A Trio of Emils

[PeterB]

Oh well - here we go again!

In my stash there are 7 kits that are eligible for this GB straight out of the box, and one which will need a bit of work. I doubt I will have the time to do all of them so I will make a start with the three easiest (said that a few times before and been wrong). Some time in the past, probably at least 20 years ago, I picked up a number of Airfix Bf 109 kits. This was moulded in 1975 with optional parts and markings for an E-4 and a bomb equipped E-4B, but my boxings are the 1988 issue "Aircraft of the Aces" with markings for Adolph Galland's E-4 in December 1940, so to late for the GB.

All the parts are there except for one cockpit floor (it's quite big so lord knows where that has gone), but I built one for my son not long after this came out, and it is currently in my scrap box, so I will use the floor from that.

 

10 or so years back I bought two "Battle of Britain" decal sheets from Hannants Xtradecal range - I used the RAF one to build/refurbish 3 Spitfires, 3 Hurricanes and a Defiant a couple of years ago, but I still have the Luftwaffe one with a number of options for the Bf 109, together with a Me 110, Ju 87,Ju 88, Do 17Z and He 111H, all of which are in my stash.

 I will hopefully be building one as an E-3 as I have a replacement Squadron canopy, and another one at least as an E-4. The final one will either be an E-4 or an E-4B, but I suspect it will be the former. I will use the Xtradecals if they still work, but I may modify their colour schemes as their call out is for RLM02/RLM 71 on all of them - I might do one in the original RLM70/71 - we will see. Those of you who have studied this subject will be aware that the Luftwaffe apparently changed the camo scheme several times between the start of the war and the end on the Battle of Britain, with RLM 65 blue fuselage sides being intruduced, one, and possibly both of the greens being replaced by greys, and mottling introduced. The national cross markings also changed somewhat in both size and style, so throw in repainting in the field and there is plenty of scope for variation even on the same machine over a period of months. Also the yellow and sometimes white theatre markings on the nose and rudder were intruduced part way through I think, though I will have to check exactly when. I certainly do not want all three with yellow noses though Hannants do provide a couple of "before and after" schemes.

 

By modern standards the kit is probably a bit crude, and may not be entirely accurate, but it was cheap at the time and I have them in my stash, so they will have to do.  I assume it is OK to do all 3 in one thread as they will be virtually identical except for the paint/decs? If not I will split them.

 

Cheers

 

Pete

Edited July 9, 2020 by PeterB

[John]

Good project. 

I've built this kit a few times over the years and the thing that sticks in my mind from all of them is the poor fit of the wings. They seem to want to adopt a brutal degree of dihedral. 

Apart from that it's a nice little kit. 

John 

[Valkyrie]

3 out of 7 eligible models?.... @Enzo Matrix I have some trade for you....

 

Great to see 3 at once and that looks a great decal sheet, some great options. Good luck with your group.

 

Ive always wanted to tackle making a group of yellow nosed 109s ever since my childhood of watching the Battle of Britain on repeat. Do you have a yellow paint plan? I’m going with a Britmodeller tip of gloss orange undercoat. Done it on 190s lower cowling and served me well.

[PeterB]

The 8th is the old Airfix Ju 88 A-4 which needs converting to either an A-1 or A-5. Airfix messed up the engine nacelle undersides so it looks more like an A-1 anyway, but the wings need shortening and the rear canopy glazing will have to be modified to take a single MG probably, though extra were added during the Battle. Of course the A5 was a hybrid A-1 with the longer wings of the A-4 so that might be the easy way out. -still researching it. The 110 may not get done as I already have several and was thinking of building this as a night fighter in black.

 

Pete

[jean]

Hi Pete,

this is an ambitious project. I am sure you'll be able to build all 8!!!

The Xtradecal sheet is a great buy. Great decals, even if there are the odd small errors. But that is OK.

I have used it for the Stuka I am just finishing, and the decals are so easy to use and look so good.

 

Have fun.

JR

 

 

 

 

 

 

[PeterB]

Hi Jean,

 

How are you doing over there in Africa? I know Xtradecal sheets are not always entirely accurate according to comments posted on this site, but besides the pink bomber formation stripes, which everything I have read says should be white, did you have any specific errors in mind for this sheet? I have misplaced the title sheet for the decs but as I recall Hannants said they know a lot of sources say white for the stripes but have gone with another reference which says pink - pity!

 

I know I always say I will be building kits OOB, but this time I really will be, except for boxing in the wheel wells and perhaps adding brass gun barrels, and of course probably putting a replacement canopy on one. Incidentally I have always thought everything from the B to the E-3 model had the early canopy, but at least one of my books (Green, "Warplanes of the Third Reich" I think) says that only early production versions of the E-3 had it. Mind you, like many before him he thinks that the DB engine came into use on the D model, whereas more recent thinking says it was only on the E! I could I suppose use it for an E-1, but then there is the question of armament as that had 4 mg, although I believe quite a few were later fitted with MGFF in the wings.

 

According to my research it seems that the boundary between the RLM70/71 and the RLM65 undersides moved up the fuselage sides in early 1940, but I cannot quite pin down when RLM02 began to replace RLM70, or sometimes RLM71 - it seems to have been around the time of Dunkirk. As to the yellow or sometimes white nose and tail markings, it looks like the noses started being painted around late August 1940 and the tails followed in September, but if anybody knows differently by all means tell me please.

 

Cheers

 

Pete

[jean]

Hi Pete,

I have to compliment you on your research. Impressive.

Re the camo, the 109s were RLM 70 and 71 over RLM 65 during the phony war. That what was called the green defensive camouflage. During the French campaign the camo had already been changed to RLM 02 & 71 over 65.

During the BoB the sides of the fuselage were often darkened with RLM 02/71 mottles.

So RLM 70,71 and 65 for a BoB Bf 109 is unlikely to work. But you are the boss!

 

Re the Xtradecal sheet, I agree that the pink tactical strips were a real shocker when I first looked at it.  I know I would go for white if I built a bomber. With a plain white decal sheet, things are easy.

On the Stuka I had to use some of the Airfix decals that were better proportioned than the decals Xtradecal sheet.

Re canopies, some E-3 were retrofitted with the angular E-4 canopy, so no real difference.

For me, a Bf 109 E-1 must have the two machine guns in the wings. If it has cannons, then it is an E-3. I like keeping things simple!

Changing the armament and removing the underwing fairing to transform an E-3 into an E-1 is really easy with a set of plans.

I wanted to do that but I am lacking the E-1/E-3 canopy, so no dice.

 

Enjoy your builds!

 

JR

 

 

[PeterB]

Not much to look at but at least  I have made a start.

I have boxed in the wheel wells, - in real life it seems they were fitted with a removable canvas cover round the edge, presumably to keep the muck out. Walk rounds show a few ribs in the roof which I may add. As most of you probably know, the undercarriage on the 109 was mounted on the fuselage so the wings could be removed without having to support it, which was no doubt useful. However the trade off was an even narrower track than on the Spitfire, which apparently caused a lot of landing accidents.

 

So next up are the fuselages - the actual build should not take too long, the main effort being in the painting. Given the age of the kit, it is quite well detailed as it has an interior of sorts for the radiators and the cockpit is not too bad either, not that much of it will be visible. It needs a stick adding and the IP will need dials painting on it but that is normal for the period I guess.

 

Thanks for the info Jean, I guess they will all have RLM 02, but there were a number of different patterns as in the RAF "A" and "B" scheme and sometimes the RLM 02 replaced 70, and sometimes 71 so I have scope for enough variation even before I start playing around with the mottle and the nose/tail colours.

 

Cheers

 

Pete

Edited July 18, 2020 by PeterB

[jean]

Hi Pete,

 

you are right. Exceptions are the salt of life and the bane of modelers! I have never seen a 109 where the 02 replaced the 71, but that is possibly why it is called an exception!

I am aware that the splinter camo on the wings has been painted sinuously on fairly frequent occasions. So more potential variations on a theme!

I shall leave you to your investigation. Remember that word, when all goes bad: Paracetamol!!!!

 

Have fun!

JR

[PeterB]

Hi Jean,

 

I am already on fairly heavy duty painkillers for my osteo-arthritis - but I know what you mean! Unfortunately that also means I should not drink Whisky, but I could have a wee dram instead of the ruddy pills.

 

Cheers

 

Pete

[PeterB]

 I have finished the cockpits and painted them as shown in a walkround of the one in the RAF Museum at Hendon - RLM 02 insides with dural seats.

Not the best of photos but you will perhaps get the idea. I have also painted inside the nose in 02 as I am not going to bother boxing in the 2 small intakes on the underside. With luck they should be assembled and ready for primer in a day or so. as somebody pointed out earlier, the trick is to get the wings at the correct angle! I have decided not to bother with an E-4/B so it should be 2 x E-4 and 1 x E-3.

 

Cheers

 

Pete

[jean]

Hi Pete,

looking good! Well done.

Re the wing dihedral, all you have to do is make a cardboard template which you can then use on each and every wing, ergo same angle all around.

We do take for granted the lower wings molded as one piece, and therefore giving you the correct dihedral on the first time. But it was not always like that...

 

Keep having fun!

 

JR

[lasermonkey]

Regarding the pink stripes, that came from an article in Scale Aircraft Modelling some time ago and I'm pretty sure the pink was mentioned in one or more Crashed Enemy Aircraft Reports. Some aircraft did indeed have the white formation markings, but there was an explanation of these formations and why pink was used. This is all from memory, mind, but I'll try to find the article later and provide a summary. I think that Techmod also supplies pink stripes on some of its BoB bomber decals.

 

Cheers,

Mark.

 

[Graham Boak]

Pink was recorded  on some examples in RAF intelligence reports.  Others were indeed white (and also yellow??).  The article produced a logical and fairly convincing argument for use of the colours and the variations in position and number of these stripes (one wing tip or the other, or both).  However there is still no record of these markings from the German side, despite their very obvious appearance.

 

PS As an afterthought, I assume that pink was used as the initially more likely red would not have stood out against the camouflage.  Similarly green or blue.

[PeterB]

Hi Guys,

 

Just to confuse matters further I noticed that in a "Profile" on the He 111 by Alan Hall in an old Scale Aircraft Modelling, they show the stripes as yellow!

 

As you say Graham, I am yet to find any mention of them in my various references on Luftwaffe colours and markings, though I do seem to remember a Heinkel with them in a B & W photo in a book - looked light, probably white.

 

Pete

Edited July 20, 2020 by PeterB

[Graham Boak]

There's certainly at least one photo of He.111(s) and (I believe) another of a Dornier.  The proposed schematic called for three colours, with yellow being the obvious choice, but I cannot be certain that I've ever read a description of them being noted.  They are mentioned in passing  in a number of sources but only this one reference I know of that has attempted a full (if provisional) description of their use.

[PeterB]

Now the real fun starts!

Main assembly complete and primed - ready to paint.

 

A question - I seem to remember reading somewhere that the armour plate behind the pilot's head was not introduced until the E-4, so can anybody confirm if it was on the E-3, maybe retrofitted?

 

Cheers

 

Pete

Edited July 21, 2020 by PeterB

[PeterB]

Made a start on painting.

I will need to finish off the yellow and white which so far have had 3 thin coats and are getting there. After that I will leave the paint to harden for a day or two before starting masking for the spine and wing and tail tips. In the meantime the canopies have been dipped in Pledge. The one with the white nose is going to be the E-3 (hopefully).

 

Incidentally the above pic highlights the problem with "standard" camo schemes. The two on the left appear to be variations on the same scheme, the left hand white nosed one being from one of my sources whilst the middle one is from the Xtradecal sheet - other sources are all similar but slightly different. So are the sources wrong, or did different factories have their own interpretation of the "official" scheme? Of course it could also be local repaints when the RLM02 was used to replace the RLM70. Who knows! The grey and green are from the Mr Hobby acrylic range and the blue is Xtracrylic. The yellow and white are Humbrol acrylic, heavily thinned.

 

So far so good - the mottling will no doubt be fun!

 

Cheers

 

Pete

Edited July 22, 2020 by PeterB

[SimonT]

That’s a lot of painting done in 24 hours! Looking good!

[Valkyrie]

Yessss, looking great, good work 

[jean]

Looking extremely good!!!

Re armored plate, that is another little niggle that can only be solved with a photo of the plane you want to build.

Armored plates were retro-fitted on E-1s and E-3s, and many pilots on E-4s refused to have them in order to save some weight.

So, there you have it! Therefore, unless you do have an unequivocal photo of your plane showing the presence or absence of armor plate, just do as you wish!!!

 

Nobody should be able to prove you wrong!

Keep having fun!

 

JR

[PeterB]

Main painting is now complete.

Not that you can see them but I have added brass MG17 barrels to the fuselage gun troughs and put a small blob of very thick pva glue on each wingtip to represent the lights as per the one in Hendon. The two on the left now need mottling, but the one on the right is ready for decs. All 3 represent aircraft which, according to the Xtradecal sheet, were written off at the end of August and the beginning of September 1940.

 

Cheers.

 

Pete

Edited July 27, 2020 by PeterB

[Valkyrie]

These already look good together, nice sharp camouflage and demarcation. Looking forward to seeing mottling techniques on the two 

[Greg Law]

Great work Pete. Well done. 

[PeterB]

Hi,

 

Glad to hear you are looking forward to it - I'm not! When it really works it can look great but I am normally at best a mediocre mottler so you are more likely to see how NOT to do it. Probably one of the things I most dislike about modelling, but I keep on doing it. At least only 2 need doing. Probably start with a wash of heavily thinned RLM02, then use a variation of the "dry brush" technique before blending in with another wash. First of all I will give it a coat of gloss varnish to try and protect it a little from my ham-fisted efforts, and let that dry for a day or two.

 

Cheers

 

Pete

Edited July 27, 2020 by PeterB