Finished....1/48 Hasegawa Messerschmitt BF 109 G-2 (Work in Progress)

Modeling Subjects Aircraft
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Hello all, having just finished the new Eduard Spit. MK IX, I find myself in a Luftwaffe mood, particularly a Messerschmitt. I’ve built Hasegawa’s G-6 and G-14 and I’ve had this G-2 in the stash glaring at me for quite a while now. A look at the sprues, specifically how the cowl goes together, its appears to be a slightly different kit than the other two (the decal sheet says 1991). I think its earlier but I could be wrong. This particular box comes with plenty of nice scheme options, to include Steinhoff, Trautloff and Gunther Rall’s JG 52 “Black 13” from 1942. I’ve always been intrigued by Rall’s combat history, having chalked up 275 kills, and he seemed like a really nice guy in all of his interviews as well. Its time a pay homage.

I started with the cockpit. I already had a True Details G-1 thru 4 cockpit in my resin stash, so I decided to utilize it. These are nicely detailed and fairy cheap too. To give you an idea of the difference between True Details example and the kit parts, heres a few pics before paint. I think in the case of Hasegawa’s 109, which is pretty spartan, its worth the supplement.

The “stock” cockpit…

Now the True Details version…

I don’t know if you can really tell from the pics, but the True Details example is far more detailed, especially the side walls. I also like the diagram sheet that TD supplies with all of the parts in the appropriate color (below). I don’t know how accurate they are (that prominent fuel line that runs along the starboard side is supposed to be yellow in the G I think), but its a great starting point.

Well, I preshaded everything XF-1 Flat Black and the cockpit was then painted RLM 66. To represent this, I sprayed Tamiya XF-63 German Grey cut with bit of XF-53 Neutral Grey to lighten it up just a bit. I then hand paint all of the details the appropriate colors using the above picture above as a loose reference. I normally try to find some PE for instrument panels because I love the detail they tend to present, but this time I went the old fashioned route. I reasoned that the 109 IP wasn’t all that complicated, and I definitely could use the drybrushing practice. I painted the bezels XF-1 and drybrushed everything Floquil Old Silver. I figure I’ll give it a wash, add epoxy for glass lenses, then call it finished.

Here where I left off. Its still needs some postshading to dirty it up a bit, a Testors Gloss Coat, then a “Detailer” wash followed up with a Testor’s Dull Coat. More to come soon.

Joe.

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Very nice work so far.

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Joe, Looking good. Is that your normal 'pit painting method, lay out the parts on a clothes pin with blue tack? Pretty good idea. I just paint mine on the sprues, which leads to “where is that damn control stick again?”

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Taggin along!! Fine work so far on the pit!! Can the block on the bottom of the pit floor remain or does it have to be removed??

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Thanks guys. MAgather, yes I always remove the pieces and attach them in this manner for painting and general handling. I can’t remember where I learned this trick but I’ve been doing it for years. Eric, thats a good question about the resin block. I’m hoping to get away with not doing so since I actually hate sanding these almost as much as masking canopies. If I remember correctly from my G-6 and 14, it may only need slight sanding to fit. I will advise accordingly.

Oh …and I have no idea what happened to the first picture…Photobucket hiccup? It was just a picture of the box top as seen in that last picture (upper right). Anyone know how to edit a post after its posted?

Joe

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There should be a pencil icon in the lower left corner of your posts Joe. Click that and it allows you to edit them.

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Such nice work. Had to do a double take from the first pic to the second, thought it was a before and after detailing, THEN I read the text! Very encouraging!

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Great start Joe, looking forward to seeing this come together.

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Thanks guys. Eric…thanks, I never noticed that icon…duh. In for a quick update. I gave the cockpit a “Detailer” wash then dull coated it. I added some clear epoxy to the IP lens to simulate glass. I decided to forego the postshading because I felt the RLM 66 was dark anyways. In case anyone is curious, here’s the detailer wash I use . I swear by this stuff.

Heres how it looks applied…

I closed up the fuselage without issue. Hasegawa does not seem to supply the promiment luggage door (I think thats what it is) on the back of the cockpit sill in their 109 series, so I fabricated this with sheet styrene and .10 styrene rod for the hinge.

I got the airframe together in about an hour. The cockpit and IP were inserted up into the fuselage without issue. I did however have to sand the casting block on the cockpit floor slightly for clearance of the lower wing which was no biggie. This is for the most part an easy kit to assemble. The same cannot be said for the cowl engine covers. They just don’t fit well on this kit, typical of Hasegawa and their inserts. I don’t however recall issues here on the G-6 and G-14 I built. After trimming a bit and some finnagling, I added Tenax to the gaps and it melted the panel lines into a more appropriate size. Its passible now. I have read these panels didn’t fit all that great on the real thing.

A test fit of the windshield. The fit looks like it will be good here…

I hope to get a primer coat added tonight, maybe more,

Joe

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Sweet!

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Nice. These kits build up fast don’t they? The cowl inserts on the later G kits are designed different and only include a top piece. That’s why they fit better.

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It also occurred to me when I re-read your original post about the panels not fitting well on the real 109 that many inexperienced modelers sand the joint smooth on the top of the fuselage and do not rescribe the panel line that runs the length.

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That pit looks awesome Joe!!

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Thanks Eric, Reasoned and Nathan. Reasoned, I forgot about the panel line along the spine and bottom of the fuselage. I’ll have to scribe those in. Nathan, I just saw that, out of curiousity I pulled a G-6 out of my stash and then remembered the cowl differences. They must have saw the design flaw and changed it. It seems the G-6 kit is slightly more detailed too since there are a few rivets added here and there.

Joe

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I also end up with a little gap at the top of the cowling panels, so I use a small styrene strip and scribe some lines in it and leave it slightly raised up to represent a hinge.

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That’s a neat idea.[I]

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That’s a great idea Nathan…and nice 109. How did you drill out those small scoops. That looks great! I was scratching my head trying to figure out how to do this without loosing them to the floor forever (another “nice job” Hasegawa), so I just painted the front black. Reference the cowl, I remedied this by using styrene “tabs” glued from the underside for attachment points. I then glued the two top pieces together at the said tabs and let it dry. The seam itself never touched the glue. This way I preserved the hinge detail on top (darn…I should have snapped a picture). I think it worked fairly well but what a lousy fit and design.

Anyways, I got a little bit more work done. I scribed in the top spine and bottom fuselage panel lines using Dymo tape and a Squadron scribe tool (which is getting dull) then pre-shaded the all panel lines with XF-1. For the areas that are supposed to be RLM 04 yellow, I cut XF-3 Yellow with a touch of XF-7 Red to brighten it up a bit. Truthfully, I cant tell the difference between RLM 02 yellow or regular yellow so I just eyeballed it. For all I know there isn’t a difference other than the snazzy name…lol.

If your one of the people who have trouble airbrushing yellow…follow these instructions with these ingredients:

  1. Take Tamiya XF-2 Flat White and thin it with 91% Isopropyl Alcohol. Get the consistency to thick milk. Do not use any other thinner. Forget Tamiya X-20, their lacquer thinner, Mr. Gunze leveler or any other thinner for this purpose. Spray the white first and let it dry (few minutes).

  2. Thin the yellow mixture the same way as the white and spray it. I usually use about 15 or 20 psi and spray several light coats until you get the look you’re after. Still transparent?..add more yellow.

The trick is that the white applied first helps gives the follow up yellow depth and the alcohol dries so quick the paint doesn’t have time to build up. Its as simple as that…end of debate…lol. Kidding aside, this works great for me. I recently did a P-47N with a yellow tail using this very method and I had zero trouble.

Anyways, I sprayed in the lower cowl, lower wing tips, then the fuselage band for Rall’s JG 52 bird.

That’s where I’m at so far, I hope to start on the RLM 74, 75, and 76 soon. I’ll be using Gunze Aqueous for the 74 and 75 which I think are the best for these colors to my eye.

Joe

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You’re a machine Joe! Yeah yellow in the AB is a PIA (at least for me), that’s a good solution but I use enamels so a variation is in order. I did try white primer under it this time which helped a lot. I think RLM 02 is a little darker than the standard “yellow”, at least to my eyes but at the end of the day it won’t matter if there is nothing to compare it to.

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I think that yellows looks pretty bright and rich, I like it. Will be ‘borrowing’ this method on my current build Joe! Moving this one right along!

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Joe, I drilled out those scoops after I cemented them to the cowling using a small drill bit to start, then oblonged them out with an exacto blade.