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Minion-schmitt number 2, Friedrich goes to Russia, via Hungary.


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For part two of my reparations to Col I shall be taking my build to the other temperature extreme from the deserts of North Africa, the freezing cold of the Russian front in Winter. I have an interest in the equipment flown by Germany's allies and have wanted to build up a collection of 109's in their various markings so this seemed as good a place to start as any. I was going to go with a Romanian E but the Airfix decals I have for them are a bit pants with the yellow looking very faded which will only get worse when put onto a dark green camouflage scheme, I then thought about a Finnish G-2 but thought I would save that for the Scandinavian GB later this year, Bulgaria is being expertly covered by @Ray_W in great detail, I already have an Italian ANR G-10 so that left Hungary and Slovakia, and Hungary was the best option in my opinion.

 

The Hungarians operated almost every version of the 109 so there is a lot to choose from, including a great variety of colour schemes. The version of 109 I am going with is the F-4 which in my opinion is the best looking 109 version, and the kit I am going with is the recent offering from Zvezda which is a very comprehensive kit of around 200 parts, not all of which are used as there are parts in the kit to allow you to build an F-2 as well and there are options of open or closed panels on the wing undersides and complete engine should you decide to display your model that way. Here is the ubiquitous box top shot, with some pretty nice art work;

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And the untouched sprues;

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And a look at some of the details on the wing interiors;

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And the aftermarket decals by SBS that I will be using for this build;

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And the sheet itself;

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Don't think I will be using the decals for the tail stripes, paint will work much better. And a look at what for me was the absolute stand out scheme on the sheet;

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I do love a winter camouflage scheme! Also gives plenty of scope for weathering, the plan is to paint the aircraft in it's normal 74/75/76 scheme and then apply the decals and then to carefully mask them and spray the white over the top, just like they did in the field.

 

I need to get Emil either finished or very close before I can make a start on Friedrich, hopefully that will be soon. Thanks for looking in and as usual all comments and criticisms are gratefully received.

 

Craig.

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I have not bought a Zvezda 109, looking at the parts breakdown I don't think I ever will.  If those panels or the tailplanes don't fit well....let's just say it might be character building. :unsure:

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Nice Meccapumwitt 109 . I have never heard of this aircraft but it does look exactly like a messershmitt 109 . I will be following this as iv got an intrest in rare aircraft and the Meccapumwitt is rare.

 

Cheers Alistair

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Another nice subject choice Craig. The kit looks to be a comprehensive one with all those internal details and open panel options. Tempting... :hmmm:

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Nice choice Craig 

 

That will really look the part with the winter white wash against those bright national markings. 
 

What will you use for the white wash?

 

James 

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12 hours ago, Retired Bob said:

I have not bought a Zvezda 109, looking at the parts breakdown I don't think I ever will.  If those panels or the tailplanes don't fit well....let's just say it might be character building. :unsure:

Having recently built a Zvezda Hind which also has lots of panel options this doesn't bother me in the slightest because the engineering of the parts and their fit was superb and having read other builds of this kit it looks like it builds into a great model.

1 hour ago, Col. said:

Another nice subject choice Craig. The kit looks to be a comprehensive one with all those internal details and open panel options. Tempting... :hmmm:

Thanks Col, it really is a very comprehensive kit with lots of detail. I am unsure yet whether to go for a quicker build with this one, depends how I do for time, but I would like to build one with at least one engine cover raised for servicing.

12 minutes ago, franky boy said:

Nice choice Craig 

 

That will really look the part with the winter white wash against those bright national markings. 
 

What will you use for the white wash?

 

James 

Thanks James, it should actually be a pretty colourful build. I have used a white wash by Mig before and that works quite well as you can gently sand it back with damp micromesh and it gives a realistic result, I used it on a Soviet Mitchell in 2018;

 

Or I might spray the white using an acrylic paint that should also be fairly easy to knock back with micromesh, I will have a think nearer to the time.

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Great choice and a winter scheme to boot. Very nice. I'm with you on the looks. The F-4 is also my favourite. I think it goes back to the old war comics with that slim shark nose so often well portrayed.

 

I'll have fun watching this come together. I have a  few of these Zvezda's kits and never built one - became an Eduardophile. I keep promising myself to build a maintenance scene with a Zvezda kit with all hanging out. You can lead the charge.

 

Ray

 

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16 minutes ago, Ray_W said:

Great choice and a winter scheme to boot. Very nice. I'm with you on the looks. The F-4 is also my favourite. I think it goes back to the old war comics with that slim shark nose so often well portrayed.

 

I'll have fun watching this come together. I have a  few of these Zvezda's kits and never built one - became an Eduardophile. I keep promising myself to build a maintenance scene with a Zvezda kit with all hanging out. You can lead the charge.

 

Ray

 

Thanks Ray, yes it probably has got something to do with the drawings in comics.

 

I will see what I can do in regards to the diorama but no promises, besides I know I would not build one to your standards.

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Hi Craig,

That's a cracking scheme you've chosen there - really looking forward to seeing this one progress as with your 'Emil goes to Africa' build too - plenty for me to keep my eye on.  I'll be pulling up a pew for the duration if that's ok with you :thumbsup:

Kris

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Hi Craig,

 

Probably more accurate than my 2 Italeri "F's" as reviews suggest they are way out in some respects. However they are all I have so they will get built - 1 in Russia and perhaps 1 over France I think.

 

Pete

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Hey. Just want to say it is a very good kit, i've build a few of them, and their f2 aswell. There is many small details, specially around the engine. But everything fits well, it just demands some patience and carefully reading the instructions, because if you want to build it closed up, there is a lot of parts which there isnt room for 🙂 the kits decals is bad though, if I rembember correct.

Nice looking choice of plane by the way, weathered winter camo on a bf 109 is beautiful 😉 l've never made a hungarian one my self, its on the long to do list 😄

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17 hours ago, Bbdave said:

Some cracking schemes there looking forward to seeing the finished article.

 

Dave

Thanks Dave, I am looking forward to it too.

15 hours ago, PeterB said:

Hi Craig,

 

Probably more accurate than my 2 Italeri "F's" as reviews suggest they are way out in some respects. However they are all I have so they will get built - 1 in Russia and perhaps 1 over France I think.

 

Pete

Thanks Pete, I remember building the Italeri G when it first came out and whilst it may have some accuracy issues it went together quite nicely. Sounds like you have selected a nice variety of markings with one in France and the other in Russia too, will you be going for a Winter scheme for your Russian front one?

10 hours ago, fmichelsen said:

Hey. Just want to say it is a very good kit, i've build a few of them, and their f2 aswell. There is many small details, specially around the engine. But everything fits well, it just demands some patience and carefully reading the instructions, because if you want to build it closed up, there is a lot of parts which there isnt room for 🙂 the kits decals is bad though, if I rembember correct.

Nice looking choice of plane by the way, weathered winter camo on a bf 109 is beautiful 😉 l've never made a hungarian one my self, its on the long to do list 😄

Thanks mate that is very good to know. Hearing first hand from somebody who has actually built the kit is always more useful than reading reviews where people don't always tell the truth. I am aware that Zvezda decals can be a bit hit and miss at times, fortunately I shouldn't need any for this build.

Ah yes, the great "to do" list, mine is as long as my arm and never seems to get any smaller! I hope that you are able to do a Hungarian one soon.

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  • 3 weeks later...

Well with Emil safely completed and in the gallery it is time to get Friedrich moving along.

There are a lot of extra details in this kit, some of which make sense and some of which don't. Among the "don't" section is the extra detailing for inside the wings, I have not seen a picture of a 109 in service that has the panels on the bottom of the wing removed and it isn't really an option on the Zvezda instructions as the two types of panel provided are for if you either fit the extra cannon gondolas or don't, not for having the panel removed. I built up the interior structure anyway to give the lower wing a bit more strength but if Zvezda had moulded it as solid it would be a much sturdier structure, anyway here it is completed;

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The interior of the upper wings also has some detail for the area where the panel goes as well as the top of the wheel well;

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Zvezda's engineering is to be applauded though as I have offered the two wing halves up and they do fit together nicely.

 

The cockpit floor and fuselage sides are quite nicely detailed and have been built up and painted in preparation for highlighting and weathering and some detail painting;

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And that is exactly what I shall be doing next.

 

Thanks for looking in and as usual all comments and criticisms are gratefully received.

 

Craig.

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On 6/4/2021 at 10:20 PM, modelling minion said:

then to carefully mask them and spray the white over the top, just like they did in the field.

I’ve found that a good trick for this is to photocopy the decals cut them out roughly and bluetack them in place so the act as a mask then paint away. I did this for my Ta154 and it worked very well.

 

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Edited by Marklo
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Well this kit has turned out to be a bit of a curates egg, some very good bits and some not so good.

When I last did an update I was working on the cockpit and it went very well, so well in fact that I got carried away when offering it up to the rear fuselage halves that glue was applied and before I knew it it was fixed in place to the sealed up rear fuselage and looked like this;

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I decided to keep the shape of the F by building her with the engine covers in place as I really like the shape of the F and early g series but to do this you still have to build the engine or at least some of it as the exhausts come as individual parts which are to be fitted the engine and ends up looking like this;

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With that done it was fitted to the bullkhead in front of the cockpit and when set it was time to fit the covers around the engine, and that is when it stopped being fun. They really are not a very good fit at all and even though you get two options of covers (engine enclosed or engine exposed) it is obvious that Zvezda want you to build the covers open but even if you do that there will be no positive fit for the covers, particularly the lower one. I did manage to get everything fitted (in a fashion) but there were unavoidable steps or gaps and even after some fettling of the parts a choice had to be made as to what would be the least worst option and this is what I went with;

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Not very pretty I am afraid but it was the best I could achieve, one good thing about the Zvezda plastic is that it is quite soft so sanding it roughly to shape shouldn't take too long and then I can get the fuselage finished off and fitted to the wings. I think my next F will come from the Czech Republic rather than Russia.

 

Thanks for looking in and as usual all comments and criticisms are gratefully received.

 

Craig.

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Interesting (?) kit Craig. A curate's egg seems a very apt description. I'm sure that it will look fine after you've 'adjusted' some of the panels and applied some paint.

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That's a disappointing for issue for a modern kit 😤

 

I take it there's no way to build up that front piece to match the engine covers? 

 

good luck with this one Craig.

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11 hours ago, modelling minion said:

Well this kit has turned out to be a bit of a curates egg, some very good bits and some not so good.

 

Hi Craig,

 

You're making nice progress.

 

A lovely kit. I quite like it. Challenging with the panels closed. Sadly I cannot offer any advice other than having played around doing some dry-fitting and thinking I'll be doing some serious panel internal thinning and engine block filing to pull in the nose joins. Quite doable, I thought, without too much filling. I cannot recall, what about the fit of the gun breech cover?

 

I have 4 of these in the stash and then when Eduard released their Friedrich it made it easy for me and I chickened out and thought save these for an everything open or a real mod like if I find any concrete evidence on the F-Zwilling.

 

Ray

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10 hours ago, Johnson said:

Interesting (?) kit Craig. A curate's egg seems a very apt description. I'm sure that it will look fine after you've 'adjusted' some of the panels and applied some paint.

 

57 minutes ago, GREG DESTEC said:

That's a disappointing for issue for a modern kit 😤

 

I take it there's no way to build up that front piece to match the engine covers? 

 

good luck with this one Craig.

 

6 minutes ago, Ray_W said:

 

Hi Craig,

 

You're making nice progress.

 

A lovely kit. I quite like it. Challenging with the panels closed. Sadly I cannot offer any advice other than having played around doing some dry-fitting and thinking I'll be doing some serious panel internal thinning and engine block filing to pull in the nose joins. Quite doable, I thought, without too much filling. I cannot recall, what about the fit of the gun breech cover?

 

I have 4 of these in the stash and then when Eduard released their Friedrich it made it easy for me and I chickened out and thought save these for an everything open or a real mod like if I find any concrete evidence on the F-Zwilling.

 

Ray

 

Cheers guys, yes I must admit that the "fit" at the front end is very disappointing and as I said was actually the best I could get it after many attempts and trial fits, it really is apparent that Zvezda want you to build it with the engine panels open and when I build another (there's another in the stash) that is what I shall do when there is less time pressure than a GB.

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