rowmk9 Posted November 10, 2010 Share Posted November 10, 2010 (edited) Hi all, My plan to enter a French Leo 451 has stalled as I have to find suitable replacement decals (not too many sheets out there!). So rather than get all glum about it, I'm going to enter something that is ready to go right now - my Airfix 109 kit with some Sky Models Decals I had hanging around. Box shot: The scheme chosen: Posting shots of the sprues is rather superfluous, considering Mike the BM Boss has already reviewed the kit and taken some lovely pictures of the bare plastic. See HERE for the kit review. Oberstleutnant Carl-August Schumacher was an interesting man and the small amount I know of him made me choose his aircraft to model. He was not a young and dashing fighter pilot, although his rank - equivalent to Lieutenant-Colonel - may have given that away. He was instead, a former Navy officer who had fought in the Battle of Jutland in 1916 as a Fähnrich (candidate officer), but he had transferred to the Luftwaffe in 1934. In the winter of 1939/40, he was commander of JG 1 and in this capacity he participated in the air battles against RAF bomber formations during the 'Phoney War'. He also took his unit into battle during the the invasion of the Netherlands. He survived the war but his exploits after the Blitzkrieg had less to do with flying aircraft than commanding (i.e flying a desk). His most famous action has to be on December 18th 1939, when he commanded his unit in what became known as 'The Battle of the Heligoland Bight'. This battle pitched unescorted Wellington bombers against 109's and 110's with predictable results. Of the 22 Wellingtons sent out on the mission to bomb shipping in the waters off the German coast, 12 were shot down, and of the survivors only 3 were left undamaged. This battle was one of the factors behind the RAF decision to switch to night-time operations. Schumacher himself claimed one Wellington shot down. The scheme as depicted in the Sky Models decal sheet says Spring 1940, so is likely more in keeping with Schumacher's exploits prior to and during the Battle of the Netherlands. I'm not sure if it would be accurate for Dec 18th 1939, but either way, its an eligable scheme and a fairly attractive one. Edited November 19, 2010 by rowmk9 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Erwin Posted November 11, 2010 Share Posted November 11, 2010 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rowmk9 Posted November 11, 2010 Author Share Posted November 11, 2010 I've made a start on the kit, I'll post piccys tomorrow or saturday. I have a quick question first though. The instrument panel on the E-3, RLM02, RLM66 or Black? I know the rest of the cockpit is RLM02 but I just wanted to check for the instrument panel. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mentalguru Posted November 11, 2010 Share Posted November 11, 2010 (edited) I've made a start on the kit, I'll post piccys tomorrow or saturday. I have a quick question first though.The instrument panel on the E-3, RLM02, RLM66 or Black? I know the rest of the cockpit is RLM02 but I just wanted to check for the instrument panel. Personally, I would go with a medium grey Edited November 11, 2010 by Mentalguru Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tango98 Posted November 11, 2010 Share Posted November 11, 2010 Some early E-1s had 02 instrument panels but the norm for late E-1s was the same as for the E-3 and E-4: Black-Grey 66. However, that being said, there is pictorial evidence of 02 panels installed in some E-4s and E-7s. As these were pre-painted before installation odds are that during production of the E-3/E-4 if they had run out of a supply of 66 finished panels but had some in 02, it is unlikely that production would have stopped and the 02 panel would have been fitted. HTH Dave Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rowmk9 Posted November 12, 2010 Author Share Posted November 12, 2010 Thanks Guys, some top info I've gone for RLM66 but drybrushed the panel with a medium grey (Citadel Codex Grey) to hightlight it. Here's some progress pics of the interior. Lifecolor RLM02 was used, along with citadel acrylices for the smaller details. As you can see, the build is completely OOB, nothing added. I've even left the ejecter pin marks in place as I'm planning to have the canopy closed to display the lines of the aircraft when parked up, but we will see. Being my first time with the kit I just want to see what it's like straight from the box. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Doug Rogers Posted November 12, 2010 Share Posted November 12, 2010 Looking good Rowan, that's what I did with mine too, 02 on the cockpit and 66 on the IP. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dahut Posted November 13, 2010 Share Posted November 13, 2010 Thanks Guys, some top info I've gone for RLM66 but drybrushed the panel with a medium grey (Citadel Codex Grey) to hightlight it. Here's some progress pics of the interior. Lifecolor RLM02 was used, along with citadel acrylices for the smaller details. As you can see, the build is completely OOB, nothing added. I've even left the ejecter pin marks in place as I'm planning to have the canopy closed to display the lines of the aircraft when parked up, but we will see. Being my first time with the kit I just want to see what it's like straight from the box. This looks about right Roland. Ive been looking at 109 interiors a lot lately and the grey used for the floor and sidewalls has a decidedly greenish tint. RLM02, in other words. The IP and framing seem to have a darker grey, RLM66-ish. I think you've nailed it. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AnonymousDFB1 Posted November 14, 2010 Share Posted November 14, 2010 Nice work rowan, it's a nice kit isn't it? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rowmk9 Posted November 15, 2010 Author Share Posted November 15, 2010 Cheers Mish! Yes it is a very nice kit, I'm enjoying it alot. Here's a pic of how Schumi's 109 looks right now. A bit of filling and sanding will follow and then things like canopies and pre-shading will be happening. After examining a number of 109 photographs in Heinz Nowarra's Bf109 reference book, I've settled on a upwards deflection on the elevators. Seems to me that some parked up Messerschmitts had the control surfaces set into this position, rather than left all droopy. Similarly, the leading edge slats have been closed as the majority of parked 109's I've seen in the book are shown as such. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Erwin Posted November 16, 2010 Share Posted November 16, 2010 Very nice work so far. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rowmk9 Posted November 17, 2010 Author Share Posted November 17, 2010 Thanks Erwin, I've some more progress today. The aircraft had its canopy added and masked off (minus the mid section that I'll do later). It was then preshaded with flat black and the topside camo was painted on. I used blu-tac sausages to form the demarcation between the camo. Some people may not like it, but judging from the reference pictures I've seen, there is a distinct blend between the two colours and not a straight line (as would have resulted from masking tape). I used Lifecolor paints for the camo, I'm quite happy with the shades produced. anyway, pics! (I apologise for the poor quality of the pics in advance) Preshaded Topside camo Blu-tac sausages in place to mask off the topside camo (some masking tape was added to the top to cover it completely before spraying) masking removed and the scheme comes to life. a little bit closer in. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rowmk9 Posted November 18, 2010 Author Share Posted November 18, 2010 Some more progress today. The undercarriage is on along with the majority of the decals. Naturally the decals went down after the model had been varnished. Instead of Klear I went for Zero Paints pre-thinned clearcoat. Lovely stuff, and in my opinion it is better than Klear, but its pricey in comparison. Maybe I'll save it for the special models anyway, here's how Schumacher's mount looks like now (I'm sorry for the camera flash, its dark in here at night!) The matt patch forward of the canopy is where I tried an airfix decal and it silvered terribly, and i scratched the paintwork removing it. I'll sort it out soon though. Not a massive amount left to do. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dahut Posted November 19, 2010 Share Posted November 19, 2010 Tidy, tidy. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Muller Posted November 19, 2010 Share Posted November 19, 2010 Looking good! Great paintjob! I find the 109 doesn't come alive until the crosses go on. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
smuts Posted November 19, 2010 Share Posted November 19, 2010 Hi, very nice clean finish. Andy Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rowmk9 Posted November 19, 2010 Author Share Posted November 19, 2010 (edited) Thanks for the kind comments guys. Muller - you're right, it really started looking the part once the balkenkreuz's went on. Anyway, I've actually finshed it, but being night time it is not worth taking proper pictures yet, that will have to wait for Saturday or Sunday. However, here's a sneek peek The model was given a promodeller wash (but this was largely removed as I wanted it cleanish, so just enough to accentuate panel lines). In a similar manner, the panel lines were carefully picked out with a very heavily thinned down Tamiya X-19 Smoke. A touch of XF-64 Red Brown and XF-1 Flat Black was added into the thinned X-19 to create the exhuast stains, which I tried to keep restrained seeing as the aircraft would have been kept in excellent condition (it was the CO's kite after all). I left the canopy open because I mucked up the framing alignment when masking, so this way it hides that mistake More and better pics to follow this weekend. Edited November 19, 2010 by rowmk9 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
FalkeEins Posted November 19, 2010 Share Posted November 19, 2010 ..very nice indeed.. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Deacon Posted November 19, 2010 Share Posted November 19, 2010 That looks brilliant Rowan. Well done. Deacon Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
thx6667 Posted November 19, 2010 Share Posted November 19, 2010 Sweet! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Touvdal Posted November 20, 2010 Share Posted November 20, 2010 Very nice, super job cheers Jes Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Erwin Posted November 20, 2010 Share Posted November 20, 2010 (edited) A very nice result! Edited November 20, 2010 by Erwin Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rowmk9 Posted November 20, 2010 Author Share Posted November 20, 2010 Ok, here is Carl Schumacher's aircraft, finished and with some better (though not perfect) pics. Thanks to everyone who has commented kindly on my model. It is not perfect or as good as some of the beautiful work that goes on around this site, but I'm fairly happy with how it has turned out. And I simply couldn't resist. Here's a pic of the Bf109E-3 next to a Bf109G-14 that I have in my collection. It shows the evolution of the 109 from the first year of war to the last. There were earlier and later variants, but these do illustrate the development fairly well, along with the changing fortunes of the Luftwaffe. Don't worry Blitzkrieg mods, This pic wont go in the main gallery Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CliffB Posted November 20, 2010 Share Posted November 20, 2010 A beautiful job Rowan and great photos too! Cliff Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Killingholme Posted November 21, 2010 Share Posted November 21, 2010 congrats on a very nicely finished build. I too think the 1939-1945 comparison is very interesting, and standing model aircraft side by side, regardless of 'real life' anachronisms, is in my opinion one of the great attractions of modelling! Will Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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