Zvezda 1/72 scale Messerschmitt Bf 109F-2

[Mitch K]

2 minutes ago, Azgaron said:

Nice paint job!

 

Håkan

 

Thanks! All Tamiya mixes, run through my H&S. 

[Azgaron]

H&S are nice to work with!

Haven't used Tamiya colors much though.

 

Håkan

 

[Mitch K]

8 minutes ago, Azgaron said:

H&S are nice to work with!

Haven't used Tamiya colors much though.

 

Håkan

 

I  love mine. I'd had an Iwata for many years, but it finally gave up and I bought an H&S more or less on the toss of a coin compared to an Iwata. I haven't had any cause to regret the choice. 

 

I find Tamiya paints, thinned with isopropanol, airbrush superbly, and stick perfectly: I've airbrushed Vallejo with some success, but find they don't adhere at all well, and the less said about Humbrol the better!

[Mitch K]

JG 54 with decals on. I don't think most of the stencils would have transferred across onto the temporary white paint, so I left them off! The swastika is ex-Xtradecals. Zvezda provide them as four-piece self-build items, but I can't say I fancied it, so I took the easy option. The Zvezda decals aren't bad. They adhere well, are thin and flexible and go down well with a bit of Decalfix. The only flaw I've found is that the Knight's Cross ribbon on the tail is missing the red, which is an easy fix.

 

 

JG 51 likewise. Ignore the slightly odd stain on the lower wing: this is Decalfix reacting with the Klear, and provided you leave it completely alone it disappears on drying.

 

[Mitch K]

I've completed most/all of the ancilliary bits: here are the propellors and main undercarriage legs. After paint and Klear, they've had an oil wash. I ought to have done the tail wheels at the same time, but forgot. Must be me age😄

 

 

Here's Hans Phillip's JG 54 white aircraft, first underside:

 

And the upper side:

 

A couple of things I've picked up from some photos of Philip's actual aircraft: first, the Knight's Cross ribbon is black and white only (no red at all!); and second, the white paint is distinctly patchy and grubby. Some of this is wear and tear, where the fairly ephemeral white emulsion paint has flaked/rubbed away at panel edges, but the rest is general grot and dirt. You cannot wash aircraft outside in the midst of a Russian winter - all you'll get is control surfaces that are locked in place with ice and a series of wrecked airframes as a result of failures on takeoff!

 

 

[Mitch K]

Here's "Black 7" from 15/JG 51, luckily another example with plenty of photos to crib from! Those photos reveal a very dusty, dirty airframe: the paint itself seems to be in reasonably good nick, a little bit faded, but not heavily worn. However, the amount of dust, dirt and smoke is very clear - presumably a reflection of the very high operational tempo.

 

[azureglo]

Hey Mitch, any progress? Where's the filth we were promised?!

 

 

 

[Mitch K]

11 hours ago, azureglo said:

Hey Mitch, any progress? Where's the filth we were promised?!

 

 

 

I've been on holiday, and waiting for Hannants to send me some aileron balance weights. Patience will be rewarded! 😄

[Mitch K]

As promised, filth! Absolute filth! I use a mix of oil paints, burnt sienna, burnt umber, ultramarine, and yellow ochre mostly, thinned to wash consistency with lighter fluid, then applied and wiped off after the solvent has evaporated. If you don't let the solvent flash off first, whatever you use to wipe the excess wash off will "wick" it out of the crevices. If you put too much on, lighter fluid will remove the excess.

 

 

I'm confident this dirt isn't over-done:: there are a number of photos of both aircraft, and both are pretty mucky-looking in the pictures.

[Mitch K]

Some more dirt, or actually smoke. Fighters tended to run their engines rich, resulting in more black smoke, rather than the white lead oxide streaks seen on bombers or patrol aircraft with their engines mixtures as lean as possible to conserve fuel. German aviation fuel even during the mid-war period wasn't of great quality, and exacerbated the smoke issue.

 

 

 

 

 

[Mitch K]

The last touches are the aerials from EZ-Line, and the resin aileron balance weights (not visible). The later are Quickboost resin, ex Hannants, and much easier than scratchbuilding my own!