1/48 Tamiya Bf 109 E4/7

[mrf17]

Here are some pics of my recently finished Emil done up in Galland's markings, circa late 1940. Much like my previous post of Gabreski's Jug, the subject matter has perhaps been done to excess, but I couldn't resist this one... there is such a rich history behind the man and this machine. Once again, details of the build can be found on my blog at Check Six Scale Models Cheers!

Mark

 

[Crimea_River]

Outstanding!

 

[magnu]

Wowsers !

 

[Airframes]

Very nice indeed !

 

[Wayne Little]

FYI the depicted time frame of 57 victories on the blue base the aircraft was more likely still in 71/02 camo, shortly thereafter a repaint including the rudder and victories was done....I think it is still open to debate as to whether it was changed to greys from greens....and the victory markings.....some are red and some are black!

However...Great job on your Galland Emil...

 

[BikerBabe]

Great job, friggin' awesome!
Anyone who do one of Galland's birds, is cool with me.
The only thing that bothers me is that the modelling company always forget to make the cigar holder and ashtray for that particular Emil! Bey hey - that's their fault, not yours!
I bet it's because they can't find any photos of said cigar holder/ashtray, and so they haven't got anything to work from.

 

[Gnomey]

Good work!

 

[Gerry]

Thanks for directing me to your thread. Nice to have another recent Galland 109 to refer to. That's a superb job you've done on the finish and at 1/48 scale too! Really professional paintwork and subtle weathering. Don't know if mine will stand up to such close scrutiny. What scheme did you finish the exterior in?

 

[copcheck]

Wow! Very nice.

 

[mrf17]

Gerry,
RLM 74/75/76 (shot with Polly Scale acrylic thru a Paasche VL). 1940 was a transitional period for the Emil, especially with JG26. Wayne Little (of this forum) seems very knowledgeable and mentioned an RLM 02/71 scheme for this period, but I am posting a rare photo (colorized? ...hope not) of Galland's aircraft with the rudder in full view. His scoreboard (57 kills) would relate to November/December time frame and most references point to RLM 74/75/76 (with maybe a light smattering of RLM 02 in fuselage splotches). This aircraft is Wk. No. 5819, and it underwent quite a few subtle changes in mid-late 1940 as far as scheme and prop spinner configuration. Bottom line.... its a model. Have fun and great work so far!
Mark

 

[Crimea_River]

Hi Mark,

If you don't mind me going slightly off topic, may I ask how you manage with the Pollyscales? I have trouble shooting this stuff in whatever mix ratios I try. I have both a Paasch VL and an Iwata HP-C. The latter doesn't work well at all but I get better success with the Paasche with the fine needle.

Can I get mix ratios/pressures from you and any tips you might be able to share? The finish on your 109 is superb and something I long to get with these paints.

 

[mrf17]

Absolutely... I'll try to give you the short story, lest we get kicked off the forum for being "off topic"! First off, all sharp objects on or near my modeling bench must be secured... because painting with acrylics can cause me to lose my mind! As for Polly's, I use my VL (like you, I also have an Iwata HP) and go with the higher pressures of about 25 psi. I thin the Polly with either Windex or Isopropyl at about 80/20, the famous "milk consistency". Use the fine #1 needle and #1 cap and nozzle (inspect the little brass nozzle for hairline cracks...biggest culprit for a ruined VL paintjob). For an overspray appearance (soft edge - blotchy... typical of German aircraft), try this: With mixture and psi above, paint your base colors, in my case RLM 74/75/76. Stick with the tried and true light-to-dark. At that pressure, you will pushing a lot of paint. Keep it moving and get a good solid coat, but not heavy. IMPORTANT: Keep a siphon bottle of household ammonia at the ready and push a bit of it through about every 30 seconds of painting. Also, keep an ammonia soaked toothbrush at the ready and scrub inside the cap after you spray the ammonia. Rembember to do this often, or you will goop the brush, splatter your paint and end up hurting yourself with aforementioned sharp objects. Before you change bottles back to paint, take the bottle-less airbrush and turn it upside down and run all of the ammonia out. Now its back to painting.

Here is the secret for a blended overspray job: THIN LAYERING! After the base coat is on, thin the paint a little more, say 70/30. Now, against all logic, spray light on top of dark! The paint will be thin enough to let darker nuances show through, but solid enough to build up layers of color. Now rotate, dark to light again. For instance, one "splotch" on Galland's fuselage could be 3-5 very light coats of alternating light and dark paint. These coats should not be tinctures (like say, a faint exhaust streak) but paint thinned enough to allow what is underneath ro show through (much like the pre-shading technique)

You see, with airbrushing we tend to want reproduce what a crew chief did in one or two passes on a full size airplane. At scale, this is impossible. We need to layer the nuances on top of the base coat with thin layers. What we are really achieving is a modeler's version of the "chiaroscuro" technique used by the old masters to portray contrast (I digress...sorry). Remember to clean about every 30 seconds of painting. Also, take the airbrush apart for a good field stripping after every session. Don't believe everything you read about ammonia effects on an airbrush. Follow everything up with a soak in clean water and you should be good to go. You may die of ammonia poisoning, but the brush should be fine! Hope this helps. Cheers!

 

[Crimea_River]

That's great info Mark. Thanks for taking the time to do this. 25 psi is about 5 more than what I've been using. Have you had success with your Iwata? The biggest issue I seem to have is that no matter what ratio of paint to Windex, no matter how slowly I pull back the trigger, I'll get a sudden spurt of paint rather than a nice even flow. This is with a completely clean brush and even after I've tried filtering the paint through cheescloth. No such issue with enamels.

I haven't heard the ammonia thing before. I've tended to just disassemble the nozzle and wipe the goop off. Rather than detract more from your orginal post, I may yet start a new thread on this as I really want these paints to work for me. Next time you're in Calgary, stop by and I'll buy you a beer You can look over my shoulder while I paint and give me some more pointers!

 

[javlin]

Another piece of nice work there Mark Yes Wayne knows abit esp.Japanese and German subjects it seems.If you have a question on British go to Terry(Airframes) a frigg'in encyclopedia.Wurger(Wojtek) another encyclopedia on the ETO and scratch building to be commended for sure.Me I am just a builder who marvels at your works and the guys just mentioned along with others.Again keep posting Sir nice to see the bar pushing up Cheers

 

[Wayne Little]

Gerry,
RLM 74/75/76 (shot with Polly Scale acrylic thru a Paasche VL). 1940 was a transitional period for the Emil, especially with JG26. Wayne Little (of this forum) seems very knowledgeable and mentioned an RLM 02/71 scheme for this period, but I am posting a rare photo (colorized? ...hope not) of Galland's aircraft with the rudder in full view. His scoreboard (57 kills) would relate to November/December time frame and most references point to RLM 74/75/76 (with maybe a light smattering of RLM 02 in fuselage splotches). This aircraft is Wk. No. 5819, and it underwent quite a few subtle changes in mid-late 1940 as far as scheme and prop spinner configuration. Bottom line.... its a model. Have fun and great work so far!
Mark

Hi Mark,
The photo is not colorized. and yes it appears to be greys but. in the conditions you can't tell what those camo colours are...heck it is even difficult to see that some of the kill markings are red, but look closely the first 22 are RED! along with 36,37 and 41.....will let you in on a secret my Emil built a long time ago is in Greys too!
Also FYI spinner was always yellow with RLM70 back plate his backup machine 5966 had a capped but different coloured spinner... Isn't modelling fun...learning always!

 

[Mc_asp]

Supberb

 

[meatloaf109]

A fine job!

 

[Wurger]

With all above.