Eduard 1/48 Bf-109 E-7 Trop

[aur0ra145]

Well, after a delightful Tamiya Bf-109 E-3, I decided to try an Eduard offering. This will also serve as a sanity check for when I get to building my Bandai 1/72 Millenium Flacon.

Build will be out of box, with the exception of some canopy masks. They're just so nice to have. I have decided to go with the sand yellow paint scheme as depicted on the box. Thankfully my wonderful parents got me a Sotar 20/20 for Christmas, so this will be the first kit I use it on (outside my paint demo plane.)

Started with all the little interior pieces. Mostly RLM02 throughout.

Paints used so far:
MM Aircraft Interior Black 4767
Vallejo Model Air RLM02 71.044
Tamiya Semi Gloss Black X-18
Vallejo Metal Color Steel

[aur0ra145]

Sort of got the cockpit together. Mounting the motor seems a bit odd as I'm doing a closed cowling version. I'm not really sure as to how I want to mount it quite yet.

The apparent lack of locator pins is cool; but, I've really relied on them in the past. So. Lots to learn. Should be a good looking model with it's finished.

[NorthernModeller]

Great work so far

[aur0ra145]

Howdy!

Got the spinner finished. Then closed up the fuselage. It was a bit tight with the motor. Interesting thing is you have to trim the top of the motor to get the cowl on.

Wings are drying currently and will work on them during live show.

[aur0ra145]

So the engine cowl isn't setting flush with the sides. It seems the bottom of the motor housing is a bit too wide. So, to fix, I'm going to leave a glob of sticky-tac in the engine bay to stretch the cowl out and cement properly.

[Stokesy44]

Looking very nice Sir. Always like seeing builds of Eduard’s 1/48 offerings. The quality of the plastic is stunning, the fine surface detail puts them right up there as some of the best stuff out there.

And I’ve got two of them in the stash!

[demarcation]

Nice work!! Cockpit looks superb!

[Wiggus]

The cockpit looks great. I can't wait to see more!

[aur0ra145]

Bit more progress.

Got the body together last night and masked. Primed and started some painting.

[aur0ra145]

Lots of progress today.

Got the RLM 79 painted. I wanted to use Vallejo Air RLM 79. However, it just didn't seem to spray well. It's probably just me. Ended up using a crazy concoction of just about every Tamiya yellow/tan/brown to get it right. Definitely not repeatable; but, I've got a lot of it.

This was my first real attempt at mottling. I used a Sotar 20/20 at about 50 psi. I originally had some Vallejo Air RLM 80; but, it was way to runny, like it had been thinned too much. So, behold Tamiya XF-59 is a near perfect match. Sprayed really well. Just had to take my time to build up the color. I even went back over one of the wings as the mottling was to light and looked weird.

There is a small bit of over spray on the fuselage that looks weird. I might fix it. Or weather over it...

[DrSprue]

Oh man that looks great! Superb camo!

[aur0ra145]

Bit of touch up work on the over spray at the wing root. Basically just dry brushed the RLM 78 on until it covered the green. Worked out well!

[ElCapitan]

Great work on the mottling, it's going to look awesome when the decals are on!

[NorthernModeller]

Excellent work on the mottling mate looks beast

[aur0ra145]

Finally got around to decals. Weathering is in the near future!

[DrSprue]

Oh awesome decaling there bud!

[aur0ra145]

Was watching Simon's live stream tonight and started to experiment with weathering techniques. Several hours later, it's finished! Pictures to follow.

[aur0ra145]

Here's a peak at two photos. Reveal thread is located here. viewtopic.php?f=45&t=24018

Did base line weather with Vallejo Wash Light Gray. Put it one sort of liberally, then dried my brush, got it wet with water and sort of went back over it until it was as suttle and I wanted. After that took a damp q-tip and wiped up any weird looking spots or places that didn't flow right.

Next took some Vallejo pigments, ranging from Carbon Black, Burn Umber and Desert Sand. Applied either dry in some places. Or wetted with spirits and applied to areas like the exhaust. When dry or mostly dry, shaped the spots as wanted. Used a damp/wet q-tip with spirits to get up the extras.

Did that all over the model in little areas until it looked alright. Thought about putting on an over all Buff filter but decided against. Also thought about applying a semi-gloss coat. But decided against that. The weathering and pigment mediums dulled down the gloss coat enough to look correct.

Thanks for following along!

[DrSprue]

[Wiggus]

Beautiful!

[Stokesy44]

Beautiful finish mate. Love those tropical schemes, especially when they're done well