Early Colours Bf 109 Emil Airfix 1/48th

[kitchentable]

Messerschmitt Bf 109 in the West, 1937-1940 Michael Payne 1998

 

The subject model is the Airfix 1/48th Bf 109 Emil.    It came as the Airfix Club edition, with the captured and Japanese markings.  My son made it very plain that building with either of these would be a bad waste of a 109.  I spent time on Britmodeller talking through scheme options and asking about a load of details.  I settled on a September 1939 E-3 scheme in the very dark RLM70/71 colours.  It’s an unusual finish compared to most modelled 109s, and rather attractive.  This ordains the production E-3 windscreen/canopy (howls of you can’t say that from 109 aficionados), and no stores.

 

Despite being notionally unavailable, I managed to source an Eduard Brassin DB601 engine and the Eduard Airfix PE set.  Both were excellent, and made this a decently challenging build.  I set out to build a fully detailed cockpit with canopy open; as detailed as possible DB601 with, hopefully, an engine cowling good for being on or off; and slats, flaps etc deployed.  I could have gone further and taken the fuselage MG17 panel off and bought another Eduard set, but I had to draw the line somewhere.

 

The aftermarket items I bought were:

 

Techmod TM48080B Decals (various E-3s)

Eagle EAG48050 Decals (Major Hahn Emils)

Eduard PE 49525 E-4

Eduard Brassin 648059 DB601A/N

ABRA 48112 Bf 109 Guns (for the wing MG FF)

Aires 4083 Resin MG17 (for the fuselage guns)

Falcon FNCV5648 Luftwaffe Canopies

Montex MXSM48337 Canopy Masks

 

Before I started assembly proper, I had to work out how to build the forward fuselage with the Eduard DB601 which was meant for the Eduard kit, not my Airfix one.  

 

 

The photo shows the upper block of the part moulded DB601 from Airfix.   I cut away the crankcase and mounting, and I figured out what to keep of the front fuselage.  

 

 

The Eduard DB601 is a lovely model, but very delicate.  It built up with no problems (at this stage just the main parts, not the details) and I then did some trial fits in the fuselage.   The photo shows one, but also highlights a problem.  Of course a real aeroplane is not built like a kit, so I needed to work out how to give the appearance of a cantilevered engine from the mountings, leaving the front of the fuselage fully open and removing the crankshaft boss.  This allowed the DB601 to come forward to the correct location.  

 

With the Eduard DB601 comes a one piece resin engine cowling.   Problem!  The Eduard engine cowling is 1.9mm longer than the Airfix cowling.  

 

 

Airfix cowling on left, Eduard on right.

 

It is reported that the Airfix model is short; but more importantly the Eduard piece is simply beautiful and had to be used.  I therefore had to plan to extend the lower fuselage nose panels by 1.9mm and get the whole lot to be a smooth seamless fairing back from the Emil spinner.   This would need a fair amount of widening as well as lengthening.   The Eduard cowling is also slimmer than the Airfix one, meaning, I suspect, the Eduard -109 model has a slimmer (and longer) fuselage.   I finished off my front fuselage prep by cutting out the moulded exhaust stubs from the fuselage.   That was tricky to say the least, because the fuselage halves were starting to become very frail.

 

 

An out of sequence photo, showing the scratch built extended nose, and removed exhaust manifolds

 

With the ideas set for how to sort out the front end, I started the build proper.  Turning to the cockpit first, the photos show a pretty straightforward use of the Eduard PE to make a nice cockpit.  One area of work was to substantially thin the cockpit side walls to give a sharper edge at the canopy level, and to get the PE parts to fit snugly.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

At this point I must shout out Eduard PE.   I have used it dozens of times and always the product is first rate.  The amount of design time they commit must be huge, but so worth it.

 

Joining the fuselage halves was no drama at all and the wing fit was the best I’ve had in a long while.  The PE inserts into the wheel bays also fitted far better than I imagined.  Very quickly I had a fairly complete looking model, with nothing particularly difficult so far (emphasis on the so far). 

 

I always use Tamiya Fine Surface L grey primer.  Even though this is acrylic (and all my paints are enamels) it gives a nice base and sprays very well from the can.   I sacrificed the later angular canopy that came with the Airfix kit for the spraying phase.  My model has the curvier early windshield/canopy used for E-3 production, that I will work on later.   At this stage I was planning to use the Airfix glazing, but later I switched to vacform.

 

I substantially thinned the fuselage wall thickness where it meets the engine cowling and made various vent cut-outs.  The Bf 109 has a monocoque fuselage which includes a centreline seam on the upper and lower fuselage.  Normally there is hours work to remove traces of such a seam, but creating a seam of constant width/depth is also pretty fiddly.

 

I chose to paint the whole exterior before the re-attacking the engine/cowling fitting.  I used airbrushed Sovereign Hobbies paint.   There was some Marmiting on the wing to achieve scuffs.  I lightened both dark greens a little and shaded each area somewhat differently to break up the uniformity.  Spraying a hard edge splinter pattern is a joy for a change.  I do panel line black shading under the final top coat, plus I spray darker tones over the panel lines where necessary.   After painting, the surfaces were rubbed with 3600 grit through to 12000 grit to achieve a highly smooth hard shine.  

 

 

All the control surfaces were added deflected/deployed although the ailerons kept falling off so they will be fixed last!  I think the finish looks good and two tone dark green is very appealing.   Some books make the point that in black and white photos the two greens are not evident at all, and contemporary reporting describes the 109s as being overall black.   I can see why they thought that.  The photos included here tend to lighten and increase the contrast between the greens.   In actuality they are really very dark.

 

With the super smooth bodywork, the decals glued themselves down fearsomely.  I think there are some real lessons about prep and finish here.   This gets me onto a pet subject.   There are loads of articles exchanging ideas on how to achieve a super matt finish, because, of course, aircraft paint-jobs are usually matt, right?  If you want to model a 109 10 minutes after it emerged fresh from the Augsberg paint shop I will agree.   For an aluminium substrate item (like most of the 109 structure) the paint should not disguise the fact there is an almost glass like body under the paint and the paint should not impose any texture at all on top of it.   This is why I sand my models working through 3600 grit to 12000 grit to achieve a mirror finish.   So is a real 109 matt or semi-matt or semi-gloss?   Try painting a supersmooth structure with matt paint then fly it at 250 mph for 50 hours.  Guess what, the natural abrasion buffs it up.   Don’t look at museum exhibits that have been painted matt and cossetted thereafter.  Look at the Finnish Air Force Museum Hurricane I that is regarded as one of the most original aircraft anywhere.   The metal substructure areas are all somewhere between shiny and dull (don’t get me going on satin: satin is for kitchens).   Different parts of the aircraft have worn differently.   If a fitter rubbed an oily rag anywhere, that surface will never be truly matt again either.   I’m not evangelical about this.  By my reasoning the rear fuselage of, say, a Lancaster, would realistically be fairly matt.   I will come back to the paint finish for the subject matter 109 later.

 

I added the turbo inlet grill from the PE set, then I returned to the main effort at the front.    Building/painting the DB601 was very easy, but before it was installed I had to calculate the position of a dummy bulkhead behind the engine that held some scratch built MG17 supports.   Getting the longitudinal location correct of the staggered guns was very tricky because they had to locate perfectly relative to the gun ports in the engine cowling.  Getting the height correct of the MG17 supports was even harder!  

 

 

Dummy MG17s fitted as part of positioning engine and the gun supports.

 

At some point the plunge was taken and the engine fixed in position on a bed of Araldite.  Remember, there was no crass prop shaft boss to line up the engine with.   I had already built and painted the propeller with spinner, so repeated trial fits of the spinner and the MG17s paid off and when set it was more or less spot on.  The exhaust manifold cut-out in the fuselage lined up very well with the block, which was the extra constraint to meet.  The Eduard motor had very delicate resin exhaust stubs that I could slide into the channels I had cut in the fuselage.   The manifolds mated with the exhaust stud markings on the block, and they were suitably recessed in their housings when compared to photos.   I admit to being sneakily pleased with how this all came together.  There were many ways it could have been a disaster.

 

The DB601 came with resin engine mounts.  They were mightily delicate and cutting out the flash blanks was a serious challenge.   The guns came next, with scratch built scalloped sleeves to mate with the cowling gun ports.  I used brass strips bent into collars to simulate how the barrels are fixed to the supports.  The guns are where some dimensional problems are evident.   For the guns to line up with the ports they have to be higher set above the engine than for real.  Oh well, between Airfix, Eduard and me we have a problem, but it’s not the end of the world.  

 

 

 

I have worked very hard to fit the Eduard cowling so that the model can be displayed flight ready, or with the cowling sat to one side.   I tried my best, but the fitted cowling is not that good.   The Eduard cowling is preciously delicate resin and the rivet detail meant that there was almost no scope for working the cowling to make it fit.  I did what I could with the base fuselage instead.   With the cowling also being slimmer than the Airfix fuselage there is a further fitting problem to fix.   I fitted a small brass flange to the fuselage to “spread” the cowling.  It kind of works, but then the cowling tends to pop up. 

 

Maybe the observant will spot I photograph the model in all sorts of locations but rarely in the work area.  I circle around the house at night hoping someone might say something encouraging about the 109 progress; I think the dog lifted an eyebrow once but I’m not completely sure.

 

As I alluded to earlier, the decals went on a treat.   The Techmod decals are super thin and clingy.   The eagled eyed (pun?) might spot there were two sets of decals in my purchase list.  Two manufacturers have made sets for the same aircraft.  The Techmod decals are brilliant except that the JG3 crest on the cowling is oversize.   I gambled that the Eagle set might have a more accurate crest, and thankfully it did.   The crest was the only item I used from Eagle.  In terms of useability I judge both manufacturers products are very good.

 

Returning to the surface finish.  After decal application I airbrushed a well thinned Humbrol 35 gloss varnish over the whole model.   Okay, I still live in the 1970’s!  Then I used 6000 grit paper to flatten it off.  I was aiming for different levels of semi-gloss on different panels and areas of the plane.   I used satin varnish on the fabric covered control surfaces.  I hasten to add not because I wanted a satin finish, just a suitably flat surface fabric effect.

 

I’m sure I have offended many with my comments on matt finish.   Don’t get me wrong; matt has its place.   Any sort of worn armoured vehicle will be a candidate for a strong dose of matt.

 

The main undercarriage came with its own host of problems.   It is widely said that the Airfix undercarriage legs are too stalky, and I agree.   I drilled down the entire leg with a 1mm drill and inserted a 0.95mm stainless steel pin (actually a safety pin arm).  This both stiffened the leg, and became the oleo ram.   I cut approx. 1mm out of the leg to shorten it at the midpoint, and I made sure the ram length was about 1.2mm less than the kits ram.   Why Airfix modelled a fully extended ram for a weight on wheels model seems a disappointingly stupid error.   A leg 2.2mm shorter looks about right, but some work was needed on the undercarriage door to match the change.  Every 109 modeller in history must have cursed the original designer for such a delicate and geometrically fiddly design, oh, just like the pilots did.

 

For reasons that escape me now, I thought I would finish the model using the Airfix canopies.  It would have spoiled the model, so I did a quick rethink and bought Falcon vacform.   For the “early 109E”, Falcon claim their canopies work with both the Airfix and Eduard models.  I’m a big fan of Falcon, but that duality claim worried me.   How can a canopy fit two completely different models, especially when one has a narrower fuselage?  It turned out I could make the centre opening section and the fixed rear section work ok.   I’m still disappointed with the windscreen, particularly with the framing detail for the lower triangular windows.   The frames are way thicker than for real.  

 

Overall though I am pleased with the model.   The 109 is a neat little fighter.  Aside from the magnificent DB601, the 109 was a strangely un-German affair.   It was small and had a few dodgy engineering features.  How the German’s persisted in upgunning it and making other huge improvements is the real marvel.  I don’t have many 1/48th models in my collection, but setting the 109 alongside my P-40 goes to show that not all single seat WW2 fighters are the same size!  The Airfix 109 Emil has received a fair amount of criticism as being a newish mould, but still not up to scratch.   That maybe true, but with a bit of work it is possible to make a pleasing model.   I enjoyed making mine.

 

 

 

 

 

[Steve27752]

Nicely done.

[Spitfire31]

Very convincing Emil; your hard work has really paid off!

 

The only detail that doesn't quite convince me, is those silver paint splotches "scuff marks" on the port wing root. They need some refining, I think… 😉

 

Beautiful work!

 

Kind regards,

 

Joachim

[Ventsislav Gramatski]

An excellent Emil in an unusual scheme! I am currently building a 1/72 Avia B.135 model in RLM70/71 upper surfaces and I suspect I've lightened them too much for the 'scale effect' because I can also verify thay on period B&W photos the actual planes look almost black; the original German colors were indeed very dark.

 

Your model has turned out great and props on the excellent build description, a very nice read!

[Troy Smith]

5 hours ago, kitchentable said:

It is reported that the Airfix model is short;

AFAIK the Eduard Bf109E  kit is wrong, being slightly oversize, which explain the length variance. 

 

Neat build, has come out  really well

[BerndM]

Good work on the Airfix Emil.