Messerschmitt Bf 109K-4 - JG77

[Mig88]

Hello everyone!

 

Here is one of my two latest kits, finished last weekend. It's Mark I Models brand new 1:144 Messerschmitt Bf 109K-4 which I started building the day I received it about 4 weeks ago.
It represents White 1, W. Nr. 330204, of 9./JG77, Luftwaffe, at Neuruppin airfield, Germany, in November 1944.

 

It was built mostly OOB adding belts from Tamiya tape and the armoured headrest (a bit of a fiasco that) in the cockpit as well as the missing tail mast for the radio wires and the FuG 25a IFF aerial under the fuselage. I opened up the supercharger intake which was moulded solid. The FuG 16ZY aerial under the wing and the pitot were replaced with items made from stretched sprue as they were too thick. I used the kit's loop antenna but thinned it in profile. It's a bit oversized.

This kit was nicely moulded but had some sink marks to be dealt with on both sides of the supercharger intake and the oil radiator. Fit of parts wasn't bad but some work was necessary to get the wing to fit well with the fuselage and even then a little work along the roots was necessary. The fit of the canopy also needed some attention.

 

The kit has two nasty flaws. The join of one fuselage side in the tail area leaves a large seam that does NOT match panel lines so they must be filled and the panel lines and rudder restored after sanding. The second concerns the main undercarriage legs, they are too long by 1-1.5mm. I shortened them (after removing them successfully from the kit) and deepened the dimple into which they are inserted. Getting their angles right is by eye as there are no guides. I was so concerned with these problems that I forgot to thin the doors! The propeller tips needed some attention too as they were a bit too wide and rounded.

 

The kit was fully painted (the propeller spiral included) and varnished by brush and the decals went on very well

 

Thank you for looking and all comments are welcome as always
Miguel

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

[Aces High]

That's awesome! How do you get so much detail into such a small scale model?!?

[Konrad]

1/144 ! Congratulations

[Mig88]

Thank you very much @Aces High , @Konrad and everyone else.

 

17 hours ago, Aces High said:

That's awesome! How do you get so much detail into such a small scale model?!?

I have a headband with magnifying glasses. One of the best buys I have ever done for modelling!

 

Miguel

[Aces High]

Ah, like the loupes for microsurgery! Well it's very nice! Makes me think about how much more room there would be in my display cabinet if I modelled this scale... But there doesn't seem to be as much choice of things to build?

[Mig88]

15 hours ago, Aces High said:

Ah, like the loupes for microsurgery! Well it's very nice! Makes me think about how much more room there would be in my display cabinet if I modelled this scale... But there doesn't seem to be as much choice of things to build?

Obviously, no where near as much as in 1:72 but there's a lot more than you imagine. Although Czech and Ukranian manufacturers are very involved, it's from Japan where many types have been made available, and mostly through gashapon, pre-painted, partially-assembled kits, which are, in some cases, very decent kits in their own right and a great base to work on. And yet, except for a very old Revell kit, we are still waiting for a decent early Spitfire in this scale!

 

Miguel