**** DONE: GB-36 1/32 Bf109G-10 Erla - Axis Manufactured Aircraft of WWII

[JKim]

Username: JKim
First name: John
Category: Advanced
Scale: 1/32
Manufacturer: Revell
Model Type: Bf 109G-10 Erla
Addons: Wings from Revell 1/32 Bf 109G-6 kit, Aires G-10 resin cockpit, A.M.U.R. Reaver G-10 Erla resin cowling, A.M.U.R. Reaver Bf 109G/K Resin Prop, Eduard G-10 metal landing gear legs, Barracuda G-10 Exhausts and Montex Masks.

Here is my next project. Another Luftwaffe subject but not a Dora! This is Erich Hartmann's last fighter. Erich Hartmann, nicknamed "Bubi" by his fighting comrades and "The Black Devil" by his Soviet foes, was Germany's highest scoring ace of WW2 and ended the war with 352 kills. He flew different variants of the Bf109 along the Eastern Front, the last probably being this Bf109G-10, Erla-built machine represented beautifully in the profile by Anders Hjortsberg.

There are two known photographs of this machine. Like Dortenmann's Black 1, photos of Hartmann's Double Chevron are limited to the port fuselage side.

Here are the main components of the build.

On the Ready Line:
Revell 1/32 Bf 109G-10 Erla kit
Revell 1/32 Bf 109G-6 kit
Aires Bf 109G-10 Cockpit set for Revell kit
A.M.U.R. Reaver Bf 109G-10 Erla Correction Set
A.M.U.R. Reaver Bf 109G/K Spinner and Prop Blades
Barracuda Studios Bf 109G-10 Intake and Exhausts
Montex Maxi Mask for Bf 109G-10 Revell kit

On Standby:
Alleycat Models Small Wheel Well Bulge Covers for Revell kit
Henri Daehne Bf 109G-10/K VDM Prop kit

Revell's G-10 boxart depicts Hartmann's Double Chevron, which was documented to have the small wheel bulges on the upper wings. Strangely enough, the Revell G-10 kit does not provide those small wheel bulges. The Revell G-6 kit was purchased as a best-fitting source for the small wing bulges. I know, I know... why purchase an entire kit just to use TWO parts??? Remember, I have an extra set of small wheel bulges from Alleycat, as well as the G-10 large wheel bulges so G-6 kit is definitely buildable. One of the subjects I was considering as a sidebuild would be Hartmann's winter G-14 (or G-6)...

Artwork by Claes Sundin

 

[JKim]

I normally start off my builds with a sprue tour. I've already built this kit once before so I think I'll skip it. If anyone is interested, you can the previous build and sprue tour here:

Revell 1/32 Bf 109G-10 Erla

We'll skip straight to the aftermarket goodies that I have lined up for this build.

The one that I am most excited (and nervous) about is the A.M.U.R. Reaver G-10 Correction Set and 109G/K Spinner and Prop assembly. I believe they are a Russian company and I purchased these from a Russian vendor on Ebay.

The G-10 Correction Set is essentially a engine cowling replacement for the Revell G-10 kit. It is comprised of four pieces cast in smooth creamy resin. In addition to the one-piece cowling, you get the gun breech cover that connects the engine cowling to the front windscreen area, a supercharger intake and the grilles for the oil cooler intake.

I don't know enough to make any claims on the accuracy of this upgrade but I can tell you that it makes a noticeable difference in the lines of the G-10 cowling, especially in width. Looking at the comparison pics on the AMUR Reaver website, you can see the fatter, more stout cross section of the Reaver cowling (on the right) versus the Revell cowling.

Accurate or not, I happen to like the chunkier, more... pugnacious stance of the this cowling. The resin seems to be a quality casting with no apparent bubbles and crisp panel lines. The small air scoops are hollow... a nice touch!

I won't be able to show you a direct comparison between the complete cowlings since the Reaver cowling will require some major fuselage surgery. That's the nervous part for me. I haven't made a larger exterior resin replacement and I'm crossing my fingers that it goes smoothly. I also have a Alleycat Models replacement cowling. It didn't fit well on my last G-10 build so I am just presenting it for comparison purposes. Designed as a drop-in replacement to the Revell cowling, I think the biggest difference is the space between the gun troughs.

The Reaver 109G/K prop set was purchased to ensure that the spinner is a perfect match for the cowling.

The spinner and backplate is cast as a single piece, which is a big improvement over the 2-piece Revell spinner, which puts a very awkward seam in the middle of the spinner.

It looks pretty good. I also have a Henri Daehne 109G/K spinner and prop but I'll be saving that for a future K-4 build methinks.

Rounding out this update is the Barracuda Studios Exhaust and Intake set. I picked this up primarily to replace the kit exhaust, which do not have hollow ends and due to their cross-sectional shape and stacked orientation, would be difficult to hollow out manually.

This set also includes a supercharger intake and some small air scoops that will both go unused since the Reaver set takes care of those already.

The aftermarket tour to be continued...

 

[JKim]

Let's move on to the Aires resin cockpit. I really like the detail that Aires puts into their resin products. These are are not drop-in replacements and fitting an Aires cockpit into a model can be a challenge. This set is a typical Aires set comprised primarily of grey resin parts and augmented by some photoetch. Two sets of breeches are provided for the different types of center-firing cannon.

The centerpiece of the set is the one piece cockpit floor. Warning bells started ringing in my head as soon as I saw this piece. The casting block is HUGE and will be a challenge to cut this away and leave the thin walls of the cockpit floor and bulkhead intact. I normally would have the option of leaving the majority of the casting block in place since it would be unseen but Revell incorporates spars for the wing into the bottom of the cockpit floor. I'm going to look at this area much closer in the near future.

The sidewalls have some nice detail. Keep in mind that there are additional parts that are added to the Revell sidewalls so they aren't as sparse as they appear.

The kit instrument panel is pretty darn good in my opinion. I think it would look very good with punched instrument dials.

The Aires panel is a multi-media affair with a main panel made of resin, several layers of PE for the instrument bezels and a printed acetate sheet for the instrument dials. The Revell panel is good but I think the Aires panel will be a little better.

Here are the different wing choices that I have. From right to left: Revell G-10 with the large bulges, Alley Cat Models G-10 with the small bulges and Revell G-6 with the small bulges.

Hartmann's G-10 was documented to have the small wing bulges so I am planning to use the Revell G-6 wings. In my previous G-10 build, I found that the Alley Cat wings were on the small side. I used a caliper to verify this.

Laying the Alley Cat wing over the G-6 wing, you can see the difference in size. It would fairly simple to cut and fit a shim to address this size difference so the Alley Cat wing may be put into service on a future build. For this build, I think the Revell G-6 wings will be a good plug-n-play replacement.

 

[JKim]

I did some initial playing around with the resin parts and actually crossed a few big hurdles unexpectedly. The kit cockpit floor and wing spar was put into place to see how they relate with the fuselage parts.

I then sawed the Aires resin sidewalls from their casting blocks and dry-fit them to the resin cockpit floor.

To my utter surprise, the Aires cockpit seemed to fit WITHOUT any removal or trimming of any kind! What the??? Fits even with the ginormous casting block in place.

However... the wing spar will definitely not fit without removal of at least part of the casting block. So I started removing it bit-by-bit to see if I could get the wing spar AND the Aires cockpit into the fuselage.

It didn't take much sawing to get enough of the casting block out of the way so that the spar would fit under the resin cockpit floor.

Fit of the cockpit is very preliminary as no positive tabs or location pins are available. The fit of the rear bulkhead MAY be an issue.

 

[JKim]

The fit of the Aires cockpit is going to be complicated by the addition of the Reaver cowling. So I started looking at the Reaver resin next. The casting block of the big cowling piece is on the nose so this has to be removed and cleaned up.

Yes, I am planning to go full Reaver and use the Reaver prop on this build. Just a quick check to make sure the spinner and the cowling are a good fit. Unlike HD's prop, which supplies EVERYTHING needed, the Reaver prop is going to need a 1/8" dowel or rod to serve as the prop shaft.

Checking to see how the kit guns fit into the Reaver gun troughs. Of course, I've hollowed out the ends of the gun barrels.

The supercharger intake is a very nice fit and shouldn't need any filler.

Problem with the Barracuda exhausts. They are meant to be a drop-in replacements for the Revell exhausts. Meaning they tab in from the INSIDE of the fuselage, which I hate because that means you have to install the exhausts before gluing the fuselage halves together. Seeing that the exhaust openings of the Reaver cowling were blocked off, I thought cool, I can simply glue in the exhausts from the outside at any time. Wrongo! After cutting the Barracuda exhausts to fit the skinny exhaust openings, I found that they stick out way too much. Those opening aren't meant to be blocked off, the resin is just flashed over the opening. I think the flash is meant to be cut away and the exhausts to be installed from the inside, just like the Revell kit. I've pretty much botched the Barracuda exhausts from being installed this way. Time to put on the thinking cap. Good place to stop.

 

[Wurger]

 

[SANCER]

Formidable kit and accessories that you have, will make another formidable work table, to enjoy step by step.
Very good start, ... and here I will be with my notebook ...

 

[Tony Hill]

A nice start. Looking forward to watching her come together.

 

[Airframes]

Plenty to go at their John - looking forward to seeing it all come together.

 

[JKim]

Thanks guys! I started this earlier this month but haven't gotten around to posting it here so I'm rushing to get us up to date.

 

[JKim]

This one is going to be a challenging build, no doubt about it. Here's a look at the inside of the Reaver cowling. I've cut out the resin flash from the exhaust openings. What I'm thinking about doing is to build "boxes" from sheet styrene to provide a deeper backing for the exhausts to be installed from the outside. That's the thought anyway.

Performed the simple task of thinning the Reaver prop blades, especially the trailing edge. I tried to photograph but it was too hard to make out. Here's what the assembled prop looks like mounted on the cowling.

For whatever reason, I felt a rush of inertia to do something MAJOR and I went about cutting the fuselage apart to start making room for the Reaver cowling. I wish I would've thought about this a little more cuz I could've gotten a photo of the kit fuselage + gun cowling as a comparison to the Reaver cowling. Oh well...

With the fuselage surgery done, I wanted to see how this puzzle of kit fuselage + AMUR Reaver cowling + Aires cockpit was going to go together. Here is the cut I made to the bottom of the resin cockpit floor to accommodate the wing spar.

I kept the first dry run very simple... cockpit floor into the fuselage with wing spar... no cockpit sidewalls.

Roadblock! The forward bulkhead of the Aires cockpit is in the way of Reaver gun breech cover.

I disassembled the parts to cut the top part of the Aires bulkhead. And then reassembled. This time I left off the wing spar... I'm pretty sure I've taken care of this piece of the puzzle at least. But I decided to add the cockpit sidewalls this time.

 

[JKim]

Dry-fitting is so vague and imprecise at this stage so it is hard to make any concrete assessments of what the REAL fit is. I think this is a decent start. But I think there is still an issue with the thickness of that forward bulkhead not letting this Reaver part to slide all the way back to the fuselage join.

I've stuck the Reaver breech and cowling pieces together with Blu-Tack to see how the complete cowling looks. Again, it's hard to judge since there are no positive tabs or keys... the Reaver is just sitting on the fuselage by gravity, no tape. Looks workable. I have to be very careful with this join but I can't really do much more about it until things start getting locked down with glue. The fit looks workable to me.

A quick check to see how the windscreen fits onto the breech part... no problems here.

A minor issue: sanding the casting block area of the cowling revealed some air bubbles. Most of these will be covered by the spinner but I am going to fill them in with putty just to be sure.

I'll end this update with one of many little things that should be done on this Revell kit. For whatever reason, Revell chose to put these exaggerated circle things on the fabric control surfaces. I thought the easiest way to get rid of them was using a power tool.

I found it easier to slice them off carefully using a curved x-acto blade. Tedious work but at least I don't have to fork out for aftermarket replacements.

 

[JKim]

Here is the front of the cowling with the air bubbles filled with putty. Most, if not all of it will be hidden by the spinner but there were enough bubbles near the visible edge that I just decided to smooth the entire front end.

The exhaust pipe issue was investigated next. The Barracuda exhaust stacks are designed to be drop-in replacements for the Revell kit. However, they are noticeably wider than the kit exhausts. So they are difficult to install from the inside as designed.

I was reminded to compare the kit cowling and exhaust parts. I had thrown them into the trash after I had cut them off of the fuselage so I had to fish them out. Luckily they were cut in a way that preserved the exhaust area. Here are the kit cowling parts with the Revell exhausts tabbed in from the inside and the Barracuda exhausts dropped in from the outside. Remember, I had already trimmed the backing from the Barracuda exhausts earlier, which prevents me from installing them like the Revell exhausts. No big deal... I want to install them from the outside anyway.

What I came up with is a two-piece backing plate made from sheet styrene. These were glued in with CA glue.

The Barracuda exhausts drop in from the outside like I wanted so this solution is a good one.

One thing I noticed about the Reaver engine cowling is that it lacks the deflector plates above the exhaust stacks. The opening for the exhausts is pretty tight with the exhausts in place but I think I can fit deflector plates made from thin brass sheeting. I did this for my 1/48 Bf109K-4 build...

At this point, I jumped over to the main landing gear legs. I don't know why Revell chose to do this but each leg is comprised of FIVE separate parts. It's unnecessarily complicated.

Once finished, the legs will look pretty good. I'll be adding brake lines of course.

 

[Crimea_River]

What a beauty this should be. Why not join our GB John?

 

[Wurger]

 

[SANCER]

Every time, I learn more about the importance of studying the instructions of the kit well, do all the dry fits that are necessary, to avoid surprises and setbacks.
Excellent advance John, and it seems that everything is resolved favorably.

Saludos

 

[JKim]

Thanks guys! A few more posts and I should be caught up with the current status of this build.

What a beauty this should be. Why not join our GB John?

I don't mind joining the GB but there is a good chance that I will not finish by the deadline. If Wojtek is ok with moving it over to the GB, I'll gladly participate.

 

[JKim]

Jumping again... this time to the instrument panel. The acetate behind an unpainted photoetch face is a bit of an older school approach. I happen to like this a little better than the pre-painted PE panels that Eduard offers. Mostly because of that awful purple paint that Eduard tries to pass off as RLM 66.

The back of the instrument dial acetate needs to be painted white to make the instruments visible.

The Revell instrument panel is pretty nice but it can't match the Eduard panel.

Dry-fitting continues. This time I've added the wing bottoms into the mix. I still can't figure out if the forward bulkhead of the Aires cockpit is getting in the way or not. But the fit of the gun breech cover to the fuselage is not bad.

Adding the windscreen and canopy revealed some issues. The Aires cockpit sidewalls seem to be pushing the fuselage sides wider so some thinning is probably in order. Also , there may be a height issue with those sidewalls.

I've reinforced the exhaust backplates with epoxy glue because I'd hate for them to pop into the fuselage after the cowling is attached. When that cures, I can do some more dry-fitting.

 

[JKim]

The pre-ftting of the Reaver cowling continues. I still can't get a firm confirmation that things are fitting or not. With the wings attached and the cockpit tub in place within the fuselage, I Blu-Tacked the cowling into place.

At times, I get a distinct gap between the cowling and the gun breech cover on the port side. Depending on how the cockpit tub jiggles around within the fuselage, the fit of that port side... sometimes there's gap as the internal wall of the cowling butts up against the forward bulkhead of the cockpit tub. The starboard side doesn't have this problem. It's hard to figure out what's going on because everything is moving around and I can't get a good view into the place where the cockpit tub seems to be interfering with the cowling. More investigation is needed. But I really do like the difference that the Reaver cowling gives to the G-10!

I performed some minor correction work to the fuselage. The Alley Cat G-10 upgrade set has a scribing template to relocate the fuel hatch on the port side. I have this set from the previous build so I decided to utilize the template. First I filled the port with Mr. Surfacer 1000.

And then I taped the template securely to the fuselage. I once had a bad experience holding down a template with fingers only so now I am sure to tape that mutha down tight. Scribing is accomplished using a sewing needle chucked into a pin vise.

I usually scribe the outline about 4-5 times in each direction before taking the template off. I'll then alternate between scribing, sanding and scrubbing with a stiff paint brush until the outline is smooth and burr-free. If necessary, I'll run a touch of Tamiya Extra Thin cement to melt any thin shavings.

I drilled out the circular opening near the tail. There is clear piece that is glued in place... some sort of plexiglass port for the aerial antenna.

The clear piece is glued in with Tamiya Extra Thin. I've left it sticking out a little bit. When the glue is dry, I'll sand it down flush and give it a polish.

There is a hatch on the starboard side that I tried to re-scribe. Because the hatch outline was so shallow and I tried to do this freehand, the results were not very good.

As you saw on the re-scribing of the port side fuel port, my usual filler is Mr Surfacer 1000. It's a good filler but it's not ideal for this type of work because it has a tendency to crumble when scribed upon. I've been reading about using CA glue as a filler but had never tried it. I thought this small hatch would be a good test.

Wow... what a revelation! The stuff works GREAT for filling plastic, especially when there is a need to put a scribing line over it. There were areas along the panel lines where my scriber had jumped off the track and it was perfect for that type of repair work too. Although this is a small discovery, I was really excited about it... lots of possibilities on areas/situations that I had struggled with in the past.

The Erla kit comes with three types of tires. Which one to use for a small wing bulge Erla G-10. The G-6 kit specifies using the treaded tire in the upper right corner so I'm thinking that this is probably appropriate for a the small wing bulge Erla G-10?

 

[Wurger]

Thanks guys! A few more posts and I should be caught up with the current status of this build.



I don't mind joining the GB but there is a good chance that I will not finish by the deadline. If Wojtek is ok with moving it over to the GB, I'll gladly participate.

No problemo John. Just please edit your first post here and add the required header.