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Posted

Or, The Bf109 Over Iberia

 

Hi All,

 

inspired by many of our BM friends and prompted by an increasing interest in aviation in the Iberian Peninsula, I though it was time to embark on a themed build. And what better subject than the Messerschmitt Bf109? Receiving its baptism of fire in 1936 over Spain during the civil war, the Bf109 and its Hispano-built offspring formed the mainstay of the Spanish fighter and fighter-bomber fleet until the arrival of American-built jet aircraft in the mid-1950s. However, the Buchón remained in service with the Ejército del Aire in ever-decreasing numbers until its final operational flight in October 1962.

 

My plan is to build a representative collection of Bf109s and HA-1112s: I may or may not ultimately build all the variants. At the moment the only "definites" are the Bf109B-2, the Bf109E-1, the BF109F-4, the HA C4J Tripala and the HA C4K Buchón. I won't be including the Escuadrilla Azul aircraft.

 

This is likely to be a long-drawn-out affair that I dip into occasionally. As such I'll be building only one of these at a time (I've already got too many builds in progress as it is!) and in no particular order. My intention is to edit this first post with links to the introductory post of each build as it begins so its easier to "jump" to a specific build. That's always assuming anyone's interested enough to want to, of course :D 

 

So, without further ado, I would like to introduce my first victim:

 

Messerschmitt Bf109B J/88, Spain

 

Thanks for looking in!

 

Cheers,

Mark

  • Like 4
Posted

Messerschmitt Bf109B J/88, Spain

 

Part 1

 

References:

  • German Eagles in Spanish Skies by David Johnston, Schiffer Publishing Ltd, 2018 - I'm told this is the Definitive Work on the subject; it has just arrived and is being read!!!
  • The Fledgeling Fighter, Air Enthusiast, November 1971 - in-depth article, b/w photos, numbered cutaway drawing, three-view drawings and specifications.
  • Spanish Air Force During World War II by Eduardo Manuel Gil Martinez, Kagero Library of Armed Conflicts #06, 2019 - some background information.
  • Hispano Aviación HA-1112 by Eduardo Manuel Gil Martinez, Kagero Monographs #67, 2019 - some background information.
  • Messerschmitt Bf109 by Robert Jackson, Pen & Sword Flightcraft #14, 2018 - some information but concentrates mainly on later models.
  • Bf109A-D, Asisbiz.com link here - lots of photos!
  • ME Bf109B Dora Wings kit build, link here by @spartacus2000 - great build, the finished model can be seen here with his lovely E-7/Trop if you scroll to final pic.

The kit I'll be using is the Dora Wings Bf109A/B kit, Scalemates link here, originally released in 2017 under the AMG label. Box and sprue shots:

IMG-5088.jpg

IMG-5093.jpg

IMG-5099.jpg

IMG-5105.jpg

Nice-looking mouldings, a small amount of flash here and there, but overall looking encouraging, plus a small bag of resin castings. I've read that there can be a few issues with fit, so hopefully forewarned is forearmed.....Plenty of dry fitting and checking before committing to glue, methinks! The sprues will have a bath later!

 

In the light of the arrival of German Eagles in Spanish Skies, I'm no longer decided on the colour scheme of the finished model.....

 

I'll also be using the SBS Model Messerschmitt Bf109E cockpit set, link here, to dress up the interior a bit. Not that the Dora Wings mouldings are bad, far from it - I've got the SBS conversion set for the HA1112- K1L Tripala and it seemed like a good opportunity to try out their products.

 

Thanks for looking in.

 

Cheers,

Mark

 

Edits 

  1. References added
  2. SBS Model link added

 

Forward to Build Part 2

  • Like 13
Posted
3 minutes ago, AliGauld said:

Ooh bring it on,

Looking forward to this one.

 

 

Cheers,

Alistair

Thanks, Alistair, it should be good fun.....I hope :hypnotised:

 

Cheers,
Mark

  • Like 1
Posted
6 minutes ago, Biggles87 said:

Me too, I used to build a lot of ‘109s but none recently, so I’ll tag along if I may.

 

John

Glad to have you along, John :) I'm sure to be asking some questions along the way that you may be able to answer!

 

Cheers,

Mark

  • Like 1
Posted
20 minutes ago, bigbadbadge said:

Good luck on your quest Mark, will tag along , although not a fan of the type,  looking forward to your work

Chris.

Thanks, Chris, you're too kind! Welcome aboard, I'm glad to have you along.

 

Cheers,

Mark 

  • Like 1
Posted

Mark,

 

Interesting and unusual subject - I shall pull up a pew if I may,

 

Cheers,

 

Roger

  • Thanks 1
Posted

Looking forward to following this.

 

Been wanting to get a Condor 109 for some time, but could never land on getting one of the kits with the decals included or buying some other model and decals separately. 

  • Like 1
Posted
1 minute ago, Dunny said:

Mark,

 

Interesting and unusual subject - I shall pull up a pew if I may,

 

Cheers,

 

Roger

Thanks, Roger, glad to have you aboard - I hope it'll prove to be interesting..... :) Getting into all the sub-variants of the development of the HA-1112 could be a challenge, though, so I might bottle out of those 🤣

 

Cheers,

Mark

  • Like 1
Posted
2 minutes ago, RunRookieRun said:

Looking forward to following this.

 

Been wanting to get a Condor 109 for some time, but could never land on getting one of the kits with the decals included or buying some other model and decals separately. 

Thanks! Glad to have you along for the ride!

 

The AMG/Dora Wings kit crops up occasionally, and I was lucky to score this one on eBay recently. In 1/48 the Eduard E-1 is a good basis as some made it to Spain in time to take part in the latter stages of the SCW. I've got the Weekend boxing so I'll to sort out markings for that when the time comes. The Nationalist markings should be easy enough to paint if decals can't be tracked down, although the Falange yoke and arrows could be difficult.

 

Some decal sets seem to be available in the main scales - have a look for LF Models, Rising, Printscale and Xtradecal. But.....make sure you've got other references available, too, as some decal manufacturers don't do good research!

 

Cheers,

Mark

Posted
7 minutes ago, Biggles87 said:

I have a 1/32 Eduard E1 and an Alley Cat -109D conversion kit which I might get around to building one day.

 

John

That'd be an impressive build, if the Eduard kit is anything like their 1/48 E-1 it'll be excellent, and knowing Alley Cat the conversion set will be excellent!

 

Cheers,

Mark

  • Like 1
Posted

No fair!!  😠   First you re-awaken my interest in Fw 190s and now you're doing 109s!!  AArrgghhhh!  :doh:

 

Can't keep up!  Must work faster ............... :mental:   Wait til I get back from hols .....  :fight:

 

 

Not really.  Great stuff.  Will follow with interest Mark.  :popcorn:

 

cheers

 

Rob

 

 

 

 

  • Haha 1
Posted
2 hours ago, Zephyr91 said:

No fair!!  😠   First you re-awaken my interest in Fw 190s and now you're doing 109s!!  AArrgghhhh!  :doh:

 

Can't keep up!  Must work faster ............... :mental:   Wait til I get back from hols .....  :fight:

 

 

Not really.  Great stuff.  Will follow with interest Mark.  :popcorn:

 

cheers

 

Rob

Thanks, Rob, and apologies ;) I need to work faster, too!

 

46 minutes ago, ModelingEdmontonian said:

This looks like a great series, Mark! Will be watching

Welcome aboard, ME, you've inspired me! :)

 

Cheers,

Mark 

  • Like 1
Posted

Messerschmitt Bf109B, J/88, Spain

 

Part 2

 

Blimey, that was quick!

IMG-5116.jpg

Gotcha! Actually, this is only dry-fitted and nothing but nothing is glued together :) 

 

Given that spartacus2000 had a few issues with fit during his build, I want to do everything I can to eliminate any problems before anything at all is glued together. The only exceptions are the SBS cockpit sidewalls, as I wanted to test-fit the cockpit tub with them in place. Given that the SBS set is made for the Tamiya and Hasegawa Bf109E kits, the sidewalls fitted perfectly and the tub required only minimal sanding.

 

The fit of the wings to the fuselage is one area where I was expecting issues, but with some gentle coaxing of the dihedral the fit should be very good indeed. The one-piece lower wing has a slight bow to it, which is why there's more of a gap at the starboard wing root.

IMG-5121.jpg

IMG-5120.jpg

At the moment, the wheel wells aren't fitted: they may cause some problems and need sanding down.

 

There's also a small issue where the lower wing panel meets the rear fuselage:

IMG-5125.jpg

IMG-5128.jpg

As you can see, the wing panel overlaps the fuselage slightly, but there's also a half-moon cut-out in the fuselage halves that doesn't seem to tie up with anything else! Some careful filing and a slip of styrene should sort out both of those, though.

 

The other areas to watch are the forward ends of the cylinder heads. The lower engine cowling is also moulded as part of the lower wing panel: this is fouled by the cylinder heads, which bend it slightly downward:

IMG-5130.jpg

Again, some judicious use of a sanding stick should cure that issue.

 

The SBS Model cockpit sidewalls fitted perfectly, even though they're not meant for the Dora Wings kit. They're a bit shallower that the kit sidewalls, but I was more concerned about length and the angle at the rear end (fnaar! :giggle:). They're lovely resin castings as they are, but there are a fair number of additional resin as well as PE parts to add to the detail, plus a comprehensive guide to painting.

IMG-5135.jpg

 

Dry-fitting the SBS cockpit tub, I could see the bottom edges of the sidewall panels, so I infilled with thin strips of styrene, scraped back to the same thickness. Probably unnecessary, but OCD and all that.....

IMG-5142.jpg

You can also see where I've added a couple of alignment tabs from Contrail strut material - they're literally there to lend a hand lining things up, they don't give a tight fit!

 

My goal is to get everything as close as I can to being fully fettled before I commit to painting the interior, in the hope that I can keep dust contamination to a minimum. We'll see how that pans out.....

 

Thanks for looking in!

 

Cheers,

Mark

 

Back to Build Part 1

Forward to Build Part 3

  • Like 10
Posted

You might already know this already.

The fuselage was constructed in halves ( like your kit ) so there should be centreline seams. I spent years trying to eliminate them only to find this out about 25 years ago.

 

John 

  • Thanks 3
Posted
3 minutes ago, Biggles87 said:

You might already know this already.

The fuselage was constructed in halves ( like your kit ) so there should be centreline seams. I spent years trying to eliminate them only to find this out about 25 years ago.

 

John 

Hi John,

 

excellent, thank you for sharing - very timely, too. Actually, I'd no idea about that! The aim, then, should be to achieve a good fit, yet with a fine but still obvious panel line :) 

 

Cheers,

Mark

 

  • Like 2
Posted (edited)

Before you start the paint job ... how many 6x27 were there?

 

https://ww2aircraft.net/forum/threads/ebay-messerschmitt-bf109.42465/page-124

 

s-l1600-jpg.724342

 

 

and three more to be found here:

(the website is trying to give you a hard time to download the pictures though)

 

https://me109.info/web.php?lang=de&auth=e&name=ausgabetabelle_spezkennung&aktuellekennung=6-27&type=lc

 

https://me109.info/display.php?a=e&l=en&fid=3061

https://me109.info/display.php?a=e&l=en&fid=3060

https://me109.info/display.php?a=e&l=en&fid=3059

Edited by Jochen Barett
  • Thanks 1
Posted

Nice job on the cockpit sides and the alignment tabs too , great idea to dry fit and what a bonus you don't need to thin down the inner surfaces to fit the SBS set.

Chris

  • Like 1
  • Thanks 1
Posted

It's all going quite well.

A little bit of work needed on the underside but nothing that will trouble a man of your calibre. :fight:

 

Cheers,

Alistair

  • Thanks 1

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