I started by scratch building some details, either missing, or just because I wanted to.
Those trim wheels are way to far up and back but I’m leaving as much of the original kit as possible just because I feel like it. So they stay where they are.
The kit supplied instrument decal took a few swipes of liquid cement before they laid down. They don’t fit the panel so be careful in your planning when you get to this point. You’ll need to cut them up and place them in four parts.
The belts are made out of painter’s tape and bits of styrene for the buckles.
I made myself a scribing tool. I sacrificed a dull No.11 blade and then sharpened it back up with a stone.
It works perfectly
The spinner decal took some serious working-over with 7 applications of liquid cement to get them to settle down. I left it over night and still had to do a bit of sanding to get rid of the stuff that wouldn’t settle.
After some painting and a gloss cote it worked out fine.
The parts still fit together really well. I’ve only had to use some putty just to blend things together.
A cote of dull and the spinner is finished until weathering.
Seams are in good order.
Spinner looks good on her.
And this is where I’m at with this one.
Thanks for peeking at it.
Toshi! If you can find this kit, you will love it. It goes together really well.
Thank you very much Mustang! I did not expect a reply so quickly lol.
This is coming together really well for me. It was this or their Dauntless kit with it’s all raised details and this one won hands down, but mostly because this is one of my absolute favorite birds.
For a kit released in 1979 it still fits together really well. The decals are rather thick but I know how to make them conform to my will lol.
Ah, yeah. The liquid cement trick is not for everybody and I can’t recommend it. You can totally ruin decals with this trick. It takes vast patience and you have to be 100% sure you never want that decal to move ever again. If you are still interested send me a PM and I’ll fill you in on it. But it’s a scary thing to watch and if you are not confident in your brush painting skills then you risk ruining your model.
Thank you Toshi! I totally recommend this kit to you my friend. It has just enough detail to make it fun to add stuff. Scratch building 101 is all I’ve done here. Nothing advanced except for the spinner I suppose, and that only because of the trick I used to get the decal stuck on there. You will really like this kit. The decals are thick as card stock and the paint schemes are a bit tricky, but the kit itself goes together really well and that is a bonus.
Thank you Martin! Not too much further to go before I can start painting the “clothes” lol. The schemes are tricky though and I’m thinking of using some oddball tricks to get the Fuselage patterns right. I’ve chosen the second scheme which was based in Sweden in 1945. The camo is more intricate on the alt scheme, but the primary box art scheme confuses me. I like the yellow on the primary scheme, but those dark grey patches just don’t make sense to my artsy side. They don’t belong on one side of the plane only and my OCD triggers just light up when I think of it lol.
Great work here! I’m really digging the look of those seat belts. So you’re a brush painter huh? Tough to do Luftwaffe stuffs that way. Looking forward to your results.
Super work on the 109, Mike. Some great scratchbuilding skills you’ve got there. Impressive work indeed. I’m certainly looking forward to the finished product.
I do have a small update for you. I found the Achilles heel of this kit; the canopy glass. Its something I wish I had the money to replace.
The gap is 1mm wide in 1:48, wich is about 2.48 inches in 1:1. I’m not sure how I’m going to fix this yet. I’ve been thinking it over and fortunately I have some black Sheet styrene but it is on the thick side. The canopy frames are not pronounced and if Revell were to update this kit it wouldn’t take much besides re-working the canopy in this kit.
I’m glad I’m not displaying this one with the canopy closed, but I could fix it easier if it did it that way. Hiding the new sheet parts when the canopy is not a uniform thickness is going to be tricky enough.
I am indeed an experience brush painter and for the last 5 months now I’ve been using an air brush and loving it. But yes I think I’m going to put down the main colors with the AB and then brush the camo onto the sides. I’ve done it before so I know what to expect.
I did this 1/72 109 from Testors last year and had loads of trouble with the decals and had to paint half of them on there after a masking tape problem lifted them off. You can see the mottling on the sides. The entire model was painted by brush and turned out okay.
You can clearly see that the swastika on the tail was far too big for this kit. They all were. So I made this one up as a game piece and it sits on the shelf looking pretty.
So yeah. That canopy is going to take me some time to figure out.
Thanks for your interest. I’ll get more pictures up after some more progress has been made.
Hey, nice brush painting skills alright[Y] If posing the canopy open, I wouldn’t fix a thing. No way to tell there would be a gap if it were to be shut. But I’m sure Squadron has a Vac Canopy for like 5-7 bucks?
