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

nice work terry. I estimate I'm about a week behind you now, but this is likely to lengthen as I go through my build issues.

Very spiffy Terry.

Looking very nice. It seems that the appearance of the RLM02 depends on the rest of colours similar to the Humbrol 65 as the RLM65.
What about unsticking of the masking tape? Any troubles?

Doin' good there Terry!

Thanks very much chaps.
Yes Wojtek, the 'RLM o2' does seem to be one of those colours which can look 'off', until it's alongside another colour. The tape came off easily and cleanly, without any problems. There was one, very tiny, thin line on the yellow area of the upper, starboard tail plane, where I mustn't have overlapped the tape fully, which got a miniscule line of RLM 71 on it, but this has since been rectified.
I'm now in the process of doing some very light panel line work, and a bit of subtle weathering and detail painting, before applying the first clear gloss coat.
I should have some pics later tonight, and I might be able to start on the decals tomorrow, if the varnish is hard enough, although I prefer to leave it at least 24 hours, to prevent any clouding from the decals or decal solutions.

Love the blue on Yellow

I spent longer than I though on the detail painting, weathering etc, so I have yet to apply the first gloss coat, which I'll be doing within the next hour.
Support braces have been added to the radiator baths, the MG17's have been fitted and painted, small detail areas such as the trim tabs, the gaps between the slats, and the supercharger intake have been painted, and the first stage of 'wear and tear' has been completed, with some very light panel-line work, light paint wear around the wing roots, and some general grime and staining, using the available photos of Schopfel's aircraft as reference.

PIC 1. The central support braces were added to the rad baths, using stretched sprue. The wheels bays have been painted in RLM 02, with the zipped leather or canvas covers around the bay walls in a mid brown shade. The 'zips' have since been added, using penciled lines, and the edges of the bays re-touched.
PICS 2 and 3. The main cowling had been tacked in place with PVA during painting, so this was lifted off and the dried PVA peeled away. The MG17s had the muzzles drilled out before fitting to the top of the 'engine' block and painting. The cowling was then cemented in place, and grime and exhaust stains added.
PIC 4. Supercharger intake painted in a steel colour, with a dark wash in the gills. Exhaust staining and general grime was done with a combination of pastels and graphite dust, and the paint wear was done using a 000 brush, with a mix of aluminium and RLM 02. Some dust and dirt will be added to the port wing when the model has had the final semi-matt clear coat applied.
PICS 5 to 7. Photos of the tail of Schopfel's aircraft, one of which is included below, show that the RLM 71 on the fuselage spine extended up the leading edge of the fin, and along the tail-plane joint, in a soft-edged line. This was replicated with thinned paint, lightly brushed and 'stippled', again using a 000 paint brush. The second pic shows the line of paint, whilst the final pic shows how it looks with the tail-plane, which is only push-fitted for the photo.
PICS 8 and 9. Another pic of the aircraft shows the way the muzzle blast and slipstream have smeared the leading edge and underside of the wing with smoke staining, replicated on the model using smudged pastels and a small amount of graphite dust (from a pencil) applied with a soft paint brush. Further grime and oil staining has been applied to the underside and aft fuselage, with some of the panel joints having light 'dirt' streaks following the line of the airflow.
PIC 10. Top view showing the wing root paint wear, the gaps in the slats painted, along with the aileron trim tabs and, difficult to see in this pic, some light gun smoke staining around the MG17 gun troughs.

Whilst the first coats of clear gloss are drying, I'll get to work on the wheels, undercarriage legs and doors, prop and spinner, and the canopy sections.
Masking the internal frames of the (open) main canopy section should be fun ...................

Sweet..!

Coming together nicely Terry

Thanks chaps.
Got the first two gloss coats on, but it's going to need another coat to smooth things out.
Can't do much more now until the gloss has fully hardened, and I have to go out for a couple of hours tonight, so no more now until tomorrow afternoon.

Looking good Terry.

Beauty, really moving along with this one

Great work so far Terry!

Looks nice Terry!

Thanks again all.

The model needed another gloss coat on the upper wings, so this has been done, and will be left to harden overnight. All being well, I can start on the decals tomorrow.
Meanwhile, work continues on the bits and pieces, including masking the canopy, inside and out - oh, heaven !!

Got the canopy sections masked and painted, inside and out, and started on the flap indicator markings on the port flap.

PICS 1 to 3. Canopy sections masked, painted RLM 02 on the inside and outside, painted in RLM 71 on the outside and matt clear coated. The final coat of green paint was a little translucent, even after lots of stirring, so I may have to re-touch some parts of the frames.
The head armour will be fitted, along with scratched support brackets, after removing the overhead section of the armour, as this aircraft had just the angled plate, without the curved horizontal section.
PIC 4. The flap angle indicator on the port flap, hand - painted. When fully dry, it will get a bit of a re-touch, to tidy up the black lines.

The gloss clear coat on the model is now fully hardened, and looks good enough to accept the deals. I'll be starting on these later today, using a combination of kit decals, Xtradecal and some from the spare decals files.