Bf-109E-3, 1/72 Tamiya

[opus999]

Bf-109 | 1/72 | Tamiya

Lt.Av. Ioan Di Cezare, Romania | Karpovka-Stalingrad, November 1942

 

 

Finished this on June 21, 2020.  My first Tamiya kit, it may have been one of the best kits I've ever put together.  The surface detail is incredible, as good (or maybe better) than the Eduard kits I've built and everything fit very well with no issues at all.  I had next to no seam work to do and the kit decals, which I've heard many complaints about, seemed to be just fine for me. The Romanian marking decals are by RB productions and were superb.

 

This subject is the mount of Ioan Di Cezare, who was credited with 16 victories and 3 probables.  General Di Cezare died in Bucharest in 2012.

 

This is not my best build because of a couple things out of my control.  First, the yellow on the decals and the Hataka RLM yellow I used were quite different.  I really didn't notice until I started decals -- I should've compared the decals to the paint early in the build, but foolishly made the assumption that since they were both RLM 04 yellow, the match would be pretty close. Looking at some resources of mine, I've gathered that the decals are a little too orange to be RLM 04, and the Hataka paint is probably not orange enough. So... nuts.

 

The other major problem is I had to open a brand new can of testors dullcote about 75% of the way through dull coating the model and the new paint frosted up terribly (Picture below).  Luckily I was able to remove the bad dullcote without damaging the decals using mineral spirits (the full saga is at: https://www.britmodeller.com/forums/index.php?/topic/235075369-has-testors-dullcote-changed/ ).  Unfortunately, the only dull coat paint I had around was Testor's acryl dull coat.  I've found Testor's acryl paint to be terrible, so I wasn't in a hurry to use the dull coat, but I figured since I wasn't going to be masking over it, it might be OK.  A test shot on my paint mule showed that it looked OK, so I proceeded.  Against the dark RLM 71 on the model, it didn't look so great.  From a couple of feet away it is fine, but under a magnifying glass the finish is milky and kind of blurs the decals.  I probably could've stripped it again and ordered something better, but from a couple feet away, it looks OK.  The bottle of Acryl has since been thrown in the trash and some other dull coat on order.

 

I used SBS resin wheels, which are top-notch, and I used Montex canopy masks, which were not very good.  I read a review of montex masks that said they are made of thick vinyl and will not stick to curves.  Since the E-3 has a curved canopy, I was aware that I might not be able to use all of the masks, but I was mainly concerned with the small windows around the windshield.  The review was right:  the masks would not stick to curves at all, so I had to cut some out of tamiya tape.  These were the only E-3 canopy masks I could find, though.

 

Paint: Mr. Surfacer 1500 black decanted into airbrush > Hataka RLM 02 (cockpit and landing gears) / Hataka RLM 71 (top) / Hataka RLM 65 (bottom) / Hataka RLM 04 (theater markings)  > Testor's dullcote decanted into airbrush / Testor's Acryl flat top coat

Decals: Kit decals for stencils, RS Production RBD72012 Romanian Markings

Aftermarket: SBS wheels

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Good sidewall detail, unlike Hasegawa:

 

 

 

And the dullcote disaster:

 

 

Thanks for looking!  Comments, questions and constructive criticism wecomed!

[Harry Lime]

Considering the trials and tribulations you experienced, that's turned out pretty damned well in the end! Nice to see a 109 in unusual markings too.

 

Mark.

[SAT69]

Nothing like seeing a model of a familiar airplane in totally unfamiliar markings. Makes for a delightful change of pace. Your model is exceptionally well built and the photos are a pleasure to view. Thank you!

[Vlad]

Really lovely build and great choice of scheme. Always a joy to look at a model that is so well finished and subtly weathered.

[almac]

Very nice build and finish. Really nice paint scheme scheme and markings. 

 

Cheers Allan

[franky boy]

Great work. I had no idea that they were still operating 109e’s at the time of Stalingrad. Even in Romanian service. 
 

James

[Wulfman]

You got there in the end ! Very good build and finish, nice work.

 

Wulfman

[Walter]

👍

[opus999]

Thanks for the kind words everyone.  While it's not my best, I'm really happy with how it turned out in spite of the issues I had.  

 

22 hours ago, Harry Lime said:

Nice to see a 109 in unusual markings too.

 

21 hours ago, SAT69 said:

Nothing like seeing a model of a familiar airplane in totally unfamiliar markings.

 

12 hours ago, Vlad said:

Really lovely build and great choice of scheme.

 

12 hours ago, almac said:

Really nice paint scheme scheme and markings.

 

When I first saw "Hai Fatito" it was when I was looking about the internet for desktop wallpapers for my computer at work.  I thought the paint scheme was really dramatic, and was extremely happy to find a decal set for it.  I'd been wanting to do a Bf-109E-3 anyway, so it seemed like the stars lined up!

 

I've been into making common aircraft in unfamiliar markings lately.  Coming up soon, I've got a Bf-109G-10 in Croatian markings, which look really neat as well.