Yellow Nosed B**s 6 O'Clock

[Michael louey]

Zvezda Me 109F-1 - Werner Molders Wk Nbr 5628

 

This is Zvezda's F-2 backdated to an F-1. The build is based on information on a thread here by JackG

I've made some the changes as per the original build by Jack (wing strengtheners, removal of tail stiffeners). The Zvezda kit is reputed to be the most accurate shapewise of all the current F's on the market however I found the engineering to be a bit frustrating. The upper/lower wing joins don't match existing control surface lines and getting a smooth clean join is time consuming. In addition, the air intakes requires drilling out, the mass balances need to be added and the pitot really needs replacing. Finally the canopy is made of some odd material that doesn't polish well (it's a bit like vacform clear plastic) and I ended up having to future it which is something I tend to avoid.

The general markings are from various sources though the Stkz and rudder markings are from Printscale.

This aircraft is quite interesting as it is the 1st F-1 and was issued to Molders who operated it during the latter stages of the Battle of Britain. Any RAF pilot seeing it would have been a bit surprised as it would differ a bit from the E's operating at the time (i.e. rounder wing tips).

 

 

 

 

Edited January 6, 2021 by Michael louey

[Spitfire 123]

That's a lovely 109, splinter camo is spot on! 👍👍

Riley

[Homer]

Beautiful model, well done 👏 

[jean]

Hi Michael,

 

this is a great build (mine stalled a while back and will resume in 2021...no comment!)

Beautiful model indeed. Just one small question mark: the initial batches of Friedrich were supposed to be painted like the Emil: RLM 65, 02 and 71.

Th greys are supposed to have been introduced later. 

Something to ponder, unless you have definite proof, in which case I would love for you to share it!

Congrats!

 

JR

[Michael louey]

5 minutes ago, jean said:

Hi Michael,

 

this is a great build (mine stalled a while back and will resume in 2021...no comment!)

Beautiful model indeed. Just one small question mark: the initial batches of Friedrich were supposed to be painted like the Emil: RLM 65, 02 and 71.

Th greys are supposed to have been introduced later. 

Something to ponder, unless you have definite proof, in which case I would love for you to share it!

Congrats!

 

JR

Hi Jean,

 

The colours are meant to be 02/71/65 - hope they don't look like 74/75/76 on the photos!

[Vlad]

The colours look OK to me, recognisably 71/02/65 although the 71 perhaps doesn't appear green enough in the photos.

 

In any case a very good looking build!

 

I shy away from yellow noses because yellow is a b**s to paint, but I'm thinking of braving some yellow nosed F-4s at some point. I also like to think of what the RAF's reaction to the first "F" sightings might have been.

 

The Zvezda kit is considered most accurate in overall shape, something that seems to be quite elusive despite the popularity of the subject. But it does have some detail pitfalls as you noted, well done overcoming them.

[HOUSTON]

SUPERB modelling. 

STUNNING  model.

 

Bravo.

[swralph]

Nice one.😀

[jean]

5 hours ago, Michael louey said:

Hi Jean,

 

The colours are meant to be 02/71/65 - hope they don't look like 74/75/76 on the photos!

Hi Michael,

 

so sorry to disappoint you, but on my screen they looked like 74/75/76!!!!

My sincere apologies!

 

It is a great Friedrich you built! I hope to finish mine before Easter!!!!

Cheers

JR

[IanC]

Nice! It's a great little kit. And the yellow nose is essential.. 😀 

[Michael louey]

5 hours ago, jean said:

Hi Michael,

 

so sorry to disappoint you, but on my screen they looked like 74/75/76!!!!

My sincere apologies!

 

It is a great Friedrich you built! I hope to finish mine before Easter!!!!

Cheers

JR

No worries, probably a combination of my lighting for photography/white balance or some issues with screen settings. The paints were Model Master for 02, WEM for RLM71 and RLM65. They seem to match my various RLM colour charts pretty closely.

 

Good luck with your build.

 

Regards

 

Michael

[fishplanebeer]

Bit late to the party but just in the process of finishing my Zvezda F2 as an F4/Trop and planned to do it as one of Mr Marseille's machines, however then had to have a change of heart as painting the under nose engine cowling in yellow turned into a complete nightmare. It either didn't cover properly or I ended up with a distinct ridge along the side of the masking tape when I finally put enough on to make it look yellow.

 

Assuming all goes well it will now be 'Red 1' of 2/JG27 flown by Hans-Arnold Stahlschmidt, same desert camo and white nose and fuselage bands plus wing tips but not a drop of yellow paint required!

 

Lovely build and finish and hope mine gets somewhere near.

 

Regards

Colin.

[Michael louey]

Hi Colin,

 

Yellow is a difficult colour for coverage. A trick I was given by another modeller was to undercoat in a tan colour. I usually use whatever one I have handy, usually radome tan. This usually sprays pretty easily with good coverage. After that a single coat of yellow usually will be sufficient. I also bought myself an electric paint mixer (I think mine is a trumpeter) to make sure pigments are really mixed especially for colours like yellow.

 

In this particular model though I used a different technique. I sprayed an undercoat of matt yellow (I think it was Model Master Insignia Yellow) followed by Xtracolour RLM 04. This was due to only having 04 in Xtracolour which is a gloss and has even less coverage than matt paints. I wasn't overly concerned about any bleed in this case as I expect the original plane would have been painted in the field and full coverage was likely not achieved either.

 

Cheers

 

Michael

[Mig88]

Well done! Lovely finish!

 

Miguel