Bf109F (Another Tiger Cute Model)

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JKim

Senior Master Sergeant
3,601
545
Jul 1, 2014
Carlsbad, CA
Another diversionary project. I know these ain't everyone's cup of tea but there is something liberating about building a subject that is purposefully distorted like this. Gives me the liberty to try some things that I wouldn't normally try. Or ignore things that I don't want to do since accuracy is obviously not the main point here.
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This is a Bf109 from Tiger Model's Cute Plane series. If you recall, I did the P-40 from Tiger a while back and I enjoyed it so much that I wanted to try another. The P-40 was not given to my daughter as planned but instead, I offered it as a prize in a charity poker event that I hosted. When I turned over my labor of love to the winner, I felt a pang of regret since, as a non-modeler, he had no reckoning of the work that I put into that little egg plane. I tried to point out the scratchbuilt gun sight but he just gave me a blank sort of "whatever" smile. Urgggh.

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Although it is not specified anywhere, the kit is representative of a Bf109E. I want to throw a little twist and convert this to an F-series and paint it as one of Marseille's Yellow 14's in desert camo. I'll have a little aftermarket help in doing this as you will see later.

A small black sprue holds the landing gear and prop. Although aimed at kids, the molding on these snap-together kits is quite nice. The wheels have some nice tread pattern and some spoke detail.
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The main sprue is in grey and holds the fuselage and upper wings. The exhausts are molded in place so I won't be able to hollow out the ends... I'll have to use some paint trickery to achieve the illusion of hollow pipes.
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The secondary grey sprue has the lower wings and some cockpit components. I'll have to scratch up a Revi gunsight.
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The canopy is nice and clear with heavy framing, which I like as it will make masking easier. Unlike the P-40, the inner spar seems to be integrated with the location of frames so it should be less visible.
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Like the P-40, the Bf109 kit comes with both waterslide decals and adhesive-backed stickers for the markings. The instrument panel is offered in decal and sticker format but the plastic IP piece has raised details which gives you three options in how you want to finish the panel. No swastikas here but I should be able to scrounge some up from the spares box.
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It's hard to believe but there is an aftermarket resin set for this particular kit that allows conversion to an F/G type. The set is offered by a company in the UK called Retrokit. The set comes with a spinner with separate prop blades, the G-type beules, an intake plus tropical filter and throw in a seat for good measure. Everything I need for an F-type seems to be included in this set.
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The seat is a nice surprise since it comes with the harnesses molded in... don't have to scrounge up PE belts for this one.
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I'm planning on cutting masks for the "14", which should be fairly straight forward since it is all straight lines and no curves. The only thing I don't have is the insignia for III/JG27, which is an option since not all of Marseille's aircraft had it. I'd like to add it so if anyone has a pair of 1/48 JG27 insignias, I'd be happy to receive them.
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These are what I have John. If you want the PM your snail mail and I'll try and fire them off before the countries mail service goes on strike/gets locked out.

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Those look great Geo! I'm not sure if 1/48 or 1/72 would be the appropriate size but I'll use em if they fit! Thanks for the comments guys!
 
Should look OK John even if they are a little large, everything else is in caricture form. I was a little concerned about them fitting around the little bumps on the cowl below the MGs but I did a little searching and I don't think the were on the F version. The top profile is an E-7 and the lower one is an F-2

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Thank you Geo! I've been doing some body work on the fuselage and wing parts... removing the wing guns and fuselage bumps and ports that are not present on the 109F. So those little bumps on the nose are gone.

There is one thing that I am considering while the fuselage pieces are still separate... should I scrape off the molded fuselage guns, deepen the trough and add separate gun barrels? What's a good method for adding a gun trough?
 
Decals have been sent by Canadian mail beaver. Curious to see how long this takes. It took a week less to send decals to Jan in Scotland than it did to send decals to Andy on the other side of the Rockies. I could have walked there in less time. I vaguely recall someone making new troughs using some split plastic tubing
 
Some preliminary body work on the 109F. Since the F has no braces for the tail planes, the holes are covered up in White Milliput. Panel lines are mirrored but the real plane wasn't so the starboard access panel is filled in too.
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I've glued the wing halves together. The most obvious mod is the removal of the wings guns as the F had none.
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The guns and bumps on the bottoms of the wings are cut off and filled in with putty.
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The removed panel lines are finished with Mr Surfacer 1000.
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The spinner is given a panel line around the middle and some rivets.
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Some work on the fuselage. The E-style supercharger intake is sawed off in preparation for the F-style.
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Some bumps are removed and depressions filled in on the nose.
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I've added some circular ports to the fuselage.
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Here are the wing seams all cleaned up.
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A look at the cowl guns... am contemplating grinding them out, deepening the troughs and adding gun barrels from the spares box.
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Also wing tips should be different. The underwing radiators should get the different shape as well. Generally not too bad. :thumbright:
 
Additionally the marked detail should be removed too...

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