Here are some of my other new projects, they are all 1/48 scale Bf 109's. Two are old Hobbycraft kits and the other is a Hasegawa Bf 109G-14.

Here is the very start of these models.


The airframes are now built and some pre-shading added...

...and here they are after the pre-shading has been covered up.


I have started the painting of the upper surface colors beginning with the airbrushing of the scalloped wing leading edge demarcation lines.


You will notice I have masked the fuselages on all three models, this is not because of I am concerned about over spray, its because I learned the hard way its WAY too easy to leave fingerprints in fresh paint, the masked off areas give me something to hold onto whilst painting the wings and tail planes, the fuselages will be painted after the wings are dry.

Matrixone

Hi les,

Very nice work so far!

How did you be the waves on the wings? Seems impossible

Can't wait to see more of this lovely trio

James.

Thanks James!

The wavy paint job on the leading edge of the wings was done free handed, I find it much easier to free hand the Luftwaffe paint schemes than trying to use soft masks.

The rest of the camouflage on these models will also be free handed.


Matrixone

Les,
a really nice trio. I don't know if you did this on purpose, but the pre-shading on the bottom is slightly different for all 3 109s, so the effect is completely different after the base bottom color was applied. Personally, I prefer the lightest application the best. But then that's just me.

Looking forward to your next update.
Joel

Thank you Joel,
These are going to be finished as three very different 109 variants with matching weathering so yes the pre-shading is different for each one.

The K-4 will get the most weathering since it was one of the early built K-4's and it survived until May 8th, it was used mostly on the Eastern front and it looked pretty thrashed at the time of surrender.

Another 1/48 scale Bf 109 has been started very recently, this one is the very old 1980's era Revell Bf 109G-10.
Here is what it looks like at the moment, the red arrow points to the place where I snapped the upper wing half whilst trying to reduce a warp in the plastic...this older plastic sure is brittle!
The two props in these pictures are for the 109's above, they are painted and much of the weathering has been done on them.




Matrixone

I have built several 109s using the Revel G-10, Otaki G-6 all are good representation of the real a/c. I find them really cheap at shows. I usually replace the seats with ultra cast ones. For the Otaki the hub is out of shape and use a replacement.There are zooms from Eduard which can be useful as well. I can find conversions for the Otaki to make the tall tail. As for fixing warped wing hold it over a steam bath which will soften the plastic which will allow you to form it into the proper profile. A great looking production line. Will be looking forward to the final completion.

Thanks Trevor,
The wing that snapped in half really caught me off guard, I barely put any pressure on it and then...SNAP! At least it was a really easy fix.
For fixing severely warped plastic parts I usually dunk the offending part in hot water and after pulling it out start bending it in the needed direction.

The Revell 1/48 scale Bf 109G-10 is one of my favorite older kits, no its far from perfect but if you correct the too flat dihedral and use good aftermarket decals these kits can look really good.

The rest of the camouflage has been painted on three of the Messerschmitts.



Here is the Hobbycraft Bf 109G-6


This is the Hasegawa Bf 109G-14, this model will be marked as ''yellow 18'' of JG 3, this 109 had some crudely painted over former markings as well as some bad paint chipping and retouching on some of the fuselage panel lines. These features were copied on my model.


And the last one is 'Frankenschmitt', built from the HobbyCraft Bf 109K-4 kit. The full size aircraft was flown by II./JG52 at the time of surrender but there are signs of older painted over markings on it from another unit.


Matrixone

Hi Les, as usual very good airbrush hand, the trio looks very distinct one from another so this makes them very realistic. They prove you have a very flexible artistic eye otherwise the trio would be more look alike I suppose.

One question: are those overpainted codes made with airbrush or simple brush?

Cheers
Pedro

Thanks Pedro!

The good thing about the 109 is they had so many different versions and variations in the camouflage schemes its easy to build several at once and yet still not be totally bored with how they look.

The Hasegawa Bf 109G-14 had the older markings painted over with a paint brush, the painted out older markings on the HobbyCraft Bf 109K-4 was all done with the airbrush. As much as possible I use my airbrush for painting.

Matrixone

Painting continues on the 109's.

Three of the 109's have had the wheel wells painted RLM 02, the Revell Bf 109 has had the tail planes painted with its very distinctive pattern of the 109 I am modeling. They are being painted off the model to make them easier to paint plus the fin/rudder will be get the stencil applied mottles as seen on many late war 109's so not having the tail planes on the model really helps.

Below are the drop tanks, I wanted these to look really well used and beat up so I added some dents. The red stencil markings have been overs prayed with thinned RLM 76 to give them an aged look. Yes they dents are rather extreme looking at the moment but once the oil streaks and dirt is put on the drop tanks the dents will hardly be noticed once the tanks are hanging under the models.


I mentioned in this post that the Revell Bf 109G-10 will be getting the late war stencil applied mottles on the fin/rudder and here is some tips on an easy way to paint this camo pattern without using a stencil.

Below is an old unused tail from a Revell Fw 190D-9 that I am using for this demonstration, it was given a coat of RLM 76.

Next I used a small round paint brush and RLM 83 green paint to establish where I want the mottles to be.

I loaded my airbrush with the same RLM 83 paint and started to fill inside the mottles...be sure to stay inside the lines!

Below is the finished painting demo. The red arrows point to where I went outside the lines to give the effect of a stencil being slightly lifted and giving it a soft edge.

The above method of using a combination of paint brush and airbrush would make painting WWII RAF camouflage patterns a breeze.

Matrixone

The models were gloss coated with Future and decals put on...



Matrixone

Les,
I'm really impressed with the trio build. Each is so different from the other two because you took the time to get the individual camo paint schemes correct. I really like how you handled the over painting of earlier markings: paint brush on one, and air brush on the other. Two totally different looks, yet both look realistic.

Your demo of how to do effective and correct mottling is pretty effective. I've always just free handed it which never comes out near what I was trying to accomplish. Although last effort I used a pencil for a guide. Never even thought about hand painting. Will be giving that method a try.

I kept on looking at your one spinner with at white squiggle pattern. You really nailed it. It's just perfect.

Looking forward to your next update on the trio.

Joel

Les, "DITTO" what Joel stated. I am enjoying the squadron build and I learned something from the posts especially those fuel tanks. Thanks for your time and efforts in building and sharing with us. Looking farward for more photos of your finish.


Bob

Thanks Joel and Bob!

Below is a wartime photograph of ''yellow 18'' and you can see just how crudely the older markings were painted over...also check out the fuselage seam lines! I have never seen an operational 109 that looked quite like this one and I tried to copy these effects on my model, after the flat clear coat is put on I will carefully add some bare metal effects to the edges of the fuselage seam lines with a sharpened silver artists pencil.


Matrixone

Before doing much more on these 109's I did some weathering on the K-4, the yellow ID markings on this aircraft were thinly applied and had started to come off allowing some of the camouflage paint underneath to show, I scraped off some of the yellow paint on my model to copy this effect.




Matrixone

Oh I like patchwork-planes! Great effects on the K-model with the flaking yellow paint.

Thanks Eirik!

I really like the look of the Luftwaffe planes that were photographed just after the end of the war, often they were rather beat up and were patched up by the ground crews to keep them flying, such aircraft make for a nice challenge to try and model.

Matrixone

I also like the look of "hand-me-down" planes, some of the Bf109's flown by the Italians at the end had started their career on the eastern front (in North African theater factory paint jobs no less), been repaired,field camouflaged, repainted wgen redeployed to new units, and finally ended up in Italian hands where yet another set of markings was painted on. In the end they must have had pounds of extra paint on some parts that was still original!

Les,
Your weathering has now taken on a whole new look as it's reached a higher level of realism. Simply outstanding use of specific reference material, and then applying it to your model.

I too was more then just a little surprised at those panel lines. The default has always been darker. Only lighter when there really wasn't a darker option.

Really looking forward to your next update.

Joel

All three are moving right along , well done so far ! Really like the camo and weathering . All around excellent work






Terri

Thanks Eirik, Joel, and Terri!

These three 109's are getting close to being finished, most of the small bits are on and have been painted and a little more work with oil paints has been done to add some oil drips under the engine cowls.

Here are two pictures of the drop tanks that have been given some oil drips and streaks...it was common for drop tanks on 109's and the short nose Fw 190's to show oil drips from the engine on them.





All the dents I put in these drop tanks are all but invisible now, I wanted them to be barely noticed on the finished model(s).
After the flat clear coat is put on the models I will use a small paint brush to add some Future on the oil streaks to restore the ''wet'' look to them.

Matrixone

Three of the four 109's are just about finished, the last part of weathering effects are done and final assembly has started so this will be the final set of in-progress pictures.

The G-14


The K-4



Matrixone