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Italeri Bf-109, G-6...MT-452, Ilmavoimat, 1948...


John Masters

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Ok...I already have a couple of Finnish and Swiss Gustavs on the shelf, but these markings are different, so that's ok.  

 

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The potential profiles...

Swiss...1944...

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..or an early Cold-War Finn...1948...

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To be honest, I am leaning towards the Finn, as a precursor for the next great Nordic GB!

 

The decals...nicely registered roundels...

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The sprue...I have never built an Italeri 109.  So this will be fun.

 

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Okey-dokey...

 

--John

 

 

 

 

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  • John Masters changed the title to Italeri Bf-109, G-6...MT-452, Ilmavoimat, 1948...
33 minutes ago, vppelt68 said:

I'm sure you expected me to support the Swiss option :rofl2:

You'll see by the new header that I have decided on going with my own personal favourite! 

Nothing quite so interesting as a Cold War '109 in the hands of these who knew how to fly them!

 

Thanks for the link .  The colour profile provided by Italeri is all wrong is so many way, including the cockpit.  Terrible.

 

Yes to BeNeLux '22...

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Are the Italeri instructions correct in spinner colours? It should be white with a thin red spiral, a rare touch of colour in our Mersus!

Prototype history: June 23 1944 delivered to 2./HLeLv 24, August 1 1944 transferred to 1./HLeLv 24, December 4 1944 transferred to HLeLv 31, June 17 1954 written off. 311h 45min logged flying hours. 9 scored victories by various pilots in HLeLv 24.

Here are some pics, two from Finnish Airforce History-series Suomen Ilmavoimien Historia (SIH) 6b, Messerschmitt Bf 109 G-6:

2021-01-11_09-36-51

Page 56, caption: "MT-452 of the nightfighterflight of HLeLv 31. The "bat" emblem of the flight was painted on both sides of the fuselage."

2021-01-11_09-37-17

Page 57, caption: ""Bat" emblems on Messerschmitts. Above on MT-452 of HLeLv 31 in summer 1948"

 

CAUTION! Scroll down on your own risk only!

 

Kesälomaa 2013 022

A pic to scare some family members, like various in-laws: Yours truly in Finnish Aviation Museum some years ago with MT-452 in the background. It was on temporary display there in 2013 to commemorate the 70 years since Messerschmitts entered FiAF service. V-P

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35 minutes ago, vppelt68 said:

Are the Italeri instructions correct in spinner colours? It should be white with a thin red spiral

Somewhat.  I have found better examples of the thin red line on-line.  Thanks for the pictures @vppelt68

 

Are are some cockpit shots...Not much for detail, but I did what I could.

 

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It'll all be gone anyway once I close it up.  I dd replace the moulded seat harness with masking tape.

 

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And the spinner is white, awaiting its thin red spiral.

 

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--John

 

 

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Some modelling from the last few days...

 

The mask for the spinner...

 

50827472516_1b28524dff_c_d.jpg

 

The result.  Perhaps not as thin a line as it should be, but at 1/72nd I am not unhappy with the outcome.

 

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I have decided to give this aircraft a belly tank.  As such, I am using a tank from an AZ Model spare box as well as the wheels.

 

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From research I know that the Finns retained the tropical filters to combat the dust.  I will too.

 

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I have assembled the propeller.  I am not fond of it.  I might scavenge a prop from the AZ spares box...

 

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I have joined up the wing sections into one...

 

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The fuselage came together pretty well, with only some firm clamping and some seam clean up.

 

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I have attached the fire guards to the tops of the exhaust manifolds and am looking at the cowling pieces.  This is an awkward way to engineer a kit!

 

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I have attached the tail section and the cowling pieces.  These last two I glued separately, leaving an hour in between for stability.  It looks very much like a Gustav at this point.

 

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Is that it for the moment?  Yes...more later tonight.

 

--John

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

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It looks very much a Gustav, John! In the early days of getting back to this hobby I erred in buying and nearly completing an Italeri F. I admire your courage in the route you chose, I'd had added the cowling and tail halves to their fuselage halves before buttoning all up, but you seem to have succeeded in big way doing it your way 👍. Oh - that spinner is beautiful! V-P

P.S. Thank God for all the Bf 109 spare parts AZmodel has supplied us with :winkgrin:

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5 hours ago, vppelt68 said:

I'd had added the cowling and tail halves to their fuselage halves before buttoning all up,

Aha...that is the logical way.  I had not thought of that.  

 

5 hours ago, vppelt68 said:

that spinner is beautiful!

Thank you!  

 

5 hours ago, vppelt68 said:

Thank God for all the Bf 109 spare parts AZmodel has supplied us with

I agree.  I'll have to find a tail wheel too. The supplied item looks like caster wheel from a food cart.

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1 hour ago, John Masters said:

I agree.  I'll have to find a tail wheel too. The supplied item looks like caster wheel from a food cart.

I can send you a Hasegawa G-6 tail wheel or two, just to add to the mix of ancestry of that build :laugh:. I have some of them extra as I plan to replace them with G-2 parts from... yes, AZmodel of course!

Oops! Looks like you need an Erla-canopy too, unless you already have them (don't we all?)

V-P

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12 hours ago, vppelt68 said:

It took only seven days, that's crazy...

Yet a parcel posted from France to where I am in Greece was sent a month ago and is still in transit.  

 

13 hours ago, vppelt68 said:

Looks like you need an Erla-canopy too

I'm not too specific with the canopies.  I will have this one propped open, I think.  What are my options?

Aha...I see...yes...I have some Erla canopies in the AZ Model Joy pack.  Unfortunately I might have to either leave it closed or cut it to allow it to be open...Strange that Italeri wouldn't supply the correct canopy here...maybe not strange.  

 

 

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Some real issues with fit regarding the wing-to-fuselage stage.  This required some fettling to get it to fit and even then there were gaps.  The wing roots on the upper side were odd too, so they needed a bit of work.  In the end one root was flush while the other had a pronounced step.  I took a pair of hemostats and squeezed and it popped into place.  That was a relief.  I will be using the PPP now to fill in the gaps and smooth things out.  Other than that, the 'wing' phase was easy-peasy.

 

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Sqeeeeze....

 

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Clamp...

 

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Not terrible.  PPP will fix all of this.

 

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One step beyond...this has since been corrected!

 

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The weather shifted last night and suddenly we are in winter.  It is a balmy 9C outside, raining, with dark clouds brooding, rolling in on high winds from the north.  A fine day to enjoy the indoors.

--John

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@John Masters I was just thinking the same thing, - 14 celsius here now and it goes down to - 20 celsius in the evening :D Beautiful day, though - but I think a grocery shopping trip will be enough outdoors for today and the rest will be indoor modelling related activities. 

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9 hours ago, reini said:

Beautiful day, though

It ended up that way here too actually,  The sun came out, etc...still chilly.  Much the same tomorrow.  early mornings rain then sun for a bit.  I'll jump into t sea for my constitutional.  The water temp is warmer than the air.

 

Back at it...I masked the AZ Model Erla canopy and test fitted it.  It's alright except it's a little short.  The gap is wide so I think I'll run some plastic strip around the edge.  Easy enough.

 

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--John

 

 

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OK.  The shims have been glued into place.  Note that I have also added the bulletproof armour...

 

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And then when secure I sanded for contour...

 

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And some Contacta has glued the canopy.  I'l let that set overnight.  Priming and painting begins tomorrow!

 

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--John

 

 

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