting all the PE frets out and coating them with Tamiya Metal primer. I do this now so it is done and I don't forget a fret later on:

 

 

Regards,

[Kahunaminor]

The afternoon has seen me start at the most logical sequence....the Brassin MG 17 mounts:

 

 

Each piece was removed from the pour stub using one of my RB saws. It may not be as quick as some methods, but tried and true gets me there eventually. After about 30 minutes of sawing and cleaning, the three main pieces looked like this:

 

 

 

....and that is main construction complete. The MG 17 Barrels had suffered badly from warpage but they were to be removed to make way for the Master Barrel set anyway. Using my RB ultra fine saw, I first cut down the barrel to retain some detail, then a few swipes and the barrel was removed. It's important on these fine pieces to let the saw teeth do the work and don't be tempted to press hard or force the saw:

 

 

Almost ready to paint. The collars half way down the barrels will be removed,drilled and the Master Barrels passed through as they form part of the mounting points with some extra PE.

 

Regards,

[Arniec]

Great start and what a lovely collection of after market stuff. I will watch this one.

 

Cheers,

[modelling minion]

Nice choice of subject.

Nice to see a JG-27 Bf-109, wouldn't be a MTO GB without one. This was actually one of the choices I had to choose from so I'm glad to see someone else has picked it up.

I look forward to seeing your build, especially with all the extras you are throwing at it.

 

Craig.

[trickyrich]

nice choice and I love all the AM stuff!!

 

this has actually got me thinking, I should have done the "Star of Africa"  Hans-Joachim Marseille's Bf-109!! I totally forgot about him when I was thinking about this GB!  Oh well!

 

But a Bf-109 in desert colour will still be something nice to see, will definitely have the   out for this one! I'll blame you if I end up buy bits for a Bf-109F....but there is a Bf-109 STGB coming up!!    

[Kahunaminor]

Thanks chaps, 

Nice of you to say so. I take no responsibility for anyone's purchase decisions, I get into enough trouble on my own!

 

Brass plus resin equals bliss. I have managed to graft the Master Barrels MG 17 Barrels onto the Eduard receivers. Not without a certain amount of trepidation and graduated drilling. The resin fore end covers, which butt against the cowling openings are solid and took almost an hour of drilling, checking, dropping, searching, finding, repeat until I was able to pass the barrels through them! I have secured them in a box, inside a vault until I need them later. The idea of drilling through the mounting brackets half way along the Barrels went pffft....I will use some BMF and the supplied PE:

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

i have also cracked open the engine baggies and done some basic prep work on the DB 601. I have also actually removed both sides of the fuselage from their sprues so I can test fit all these resin components.

 

Regards,

[Biggles87]

You really are " gilding the lily " here.

I have contemplated getting some  Finemolds seat belts so will be interested to see how you get on with them.

 

John

[CliffB]

This is going to be quite some build!

[Calum]

Not another 109 Kent........ C'mon get back to that Spitfire. 

 

BTW might drop into yours On Thursday , will message you

[Kahunaminor]

Always a welcome for my friends from across the dutch.

 

 

[rob85]

Nice that you went with an easy option 😃

 

Looking forward to seeing all this detail come together 

 

Rob

 

[Arniec]

That are some lovely mg barrels.

Can't wait to see more of the build.

 

Cheers,

[trickyrich]

Those brass bits are oh so lovely!!!  . I may have to go shopping while at work!

[Kahunaminor]

Welcome back,

 

I like Eduard kits. Apart from a few clangers, they generally have a level of detail that exceeds most other 1/48 offerings. However some of their engineering decisions occasionally leave me bemused. Such is the oil cooler of their Bf 109 series, both 1/32 and 1/48 scale. To be fair, building an aircraft fuselage had always followed a set pattern, ie both fuselage halves are molded in their entirety from front to rear and join at the top and bottom. Fair enough, except if the aircraft being built did not have seams at the top and bottom. Now the Bf 109 is a mixture, seams at the top and bottom of the rear fuselage and mainly one piece bits at the front end, particularly the oil cooler. I am sure the engineering carried over from their 1/32 series of aircraft and the oil cooler is just not quite up to standard. As previously mentioned, I have joined the front ends of the fuselage, leaving me with this:

 

 

 

By by no means an insurmountable task to rectify. However it is when you add the interior parts of the oil cooler that it all goes a bit pear shaped. The four part styrene, two part PE oil cooler is a module that in theory just drops into the oil cooler fairing. However it isn't always as easy. I have not added all the styrene nor PE but in test fitting you get this:

 

 

 

 

From experience on the bigger scale, the rear end will be fine, however the front step is a definite flaw. The join from fuselage to oil cooler ramp should be an almost seamless one, not the gappy step here. Some modifications to the kit part were necessary. I removed some material from the centre section to lower the profile a tad from the front end to make it shallower:

 

 

 

 

This leave me with this result, which is much closer to seamless or at least easier to rectify:

 

 

 

I have also chamfered the mating joints to about 45 degrees of the rear fuselage area to preserve the longitudinal seams. It may be a little stark at the moment but it should look good when cemented, primed and painted:

 

 

 

I can report that Eduard have rectified the issue in both their 109G and 109F kits as the oil cooler assembly housing is now a single piece that drops in from below.

 

Regards,

[trickyrich]

I've had that same issue before on some other non-mentionable models!! Sometimes it's almost easier to use a resin conversion nose!

 

Nicely done though, and I like the "chamfering" of the fuselage seams. 

[Biggles87]

Good work on the oil cooler.

I also like the tip on the longitudinal seams, it's always difficult to scribe them back in.

 

John

[Kahunaminor]

15 hours ago, trickyrich said:

I've had that same issue before on some other non-mentionable models!! Sometimes it's almost easier to use a resin conversion nose!

 

Nicely done though, and I like the "chamfering" of the fuselage seams. 

 

Eduard were "this close" with the original design of the oil cooler but missed the mark (including the fact the internal sides should be closed off). Obviously engineering and production abilities have improved since then. Yes, "chamfering" I fear I am showing my age!

 

Regards.

[Kahunaminor]

On 30/09/2016 at 9:41 PM, Biggles87 said:

Good work on the oil cooler.

I also like the tip on the longitudinal seams, it's always difficult to scribe them back in.

 

John

Thanks John, 

 

I would like to claim it as mine but I cannot. Read it somewhere on the interweb or in a book and thought it was a good one.

 

Regards,

[Tail-Dragon]

I had the same oil cooler issues with mine, it was the only area where I had to use any putty and do any sanding (now that I reread this - are we getting Spoiled!?)

 

It took a lot of careful trimming and trial fits to get it seated, but once done, it left a nice panel line that required no fill.  Are you going to reduce the chord on the slats? Its a simple enough fix and makes a noticeable difference later.

 

Colin

[Kahunaminor]

Thanks Colin,

 

I know the slat chord adjustment is 1mm in the 1/32 kit and I have it on the radar but I am not sure if it is that necessary or obvious in 1/48. I may just leave it.

 

Regards,

[PlaStix]

Very impressive work so far Kent - as I would have expected!

Kind regards,

Stix

[Kahunaminor]

Welcome back,

 

The last two weeks have been school holidays, so entertaining (and being entertained by) the kids meant not much time at the bench. I did install the oil cooler, leaving off the horizontal splitter plate, and associated PE. The final fit was quite good and only a thin smear of PPP to seal the join:

 

 

 

The front of the engine compartment has been marked in Sharpie in preparation for its removal at a later date:

 

 

 

 

Test fitting the engine, it sits well on the top of the oil cooler assembly. I am happy thus far with the exhaust alignment on both sides:

 

 

 

Whilst I had the AB loaded with Aeromaster RLM 02, I gave some of the other assemblies their base coats:

 

 

Hopefully a few more updates through the week.

 

Regards,

 

[Calum]

Nice progress Kent

[Kahunaminor]

Thanks Calum,

 

Ever had this moments when you are just too damn clever for your own good? Cementing the forward sections of the fuselage meant that installing the radio insert in the back was more difficult. Not impossible, but just more trouble than I was prepared to give it. So the fuselage is now joined, with the Brassin rear wheel safely trapped between:

 

 

 

 

 

 

Added some PE to the cockpit area and fixed a small gap in the rear of the oil cooler insert where it meets the lower wing insert:

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The excess styrene will be cut away and a more scale panel line will be scribed across the filled plastic.

 

Regards,

[PlaStix]

Lovely progress Kent. And I think we've all made the mistake of gluing something together before it was the ideal time! 

Kind regards,

Stix