Hello everyone!
For years I never share my R/C builds or plastic builds on any forums; but I figured it’s time to start – now at my ripe old age of 24! When I started this diorama build, I did not have intent on posting it, so I don’t really have any WIP pictures of the 109. I will have WIP pictures of the Kubelwagen and the diorama base itself.
One of my favorite aces of WW2 is Joachim Müncheberg, so luckily I did not have to purchase any aftermarket decals when choosing this kit.Yes, the Tamiya decals worked just fine! Excellent kit and the aircraft I wanted to represent – win, win. The 109 is built straight from the box with the exception of a few interior Eduard placards, and Eduard photo etch harnesses. The harnesses came form Eduards 49002 set “Seatbelts Luftwaffe WWII Fighters”.
Here is a link to Joachims Wiki page! http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Joachim_Müncheberg
I modeled mine with the flaps down BUT the LE slats retracted. I read a few places that sometimes ground crew would close the slats by hand after landing to keep dust and such from collection and causing a malfunction. I also came across a picture of the ground crew doing so.
I only made three modifications to the kit itself. Obviously this is an earlier 109, so the shoulder harnesses came through the top of the seat. Tamiyas seat is solid, so I did have to cut out oval for the harnesses to pass through. This was easily taken care of by drilling the proper sized whole side-by-side, then using a fresh #11 to cut out the center. The second modification being an oxygen hose made from wrapping a super-small diameter wire (not sure of diameter) around another piece of the wire. The final modification was scribing top and bottom seam lines on the fuselage. Oh, yes – I did add antenna wire as well. But that’s a given! I did not weight the tires because it will be sitting in non-manicured grass. So it will hide the bottom of the wheels. EDIT: I still have a little work to do on detailing the antenna wire and I still have to make the exhaust stacks a little more sooty.
Though not picked up by the camera, I did dust of the arframe,wheels, and tires quite a bit. Most of the weathering was done with a light amount of color modulation, pigments,and a light amount of chipping.
The topside of the model got a light airbrush of Flory wash. I went a bit heavier with airbrushing the wash at the bottom and build up layers. The underside came out OKAY, but I did have a small tragedy that involved me removing the airbrushed wash from the bottom and restarting – thus leaving the weathering on the underside a bit – uneven. Be that as it may, i’m more or less happy with the end result.
The diorama will be simple. It will feature a nice, stained base with longer, untrimmed grass. The 109. And the Kubelwagen. The pilot and driver will be standing next to each other reviewing a map as per the way Tamiya molded them. The pilot figure (Joachim) is wearing a late-war flight suit that I doubt Joachim truly wore. But my goal is not to spend a lot of money, so instead of going after-market for the pilot, I will use what is supplied.
I TRIED to keep this short, so before it gets longer, i’ll stop here! If you have any questions, please ask[H] It may not be the best work but hopefully Joachim, though long gone, will be proud.
