Latest Project: Matchbox 1/32 Bf-109E-3
Discussion
The real Apache said:
dr_gn said:
The real Apache said:
nice work dr, are you going to give it a matt finish then some dirt/weathering?
Yes: the gloss coat looks terrible, but you need it so that the dark wash just fills the engraved detail, without staining the (initially) matt painted surface. Decals adhere to a gloss surface better too.The plan is to add some stencil decals here and there, then paint some paint chips/scuffs at random along the panel lines, then airbrush some exhaust/gun smoke, then add a bit of oil staining/grime/mud in a few places then an overall coat of XDFF extremely matt varnish to everything. It will look better then.
Few detail bits I wanted to get sorted:
First of all there are some strange jackets around the MG-17 gun muzzles - presumably some kind of gas seal around the cowling. I made these from heat shrink tubing shrunk around the correct sized drill bit. They were then sliced against an internal plug (to stop crushing) to form an elliptical edge. The lock bands are scrap phot-etch annealed and wrapped around a drill. I drew the line at making the actual buckles! Let's say they are underneath and not visible on "White 5"
:
Here they are painted and washed:
The rapid-prototyped hollow exhaust stubs required some 'shadow plates' attaching to represent the bits of the headers that bolt to the engine. These were made form plastic card. They are barely visible, and only from above so don't need any 'depth'. The join between the metal stubs and the plastic card is hidden within the fuselage exhaust aperture :
And some random things: navigation lights from stretched clear sprue, bulbed at in a flame at the end and painted with re/greem mixed with gloss varnish (the Klear/cooking dye method I used on the Spitfire has faded to clear BTW). The rear rudder light was stuck into some White-Tak and sprayed white around the base to reprent a bulb housing.
The spring shock absorber for the canopy is there too: its fuse wire wrapped around two opposed "U" sections of photo-etch.
Last thing for now is the antenna. I used black stretched sprue with a section of stainless wire stuck to the end. this will be passed through the mast hole and spiral wrapped to represent the tensioning spring. There are some wierd cone things at each end of the wire (presumably tiny aerodynamic fairings). I'm making these by cutting the tips off some robotic glueing nozzles that I'm using at work:
Here they are on the Duxford 'Emil':
First of all there are some strange jackets around the MG-17 gun muzzles - presumably some kind of gas seal around the cowling. I made these from heat shrink tubing shrunk around the correct sized drill bit. They were then sliced against an internal plug (to stop crushing) to form an elliptical edge. The lock bands are scrap phot-etch annealed and wrapped around a drill. I drew the line at making the actual buckles! Let's say they are underneath and not visible on "White 5"
:Here they are painted and washed:
The rapid-prototyped hollow exhaust stubs required some 'shadow plates' attaching to represent the bits of the headers that bolt to the engine. These were made form plastic card. They are barely visible, and only from above so don't need any 'depth'. The join between the metal stubs and the plastic card is hidden within the fuselage exhaust aperture :
And some random things: navigation lights from stretched clear sprue, bulbed at in a flame at the end and painted with re/greem mixed with gloss varnish (the Klear/cooking dye method I used on the Spitfire has faded to clear BTW). The rear rudder light was stuck into some White-Tak and sprayed white around the base to reprent a bulb housing.
The spring shock absorber for the canopy is there too: its fuse wire wrapped around two opposed "U" sections of photo-etch.
Last thing for now is the antenna. I used black stretched sprue with a section of stainless wire stuck to the end. this will be passed through the mast hole and spiral wrapped to represent the tensioning spring. There are some wierd cone things at each end of the wire (presumably tiny aerodynamic fairings). I'm making these by cutting the tips off some robotic glueing nozzles that I'm using at work:
Here they are on the Duxford 'Emil':
looks good again (can't believe you bottled the fasteners on the straps he he only kidding}
A good idea to use shrink tubing
I imagine the sleeves are to stop a build up of air pressure inside the cowling and they must work, how many pictures of Bf (or Me) 109s have we seen with cowlings blown out by air pressure? Exactly... they must work*
I think the cones are intended to stop signal loss by water running down the HF wires and earthing against the airframe. Sort of like the glass and ceramic flashover insulators on power pylons
[i]*I'd have a few bob on me being entirely wrong here
both times[/i]
any way it's looking gooder all the time
b
A good idea to use shrink tubing
I imagine the sleeves are to stop a build up of air pressure inside the cowling and they must work, how many pictures of Bf (or Me) 109s have we seen with cowlings blown out by air pressure? Exactly... they must work*
I think the cones are intended to stop signal loss by water running down the HF wires and earthing against the airframe. Sort of like the glass and ceramic flashover insulators on power pylons
[i]*I'd have a few bob on me being entirely wrong here
both times[/i]
any way it's looking gooder all the time
b
perdu said:
looks good again (can't believe you bottled the fasteners on the straps he he only kidding}
A good idea to use shrink tubing
I imagine the sleeves are to stop a build up of air pressure inside the cowling and they must work, how many pictures of Bf (or Me) 109s have we seen with cowlings blown out by air pressure? Exactly... they must work*
I think the cones are intended to stop signal loss by water running down the HF wires and earthing against the airframe. Sort of like the glass and ceramic flashover insulators on power pylons
[i]*I'd have a few bob on me being entirely wrong here
both times[/i]
any way it's looking gooder all the time
b
Those are interesting theories Perdu. No idea about either really, but the water deflector sounds feasible. They do remind me of the trailing cone sensors on test aircraft, which is why I thought stabilisation:A good idea to use shrink tubing
I imagine the sleeves are to stop a build up of air pressure inside the cowling and they must work, how many pictures of Bf (or Me) 109s have we seen with cowlings blown out by air pressure? Exactly... they must work*
I think the cones are intended to stop signal loss by water running down the HF wires and earthing against the airframe. Sort of like the glass and ceramic flashover insulators on power pylons
[i]*I'd have a few bob on me being entirely wrong here
both times[/i]
any way it's looking gooder all the time
b
Cowlings blown out - do you mean the top rear of the engine cover? I thought I read that some had the engine cowling rear edge flared upwards for better ventilation (White 5 has this feature judging by photos) and the Matchbox version features this too. Having said that, many pictures of '109's don't show it, nor do the majority of models. Don't forget there are two open vents in front on the gun troughs, and the oil cooler duct, all of which would allow air to enter the engine bay. The canvas/leather cover over the rear of the instrument panel was to stop ingress of machine gun gasses into the cockpit, so I assumed the muzzle seals were an additional measure against this?
Not long now...waiting for some Eduard stencil decals from a surplus stash in Canada believe it or not! then it's paint chippng, and a bit of smoke staining.
Cheers!
dr_gn said:
Eric Mc said:
Hi folks. Just back from Telford
I think those cones on the antenna wires are ceramic isolaters - as Perdu intimated.
Eric,I think those cones on the antenna wires are ceramic isolaters - as Perdu intimated.
The cones are metallic, and fit directly to the wire. The white joiners on the wire are the insulators.
Cheers,
One tricky thing to get right on a '109 is the u/c leg angles. They are angled both forwards and outwards. I made a very simple balsa wood jig to get this right, so hopefully it will work out (even though it's difficult to account for any spring in the plastic.) I've used plastic cement in the centre of the attachment points, surrounded by a bead of araldite to give some extra support:
Hard-Drive said:
Come on, come on, dying to see this with the canopy masking removed!
Same here! Someone on Britmodeller from Canada very kindly offered to send me some spare stencil decals from an 1/32 Eduard '109 kit, but they haven't arrived as yet, so can't make any more progress.How long is it safe to leave the canopy masking in place?
I remember some masking I used that hardened in place and was hell to remove afterwards
I dont think it was Maskol, but rather something a mate suggested in a model shop
But senility reigns... I cant remember what it was called
The 109 is looking rather nice, I see you found another good use for balsa
I remember some masking I used that hardened in place and was hell to remove afterwards
I dont think it was Maskol, but rather something a mate suggested in a model shop
But senility reigns... I cant remember what it was called
The 109 is looking rather nice, I see you found another good use for balsa
perdu said:
How long is it safe to leave the canopy masking in place?
I remember some masking I used that hardened in place and was hell to remove afterwards
I dont think it was Maskol, but rather something a mate suggested in a model shop
But senility reigns... I cant remember what it was called
The 109 is looking rather nice, I see you found another good use for balsa
Perdu,I remember some masking I used that hardened in place and was hell to remove afterwards
I dont think it was Maskol, but rather something a mate suggested in a model shop
But senility reigns... I cant remember what it was called
The 109 is looking rather nice, I see you found another good use for balsa
The decals arrived today: they're already on! Just weathering now...
The masking tape is Tamiya's finest. Fingers crossed.
perdu said:
good news then
and a point to remember stored in the old fuzzbox
Perdu, you've clearly got modelling in your blood, you've got a stash of unbuilt kits, and you enjoy the build threads and models on here...I don't understand how you CAN'T have at least started a model again by now. I don't get it!and a point to remember stored in the old fuzzbox
Come on man...this weekend make a start and post some pics! Everyone wins!
dr_gn said:
Couple more final details.
Gun muzzle seal buckles:
(you didn't really think I'd leave them off did you Perdu
)
And the radiator flap indicators (brass rod):
NOW you are modellingGun muzzle seal buckles:
(you didn't really think I'd leave them off did you Perdu
)And the radiator flap indicators (brass rod):
Not leaving things off is what it's all about.
I remember discussing this with Alan Hall one day at the Birmingham IPMS Expo.
For me it all began from reading his conversions in Airfix Magazine.
I decided I could make in plastic conversions that Alan made with balsa and other materials (even plastic wood filler)
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