**** DONE: GB36 - 1/48th Bf109G-6/R6 - Axis Manufactured aircraft of WWII

[Airframes]

Got the semi-matt clear coat on, although perhaps more matt than semi-matt, but a second coat will probably help in that department.
What I feared might happen, did happen, with some silvering suddenly appearing on the upper wing crosses, and the wing walk lines and small trim tab warning lines, to be expected with large areas of clear carrier film on the crosses, and in the center of the trim tab markings.
There was a very small amount of silvering visible before the matt clear coat, but I thought I'd eradicated this, by puncturing the clear carrier film areas and applying Micro Sol. It's not visible under the gloss coat after this treatment, and is only visible at certain angles, after the matt coat.
I'll try more solvent, but I'm fairly sure I'll have to re-touch these areas, and then apply another matt clear coat.
I'll let the varnish settle for at least four hours, before attempting any 'repairs', and, once that's done, the canopy masks can be removed, and the second stage of weathering and staining can be done.

PICS 1 and 2. General shots of how the model looks after all decals and the semi-matt clear coat have been applied, and with the camouflage demarcation on the nose corrected, to match the photos of the actual aircraft.
PICS 3 and 4 Top and bottom, with the silvering in the crosses visible on the upper wings.
PIC 5. How the crosses and wing-walk lines looked after the gloss coat, and immediately after applying some Micro Sol to eliminate the small amount of silvering.
PIC 6. Now you see it, now you don't ! The silvering is not visible at this angle, after the matt clear coat.
PIC 7. The drop tank decals applied and clear coated. Detail painting and weathering has yet to be done.

I'll be back once the repairs are done, and there's more to show. Thanks again for the positive comments and continued interest.

 

[Wurger]

 

[Airframes]

Thanks Wojtek.
I decided to bite the bullet, and I've re-touched the areas where silvering developed. I'll let the paint dry for a few hours, before spraying a second clear matt coat, and might have some pics later tonight.

 

[Wurger]

The silvering almost isn't noticed IMHO.

 

[Airframes]

It can only (could only) be seen at certain angles, when the light catches it Wojtek, but when it's seen it's really ugly, being in patches on the crosses, and along the walk lines and 'Nur Heir Betreten' stencils, and as glossy rectangles inside the dotted lines of the trim tab warning marks.
After re-touching, it looks a lot better, although I won't know for sure until after the matt clear coat has be re-sprayed, as trying to get in and around the very small stencils and dotted lines of the wing walk markings was, as you can imagine, a tad tricky.
The Academy decals seem to vary in quality and thickness across the sheet, if that's possible, with the larger items being quite thin, whereas the smaller stencils seem to be slightly thicker, and glossier. The drop tank stencils were extremely glossy, and quite 'stiff', making them a little difficult to apply.
The 'Not a Bomb' (Keine Bombe) stencils, for example, actually broke up into three pieces as they were positioned on the curves of the tank, and had to be coaxed back together, whilst trying not to curse !

 

[Wurger]

OK. Grasped.

 

[Crimea_River]

Beauty.

 

[Airframes]

Thanks Andy.

Well, it looks like the re-touching was successful, as the silvering is mostly gone after the re-paint and matt clear coat. There are some very tiny spots around the edges of the 'No Step' and 'Walk Here' stencils, but not that noticeable, so it'll do.
The exhausts have been painted, along with exhaust staining, relatively heavy, more so on the starboard side, where the prop wash had more effect, and replicating what is shown on the real aircraft. By this period (early 1944) German aviation fuel was rather 'dirty' when burned, and heavy exhaust staining was quite common.
Some light weathering, staining and dirt has been applied to various parts of the airframe and wing roots, along with a little subtle paint wear, and the D/F loop has been fitted to the fuselage spine. The base has been painted in a wood shade, as per the real thing, but the loop itself, which was thinned down slightly, has yet to be painted.
Due to handling. some of the paint on the canopy frames has been worn a bit thin, so these areas have been re-painted, leaving the masks in place for now, and I should be able to remove these, and post some pics, tomorrow,

 

[JKim]

Looks good Terry! I hate silvering!

 

[Airframes]

Thanks John, and so do I.
It wasn't visible after applying the decals and a sealing gloss coat, and only showed after the semi-matt clear coat. But then, those upper wing crosses do have large areas of clear carrier film, so perhaps not surprising.

Anyway, here's the state of play to date, with the silvering more or less eliminated, by re-touching and a further semi-matt clear coat, the exhausts and exhaust staining painted, some light dirt and paint wear to the wing roots, the canopy masks and the cannon gondola location masks removed, and the wheel wells painted in what I still think is a rather odd shade of RLM 02, this being the new Humbrol paint, which is virtually the same as most other model paint versions of RLM 02.
It is nothing like the original Humbrol 'Authentic Colour' shade, from the early 1980s, a tin of which I still keep just for the colour on the lid (the paint long used), which exactly matched an original paint fragment, and the Monogram Luftwaffe colour chips. It was more greyish green, similar to, although lighter than German Army 'field grey', and closer to Humbrol's current No.31 Slate Grey, whereas all of the 'current' model paint versions have a distinct sandy-brown hue !
The canopy has collected some tissue dust on the inside, which I hope I can shake loose, as I do not want to have to remove the canopy to clean it off !
This was due to "Sod's Law, Section 14A,Para 2", which states that,"... if a piece of dried tissue can reach a specific area that you don't want it to reach, it will make every effort to reach that area".
I'd stuffed some dampened tissue into the oil cooler exit, specifically to prevent any chance of paint mist reaching inside, and finding its way into the cockpit.
When trying to remove the (now hardened) tissue, it fell inside the fuselage and, 'Sod's Law', it ended up in the cockpit !
Fortunately, I managed to shake it loose, and out of view, over the half bulkhead I'd added, and it's now rattling around somewhere under the engine cowling , and I hope it stays there !
I'll be back sometime over the weekend with another up-date, and should be close (ish !) to finishing.

 

[Wurger]

 

[fubar57]

Very nice. The 02 looks okay on my computer

 

[Crimea_River]

Looks very good Terry. Looking forward to the final assembly.

 

[javlin]

That's coming out quite Nice Terry

 

[turbo]

Nice job Terry, looking good. Those tissue fibres can be pesky. Do you use kitchen towel? It sheds far less fibres than regular tissue.

 

[Wayne Little]

02 looks ok to me too, doing great there Terry.

 

[Airframes]

Thanks very much chaps, it's appreciated.

Yes Kirby, I use kitchen towel, but the whole, hardened lump of tissue fell inside, and ended up on the canopy, until I shook it loose !

That RLM 02 still looks odd to me, even if it is the same shade as other manufacturers paints. Comparing it to the old Humbrol tin mentioned earlier, and to genuine period colour pics (not colourised), the real RLM 02 was definitely more greyish green, or greenish grey.
I'll start a discussion thread on this, as I've received the new Humbrol RLM colours I ordered - and guess what ?
There's a shade variation on one of the colours, with two tins from the same batch being different !
Ah, Humbrol and their 'quality ' !!!!

 

[Vic Balshaw]

Looks "Oh so good" mate.

 

[parsifal]

Hi terry


Sorry that I missed this one. that paint treatment is marvelous. I am very impressed with the 'ragged lines and mottling effects in particular. Its subtle, but bang on the money IMO as far as its looks are concerned.

 

[Airframes]

Thanks very much, Vic and Michael.
Been working on the undercart, gondolas and drop tank etc, but not much to show yet. Only spent an hour or so on it today, but should get more done tomorrow sometime.