Here is the Revell Bf109G-4 Tropical kit, which I have built and painted to resemble Gunther Rall’s 109G-2. The plane was painted with Gunze acrylics, matte coated with shine magic and Tamiya Flat Base and weathered using preshading, fading and blending with lighter shades and post shading the panel lines with pastels. I have only a few odds and ends left and the kit will be finished. The decals are from the Aeromaster Early Bf109 Aces. Some minor alterations were adding stretched sprue to make the weld line for the supercharger intake, shaving down the rear wheel boot, using white glue for the wing tip navigational lights.
I finished the antennae by adding some insulators made from white glue, I also dida bit more weathering with silver pencil. I only need to add the morraine antennae and the pitot tube and she will be finished. I built this for someone in the US so I am going to have to carefully pack it so it does not move. I have an idea that should work
hey mm…wow that looks beautiful! in trying to learn better techniques myself, did you paint a final flat clear coat when you were all done? if so, what did you use to get such a nice flat finish (mine always seem to look satin rather than flat)
The matte coat is a combination I use, 7 parts Johnson’s Shine Magic and 1 part Tamiya Flat Base. This goes the same for Johnson’s Future etc. I mix it together and airbrush it on. If it comes out satiny I mix in a bit more of the Flat Base. I prefer using this mixture for various reasons. One is that a bottle of Future can be used for dipping the canopies in to give them a very clear finish, also as a gloss coat. The last step to achieving a nice matte blended finish is the use of pastels. Thank you for the comments.
Just super! I love the Flaps and the BIG details as well as all the fine things I see you did. And the paint looks like you did it standing next to the real deal on a flight line! This really inspires me. Thanks so much
Chuck
How can this be “inspiration”… all these photos just demonstrate how crappy my aircraft models are! If anything, it’s inspiring me to take up another hobby! Can someone post pictures of works of a beginner or mediocre modelist to make me feel better??
PSUMike - every modeler was a beginner at one time. Experience & the willingness to do the hard work leads to improvement. Every person has different strengths & weaknesses. People who go to a gym don’t work on their strenghts. They exercise the parts that they feel they can improve. If you enjoy building, keep at it. Improving your skills can make you feel better about your work. No one else can do that for you. Even the most renowned modeler in the world (whoever that person is) was once a beginner. Give yourself the chance to improve your skills. Good luck, & keep at it !
Holy crap…
That looks fantastic. You got the lighting just right for those pictures.
You should be very happy with that -
Send more pics when it’s done
Cheers, mate
LeeTree
Mike, like Pixilater said, you have to keep at it. I still find myself making mistakes and having to start all over. My recommendation is work on kits that go together without too much trouble. This will allow you to enphasize your efforts on the finishing work. It can get frusterating if you are trying to achieve a realistic or clean looking finish on a model if you have heaps of filler to sand down. I have spent many years trying to achieve more realistic looking models and I feel I am getting closer, but I must thank all of the fellow modellers who provide us with great articles and photos that are featured in FSM as well as the other magazines and web sites. Just keep modelling and trying new techniques. We are all at different levels and we can learn from each other.
Happy Modelling.
Anthony
