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A cheeky little Heller Bf109C


AdrianMF

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I’ve just got back to the bench after my first trip away in 20 months and I have resumed work on my Bristol Type 142, finally sticking the fuselage halves together. While waiting for that to dry, I dug out the Heller kit that I bought for but didn’t get around to in the 109 GB:

85-D90-DDC-ADBE-4-DFA-9-CFD-649-ABD74-CA

26-E037-FC-FD7-C-4-E12-BC02-F16101-AE6-A

7-BD907-AA-B638-4-ECE-AB43-CBB949-B256-D

 

It has 35 parts including an alternative propeller, simple but effective interior, details moulded onto the cockpit sidewalls. Cockpit and propeller on the way, with the tiny little intake piece having an opening filed in:

090-B53-CC-4568-45-C0-BD9-E-84-E1-B7-BDB

 

Fill the wheel wells with a rolled paper “u” shape for the leg cavity and a paper wall round the wheel:

00-D49-BC7-BC78-41-DA-9-A01-70-EA29-BFEA


I was very happy with the interior parts painted with Xtracrylix RLM02 with a wash of Matt varnish and black:

A56-F136-E-8573-4-FC1-9669-6054702-FAD18

 

The fuselage had a warp going on so I stuck the front halves together first:

FDD2-EB7-C-8250-4582-AD7-F-75-A04-AFE0-E

 

Then I stuck the wings on. I thought they were going to need filler at the roots, but I found that clamping top to bottom caused the fuselage to spread out just enough to fill the gap. Neat!

64939-EA1-92-F7-433-D-92-F0-2210-E3-BEE6

 

I could then join the rear fuselage with a couple of drops of Tamiya Extra Thin while holding it so the tailplane levelled off with the wings. The join on the back wall of the cockpit got filled and repainted. I used two more tiny spots of filler at the front and back of the wing. Altogether a well fitting kit.

 

And then paint. Xtracrylix RLM 65, 71 and 70. This is where the build stopped being fun! Normally I brush my Humbrol and Revell acrylics onto bare plastic, wait 5 minutes or so until they look matt-ish, then mask, unmask and handle with gay abandon. This DOES NOT WORK for Xtracrylix! Lots of lifting and many touch ups later (all looking much worse than they are because the gloss finish highlights every flaw), it got done. Luckily, the decals behaved perfectly with some Decalfix, and a super thick coat of Galeria Matt varnish hauled it all back to matt, hiding the lifting and touch up booboos a treat:

4757-A847-6-A3-F-4753-A401-ACD1486-FDC80

59-EFECE1-F89-D-4-F41-8983-FA920-E01-D12

 

I loved the kit and I’ve always wanted an early 109 in 65/70/71 so I’m happy.

 

The Xtracrylix paints did not fit well with my methods of painting, being much more suited to airbrushing over an undercoat by patient modellers. I will just have to change my methods, because I want to buy their TSS colours at Telford next month. I have been admiring the colours on @825’s Seafox so I will give them a go

 

And @spaddad OOB! (seat harness is allowed under IPMS rules)

 

[EDIT - oh… bother!

I filled in the wheel wells.

 

Sorry.

 

The quest continues…]

 

Regards,

Adrian

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That turned out rather nicely, paint issues aside. I assume the kit dates from the late 1970s, when Heller were really beginning to show what they could do.
 

I admit I found Xtracrylix to be quite fragile. It seemed very susceptible to tiny amounts of natural skin oils left on a primed surface, lifting off with even the lightest touch of tape. As you say, it really needs a good surface primer, and patient airbrushing followed by a lengthy drying spell before masking. Even then, it isn’t a tough finish until a final varnish coat. I once went through a process of airbrushing Humbrol Clear on between each subsequent camouflage colour - not ideal or fun.

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Very, very nice  Caesar! From what I have read, the old Heller kit more than holds its own, as Heather has stated, and can be made into a very accurate replica with some aftermarket and scratchbuilt details. Pretty sure the Gunze Mr. Color acrylics do not have the issues that Xtracrylix seems to have. I'm an old-school enamel guy, but I do have a lot of the Gunze colors, and they spray beautifully and can be masked over- being semi-gloss, decals go down very nicely, as well. That's a very nice model, and I'm glad I didn't get rid of the three Heller kits I still have, as the new-tool releases are very expensive or labor intensive- or both!

Mike

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59 minutes ago, RichieW said:

It's always good to see a build that has been a lot of fun.

Well the paint phase was definitely a learning experience :) It would have made a good Blitzbuild subject.

 

47 minutes ago, 72modeler said:

acrylics

I switched to acrylics when Humbrol started doing the "new" enamels, and I was finally allowed to model somewhere warm as a reward for not making a stink, so I can't go back!

 

Regards,

Adrian

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Adrian, a lovely job on the 109. And thanks for the kind words on the Seafox. 

 

I use a lot of Xtracrylix, along with a smattering of Revell, Humbrol, Citadel and Akan acrylics. On the up side they brush beautifully with a bit of Flow Improver as thinner, have a lovely gloss finish that transfers go over well, and in general the colours are pretty good. On the downside they are a bit on the fragile side. I'm a lazy painter and don't prime, just paintbstraight onto the plastic but I usually leave about 24 hours after the final coat, I usually build up over three or four thin coats, before masking and rarely get paint lifting. I also run some Kleer along the tape as a first coat to prevent runs and that may help. My final coat for matt and satin finishes is a couple of coats of Liquitex varnish which pull everything together. Hope this is helpful. 

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13 hours ago, AdrianMF said:

I was finally allowed to model somewhere warm as a reward for not making a stink, so I can't go back!

 

Ah, a scenario I empathise with :D.

 

My modelling set up is in shared space, and further adaptations included requiring a long hose on the (allegedly quiet) compressor so that during use it can be put outside the mostly closed door.  Most recently I was told that the noise made by the air from the airbrush hitting the model was getting intrusive....

 

Back to the garage for most airbrushing tasks now...... 

 

On 10/17/2021 at 2:59 PM, AdrianMF said:

I loved the kit and I’ve always wanted an early 109 in 65/70/71 so I’m happy.

 

Rightly so.  Lovely result.  I'm a rubbish brush painter, almost pathologically scared of doing it.  If I ever had that skill as a pre-airbrush-owning youngster (debatable) I've lost it now :blush:

 

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