Souvenir Hunters: 1/32 BF-109F Desert Crash Diorama-N. Africa 1942 (Aircraft Only)

[phillip1]

Fellow Modelers,

 

My latest project will be creating a 1/32 scale North African desert diorama that will include a base, a crashed BF-109 Messerschmitt airplane, a small British transport vehicle and a few British 8th Infantry figures.  Construction of the airplane is the only part covered in this thread.  The website administrator (Mike) suggested that since the project covers several different modeling subjects, the aircraft should be broken out separately. 

 

I have always been intrigued by World War II dioramas showing frontline infantry soldiers picking through crashed enemy aircraft for souvenirs to take back home.  Although these scenes do not include intense action, they do provide good storytelling and reflection.  I do not have an exact layout established in my head, but have purchased the kits, accessories and research books I plan on using.  I will work out all the final, smaller details as the build progresses.   

 

A description of the diorama setup is listed below:

 

The time period is set around February 1942.  A Gruppe III/JG27 BF-109F-4 Trop airplane has been damaged in air combat with RAF Tomahawks (P-40B/C) and Kittyhawks (P-40D/E) and made a forced landing deep behind the British lines.  The unfortunate Experten Luftwaffe pilot has been captured and taken away for processing to a POW camp.  A lull in the ground fighting has allowed several curious British infantry soldiers to borrow a Tilly utility transport vehicle to make a quick trip to the crash site to “officially” look for valuable maps or other documents but “unofficially” gather souvenirs to carry back to their basecamp.  Welcome to my diorama Progress Build titled Souvenir Hunters.

 

Figures 11a through 11i: To help in my build I searched the Internet for images of forced landed BF-109 aircraft and found the following photos for reference

 

Figure 001: The Hasegawa kit was selected to build the airplane.  I have never built it but understand it is the best 1/32 BF-109 available.

 

Figure 002: I purchased these Lifelike Decals to replace the kit decals even though I am not building any aircraft flown by Marseille.

 

Figure 003: This vinyl Montex painting mask set was selected because they include interior and exterior pieces.

 

Figure 004: This Quickboost replacement rudder/stabilizer set will allow me to place them at dramatic crash angles.  

 

Figure 011: These book references will hopefully be helpful in the building the airplane as well as other details of the diorama.

 

Figure 012: The first kit modification was custom fitting a very thin styrene piece to help cover the horrible seam line at the bottom of the split canopy seat.  

 

Figure 013: The kit rudder was cut away so work could begin to get the fuselage halves together.

 

Figures 014 and 15: I wanted to show bullet hole damage to make it clear the BF-109 was forced down by air combat, but I did not want it to be overly dramatic.  I marked these areas on the left wing and left fuselage.  The corresponding interior areas were marked off since grinding down the plastic was done from this side.

 

Figure 016: The photo shows the Dremel bit I bought to thin down the plastic.

 

Figure 017: The bit was attached to my power drill then the plastic was carefully thinned down a little bit at a time.

 

Figures 018-019:  I held the parts up to an overhead light to help me determine when they were thin enough.  

 

Figures 020 and 021: Here are views of the damage after the plastic was gouged with an X-acto knife.  The goal here was to try and make each hole look a little different.

 

Figure 022: The right side of the cockpit is shown after painting and assembly.  Almost everything was painted RLM66 (black gray) then gently dry-brushed with steel color.

 

Figures 023 and 024: One of the great things about this kit is the cockpit assembly can be added after the fuselage halves are assembled-which makes building it easier.  My only grip so far is several of the left and right fuselage panel lines were slightly mis-matched at the join.  I had to do a fair amount of work to get all of them to line up the way I though they should be.

 

Figures 025 and 026: Here are two photos of the finished cockpit.  Once again almost everything was painted RLM66 then carefully dry-brushed with steel color.  HGW Models photo-etch seatbelt parts were used and really look good.  Before any Luftwaffe experts jump on me here, I will admit a couple of photo-etched parts are missing from the seatbelts.  I used leftovers from an old set and it did not have every single piece.  Note the joystick was angled to match how the replacement rudder and stabilizers will be positioned.

 

 

Until next time...

 

Phillip1

Edited October 26, 2023 by phillip1
Provided More Accurate Title Description

[ColinChipmunkfan]

Very nice work here, I will definitely be following this thread.

[phillip1]

ColinChipmunkfan-Thanks for the compliment.  Welcome aboard!

 

Phillip1

 

@ColinChipmunkfan

[woody37]

Great start, those bullet holes look very convincing.

[Keeff]

Nice work so far ... it'll be an impressive diorama once complete with the 109 centre stage.

 

Looking forward to seeing this progress! 

 

Keith 😁 

Edited October 18, 2023 by Keeff
Spellings!

[phillip1]

woody37/Keeff-Thank you and welcome to the build!

 

Phillip1

 

@woody37

@Keeff

[phillip1]

Fellow Modelers-Work continues on the BF-109 basic assembly.

 

Figures 027 and 028: The finished cockpit is permanently glued in place.

 

Figure 029: The kit provided an excellently detailed instrument panel, AND cockpit decals.  I did not believe they would work well together so I used an X-acto knife to shave off the raised dial details.  Doing this allowed a flat surface for each dial decal.

 

Figure 030: The instrument panel after decaling and some detail painting was done.  The decal setting solution left a satin sheen on the dial decals that looks like glass.

 

Figures 031 and 032: The instrument panel after being glued to the fuselage assembly.

 

Figure 033: Evergreen .025” styrene rod was used to represent hinge pin connections for the rudder and elevators.  In this photo they are being test fitted.  Note they are bent to match the angle the rudder will be set at.

 

Figures 034 and 035: The rudder was temporarily attached to the tailfin with white glue to check the fit and alignment.  Adding aftermarket parts like this usually requires a fair amount of precision sanding and multiple test fits.

 

Figure 036: The wing halves were glued together and the seam lines sanded away.  An interesting thing to note is the kit instructions call out for you to fill and remove one of the outer panel lines.  It appears Hasegawa made a design mistake and let you know about it so it can be corrected-nice touch!  In this photo you can see the eliminated panel on the lower wing.

 

Figure 037: The bottom sides of the assembled wings are shown.

 

Figures 038 and 039: The front cowling, wing spars and center wing section were glued into place, with the fit being great on every part.  Note only one cowling machine gun is visible.

 

Figure 040: Note the main landing gear insert well has been cut down significantly.  This was done to allow the kit landing gear to be assembled in the retracted position-which mine will be.

 

Figures 041 through 43: Here are several photos after the wings were attached to the fuselage.  The wing spars guaranteed a correct dihedral.  Any tiny gaps here or throughout the build were filled with 5-Minute Epoxy.

 

Figure 044: Here is a closeup view showing both the wing and fuselage damage.

 

Figure 045: The kit elevators were sawed off so the horizontal tailfins could be glued to the fuselage.

 

Figures 046 and 047:  The horizontal tailfins are shown after being glued in place.  Note two holes have been added where styrene hinge pins will be located.  It is hard to see but I also sanded a slight radius indentation on the backside of the tailfins to create a better fit with the elevators.

 

Figures 048 and 049: These photos show a temporary test fit between the tailfin and elevator at the angle it will be set.

 

Figure 050: Here is a view of the underside.

 

Until next time...

 

Phillip1

[Klaasdebouwer]

Very nice work so far. I love the battle damage. Not excessive but enough to bring the bird down.

[phillip1]

Klassdebouwer-Thanks for the compliment and welcome aboard.

 

Phillip1

 

@Klaasdebouwer

@ColinChipmunkfan

@woody37

@Keeff

[phillip1]

Fellow Modelers-The basic construction of the BF-109 is completed in this post.

 

Figures 051 and 052: The propellors represent the most obvious damage of the forced landing, so a good bit work was done to change their appearance.  First, I used the heat of a candle to soften each blade and bent them into positions similar to what I had studied in various crash photos.  Using the candle makes it easier to create subtle crumpled and twisted shapes, resulting in more realistic looking damage.  

 

Figure 053: An X-acto knife was then used to cut random, jagged nicks into the side and tip of each blade.

 

Figure 054: Next, needle nose pliers with alligator teeth were used to crimp areas around the tips of each blade.  This step also created convincing deep scratches into each part.

 

Figure 055: The final step was sanding-out a couple of unnatural shape distortions created by the candle’s heat.  This photo shows the finished propellor blades.  Note each blade was damaged a little differently and will be set in a specific position in the spinner.

 

Figure 056 through 058: I used white glue to temporarily attach the propellor and spinner assembly to the fuselage.  This was done to confirm the blades had clearance above the ground.

 

Figures 059 and 060: In my diorama the BF-109 will be slightly tilted forward and to the right, cutting into the desert sand and groundwork.  The left wing will be elevated, revealing the landing gear on that side.  The first photo shows the retracted landing gear parts being test fitted into place.  The second photo shows the significant cutting/sawing modifications required to the parts so they could fit inside the wheel well!

 

Figure 061: To make sure the wing tilt will not be too great when sitting on the diorama base, a hole was drilled in the lower right wing and a piece of a round toothpick was glued into it.  The toothpick piece stuck out about 3/16” past the wing.  This height was an estimate based on what I thought looked reasonable as the plane was sitting upright.

 

Figures 066 and 067: A final modification was eliminating the seamlines between the upper cowling section and the fuselage.  I thought I could live with these lines, but it turns out I could not.  I carefully masked off the areas, applied superglue and sanded away.  The first photo shows the beginning of the sanding process.  The second photo shows the final result.

 

NOTE: Although construction on the BF-109 airplane will continue in this thread later, work now also begins on the diorama’s Base/Tilly Vehicle/Figures.  This will be started very soon in a new thread to be located in the Dioramas-Work In Progress Section.  If you are interested in this project, please look for it to follow along.

 

Until next time...

 

Phillip1

 

@ColinChipmunkfan

@woody37

@Keeff

@elger

@R T Fishall

@mark.au

@Farmer matt

@DJJunis

@cobraleader

@Dr. Quack

@Klaasdebouwer

Edited October 31, 2023 by phillip1

[mick]

great work  on cockpit and battle damage 

[Keeff]

Fantastic work, especially on the propeller blades ... very realistic damage! 👌 

 

Keith 😁 

[woody37]

Great work so far

 

[AdrianMF]

Meticulous construction work! Heading over to have a look at the diorama part.

 

Regards,

Adrian

[Thom216]

Very subtle and realistic with the holes and nicesly bent props.

[phillip1]

mick/Keeff/woody37/AdrianMF/Thom216-Thank you all very much for the compliments and for following along!

 

Phillip1

 

@mick

@Keeff

@woody37

@AdrianMF

@Thom216

[Longbow]

Sorry I’m late to the party, but your base and figures are looking excellent !!
 

For future reference, if I may suggest, instead of using an open flame, which is hard to control and easy to melt the plastic, try a soldering iron or static heat source such as a hot iron, holding the part over the heat, without actually touching the heat source. 
 

Looking forward to seeing this one complete !!

[phillip1]

Longbow-Thanks for the compliments! I also appreciate the suggestion about using a static heat source to shape plastic.  You are correct that an open flame is difficult to control and requires a very quick reaction.  Welcome to the thread!  The next and final aircraft update will be posted very soon.

 

Phillip1

[bissyboat]

Great attention to details and nice job warping the propellers. ⚓👍

[phillip1]

Fellow Modelers-Painting, decaling and weathering are worked on in this post.

 

Figure 151: The painting adventure began by adding the white theater band markings.

 

Figure 152: The white areas are shown after being masked off.

 

Figure 153: The lower nose section was painted RLM04 (pale yellow).  

 

Figure 154: The lower surfaces of the airplane were painted RLM78 (Humbrol 248-flat sky blue).

 

Figures 155 and 156: Highlighting the panels lines was done in two steps.  First, dark gray pastel dust was applied to all the recesses with a small, pointed brush.  Note the right wing was not treated as it will be laying against the ground.

  

Figure 157: Lastly, a soft, wide brush was used to remove about 80% of the dust that had been applied, while creating a soft blended effect on what remained.  Q-tips can also be used to achieve the soft blended effect.  The left wheel well is normally painted RLM02 (light green-gray) but was left unpainted since it will be next to impossible to see it when everything is put together.  

 

Figures 158 and 159: The lower fuselage was masked off and the upper surfaces were painted RLM79 (Humbrol 249-flat sand yellow).    

 

Figure 160: To create a sun-bleached effect, I added about 25% flat white paint to the base color and thinned it down to a wash.  This mixture was then airbrushed at random over the upper surfaces, with greater emphasis on the horizontal areas.

 

Figures 161 and 162: The upper surface recessed lines were given the same pastel dust treatment described earlier.  These photos show the application of the dust before any removal or blending was done.

 

Figures 163 through 166:  These photos show the airplane after the painting and panel line work was complete.  

 

Figures 167 through 169:  The elevators were given the same type of treatment to highlight their details.  Dark gray pastel dust was applied on either side of the raised ribs, then the ribs were dry-brushed with colors lighter than the basecoat.

 

Figures 170 through 172:  Work continues on to decaling.  The first step was airbrushing three heavy coats of Future Polish to the model and letting it dry for 48 hours.  The second step was taking a straight edge ruler and X-acto knife to cut away as much decal carrier film as possible.  Micro Set/Micro Sol were used for the setting solutions.  The Lifelike decal set printing was very sharp, in register and had great colors.  However, its ability to react to the setting solutions was only good instead of great, and I still think Superscale/Microscale Decals conform better.  On a few of the smallest decals I actually had better success using what came with the Hasegawa kit.

 

Figure 173: After the decals were dry, I applied several coats of a 50/50 Testors Dullcote and thinner mix to produce a flat finish.  Typically, I use a soft cloth to gently buff the final finish (even on flat paint) but since this airplane operated in the desert there was no buffing and it was left with a hard flat finish.  This photo shows paint chipping being applied around the bullet hole damage with a small pointed brush.

 

Figure 174: Dark gray pastel dust was streaked away from several the bullet holes to represent minor fuel leaks.  Medium gray pastel dust was burnished into the wing national insignia decals with Q-tips to better match the rest of the airplane’s dull and faded finish.

 

Figure 175: Dark gray pastel dust was used to create the heavy engine exhaust deposits on the fuselage.  It was initially applied with a brush, then a Q-tip rotated in a circular motion flared it out and made it look realistic.

  

Figure 176: Every decal was given the medium gray pastel dust treatment so they would be uniform.

    

Figures 177 through 179: Here are a few photos of the airplane after the decal weathering was completed.

 

Figure 180: Here is a view of the retracted left landing gear after the parts were painted and assembled.

 

Figure 181: Aluminum paint chipping was also added to the leading edges of the wings.

 

Figures 182 through 184: Here are closeup shots of the elevators and rudder after final attachment.  Note the Luftwaffe pilot was credited with 13 victories when he was taken prisoner.  

 

Figure 185: Here is a closeup photo of the tail wheel after painting and assembly.  I tried to add the whitewall tire decals but they came nowhere close to fitting so they were not used.

 

Figures 186 and 187: Almost all of the remaining small parts have been attached to the BF-109 and it is close to being permanently attached to the base.      

 

Figure 188: I decided to add one more bit of damage to the BF-109 in the form of a torn up lower flap.  This flap probably landed on a rock on initial impact and was sheared in half.  It broke away from the wing just as the airplane stopped.  An X-acto knife and needle nose pliers were used to tear and twist this part.

 

Figure 189: This photo shows the final location of the broken lower flap.

 

Figure 190: The spinner and propeller blades were painted next.  Steel color was hand painted on the blades to convey how the initial impact with the ground removed the original dark green color.  Several different gray pastel dust colors were also applied.

 

Figures 191 and 192: The front and rear canopy sections are shown after the interior and exterior framework was painted.  The main canopy section will be located on the ground beside the airplane-removed by a British soldier for easier cockpit access.

 

Figures 193 through 204: Here are photos of BF-109 after it was permanently glued to the desert base.  The only item missing is the antenna rigging.

 

Figure 205: EZ Line antenna rigging has been added to the BF-109 and it is completely finished.

 

NOTE: The BF-109 is completely finished so there will be no more posts on this thread.  Finishing the diorama in future posts by adding the vehicle and figures will be completed in the Dioramas-Work In Progress Section.

 

Until next time...

 

Phillip1

Edited November 30, 2023 by phillip1
Provided clearer description

[bissyboat]

Looks Ace! ⚓🙌

[phillip1]

bissyboat-Much appreciated!

 

Phillip1

 

@Lord Riot

@Stef N.

@ModelingEdmontonian

@Josep

@Geo1966

@Longbow

@Johnny Tip

@BillF67

@Major_Error

@LorenSharp

@psdavidson

@Back in the Saddle

@AdrianMF

@SAAF Modeller

@Mozzy19

@Pete in Lincs

@shortCummins

@Memphis

@Thom216

@marvinneko

@IPMS19

@Muchmirth

@ColinChipmunkfan

@woody37

@Keeff

@elger

@R T Fishall

@DJJunis

@cobraleader

@Dr. Quack

@Klaasdebouwer

[marvinneko]

Impressive painting and restrained weathering. The one thing I noticed is the yellow 4 has a tone that doesn't mesh with the rest of the paint and weathering

[Keeff]

That is superb!  The detail, damage and weathering are spot on .... I'll be following in the diorama thread! 

 

Keith 😁 

[Longbow]

That's a cracking paint job !!