Airfix 1:48 Bf109 (New Tool)

[Guest]

Yeah, blame me, I am used to it Mike lol. Only thing I cannot stress to much with this kit is the thickness of the sprues where the parts attach. I have fond that with smaller parts, and some bigger, that the best way is to clip off the part by cutting and retaining a bit of sprue, i.e. don't cut close to the part. Once you have this part with sticky out sprue bits, get it flat on the bench and cut off the sticky out bits with a knife. Being a new mould, this is a very tight kit. If something does not appear to fit right, it is only because you a=have not cleaned it up properly. Press the fuselage halves together and it is a real job separating them again lol

[stona]

Looking really good Graham. The camo is a doddle to mask,I've done a few! The hardest bit is getting the mottle to look right,not too dense but not too fine either. Are you doing Galland's machine? I'm guessing,from the time,that it would be W.Nr 5819. If so I've got a few piccies of that machine on this very computer. The Airfix profile looks very good though.

(I know he flew a W.Nr 5966? (old memory) but I think that was an E-7)

Cheers

Steve

I've done some drop tank digging.DEFINITELY the E-7 was factory equipped equipped to carry the alloy 300l tank included,for some reason, in this kit. According to Galland himself the E-7 reached his unit (JG26) in early November 1940. This puts them technically outside the period called the BOB by the British.The drop tank installation was not a field modification. It was a factory conversion, resulting in a new designation. E-4 became E-7, E-1 became E-8, E-6 became E-9. This maybe why I was a little confused over my E numbers earlier!

Interestingly some aircraft may have been rigged up with the ability to use a tank earlier,though they were not used during the battle. One problem with effecively doubling the Bf109Es endurance from 1.5 to 3 hours was a lack of oil capacity. An interesting feature discovered in the wreckage of a crashed Bf109E in February 1940 was a tap in the cockpit with instructions to pump over extra oil after 1.5 hours flight.

Anyway,the upshot of all this is that BOB period Bf109Es did not carry drop tanks.

Incidentally people building "defense of the Reich" fighters nearly always fit the drop tank. They've got an,at best, 50 percent chance of being correct as,according to captured Luftwaffe pilots, they were only ever fitted for the first interception of the day. Subsequently the Luftwaffe expected to get a whole Gruppe re-armed,re-fuelled and airborne in less than half an hour,hence no drop tanks.

Here is a page from a large U.S.8th airforce document compiled on Luftwaffe (GAF) tactics from POWs etc. It comes from the section headed "Interception Procedure"

It's there in black and white!

Cheers

Steve

[Guest]

It is indeed W.Nr 5819 Steve with the "Micky Mouse" cartoon on it from JG26 that I will be doing the model as. Airfix class it as a 109E-4/N.Strange camo in that there is part of the splinter that comes over the top of the fuselage behind the cockpit but most of the top is in the colour of the sides. As you say, getting the mottle right will be the hardest bit but, hey, who wants easy...........

Quality information as always Steve

EDIT, put on hold for couple of days, had to order some paint from John. Talk about forward planning lol.

[stona]

The central part of the spine shouldn't be the same colour as the sides! It should be RLM02.That camouflage was factory applied with the high demarcation line. Only the various mottling and overspray was applied later. It would have looked something like this (with the exception of the fin/rudder which they are mucking about with).

You can see in this image of your subject that the colour on the spine of the aircraft above the balkenkreuz is not the same as that on the sides,they are RLM02 and RLM65 respectively. The sharp demarcation line has been intentionally blurred when the mottle was applied.

Here is an illustration of the factory scheme before the squadrons sprayed all over the sides.

Cheers

Steve

[Guest]

Cheers for that Steve. You have clarified what Airfix do show but for some reason, I did not spot. In the colour diagram, the green does continue as a sharp splinter behind the canopy but I had misread the colour behind that up to the tail. I thought it was the side colour but it is in fact as you say, the lighter colour of the wing.

No fault of Airfix's, just me not looking close enough. Cheers for that, and thanks for the help in getting the best out of this lovely kit, much appreciated.

Good to see Steven Fry in the cockpit again (last B&W picture)

[stona]

No worries. I've also noticed looking at several pictures that you don't need to apply all the little frame numbers along the lower part of the fuselage. They dissapear (oversprayed) quite early on in this aircraft's carreer! I hate those bl**dy things,even in !/32 scale.

Cheers

Steve

[Guest]

Well, as usual, I could have set my watch by the arrival of the paint from the shop. Cheers John, bang on time again. Progress will begin again shortly.

[yak face]

No worries. I've also noticed looking at several pictures that you don't need to apply all the little frame numbers along the lower part of the fuselage. They dissapear (oversprayed) quite early on in this aircraft's carreer! I hate those bl**dy things,even in !/32 scale. AARRGGH!! now i find out! those tiny little numbers on the italeri 1/72 bf109f-4 were a nightmare, still , good to see theyre putting that amount of detail on a 1/72 decal sheet. Just to make it authentic though graham, youve got to apply all the tiny numbers,in the right order of course,then spray over them LOL!!!!!!! cheers tony

[Guest]

youve got to apply all the tiny numbers,in the right order of course,then spray over them LOL!!!!!!!

Mmmm, cannot wait for that insane little pleasure..... Anyway, a little progress, I have sprayed the RLM65 Hellblau and it is looking very sweet with a bit of colour on it. I just love those Xrtracrylix paints, they airbrush so nicely.

[AlanG]

What do you use to thin them Graham?

[Guest]

I use what I call a generic Alcohol based thinners. Not sure what the make up is but it is the usual stuff. I get it from a local Railway modellers shop but I may start using the Xtracrylix thinners that John has in the shop as it is cheeper for his 300 ml than I have paid for 250ml. Just running my stock down. I have also used purified water to thin it, the only time I ever have and, apart from drying slower, it worked OK. Still prefer to use the alcohol based thinners though and have not used water since.

[Guest]

Graham i love the progress on this so far, please tell me you are going to open up the cowlings and show that lovely engine off? The detail for an airfix kit looks superb i deffinately want one, keep up the good work and keep postin the pics.

scott

[stona]

Graham i love the progress on this so far, please tell me you are going to open up the cowlings and show that lovely engine off? The detail for an airfix kit looks superb i deffinately want one, keep up the good work and keep postin the pics.scott

Hiya Scott. I'm sure Graham can do that as on the E model the entire upper cowling lifted off in one piece! It must have been a pain since later models adopted a hinged system.

Cheers

Steve

[Guest]

Cheers for that little bit of info steve will remember that when i get mine.

scott

[stona]

Here you go chaps. They say a picture is worth a thousand words!

Cheers

Steve