**** DONE: GB-36 1/72 BF 109E-4 - Axis Manufactured Aircraft of WWII

[parsifal]

It was a good movie I thought, and probably the (subconscious) reason I wanted to build this kit.

I will post photos of the corrections later today I hope

 

[Crimea_River]

The butcher in that pic reminds me of Cleese in the restaurant skit:

 

[parsifal]

So just quickly ( I have to go back to work as this is my lunch break) this is how the model looks after my further corrections:

 

[Airframes]

Yep, that's the one !
In the movie, the '109 is only partly seen in close up, from a couple of angles, for brief periods and, to the average viewer, would look real.
A few years ago, when 'off-roading' in the Lake District, I drove through Grisedale forest, and visited the site of Grisedale Hall, the PoW camp where von Werra made his first escape attempt. Sadly, only the foundations and some other stone work remain today, the Hall itself having fallen into disrepair and being demolished.
Another pilot from I/JG 3, Heinz Schnabel, was shot down at exactly the same time as von Werra, crash-landing a few miles away, and was also at Grisedale Hall. He was later transferred to Shap Wells Hotel in what is now Cumbria, (taken over as a PoW camp), from where he escaped, along with Harry Wappler, a He-111 pilot. They managed to bluff there way onto RAF Kingsnorth, posing as Dutch pilots, and took a Magister, intending to fly back to France or Germany, but ran out of fuel, and force landed, intact, near Great Yarmouth in Norfolk.
Having enjoyed a hot bath and the services of the Officer's Mess at RAF Horsham-St-Faith, Norwich, their true identity was discovered, and they were eventually returned to Shap Wells !

 

[Wurger]

 

[mikewint]

Nice work Michael

 

[fubar57]

Looking good Michael. I like that you are willing to improve on minor imperfections.

 

[parsifal]

I am slowly progressing I think. Last night I painted the canopy and did a small amount of the decaling. I am beginning to dislike canopies intensely. I thought I had done a nice job on them until I produced the following close ups. They will look okay at normal scale. They are as good as ive ever done. They still look wobbly to me......

decals are going on without too much drama at this stage.

 

[Crimea_River]

The close-ups are always brutal and can be quite ego shattering. Happens to me too.

The canopies don't look too bad at all, especially for 1/72.

 

[Wurger]

Not too bad Michael. However these marked parts of the conopy frame aren't correct. The cockpit hood of the Bf 109E-4 didn't have any there .

 

[mikewint]

Michael for 1/72 that is fantastic work. At some point I'm going to get fed up with trying to mask even in 1/48 and just spring for the commercial canopy masks. And don't feel alone I hate the buggers too

 

[Crimea_River]

Yep, forgot about that. Those moulded lines on the hinged canopy are actually the line between sliding and fixed glass sections. There are no frames there.

 

[parsifal]

Got to try and work out how to remove that now without damaging the canopy

 

[Crimea_River]

If you are using Tamiya Paint, try some window cleaner with ammonia. It might also come away fairly easily using a toothpick with the end cut like a chisel.

 

[fubar57]

Man....I think I painted those as well, stored for future reference. I do like your scheme choice now that I see full paint and some decals. Also stored for future reference. As Andy mentioned a while ago, maybe time to up the scale Michael. I built 6 1/72 aircraft and while they were quick to put together, I was never happy with the size. I am totally amazed though by they who add a brazillion parts to the cockpit and pull off some fantastic paint jobs. Agree with Mike as well. I just purchased my first set of canopy masks for my Defiant. They may not be 100% perfect but I can make mistakes a lot quicker

 

[parsifal]

i was lucky. I don't think the paint was fully cured because I was able to remove fairly easily in the finish pretty much using the toothpick method described by Andy except I used a nylon not wooden version

 

[Wurger]

 

[Airframes]

Glad you were able to remove the unwanted painted sections Michael. The canopy itself look pretty good, and I guess it looks much better to the naked eye.

That central frame on the Bf109E has caught out many modellers, and even at least two model kit manufacturers.
One of the problems is that, of the few remaining 'Emils' with the 'E4' type hood, the one mainly used for reference books, pictures and for kit manufacturers patterns, is the one in the RAF Museum at Hendon, UK.
The opening section of the canopy for this particular airframe (actually an E3 with the later style hood) was missing, so a replacement was fitted, which is the much later, heavier type from a 'G' (probably from a Hispano 'Buchon').
This canopy style was first faithfully reproduced on the Matchbox 1/32nd scale kit in the 1970s, and Airfix did the same for their relatively recent 1/48th scale Emil - a case of failing to ask questions when doing the research and measurements for a proposed model kit, and very common across the board of manufacturers, with at least Revell and Tamiya 'guilty' of similar errors on more than one of their kits.
The later, framed hood first appeared on the 'G' series of '109s, with the 'F' series having a similar style to the Emil.

The model is looking good Michael, and it's evident that you've put a lot of effort into this build, with the use of differing developing techniques and skills - well done so far !

 

[parsifal]

Thanks Terry very much needed and very much appreciated. I want this model to be as good as I can do....

I spent last night slowly continuing the decaling process. I'm treading very carefully as the decals are such an important element of the finished product. The airfix decals are marvellous, at least for me, but I have no spares I could use if things go wrong. So I'm checking everything...water temperature, positioning, lots of setting fluid. Cutting the stencil very carefully and neatly. I'm basically half done for one side of the fuselage

I should mention that I had to correct some slight overspray last night. After I had widened the wingtip flashes, there must have been a bit of overspray that got onto the areas near the wingroot. So yesterday I lightly touched up the area and I'm glad I did....looks much better now.

I still have a bit to go. Finish the decaling, seal them up. apply weathering to the main body. Put the final bits and pieces......including spinner and prop, canopy, undercarriage tail and tail wheel. I still have to mount the aerial and I notice that the thread I attached to come out of the dorsal area has disappeared. I will need to think of a very safe way of putting a replacement in ....I have a couple of ideas how. But I'm going to be tied up for a bit longer on this build ....probably for a couple of wweeks at the speed I'm progressing

 

[parsifal]

Starboard side decals are done, and the canopy has been corrected and tidied up.