**** DONE: GB-36 1/48 Bf 109E-4 - Axis Manufactured Aircraft of WWII

[Airframes]

Thanks very much Michael !

The cockpit assembly is now complete and fitted into the fuselage, and the fuselage halves have been joined. Such a good fit, it almost didn't need cement.

PICS 1 to 3. Cockpit complete, with the fuel pump and filter pump levers painted, and the control column in place, and cemented into the starboard fuselage half.
PIC 4. Fuselage joined - an excellent fit. The instructions call for a small hole to be opened on each side of the nose, but I haven't found any evidence of an opening, or intake here, so I left it as is. Can't figure out what the holes are for !
PICS 5 to 7. Views into the cockpit. The gun sight, and a couple of scratch-built UV lamps, will be added later, when the windscreen is ready to be fitted.

Next step is the main wing assembly, followed by the oil cooler and lower cowling, which I might start on this evening, if I get the Bf110 finished.

 

[Wayne Little]

Good stuff Terry.

 

[Airframes]

Thanks Wayne.

 

[Wurger]

 

[turbo]

Off to a good start Terry!

 

[parsifal]

bl**dy quick Terry. your on fire mate.nice work though, very nice.

 

[fubar57]

Nice, you'll be finished this before the 110

 

[Crimea_River]

Very quick and neat.

 

[T Bolt]

Nice work on the cockpit Terry. Brings back memories of the 2 Emils I did for the BoB build

 

[Airframes]

Thanks very much chaps, it's appreciated, especially after the fight with the '110 !!

Once the painting and additions of the small amount of extra detail was done, assembly was quick and easy.
The '110 is currently sitting to one side, as I wait for the antenna mast to fully set, so that it won't be disturbed when the 'wires' are fitted. I'll return to that one tomorrow, and meanwhile I'll continue with the 'Emil'.
If all goes to plan (er ....), I might even have time to add a Bf109G-6 to the GB - we will see !

 

[JKim]

Looking good Terry!

 

[Airframes]

Thanks John.

 

[Airframes]

Forging ahead now, with the main wing fitted, along with the radiators, oil cooler and lower cowling.

PIC 1. The main wing assembled and fitted. The fit was near perfect, and quite tight, with just a very minor gap at the rear underside fuselage joint, easily filled with PVA or perhaps very finely stretched sprue.
PICS 2 to 4. The oil cooler fitted and painted, the lower cowling assembled with the shutter in place, and fitted to the fuselage. Again, the fit was perfect.
PIC 5. Coolant radiators on and painted.
PIC 6. Radiator baths in place. A central bracing strut, from stretched sprue, will be fitted to the front of each bath after painting the model, as the baths will need to be masked for spraying. I didn't bother making and adding the overflow plumbing for the rear of the port side rad, as this won't be seen with the flaps partially lowered.
PIC 7. As the front, top edge of the engine block can be seen through the slots in the upper cowling, this was painted black. The guns will be fitted after painting the model, with the main cowling tacked in place using PVA until the painting is complete
PIC 8. How things look so far. The main cowling will be removed, after painting, in order to fit the guns and then cemented in place, and the exhausts will be fitted then too. The flaps will be partly lowered, and the slats, which can be fitted as fully deployed or retracted, will have the mounting tabs adjusted, in order to have them set just proud of the wing, rather than fully deployed. Once the base colour has been sprayed, the flaps and slats will be clipped in place in order to mask for the second colour, and then removed and sprayed separately, to simplify the spraying process.

Just a couple of things to do before the first painting stage. I'll probably depart from my usual process of ensuring all main components are in place before painting, and leave off the tail planes and struts, as the latter will interfere with the spraying. This is not a problem, as the tail plane was a 'floating' assembly, and did not join to the fin, so any small gap is acceptable. The rudder will also be painted separately.
I'm hoping to get most of the painting done over the weekend, although I might no be able to do so until Sunday. If all goes to plan (yeah, right !), I could even have this finished by the end of next week.
Back soon with another up-date.

 

[Crimea_River]

You, sir, are having too much fun.

Terry, what do you think of the dihedral with the gaps closed? When I built this kit several years ago, I thought that the dihedral was too much:

 

[Airframes]

Yep, I am having fun - really enjoying this kit, and I think it's better than the Hasegawa version, which I last built 25+ years ago.
When I first assembled the wings, I did actually think that the dihedral was a touch too much. But, now that they're fitted, they don't look as severe and, having checked against a scale drawing, they seem about right.
It might be the angle in the photo you posted Andy, but they do look a tad steep.However, it could be an optical illusion, as the 'break' in the trailing edge, with the flaps deployed, accentuates things somewhat.
I'll try to get a decent shot of mine, nose on, and see what you think - back in a bit.

 

[Airframes]

Here you go Andy.
First shot a fairly close angle to your pic, second shot nose on.
What do you think ?
In pics, it does look like slightly too much dihedral, but when compared to the scale drawings it's about right. Note the level of the wing tips on my model - just about level with the thrust line when compared against the prop shaft, as shown in the drawing.

 

[parsifal]

coming together very nicely terry. Not a lot of detail on the engine. Would you make any additions in that area?

FWIW I cant see any problem with the dihedral you've applied compared to the line drawing you've posted.

 

[Airframes]

Thanks Michael. No, the 'engine block' will not be seen, as the cowling will be fixed in place. It's only painted as the top (actually the bottom) front end can just be seen through the two cooling slots on the top, front end of the cowling.
I presume that Tamiya moulded the fuselage this way, so that those who want to, have a staring point for a scratch-built engine and engine bay, although there are now resin kits for this specifically for this kit.

 

[Wurger]

 

[Crimea_River]

Your dihedral looks to match that drawing Terry. I recall being a bit skeptical of mine and still am a bit. Correct dihedral is something I pay a lot of attention to as getting it wrong can spoil a model in my opinion.