1/48 Messerschmitt Bf 109 E-7

[JonMW]

As all the Tamiya kits I have in the stash are race cars and all of them have at least aftermarket decals so I had to go out and get another kit. I'm not the biggest fan of building strictly out of the box, there is always something I like to add. But I'll constrain myself for this one. I still want to try to build something a little bit different, that's why I bought the most produced fighter airplane in history, there hasn't been many models build of that right? The plan is not to use all the kit decals, but to paint the markings on and that way make it a bit different.







Not too many parts, so should be a easy build.

[AdamLuscombe]

Looks like a nice kit, Good luck with the build

[patrickroos]

This was my entry also, now Ill just watch Yours!

Good luck!

[JonMW]

This was my entry also, now Ill just watch Yours!

Good luck!

Why not build one as well? Mine won't be a German one so the chance of building the same is pretty slim.

[patrickroos]

No aftermarket allowed...which I totally missed before.
Have some special color schemes planned so have aftermarket decals for it.
Also planned to use fabric seatbelts.


Will check stash and see if there is any Tamiya kit (except the big 1/32 ones) that I want to build OOB.

[TommyKillander]

Looks like a great kit, good luck with the build!


Tommy

[scotto978]

I was going to build this too but I can't for the life of me find the kit. I think the Mrs has burnt it in some ritual down the garden. I was looking forward to it too but never mind I'll just follow your build.

[Johnj]

No aftermarket allowed...which I totally missed before.
Have some special color schemes planned so have aftermarket decals for it.
Also planned to use fabric seatbelts.


Will check stash and see if there is any Tamiya kit (except the big 1/32 ones) that I want to build OOB.

Why not the 1/32 ? Do you prefer aftermarket parts with the bigger kits ?

[JonMW]

It's been over a month and not much has happened, but this kit has finally made it to the top of the project pile, so time to get something done.




As the seat belts o through the seat back, I drilled a couple of small holes and then used a hobby knife to connect them to a slot.


The rest of the cockpit where assembled and panited using MR Paints RLM 02 and then detail painted.


I then drybrushed some silver on a few spots, I didn't want to add too much as the plane is supposed to be pretty new so there won't be much chipping or worn paint, but there will be some dirt. So I added a bit of light earth pigments floor of the cockpit. The instument panel where also painted, mostly using watercolor pencils.


Most of the kit fits like a dream, except for where the bottom of the wings meet the fuselage. There is a 0.3 mm gap, an easy way to fill this was to glue in a sheet of styrene that could then be cut and sanded smooth.


Also a bit strange for a Tamiya kit, there are sink marks along the trailing edge of the wing. But it's not too much of a problem, just needs a tiny amount of filler and it should be fine.


Just missing the canopy and then it's ready for primer and paint.

[Les0012]

Am liking the look of this kit, will have to get me one.

Hope it goes well with your build.

Les

[JonMW]

So I have finally managed to get some paint on this thing. Started with Ultimate primer and then did the RLM 02/65/71 using MR Paints colors.





I did mention that I'm not the biggest fan of out of the box builds and wanted to do something different. So instead of using the kit supplied markings for a German plane I decided to paint the markings. I made some 3D printed cutting templates that I then used to cut out the 40 mm Tamiya tape. The markings I decided to go for is one of the five Bf 109 E7 that where bought by Japan for evaluation.

[JonMW]

So time for a final update on this. After the paint was dry I applied the few decals needed, a coat of Aqua gloss, some Ultimate Dark Dirt wash and finally a coat of MR Paints flat clear. I did add a couple of small streaks and paint chips but not that much as the plane was never used in combat painted like this so it should have been pretty clean. One thing that I really don't like the look of when doing a out of the box build is the belts that only comes as a decal. They look a bit flat and unrealistic.



So I cut out the decal as close to the print as I could.



Then I peeled the layers of the backing paper off the decal until I got a thickness I was happy with.



And attached it to the seat.



Now the color of the decal is a bit off, as it's not a solid color but rather a yellow background with red dots. So I painted the belts in a color that I thought looked better.



Final reveal http://intscalemodeller.com/viewtopic.php?f=532&t=20746