Bf110G-4 at Farnborough, 1945. ++++FINISHED++++

[mark.au]

After not a lot progress through the week, I had a nice long bench session on Saturday and advanced the painting.  I did manage to get the upper surface of the wings painted in the week, and now that was dry, and the underside well cured, I created the mask set and started the underside markings.

 

First, I painted the covered Luftwaffe marking with MSG.  Then, worked my way through the roundel colours going inside to out.  

 

 

The roundels themselves were a little interesting as they aren't standard for the end of the war.  My suspicion is the roundels were painted in Europe when the aircraft was captured and unlike some of the other captured airframes I've modelled, they weren't brought up to spec prior to the exhibition.  Regardless, it's clear from the photos that these roundels were simple equidistant red/white/blue circles.

 

 

They came out just nicely, no paint lift or bleed to deal with (the photo looks like everything is a little yellowed for some reason, the white is actually white  ).

 

 

I positioned the roundels paying close attention to the photo evidence available.  I had already spent a bit time cleaning up and enhancing - as much as I was able - the two photos I have of this aircraft.  In studying them I was able to set the roundel position fairly accurately.

 

 

I positioned the roundels using the aileron counterbalance as my reference.  In this position the roundels were slightly inboard of where the standard position for the Luftwaffe markings are, hence the offset visible between the painted out markings and the roundel.

 

Once the roundels were dry I turned my attention to the upper surface, and the camouflage.  I mixed up a batch of RLM75 and applied a fairly rough mottle knowing that further treatments would clean it up.

 

 

Th next step is to smooth everything out with a very thin overspray of the base colour, RLM76.  This I did and then took stock; I wasn't too happy to be honest, something looked wrong.  In looking at the original again, there's very little contrast between the colours applied, it's almost just a hint of the RLM75 rather than a true mottle.  I took a black a white photo of mine and compared it to the original and there was a very marked difference.  

 

I mixed up another thin 76 and applied it over the mottle in several coats toning down the contrast progressively, all the while taking a photo and comparing to the original.  After a few passes, I got to something I really liked, and to my eye matched the original in terms of the contrast and overall look.

 

 

Now, I'm not claiming this is correct in terms of how it would have looked IRL, nor is this a proof, but I do think it translates very well against original photos of these airframes, or at least some of them.

 

 

Now that I have my desired finish in place on this wing, I'll do the other one and then as much of the fuselage as I can while waiting for the replacement canopy.  There's plenty I can do on the wings as well; the markings, the exhausts and even the weathering.  

 

Cheers.

 

 

 

 

[Wings unlevel]

A very productive session, that’s some quality work. 👍

[modelling minion]

Thats really good work Mark, the roundels turned out very well and the way you have achieved the toned down look of the camouflage is superb and very effective, I might need to use it myself in the future. 

[81-er]

That looks very good to me, Mark, and your reasoning and process seem sound. It won't help that the reference photos aren't the best, but I think you're making a fantastic job of mining them for information and making informed choices about the finish from that. I also appreciate you sharing the process of getting the finish on the wings, as it helps the rest of us when we want to have a go

 

James

[opus999]

Just found and caught up with this one Mark.  Absolutely lovely paint work!  I like the B/W comparison to original photos to get an idea of how they may have looked IRL. 

 

It's a shame about the nacelles and the short shot canopy.  I always expect some sort of ill fit in any kit, just because of the nature of plastic, but when it's that bad, I really get bummed because I feel like I shouldn't have to work that hard to make something look decent.  Luckily it seems most Eduard kits require very little work to look nice and you just got one of their more... unfortunate... efforts.  Still, you cleaned them up quite nicely.

 

Also glad to hear that the customer service is excellent.  I have a 45 year (or more?) Revell 1/32 P-51B in the stash that my dad bought new and discovered it was short shot just behind the pilot's head (fuselage, not canopy).  His answer was to buy a new kit, I guess because customer service didn't come through (There's actually written information about the claim stashed in the box).

[bigbadbadge]

Great work on fading the mottling Mark, looks fantastic , cracking job on the Nacelles. What a shame out the canopy though. 

Chris

[mark.au]

Thank you for the kind words.

 

On 11/03/2024 at 11:05, opus999 said:

Also glad to hear that the customer service is excellent. 

 

It really is.  Communications were quick and helpful and less than a week after dispatch the replacement parts arrived in Australia.

 

 

Did you spot the one teensy weenie problem with them?  
 

These things happen, correct parts on their way now.  Hopefully.

 

But, because I’m impatient and actually running out of enthusiasm for this one, I decided to have a crack at a replacement of my own making.  I carved off the short-shot pane and cut a pane from one of the extra parts.  I slowly whittled the new pane to size and when I was happy with its fit I glued it in.

 

 

Can you spot the replacement?  It’s the fifth from left in the top pic.  There’s just a little misalignment in the mask which I only saw when looking at these photos; it’s corrected now.  Speaking of the masks, they weren’t properly cut so each one required cleanup to its edges once I pried it off the backing sheet.  It’s almost as if everything to do with Eduard’s 1/48 Bf110 is just not their best work.

 

Speaking of which…

 

Next, I painted the upper wing roundels.  
 

Wing assembly is on page 7 of the instructions.  Once I’d completed those steps I went on to paint.  On page 10 I found a surprise (bottom row)…

 

For some reason the intern who designed this one decided that this particular intake is added much later in the assembly than [to me] would seem logical.  My bad, I should checked…. Oh, and note also that the decals have suffered in the removal of the clear decal film that these new-style Eduard decals have.  It’s my first experience with them.  As it happens I quite like the effect as it’s nicely weathered them, but I’m not a fan I can tell you that.

 

Previously, someone mentioned the exhausts were garbage (my word, not his) and he wasn’t kidding.  The resin replacements can’t be found in Aus so I’ve started into the kit parts.  Here’s the rough assembly, needs a tad of cleanup wouldn’t you say?

 

 

If you’ve stuck with me to end of this whinge, good on you, I could barely stand it myself.  But, I’m confident I’m through most of the slog now and it’s soon on to the fun bits with the fuselage.

 

Cheers.

 

[modelling minion]

Very nice work on the canopy Mark, good use of the 109 canopies they sent you.

Those exhausts do look ripe for replacement but I'm sure that you will do a great job on making them into something good.

Nice job on the roundels.

[81-er]

Hopefully Eduard can get the correct parts out to you as quickly as these arrived, but you look to have made a good job of fixing the problem already. Those exhausts are definitely sub-par, I'm sure you more than have the skills to rectify them though

 

James

[Jabba]

As others have already said those exhausts do look rather bad. I have found a set of Eduard Brassin ones that I am thinking of getting for mine.

[mark.au]

1 hour ago, Jabba said:

I have found a set of Eduard Brassin ones that I am thinking of getting for mine.

Would definitely recommend.  What I didn’t describe is the state of the intake pieces, a really poor effort at design and worse in production.  I can’t use the correct ones for this airframe because they have sink marks I’m not prepared to fix.  

[81-er]

51 minutes ago, mark.au said:

Would definitely recommend.  What I didn’t describe is the state of the intake pieces, a really poor effort at design and worse in production.  I can’t use the correct ones for this airframe because they have sink marks I’m not prepared to fix.  

That's very disappointing from Eduard

 

James

[opus999]

Wow, what a bummer!  Those exhausts were really bad, but I'm sure you'll whip them into shape.  Nice save with the canopy!

[AliGauld]

Fantastic work on the canopy Mark.

I'm a bit awestruck that you've managed to cobble together a perfect canopy out of bits and bobs.

That exhaust is a tad rough but it will be no problem for a man with your skill set.

 

 

Cheers,

Alistair

[mark.au]

On 15/03/2024 at 09:49, 81-er said:

That's very disappointing from Eduard

 

 

Everyone has an off day now and again...

 

On 16/03/2024 at 10:26, AliGauld said:

I'm a bit awestruck that you've managed to cobble together a perfect canopy out of bits and bobs.

 

 

Luckily, it wasn't too big a sort shot and I was able to make cuts on the frames.

 

On 16/03/2024 at 04:16, opus999 said:

Wow, what a bummer!  Those exhausts were really bad, but I'm sure you'll whip them into shape.

 

This is where I got to with the exhausts.  I noticed in some higher resolution photos I found that the baffles themselves seemed to have an enamel-ish finish so I attempted to replicate that when I painted them.  I mixed up some flat black with a drop of burnt iron metallic and some gloss and applied it good and wet to get a nice sheen.  Then I bush painted the exhausts themselves with Burnt Sienna and a dry brush of Raw Sienna followed by a black goop wash to dull it down.  Last was just a smidge of silver pencil on the shroud clasps.  That process is more or less shown below.

 

 

I also processed the wings; first was a wash to accent some of the accessories panels and show some of the rivets and other surface detail.  I used a very dark brown goop for this.  There's just a touch of chalk pastels as well, mostly on the uppers.

 

 

 

There's a little clean up required on the port wing but otherwise I'll add the exhausts and the exhaust staining and the upper are done.  I'll also add the fuel tanks and other minor bits and pieces and then the wings are done.  Oh, and the nav lights need painting.

 

Finally, I finished the base paint on the fuselage.

 

 

After doing this I had an idea on how I might have tried it differently than how I mottled the wings.  It occurred to me that had I base-coated the topside with RLM75 I could have modulated how I laid the RLM76 on top to achieve the mottled effect.  I might still try it.

 

That's it for this weekend, they go by so quickly, don't they...?

 

Cheers.

 

[modelling minion]

You really are doing great work Mark, the exhausts have turned out really nicely and the subtle weathering on the wings looks great.

[81-er]

Top-notch work again. Mark! I really like the effects you've achieved on the exhausts, the two different finishes really add some nice variety and interest there. Not to mention how much work you must have put in before paint to make them presentable. The wings are looking very, very nice now, and there's a nice smooth base of RLM 76 on the fuselage to boot. I'm looking forward to seeing how you proceed with that, you got a superb result with your Uhu

 

James

[Dave Slowbuild]

6 hours ago, mark.au said:

That's it for this weekend, they go by so quickly, don't they...?

Now I’m retired, I find the whole week goes by so quickly!  😂

 

Lovely progress Mark, and I’m really enjoying your “captured” theme of builds.

[mark.au]

On 17/03/2024 at 22:01, 81-er said:

the two different finishes really add some nice variety and interest there

Thanks!  I think this is an under-utilised technique in our craft; various materials and sections of airframe always have different finishes and sheens.  We often fall into a one-size-fits-all on final finish but this can definitely enhance the overall result.

 

On 18/03/2024 at 03:33, Dave Slowbuild said:

Now I’m retired, I find the whole week goes by so quickly!

 

I’ve got around five years to go.  Not that I’m counting down or anything…

 

On 18/03/2024 at 03:33, Dave Slowbuild said:

I’m really enjoying your “captured” theme of builds.

Me too!  I’ve got several more planned and there’s even [hopefully] going to be a GB for it.

 

I attached the exhausts and added the staining.  This kit really has the oddest way of attaching the exhausts, utterly pointless complications IMO.  Maybe there was a mould engineering reason.

 

 

Then, I turned attention to the fuselage.  The more I thought about a fairly dense RLM75 and then a reverse mottle the more I liked the idea.  So that’s what I did.  Here’s how it looked after the 75 was applied.

 

 

Messy.  I filled the airbrush with some slightly more thinned than usual RLM76 and started applying a random squiggle cum splotch pattern to see how it would develop.   After the first few passes I had this.

 

 

To my eye it looked promising so I continued in the same mode, gradually building the 76’s density.  The final result (after a protective clear coat) is this.

 

 

 

To my eye, that looks very much like the photos.  It’s much better than the wings, but I’m not going to go back and change them (as I write this I really mean that, but I also said that about my first finish on the exhausts where I removed them from the sprue attachment but I went back and fixed them this morning - I saved you the details on that).

I’m hoping to push this forward quickly now as I’m itching to get into the Mustang GB.  Most of the grunt work is done, the markings will be relatively simple and then it’s not much more than some final assembly.  And the undercarriage, and the fuel tanks, buggah, I forgot about those.

 

Cheers.

P.S. I wrote this on my phone, the usual disclaimer about lacking proof reading applies.

 

 

[81-er]

I really like that effect on the fuselage, Mark, very nice indeed. The exhaust stains look great too

 

James

[modelling minion]

The paint work is fantastic Mark, a very effective technique. 👍 

[Zephyr91]

Wonderful effect on the fuselage.  I couldn't begin to do that, so I guess I'm condemmed to early war Luftwaffe splinter finishes!

 

Great stuff.

 

Rob

[AliGauld]

[Thom216]

Great technique with the mottle! Came out looking great,

[mark.au]

On 21/03/2024 at 10:12, Zephyr91 said:

I couldn't begin to do that, so I guess I'm condemmed to early war Luftwaffe splinter finishes!

 

 

You could, I've seen your splinter pattern; if you can operate an airbrush you can do this.  Paint the dark colour first in a random pattern and then overspray the lighter colour, also in a random pattern.  Stop when you get the density you're after.

 

Through a Friday afternoon with no meetings I was able to push on and get the markings painted.  First was de-Luftwaffe-ing the airframe.

 

 

Then, RAF-ing the airframe

 

 

There's a little MAD (Modeller's Artistic Discretion) at work here because the photos do not show AIR MIN 30 but I do know that this was it's AM number.  There's a degree of over exposure in the original Farnborough photos which has removed most of the fine detail from the fuselage; my basis for supposing that it could have been there is that the Luftwaffe markings must have been painted out and we can't really see that, either.  The little roundels are non-standard and to my eye missing the yellow outline so I used the logic that these markings were field-applied and therefore a little rough around the edges and not sign-writer quality.  Using the same supposition I'll also weather these marking a bit more than on some of the other captured aircraft I've done because, again, I supposing that the markings were several months old by the time we get to Farnborough in October 1945.

 

Last, I added the Wrk.Nr.

 

 

Apparently there's a little bit of paint bleed on the whiter in the fin flash - it's not visible to the [my] naked eye so it is what it is.  Macro is cruel.

 

Next is stencil decalling, then weathering.

 

Cheers.

 

 

 

 

Edited March 22 by mark.au