¹⁄48

The Dübendorf Brothers

Building the prototype conversion parts

Prior to starting such a project, it is necessary to have enough reference material but also to choose the kit to be modified (picture 1). I decided it would be Tamiya's 1/48 scale Bf 109 E-3 as it is easy to find and easy to build. The kit is very good and quite accurate. Only minus is probably the cockpit which could have been more precisely done. But the quality of the external details is terrific and there is also the possibility to depict the plane with dropped flaps and slats.

The First step was to separate the areas in front of the cockpit from the rest of the fuselage halves (picture 2). The V-13 and V-14 having no armament, the two gun openings were filled with plastic rods and sanded smooth (picture 3). The location of the supercharger air intake of the E variant was filled and a new one was made with a styrene tube (picture 4). This new intake is probably the most recognizable feature of this particular aircraft. In picture 5 you can see it finished. The typical exhausts of the "Emil" have also been deleted and replaced by a simple piece of plastic. The lower cowling in the same picture was my first attempt at modifying the original, but it wasn't convincing so I later replaced it with another. The exhausts were then drilled (picture 6) and sanded to shape using a round file as they were rectangular with round edges.

Having used a lot of filler on the main engine part, I decided to set it aside to dry and to concentrate on the wings. The V-13 and V-14, as said before, had no armament. Therefore, the typical underwing bulges, introduced on the Messerschmitt with the E-3 variant, had to be removed. I decided to copy the technique Hasegawa used to backdate their E-3 kit to the E-1 version and made two plugs to fill the underwing bulges (picture 7). I used "FIMO" Modeling Material to make these parts and once done, they were put in the oven to harden. I also had to modify the landing gear doors (they were longer on the prototypes) by adding small pieces of plastic. You can also see in picture 8 the new lower cowling taking shape.

Picture 9 shows all the parts of the conversion set prior to painting. The spinner was also modified with the typical small venting holes. The first coat of paint is a good reveal for small imperfections (picture 10). Some areas had to be filled again and sanded smooth to achieve a perfect finish. This is necessary as every mistake will be visible on the resulting resin part if not eliminated prior to molding. Finally, after a lot of hesitation and refining, the original conversion set was finished! I choose to leave it with a matt finish (picture 11) because I think that resin parts are easier to work with such a surface. If you are not used to moldings, you should know that silicone replicates the texture of the initial part. If the prototype part has a glossy finish, the resulting resin part will also be glossy... and much harder to sand than a matt surface!