**** DONE: Bf109E4 'White 6' I/JG3 BoB Group Build.

Looks wonderful Terry!

Thanks Glenn.

That engine looks great. Nice work.

Smart work Terry

Thanks Jay and Vic.

Ta muchly for the heads up on the build Terry. Looking forward to your progress on this one.

You're welcome Lewis, and I'll try to keep things going on any other areas which might need attention.
I'm still experimenting with bits of aluminium and plastic sheet, to find the best way to make the oxygen regulator and shield, and also messing about with the instrument panel. The pics below show the first trials, which seem to have worked, so I'll go ahead and do it 'for real'. As provided, the kit parts work quite well with careful painting and glazing, as I did with my other Matchbox '109 20+ years ago, but I thought I'd improve this one.
PICS 1 and 2 Show the kit instrument panel, and the insert to form the instrument faces. The latter also has detail on the opposite side, representing the instrument barrels and the framing. Note the instrument panel has the ETC switch panel, used on the Jabo, which needs to be removed.
PIC 3.The ETC panel has been cut off, and the holes for the instruments are in the process of being reamed and filed. The little pegs representing the instruments on the backing insert have been removed, and the part filed and sanded to thin it down. A piece of thin white plastic card has been roughly cut to the shape of the upper panel, which will be laminated between this and the now flat backing part.
PIC 4. The white card was painted matt black, then taped into place on the rear of the panel, and the position of each instrument srcatched into the paint, using the point of a drawing compass. The card was then removed, and each instrument 'drawn' in, again using the compass, and then the card was re-positioned to check alignment and appearance.
Although the instrument panel is still a little thick, making the 'instruments' a bit 'deep', the effect is quite convincing. So, next stage is to do it all again, only this time more precisely, then cement the 'instrument card' onto the back of the panel and glaze the dials with clear varnish and, for some, Micro 'Krystal Kleer'.
First though, the panel details will be painted, and those instruments needing various coloured bezels will also be painted.
Once that's all done, it's back to the oxygen regulator and some of the other fittings, so that I can determine which parts to donate to the Hasegawa kit in the other '109 build.
Thanks for your interest and kind remarks, and I'll post another up-date soon.

Very nice work Terry! The scratched in details of the instruments should look great when you get it all together.

Interesting approach on the instruments I've never seen them done like that before. They should look pretty good when you get them in place with some kleer on them.

Thanks Glenn and Jay. I used to use this method years ago, when making my own panels, but since the arthritis got worse, I haven't done it for awhile, without using decals for the instruments themselves.Last one was for the Beaufighter in the MTO build. It's better to laminate the whole lot from scratch, using thin card and clear sheet to build-up the panel, but I want to press on with the build on this one.

8) Nicely done Terry!

damn....

Thanks Wayne.

The instrument panel is working out reasonably well so far. A new 'instrument card' has been made fore the main panel, and glued into place on the rear, after painting the main details and bezels on the kit part.
The cockpit floor, rear bulkhead, seat frame and electrical trunking have been cleaned up and assembled, and the seat itself cleaned up and the slot for the harness opened up.
PIC 1 Shows the rear and side of the instrument panel, before clean-up of the edges. The forward-facing part has the instrument barrels moulded in place, although these are covered by a 'canvas' shroud later. The white plastic of the 'instrument card' can be seen laminated between the front and back pieces.
PIC 2. The panel so far. There is still some touch-up to do, and switches and levers to fit, as well as glaze the instruments and gloss coat some of the handles etc. The Gyro Direction Indicator, second from left, centre row, has to have a deeper, convex lens, which will be made by extruding a blob of Micro Krystal Kleer.
PIC 3. The main components of the cockpit, ready for painting. The seat harness will be made from foil, wire, and plastic card, and fitted after painting.
Thanks again for your interest, and I'll post some more pics when I've got the oxygen regulator and throttle quadrant sorted.

Stunning work Terry!

Neat Trick T! 8)

Cheers

Peter

fantastic as usual Dogsbody

Thanks very much guys.The panel looks a bit streaky at the moment, but it should even out once it has a clear coat. The instrument bezels will also be given a semi - gloss clear coat, as will the switches etc, and then all the untidy bits touched-up, all this after the instrument faces have been glazed.

Well, the panel is now done, except for adding the fuel pump and rad shutter levers, which will be done when it's installed in the cockpit. I found that my Micro Kristal Klear had virtually gone solid, which has never happened before, so I used PVA for glazing the dials, which is basically the same stuff anyway, although about a tenth of the price !
No pics of the panel yet, as the dials are still clearing, and will then need another coat of gloss clear to make them stand out.
So, whilst waiting for all that to happen, I got on with some of the other cockpit parts.
The main cockpit assembly has had some more detail added, and the parts for the side wall fittings have been enhanced, as has the control column.
PIC 1. Shows the addition of the baggage hatch and securing strap, the chains for the tailplane and emergency landing gear pulleys, and the triangular plate which joins the electrical trunking and the rear of the instrument panel.
PIC 2. The kit part for the starboard side wall fittings, which is rather difficult to make out due to the softish mouldings on the shiny black plastic.
PIC 3. The same part after the addition of some detail, which has yet to be trimmed and cleaned-up in this pic. The white object on the right of the pic is the map box, and I just might try to add a map of the Channel area in here !
At the left is the main electrical panel, which has been drilled on the lower section to represent the relays and indicator lamps, and on the top, a row of short pieces of stretched sprue, representing the circuit switches. There should be nine, but one fell off as I moved the part to take the pic !
PIC 4. The kit part for the throttle and mixture assembly on the port wall.
PIC 5. The same part after the moulded throttle assembly has been removed, and the addition of the scratch-built throttle quadrant, throttle and mixture levers, and the three 'T' handles. The throttle and mixture levers were made from scrap pieces of PE, with plastic rod for the later, 'barrel' type throttle grip, and stretched sprue for the propellor pitch control switch on the end. The grip on the mixture lever is a blob of PVA, teased into shape. These will be painted the appropriate colours once installed,and the whole lot painted in the interior colour.
PIC 6. The kit part for the control column. Overall, it's quite good, but rather 'flat' around the grip, and heavy around the grip-top safety catch.
PIC 7. The control column grip has been filed to shape, and textured to represent the 'dimpled' grip cover, and the grip top has been re-shaped slightly.
The main assemblies have now been sprayed in a grey colour, in between RLM 02 and RLM 75, which is the way most 'Bf109Es seem to have been finished, even though most sources state that the cockpit was RLM 02. Whilst this was drying, work began on carefully drilling the barrel jackets of the MG 17s, to represent the perforated cooling jackets. So far, for every hole in the jacket, I have three holes in my left thumb !
I'll hopefully have another update tomorrow, if I get the rest of the cockpit work done, as it's going to take some time to make the oxygen regulator and perforated shield, and I also have to make the seat harness and some other bits and pieces.
Thanks once again for your interest.