Hi all, I just posted some pics of my first effort at a plane and this is a WIP of my second.
This will be OOB except I have used some Eduard etch belts. I have just joined the wings to the fuselage and filled some seams. I have painted the base colour for the wheel wells also. I painted the spinner with some Lifecolour RLM o4 yellow and this morning I sprayed on some Humbrol gloss coat through my Aztec airbrush- this was my first go at airbrushing a gloss coat and until now I have only used Mr Hobby gloss coat from a can but was not really happy with the way it sprayed and also the amount of gloss.
here are some pics- any C&C welcome!









cheers

Looking good so far Anthony. I've been eyeballing this kit myself. How's the fit been so far? It doesn't look like you've had to do much filling.

thanks Greg, the fit is very good. the join between the wings and fuselage is almost non existant! Looks like it will be a quick build- a lot quicker than the armour models I am used too. The only thing I have found frustrating at the moment is the canopy( on my previous model) this canopy may be sompler though(hopefully)
cheers

I love the Has. 109 kits and yours is looking great. I have never used the life color paints before, but the yellow on the spinner turned out excellent.

Looks good, Anthony. Nice details in the cockpit.

Looking forward to see more

Thanks Taylor and Jesper. I will post an update later today. I am up to masking the canopy! As I am a beginner this is not something I am enjoying- anyone got any tips?
cheers

upgate time!
I finished the bulk of the plane now. I lowered the flaps and elevators - I had to cut the elevators but am happy with their look. I got the canopy masked- yipee and put the canon pods and mg bulges etc on.












more to come

cheers

Nice looking job so far.Looking forward to the painting. The Hasegawa 109's are good,got 15 of them but only one built

Hi Anthony,
Well certainly looking good and you have managed well with the canopy. Masking canopies is not easy but shouldn't be looked on with horror What did you use for the masking? For striaght line masking of canopies an easy method is to cut thin strips of masking tape, lay them along the frames then fill in with further pieces of tape. I use Parafilm-M but that requires several techniques to master but the beauty of it is that it leaves no residue. Another tip when masking canopies is to make sure that you clean the surface. All I do is to place the clear parts, on at a time to prevent scratching, into a lidded jar of Isopropynol (Rubbing Alcohol) and shake for a few moments. I then dip the parts in Klear (an Acrylic floor polish). You don't need to dip the parts but if you don't clean them it is very likely that, when you remove the masking tape, the paint will be pulled of, due to the release agent and finger oils still on the frames. ( I know this from personal experience ) And another tip, which you probably already know, when painting the canopy frames paint the interior colour first, then, when you paint the camo colours paint over it with them. This is done for 2 reasons:
1. The interior colour will show through on the inside as interior canopy framing.
2. The 2 coats of paint will prevent light shinning through and making the canopy framing appear lighter than the rest of the airframe.

If you haven't cleaned the canopy prior to masking then you still may be able to using a cotton bud, dipped in Isopropynol, if you have it (but that does depend on what you have masked the canopy with) Or use a cotton bud dipped in mild soapy water, which would be much safer. Just don't have the cotton bud to wet as excess water might effect the adhesive on the masking tape. You may actually get away with it as it could possibly just be me that falls foul to this sort of thing

Just a little something for possible futre reference. The propellers of Luftwaffe aircraft were usually painted RLM 70 Black Green. In your pic the blades look black, but I could be wrong.

AS I say this is looking good so keep it up, I'm looking forward to the final result

Mal

Hi Mal- thanks for your feedback.
I used Parafilm which I "borrowed" from my brother, I just stretched it like he told me to and placed it over the canopy and then cut the frames. Thanks for the tip on the isopropyl and the polish- I need to try and get my hands on both of these but I know I cannot get Future or Johnsons here in OZ. I did by some One go polish which I read is similar but this is yellow in colour so I haven't used it.
with regards to the inside frame, I have'nt done anything with that- oh well a rookie mistake. How do you mask the inside, I had enough trouble trying to do the outside!

The prop is Black green with a touch of black, maybe I should go over it with the plain black green?

This is only my secong aircraft model so I appreciate all the feedback and advise.

cheers
Anthony

Anthony:
Just one more possible technique is to use Bare Metal Foil as a mask. The steps I use are:

1. After you cleaned the canopy, cut out a pice roughly the size of the glass panel.
2. Burnish down the foil with a toothpick, paying careful attention to the edges.
3. Use a fresh #11 blade and lightly trace along the frame lines. To much pressure could do more than cut the foil

This stuff makes great sharp lines and I have neve had any problem with paint bleeding under the mask. It works great on bubble canopies like yo see on P51Ds. I use it to mask off and paint the ID bands on Luftwaffe AC. They always look better to me painted.

The only caution is not to leave the mask on the canopy for too long or you could have a little residue left. If that happens use a little Goo be Gone adhesive remover and a cotton swab. I assume that stuff is available where you live.

Hope that helps

thanks Taylor, not sure where to get bare metal foil from here in OZ. I will keep my eye out.
cheers

update time
I have done the spinner and prop but had a heap of trouble with the spinner decal especially transfering it from the backing paper to the spinner which resulted in it twisting on itself. I ended up using micro sol and when dry I brush painted the broken/stuffed bits.
I then glued the prop and nose cone together and am happy with the finished product but am thinking about re-painting the props just black green- as per previous discussion I added some black to it originally but it is now too black (if that makes sense)
some pics








I am now going to pre-shade the panel lines so more updates to come soon

cheers

ok pre-shading done. It is a sunny Saturday here in OZ and the wife has taken the kids out for the day- yipee!! so I am pushing on.
Any comments/suggestions welcome








more pics to come soon.

after I did the pre-shade I thought why not pre-lighten as weel(I know this has probably been done before) so I sprayed some tamiya white in the centre of most panels with a squigly motion. I was pleased with the results.

I then masked the wheel well area and sprayed it Tamiya RLM Gray (RLM 02??)

The whole plane was then airbrushed RLM 76 LichtBlau from the Lifecolour range suing my trusty Iwata HP C Plus, allowing some of the pre-shading to show through.

Hi Bro- She's looking good so far!

Glad to have converted you from only building "targets".

I will have to start my 109 now to keep up with you!

Anthony,

Outstanding work, especially for your second plane. Are you new to modeling? It sure does not look like it and I will be watching this with interest.

-Derek

Hi Derek,

thank you for your kind words.
This is my second plane. Last year I got back into modelling (1/35th tanks) and have done 3 tanks. I used to build planes about 17 years ago (im 34 now- gee time flies) but back then I only brush painted and didn't know anything about weathering etc.

I read a lot and buy modeling magazines and books so I know about some techniques etc but putting them into practice is another thing. I am really enjoying this model and touch wood everything is going well.
I have painted the RLM 75 and RLM 74 on the upper wings and will post some pics soon.
cheers

Great preshading job. I wish my second (or 50th) looked that good. Looking forward to seeing the rest.

Well, that's a nice Gustav!

Thanks Taylor and Arseny. I did some more last night,
starting with masking the fuselage


then painted the RLM 75 using Lifecolour acrylics



Then I masked for the camoflage using silly putty and masking tape


end result




I am going to paint the Yellow (RLM04?) under the engine next

cheers

Me too. I actually made it all the way to the register at my LHS with it. After a quick tally of the days purchases, I decided to maintain a bank balance instead.

But one day, she will be mine....

Well Anthony you haven't lost anything in 17 years. Nice work. I'm enjoying watching your progress. Keep the updates coming.

Thanks David
ok I got carried away last night and forgot to take pics. I painted the RLM 75 and RLM 74 to the upper fuselage and then did the mottling on the side fuselage.
Once this was done I realised that the cowling mg bulges are supposed to be Yellow doh, so I taped them and sprayed a light coat of white and then RLM 04 yellow.
This was followed by a coat of Humbrol gloss cote and left to dry.




decalling next!

The mottling along the fuselage looks great. Did you do it freehand or mask it? It's the one area that i have difficulty getting look realistic.Thank you,Bob