Like Damian I would like to start a build blog for my next project, a double build of FiAF Messerschmitt Bf 109 G "Mersu" for the "Big Three Campaign".

2 years ago (is it really that long ago already?) I bought this fine Limited Edition of Eduards Bf 109 G kit as a Dual Combo. It took me only a few seconds from seeing this box in their online shop to pressing the "I want this!" button ....

.... this box offers 2 complete kits of a G-2 and a G-6. And it's really hard to choose the version as Eduard is so unfair to offer 10 options, with 8 wartime Mersu, among them such famous aces like Juutilainen, Nissinen or Puro and 2 post war machines with the new roundels as the national insignia ....


.... I won't describe every sprue here, just have a look at the contents ....




.... plus some nice PE parts and a mask for both Mersu ....

.... because I bought the kit directly at the Eduard online shop I have got the complete decal sheet with all Hakaristi (divided for the german market and completed for the rest of the world) ....

.... the building intruction is a little booklet with both versions in it ....



.... as I said, it's not easy to decide which option to build, as I can choose only for 2 out of 10. Okay, the first option is easy. That can only be MT-508 of the Utti Air Racers from that Midsummernight Festival at Utti AFB in June 1950 ....

.... this is the only known photo of the original plane "B" (MT-508). In the background you can see plane "A" and the wing on the right might belong to plane "C" or "D". I also found a b/w of plane "D" in the internet but that Mersu was not as colourful as "B" ....

.... okay, now we have a G-6, what about a G-2 for the 2. build? Hmmmm .... oh, look here! A Mersu in so called "Sota Maalaus" (War Paint) ....

Now I have my options together and everything which is left over will be stored in the overtree box which came with this kit ....

I hope to finish my current campaign build within the next week and will be ready for a flying start with these beauties. I hope some of you will join me for the ride ....

Btw., I like the background of the box a lot which shows an ice hockey field, No.1 sport in Finland. Just to remind us of the current ice hockey world champion 2019 .... Only been beaten in this tournament by the "Vice Olympic Champion 2018" .... Unbelievable but true ....

Have fun!
Torsten

Okay, ready for some action ....

.... started with some work on the cockpits this weekend. I will mark both builds with their registration where necessary. MT-230 is the olive-green/black/light blue G-2 and MT-508 is the Utti Air Racer G-6. Both cockpits look similar so far ....

.... and some PE seat belts ....

Next step is working on the cockpit interior at the fuselage halves. Hope to throw some paint on this by next weekend.

Have a nice week and stay healthy!
Torsten

I'm here, looking forward to following your blog Torsten! Finnish 109's have always been a favourite - I've yet to build one though !



Magnus

Magnus, great to have you at my side looking over my shoulder. Have done a bit on the fuselage parts but nothing worth showing now.

I also like the One-O-Nine in finnish markings, we don't see them on expos here in Germany at all. Especially I like them in the finnish camo. Beside my jets Draken and MiG 21 I have build a Hurricane Mk. I and a Curtiss Hawk of the Ilmavoimat already. So this will be another premiere.

Torsten

Torsten, when I first read the title of this blog on the latest posts page, I was as curious as much as I was bewildered by what this could be.
I'm pleasantly surprised by what your builds are, and really looking forward to seeing that checkered paint scheme being applied!

Excellent project Torsten, I will be following your progress through this build duo!

Cheers, D

Welcome Australia!

Russell, I thought it's a suitable title for this blog and if it made you curious and bewildered, that's all I want. "Mersu" is the nickname the Finns have for the Bf 109. Beside the Brewster Buffalo (or just "Brewster") it was their most used fighter plane during WW 2. Utti is an Air Force Base in the South-East of Finland, near the border to Russia. The base is still in use and they have their "Reno-Style" air races from time to time but I don't know if it's every year.
The checkers on MT-508 are decals so I don't have to do what a good friend of mine from Leipzig had to when he built this aircraft years before this decal version came out. He painted every square .... But I also wonder how it will look like in the end. Have seen some photos in the internet of this model fin(n)ished. Hope I come close to these results ....

Damian, welcome to my party! I hope you'll enjoy the ride. I also watch your build blog of the Me 262 duo.

In September 2019 I visited the FiAF Museum in Tikkakoski for the third time and this Mersu is still looking great. MT-507 was the last Bf 109 to retire in March 1953 and it found a perfect resting place. Of course MT-507 didn't fly with the Hakaristi after WW 2, that was painted at the museum ....

Nothing worth of showing now but thanks to this nasty virus the whole country (continent) should stay at home after work, so enough time to work on the Mersu. Hope to show you an update soon.

Torsten

Made a little progress on the inner fuselage parts of MT-230. Not all PE parts are attached yet, first some paint ....


.... same procedure now on MT-508, stay tuned.

In my book about the finnish G-2 I found out some interesting facts about MT-230. It was delivered on the 10. May 1943 to the Ilmavoimat, scored 2 1/2 kills during the war, was stored on the 1. June 1948 and taken from the inventory list on the 24. March 1953. Further fate is unknown to me.

Stay healthy folks!
Torsten

Definitely piqued my curiosity Torsten.

For the checkers pattern do you think you will paint or decal? I would not think any less of it, if you decaled! Checkers are a tough pattern!

Yes, best health to everyone in these times, let's hope we see plenty of good builds come out of it as one positive side to it!

Thanks Russell! I will use the decals for MT-508. It will become challenging enough. They look very good on the sheet but as usual for Cartograph decals they are very thin so I hope they don't flip over .... But until I'm going for the decals there will still run a lot of water down the river. Honestly I prefer decals from Hasegawa or Tamiya. They look only thick on the paper but on the model they are really thin.

Anyway, have done some work on the Utti Racer today, the difference to MT-230 is clearly visible ....


.... and as you can see on the original photo above MT-508 has a long tail wheel ....

.... I hope I can do some paint work tomorrow and in the following weekend. Maybe even longer as I perhaps may not go to work next week. Our company could close for a week or so because of Covid 19 very soon. I'll see ....

Stay at home and build a model folks!
Torsten

No shame in using the decals Torsten! I certainly would

Best health to all! Stay home and build models!

Thanks Russell! These decals make things easier for sure.

Another small update from my Mersu. Haven't left home since returning from work yesterday afternoon, so have done a bit.
First I airbrushed Dust Grey 77 from Revell which I always use for german WW 2 cockpits, except for RLM 02 cockpits ....

.... PE parts for both IP are numbered the same but the order of the instruments is a bit different. I have used 4 PE parts on each ....

.... cockpits are fin(n)ished now. The seat belts look really nice. They consist of 6 parts per seat. There's a small diffence in the cockpits. Behind the seatbelts of MT-508 are 2 small holes where a bar will be attached later for the open canopy ....

.... in comparison here the ejection seat of my latest MiG 21. There are 14 PE parts for the seat belt ....

.... painting the fuselage sides is now also done. I probably did a bit more than necessary to give a bit of colour into the cockpit ....

.... some more PE parts on this side. I doubt much will be seen later though I plan to build both Mersu with open canopies ....



Take care and stay healthy!
Torsten

Another small update from my nordic racers ....

Yesterday evening I glued both cockpits and instrument panels to the fuselages. Here on MT-508, it looks the same on MT-230 ....


.... this morning I buttoned up the fuselage halves. Fitting is really good but to me it looks a little better on MT-230 ....

.... I am surprised that with a flash and one bench lamp there's still a lot left visible in the cockpit ....


Next step will be working on the wings and a bit sanding the seams. So stay tuned for my next update.

Take care!
Torsten

Looking good Torsten

Indeed, IIRC, pilots from both the Luftwaffe and the RAF commented that the ME109 offered a more 'spacious' work space than the contemporary Spitfires...

I see you've chosen a certain colour for your cockpits, dust grey, but how does one know which colour for which type of Me109?

Thanks Russell!

Well, Spitfire and Bf 109 were about the same size and I guess so were also the cockpits. This is a cockpit of a G-2 and it looks pretty cramped to me ....
Photo is taken from the book "Suomen Ilmavoimien Historia No. 6 Messerschmitt Bf 109 G-2"


About the cockpit colour it's quite easy to tell the difference. The early Bf 109 until version E ("Emil") the cockpits were painted in RLM 02, a greyish green, from the version F ("Friedrich") to the end of the line (version K "Kurfürst") the cockpits were painted in RLM 66, a dark grey, a bit darker than my dust grey. But this colour does the job for me. Hope this helps ....

Torsten

It must be the Hurricane cockpit I'm thinking of that was (slightly) larger, Torsten.

That's some great info on the colours. Will definitely come in handy for the Big Three campaign as I build up the Emil. Thank you

Thanks Russell! I'm glad if I can help a bit.

The Edu Bf 109 sure has a lot of highs but it also has some lows. Here you can see 2 of them. First, why are there no clear parts for the position lights? Other companies can easily do it, like Airfix on their Hurricanes, Seafury and Blenheim, Tamiya and Hasegawa also do it on many of their kits. So why not Eduard? A Bf 109 costs over 30 Euros in the Profi Pack Edition, so we could expect this also from a company which produces high end kits with PE and brassin parts .... Secondly, why is the pitot tube already moulded to the wings? It should be a seperate part because it will break while working on the kit .... I noticed these annoying facts already on other Edu Bf 109 kits. It's saved money on the wrong side! Here on MT-230, it's the same on MT-508 ....

.... so I cut the pitot tube away and drilled a small hole where I will attach an Evergreen Profile in the end. Here in MT-508, I did the same on MT-230 ....

.... I want to build MT-230 as a "Kanonenboot" ("gunboat") with 2 MG 151/20 in underwing gondolas, so I drilled holes in the lower wing halves ....

.... as I said before I noticed a slightly better fitting on MT-230 than on MT-508. And that also shows up on the wing root/fuselage area. While there's nearly no gap visible on both sides of MT-230 ....


.... there are small gaps on both sides of MT-508. While I can close it with some glue on the left side ....

.... on the right side I will need some putty ....

.... okay, as first step I put some clear tape on both sides of the gap. Sorry for the little advert but this is the most used clear tape over here and you know what I mean ....

Now I fill some putty in the gap. The result of this operation I'll show you with my next update. Putty has to dry first.

Take care!
Torsten

Great update Torsten, lots of valuable information!

Take care and stay safe!

Cheers, D

Great update Torsten!

Interesting that Eduard would not provide clear transparencies for the wing tip lights... Unusual even...

Thanks D! The same for both of you, too! Everything is fine on this side of the monitor. The experts say the next 2-3 weeks will show how bad it will become or not here in Germany. But we are not expecting such heartbreaking tragedies as in France, Spain or Italy .... Hopefully .... I'll stay at home the whole weekend and work on my Mersus.

Russell, yes, Eduard had to work over the whole mould of the "Gustav" after that measurement problems with the first edition (of which I have 2 kits), which would have been a good chance to change the position lights for clear parts. Well, wasted opportunity ....

Anyway, a quick update about the filling and sanding works on MT-508 yesterday and today. First, my own mix of putty (glue and flour) leave to dry over night ....

.... sanding over the clear tape has the advantage that most engravings are left unharmed. But at some stage the clear tape will tear. This was a short operation though ....

.... after removing the tape and a bit of polishing all is left is a small line of filler ....


It will take some time now before my next update here. Now I will add most parts to wings and fuselages. Stay tuned, stay at home and listen to some great music like I do right now. My USB stick just played "Smoke On The Water" live 1972. Yeah!

Have a great weekend!
Torsten

Nice work on filling the gap Torsten

Good work!!! from here, Argentina, South America...
Thanks for sharing!!

Thanks Russell and Roberto! I'm glad you like my efforts.

But now I want to - no, I must show you a real blunder made by Eduard. For the "Tropenfilter" (tropical filter?) of the compressor air intake I need PE parts 49 for both MT-230 and MT-508. See here the yellow arrows in the instruction for MT-508, the G-6 ....

.... but where are the parts on the PE fret for the G-6? Do you find them? I don't ....

.... opposite on the fret for MT-230, the G-2. Here they are (see yellow arrows) ....


What a goof! So, what I do now is to use the PE parts only for MT-508, because on MT-230 they are later painted simnply in olive green. I'll write to Eduard later and see what they say about this ....

A new update follows soon, I'm still working on both Mersus.

Take care folks!
Torsten

After a few days with no news from this side I can give you an update. Have added most parts to the Mersus to start painting soon ....


.... did some painting on the underside with RLM 02 in the wheel wells and on the inside of the engine cooler flaps. But I guess I have to re-do the painting of the flaps later. Both birds look the same on the underside until now. MT-230 will get the MG 151 gondolas later ....

.... I will paint some parts seperatly. If you look on the profile of MT-230, you see that its side rudder has a different colour as the rest of the plane. And on MT-508 the rudder might disturb during decaling the checkers. Both birds have the same rudders ....

.... the left elevator on MT-508 will disturb me also during decaling for sure, on MT-230 during painting, so I paint them speratly, too. Each elevator consists of 3 parts ....

.... same reason to paint the tropical filters (also named sand filters) seperatly ....

.... as I have only 1 pair of PE gratings for the filters, MT-508 won the lottery ....


My next step will be masking and painting the canopies. Hope to be a lot further at the beginning of Easter.

I hope everyone out there is feeling as fine as I am. Stay safe and build models!
Torsten

Always great to watch you add the details to your kits, Torsten!

Will be keen to see how they look with some colour on!