Trumpeter 1/32 Messerschmitt Bf109G-10/U-4

[andysimpson]

Completed around a week ago, but only just getting time to upload to ISM. As always, I did some research after deciding to do a non-standard Bf109G-10. Plumping for an early model G-10 of the Regia Aeronautica, belonging to Sargente Maggor Loris Baldi, 2 Gruppo Caccia, based at Aviano February 1945.





The kit was quite good; the fit of parts was excellent in all the right places. I used the kit cockpit, which has enough detail to make it more than adequate. The only additional items I used were Airscale's instrument decals and luftwaffe cockpit placards and HGW's Bf109G fabric seatbelts. The seatbelts, in particular, despite being 10 parts per belt, offered a level of 'rumpled' realism simply not available using PE.



Moving onto overall construction and I was impressed by the engineering and overall fit of some quite complex panels. The engine bay, for example, is complete with a DB605ASM engine. I retained it's visibility by keeping the port-side cowling open and the lower radiator panel, both of which featured some subtle, yet effective detailing.



The propeller spinner and blades were replaced by a Quickboost version, which looked much better. Sadly, though it seems it only fits the Revell G-10. On the Trumpeter G-10, this spinner is some 2-3mm too tall for the profile and 1mm too wide. So, I retailed the original, and added detail that was on the QB version but not the kit equivalent. Below is the QB version.



With the wings on, I looked at the full-span positionable control surfaces. Most Bf109's show the outer ailerons in the neutral position for a dead-centre stick. The mid flaps were lowered and the inner split blown flaps were left with only the lower flap lowered.





Once all of the control surfaces were on, it was down to details such as counter-balances on the wing ailerons and aerials and pitot tubes. I was very wary of handling the kit at this stage, but it was all ok.

At this point, I looked at the depth of the rivet detail and decided to use my Squadron Micro Pin press in a small pin vise. Gently pressing into each and every rivet on the wing surfaces and fuselage, I completed the re-rivetting in a couple of evenings. The reason for the re-rivetting was to add depth which would become obscured once primer, several paint layers and several clear coats were added. The natural shadows created by the hole would save me pre-shading and post-shading, not to mention applying washes. As it turned-out, it worked better than I'd ever hoped and will be using this technique again, where applicable - but NOT on the Tamiya P-51D I have!

The undercarriage was also completed and I was impressed with the level of detail retained - even the brake line was included and looked much better installed on the strut than I was expecting. The wheels were vinyl, and didn't sit properly on the kit hubs. I replaced the tyres and hubs with a QuickBoost set for G-10's. Once all painted, weathered with USM Dark Dirt and a Prismacolour Silver pencil, the struts and wheels looked very convincing.



I did not fit the undercarriage until after painting, which was next up.

The aircraft was primed with Strynylrez Dark Grey primer from Badger Airbrushes, which at 25psi using my Harder and Steenbeck Evolution CR Plus with the 0.4mm needle set went on smoothly. This primer has given me so much more confidence with priming after some problems with the Vallejo Polyurethane primers. Although also a Polyurethane-based primer, this Badger primer seems to behave predictably and reliably.

Once the primer had completely cured, by leaving it overnight and most of the next day, I set to work putting down the first paint colours. As always, my preferred paint is GSI's Mr.Hobby Aqueous range. They're great paints and go on very nicely indeed. The initial coat being RLM76 Light Blue (GSI H417). I thinned the paint using Mr.Color self-levelling thinner, to keep the paint 'wet' while applying over a large surface. Without the thinner, the paint could easily have dried in the nozzle of the airbrush and produced spatter. The self-levelling thinner ensured everything went through the airbrush smoothly. The paint was applied using my Harder and Steenbeck Infinity CR Plus with the 0.2mm needle set and 20psi on the compressor. Since I was using self-levelling thinner, I also had to leave the paint dry for longer - in this case almost a full day and a half. It was handleable but only using insulating foam strips - a technique I saw on the excellent J.M. Villalba DVD on painting and weathering RLM colours.

With the base coat dry, I turned my attention to the camouflage colours of RLM 75 Grey (H69) and RLM83 Dark Green (H423) - both recommended colours using the excellent reference of my aftermarket decals from STORMO!. Their Italian Aces: Part II decal set is excellent and includes colour callouts for each aircraft, as well as full stencilling detail (though no stencils).



There were a few firsts with this kit; first large-scale Luftwaffe prop build, first Luftwaffe camouflage attempted and first mottling attempted. I did some practice, however just to get the mixes and pressures right before applying to the aircraft. I normally use an inexpensive A3 pad of quality coated paper (I paid around £20 for a 50-page - or 100 side - pad). The paper can be primed and painted on just like plastic, but does not allow the paint to bleed into it and saves me using plasticard. It was an hour or so well spent practising with thinning ratios, pressures and just seeing how close I could go and the effects observed.

First paint colour was the RLM75 Grey and it went on smoothly. I applied this using my H&S Infinity at 15psi. The rivet detail being retained and the slight depth increase afforded a natural shadow that seemed to work very well indeed. I didn't use self-levelling thinner because I was only applying on the top wing surfaces and partially down the fuselage sides. Instead, I used the Mr.Color Thinner, in a slightly higher thinner ratio of 70:30, which works well even on the Gunze Aqueous range. The mottling went on way better than I'd hoped, mainly because I was able to get in very close to the surface due to the low pressure and lack of overspray. I decided to keep it subtle and applied the rule; if it looks underdone, STOP! It's done.

Once dry, it was time to freehand the RLM83. For this, I thinned to the same 70:30 ratio I used for the RLM75, for exactly the same effect. I did not use masks or templates and was rewarded by beautifully clean, soft edges and a very small amount of overspray (if you looked very, very closely, at least).



With the paint down and dry after 24 hours. I laid down a gloss coat using Alclad's Klear Kote Gloss. I have used the Aqua Gloss and it was impressive, but I also use the Lacquer, which is just as good - though it needs a bit more cleaning out of the airbrush as it dries very hard. I normally apply the gloss coating until the layer appears just 'wet'. The result is a beautifully-smooth, thin, level and rock-hard surface to apply decals.

The Stormo decals went on as one would expect quality decals would - superbly. The Trumpeter decals were, well, shall we say not the same quality! Trumpeter's references were very poor; decal numbers were shown on the full-colour spread but were not on the decal sheet and vice-versa. Stormo's references were much clearer.

With the decals on and and settling down with Micro-Sol and Set, I applied another clear Gloss coat after 24 hours. Again, the Gloss performed beautifully.



With the decals on and sealed, I tried another new technique; lightly post-shading panel lines. I'm a fan of the style of Brett Green and Chris Wauchop when it comes to panel lines and wanted to try this out here on the major wing and fuselage panels only. A thin mix, 80% thinner to 20% paint of GSI Smoke Grey (H95) and a pressure of just 12psi allowed me to apply very thin coats of this almost transparent paint at distances of about 1cm! However, what I found was that after several passes along the same line, you need to STOP and wait for the paint to start drying to see the effect. Soon enough, what looked like transparent, barely-visible lines, became a little more prominent and, I have say, they looked just right for the effect I was after.



A final coat of Alclad Klear Kote Flat at my usual 12psi, and again using the just 'wet' technique worked very well. I was a happy modeller.

Finishing touches included the drop tank stains, adding both the scratchbuilt DF (direction-finding) loop aerial from spare brass fret and the canopy radio mast because Trumpeter didn't include either; even though they're on the full-colour painting guide artwork and the box artwork!



The canopy went on with a small brass rail as the hinge and after some work, I added the scratchbuilt canopy stop spring mechanism behind the pilot's seat. Fine EZline finished off the detail.

Some of you may have observed that the port-side tail wheel stirrup is missing - yes, it went for a walkabout until recently but has now been found and applied, so it truly is complete now.







Thank you.
Thank you.

[patrickroos]

Cool subject, very nice paintwork and overall finish.
Your first LW camo and mottling, hope its not Your last! Well done, looks great .
The Italian markings with their colors break it up nicely.

Great looking 109 mate!!!

[martin57]

Lovely job, great paint work , thinking about the post shading idea myself, just worried about mucking up a good paint job ,

[gustavlekstal]

Great work on the mottling! Stunning finish

[Stokesy44]

Really nice work Andy. Looks like the real deal. Have just made the Trumpy G6 (late) in the same scale and was equally impressed with the quality of the kit, especially for the price.

Great effort

[Paul]

Thats a real nice build andy, keep meaning to add one of these large scale 109's to the stash