Thanks Russell! Yes, I'm slowly coming to the stage of putting some paint on my Mersus. While MT-508 will get the usual german RLM 74/75/76 camo with the checkers, MT-230 will get that finnish "Sota Maalaus", which looks really unusual on a Bf 109. In my book I read that at least ten G-2 got the war paint. But I have no informations how many G-6 got it. But there were also a few.

Made some slow progress this week towards painting. First I masked the canopies with the included masks ....


.... then I painted the canopies with Revell Aqua Dust Grey No. 77 and attached them to the fuselages ....

.... and masked the cockpits with Kip Tape because I want to show them in the open position later ....


.... on the undersides I stuffed some kitchen paper (yes, I still have a few rolls!) in the wheel wells, here on MT-230. Same procedure was done on MT-508 already ....

I'm already a bit further but have taken no photos yet. I think I can spray primer on the models tomorrow and then start with RLM 04 on MT-230 and RLM 76 on MT-508. So stay tuned for another update soon ....

Have some nice Easter days!
Torsten

Despite the sunny weather here today, I stayed at home and did some work on the Mersus. First some white primer over all ....


.... and just fresh from the paint shop, the first paint is on, the yellow Eastern Front markings on MT-230 ....

.... made with Revell 310, which equals RLM 04 and RAL 1028 Melon Yellow, but Revell calls it Lufthansa Yellow ....

.... but there's no more yellow in the new Lufthansa livery ....


I will mask the markings tomorrow and MT-508 will get its RLM 76 underside. Another update soon ....

Torsten

Have done again a bit work on my "Covid Builds" this weekend. MT-508 got RLM 76 Light Grey on the underside and the fuselage ....


.... I have used Vallejo 71046 Pale Grey Blue for that. Vallejo recently came out with a "new" RLM 76 (No. 71257), but I think, this one suits better. At least for my taste ....

.... and MT-230 got its yellow markings masked and the underside and rear fuselage painted with RLM 65 Light Blue ....


.... I have used Revell Aqua 49 Light Blue for that, which comes very close to the tone the Finns used ....

Sorry for the photos under my bench lamp. I made photos earlier today with sunshine but they became all crap .... Probably my camera drank too much egg liqueur ....

Next step will be masking the underside of both Mersus and then spraying RLM 75 Grauviolett on MT-508 and Olive Green on MT-230. So next update will take a few days.

Stay safe!
Torsten

Nice work on your Covid builds Torsten

Your camera and mine must be sharing the same egg liqueur as my photos are always a bit off too

Thanks Russell! The photos got all blurred. Don't know what the camera focused on ....

Anyway, I did some work on my builds this week. Painting MT-230 went really well, there's only little to correct later (see arrows). Everything is painted freehand ....


.... have used Revell No. 361 Olive Green ....

.... and Vallejo 71251 NATO Black for the upperside. Don't have Black from Vallejo yet ....

But when I painted RLM 75 on MT-508 suddenly my airbrush turned into a paint spitter (or was it a Spitfire ?). I believe it was too low pressure and the nozzle was clogged .... So I cleaned everything, changed needle and nozzle and carried on. I will repair this after I have airbrushed RLM 74. Accidents can happen ....


Hope to show you another update soon.

Have fun!
Torsten

Torsten! Are you building full-time now ? Solid freehanding on the green/black one!



Magnus

Awesome work on the MT 230, Torsten

As for Mt 508, that should be SpitPaint

Nothing so bad that I'm sure you'll have it fixed up in no time at all

Thanks guys!

Magnus, I still work 40 hours/week at my company. As I work in the dispatch department we have a lot to do now. It would be impossible to work from home for me and I also don't work short time. I try to work 1-2 hours on the builds every evening when I'm home. With the contact limitations (in german "Kontaktbeschränkungen") and all restaurants and bars closed here at least until 4. May there's not much else to do. So I make good progress with my Mersus. And on the other hand, there's my Leopard 2 Campaign on Armorama waiting around the corner, starting on 1. May. Though I will not have fin(n)ished these builds until then.

Russell, yes, I think it must have been a Spitpaint. I believe in real life a Blue Hakaristi Bf 109 most likely never met a Red Star Spitfire during the conflict. It was different for german Bf 109 over Russia though ....

Anyway, I masked all necessary parts on MT-508 today to paint RLM 74 soon and repair the mess afterwards ....


Have a nice week!
Torsten

MT-508 is shaping up nicely Torsten

PS. Good to hear you're still working

Thanks Russell !

Have done a bit work on my finnish racers, mostly on MT-230. First I took some care of the spinners (for Magnus in german "Propellernabenabdeckung" .... ), using a new green tape I recently found in the internet for MT-230 and an Eduard spinner spiral (EX500) for MT-508 ....

.... and the result ....

.... further work was done on MT-230. I noticed that the black blotch on the rear fuselage was too big because the black registration will be placed there, so I took a paint brush and made it a bit smaller ....


.... some more touch ups have to be done with Light Blue on the underside ....

.... when I came home from work today I airbrushed RLM 74 on MT-508 which went a lot smoother than RLM 75 last weekend but I still have to do the repairs on the fuselage ....

.... have used Vallejo 71258 RLM 74 for that ....

Have done a bit more work already but this is my update for today. Both machines are now slowly turning into what I want them to look like.

Have fun and stay safe!
Torsten

Have been working on MT-508 today to repair the mess and paint the mottling. It took longer than I thought. First I covered the wings completly with newspaper against overspray. Then I sprayed RLM 76 on the right fuselage side and had again some overspray on the RLM 74/75 parts .... So "counter corrections" and highly thinned RLM 74 and 75 for the mottling. On the left side only at the front part because everything else is covered later with the checker decals. I'm not 100 % satisfied with the result but I leave it this way now. Did already worse on other models. Honestly I'm more a fan of "heavy mottling" like on Juutilainen's MT-222 or on some of my german Bf 109.

Anyway, this is the result of todays work. Have to do some touch ups with RLM 76 and will try to correct the paint runner on the left front fuselage ....



.... this is mottling as I like it. It's Gerhard Barkhorn's "Double Chervon 5" with which he flew his 1000th sortie and scored his 250th kill. Kit is also an Eduard G-6 ....


I will work on the landing gears and propellers later, so another update follows soon.

Have a nice weekend!
Torsten

some to-ing and fro-ing with the mottling Torsten, but has turned our really well

Thanks Russell! Yes, the mottling on MT-508 didn't turn out bad in the end. As I said, I already did worse. And I should stop looking at the mottles through a magnifying glass .... The look of the right fuselage side is hypothetical anyway because it seems as if there's no other photo of MT-508 as "Aircraft B" existing as the one I've posted on the prior page.

Okay, the props are ready for action ....

.... yesterday evening the order was "wheels down" for MT-230 ....

.... hmm, what did I just say? Landing gear down is quite helpfull before landing ....
Photo taken from the book "Suomen Ilmavoimat 1943"

.... first thing I had to test this morning. The prop is still a bit loose. The pin is tiny ....


.... yesterday I read that the Ilmavoimat got 14 Bf 109 G-6 as "gun boats" but no G-2. So I'm wrong here, but I take it as the freedom of the artist ....

Have done the paint corrections on MT-508 also and attached the landing gear ....


.... when I looked at MT-230 this afternoon I realized that the painting is done and only the pitot tube and the underwing balance weights are still missing. So it was time to give it a shiny look. I use Bodenglänzer for that, which is a german equivalent for Future, which we don't get here often. Bodenglänzer has more or less the same effect ....


I will concentrate now on MT-230 with the decals to finish "The Big Three Campaign". MT-508 will be fin(n)ished a bit later, the decals are also a bit more complicated here ....

Have a nice week!
Torsten

MT 230 is looking good with all its colour on now

Thanks Russell! Yes, MT-230 is developing really well now. And that finnish "Sota Maalaus" camo is pretty unusual on a Bf 109. Even more than on their Hurricanes they had. Have built one of those (HC-452) some years ago.

No new photos yet, but MT-230 has got her first decals on. At a first glance I thought Eduard has only one set of finnish language stencils on the sheet, which I need for MT-508, but I have discovered that there are 2 sets of these stencils on the sheet. So I will use both of them.

Meanwhile MT-508 has also got some layers of Bodenglänzer on. So more decals there soon.

Torsten

Good to hear the decals are going on Torsten!

Nearing the finish line now

Torsten! Some work more than ever, some don't work at all - it's strange times that we live in right now!

Regarding your mottling troubles: have you ever thought about using other paints than Vallejo? I have lots of them but nowadays only use them for brush painting, I have never really gotten along very well with them in the airbrush. Especially not for freehand work or mottling! My go-to for precision work is always Gunze even if I use other brands a lot (nowadays MRP but they are smelly...).

Stay safe!



Magnus

Just a quick shot of my decal work until this evening. Those Cartograph decals are just perfect .... It doesn't look like that but the Hakaristi are the toned down version (no white disk).



More to come soon! Have a nice long weekend!
Torsten

Magnus, I wouldn't call it "troubles", it's more a bit of impatience sometimes and if that happens the main problem always lies between my ears .... I like to work with the Vallejos and have about 90 of them. I like their big range of colours and my airbrush (a Triplex, made in Germany) works well with them. German and italian WW 2 mottling is probably the most difficult camo to apply.
I do have some Gunze paints and use them sometimes. But since the paint desaster on my SAAF Gripen early last year (you might remember) I have stepped back a bit from them. But you're right, I should give them a new chance ....

Well, MT-230 has got all decals on and sealed, balance weights and an extra pitot tube, which is included in the kit. The only thing missing now is the canopy and a flat coating, which I will apply tomorrow. The prop is now glued to the fuselage. Everything should be done by next weekend, including painting the tubes of the 20 mm underwing guns ....
No decals on MT-508 yet but I'll start on that one soon.

Torsten

I will miss these builds when they are finished Torsten

Thanks for those kind words, Russell! Much appreciated But there's no need to worry, as MT-508 is still upside down in the decal hangar. Have started with applying them.

But now I open the hangar doors for MT-230 and call this build done. I even didn't forget the starter crank for an emergency start. The only thing I will add later is a small thread for the canopy.

Messerschmitt "Mersu" Bf 109 G-2, MT-230, 2./HLeLv 28, Finnish Air Force, Värtsilä, Summer 1944
Pilot: Kapteeni Jaakko Puolakkainen (1915-1999)






More and better photos soon in my Assembly Line Thread. An update of MT-508 will follow soon, so stay tuned!

Torsten

No feedback at all on a finished build ....? Hm, what did I wrong?

In the last days MT-508 got the decals. If you also want to build this model you could take this as a tutorial "How to" or at least how I did it. After applying the stencils I started with the decals on the left wing. Have started with decal 20 what looks to my like some nordic symbol. It must be placed at the wing tip ....

.... in Step 2 I added the insignia (decal 5). It must be placed right next to the sign, there will be a small overlapping with it ....

.... be careful to place it correct so you'll have the same distance to the wing tip as the insignia on the right side, which I have applied earlier. If you follow the instruction here you can't go wrong. Both outer ends of the roundels are 31 mm away from their wing tip. Well done ....

.... in Step 3 it's time for the "Big B". Decal 55 fits exactly between the flaps (see red arrows) and covers a bit of the bulge for the wheel of the landing gear. But be careful, it's a big decal ....

.... finally I applied also the other symbol (decal 10) on the left elevator. Also here be careful to place it correctly (see red arrows) ....

There are 5 more decals for the checkers on the fuselage which I will show you next time.

Stay safe and have a nice weekend!
Torsten

Hi Torsten!

My apologies for not commenting sooner on your excellent rendition of Bf 109 G-2, MT-230

Work has been manic and home schooling the kids at this time takes up a lot of our day!

Nonetheless, great work and thank you for sharing

Now, your 508 is nearly there too, and looking magnificent in all those decals! Wow! Like an eagle's wings outstretched!

Be great to see the checkers finished!

Torsten! You have to be a bit patient waiting for comments ! I love the MT-230, I might have to find one of my Fine Molds kits in 1/72 and start it soon! I visited Vanda in 1992 and one of our guides had flown both the G-2 and the G-6. The G-2s were rather tired after the war!

Waiting for the other one, keep a steady hand with those decals...



Magnus

I think you'll find that it's because we're all stunned speechless.