**** DONE: GB36 - 1/48th Bf109G-6/R6 - Axis Manufactured aircraft of WWII

Thanks Mike and Hugh, glad you like it so far.

A bit more to show, but not much for around 8 hours' work !
Before any painting can be done, some work needed to be completed in preparation for fitting the cannon gondolas and drop tank, once the model has been painted. Fitting these later avoids damage during handling and painting, and it also makes it easier when actually spraying.
First thing to do was to prepare the Tamiya drop tank rack to accept the Eduard tank, and alter the sway brace points accordingly. The tank was used to check alignment of the sway brace pads in relation to the braces themselves, and also to measure the distance between the sway brace mounting 'tubes' ,and the tank pads, as these need to be longer than those on the Tamiya rack.
The alignment was simple, it just needed the locating hole in the rack elongated slightly. I had intended to use brass rod for the braces themselves, but this proved to be unsuitable, as the 'tubes' needed to be drilled-out to accept the rod, with not much leeway without destroying the 'tubes', and trimming the rod to final length would have been tricky to do accurately.
Therefore, stretched sprue will be used instead, and one brace was made as a trial, to check spacing, before removing this, as it would only get broken during handling.
More explanations in the pic captions below.

PIC 1. The locating hole in the center of the rack was elongated, and the sway braces removed from the 'tubes', which were then drilled out. As can be seen, the 'walls' of the once solid 'tubes' have started to collapse, but by using stretched sprue for the braces, slotted in to the drilled holes, the walls can be repaired by melting the plastic around the braces using extra thin liquid cement.
PIC 2. The representation of the support strap on the tank has been improved slightly, by drilling through and then opening the hole, with the work underway in this pic.
PIC 3. The Eduard tank assembled, and the rather heavy joint seam removed and sanded smooth. The support strap has been engraved along its edges, to emphasise the appearance, and a tensioning turnbuckle added from stretched sprue, although the engraved detail in the latter is difficult to see due to the flash photo. To add some 'character' to the tank, a dent has been melted, filed and sanded, under the nose. Holes have also been drilled in the top of the tank, for the fuel and pressure lines..
PICS 4 and 5. The assembled cannon gondolas were fitted temporarily, and their outlines lightly etched onto the wings. With the tanks removed, the etched lines were pencilled-in, to allow them to be visible beneath the masking tape, which was laid over the area and trimmed to approximate shape, using the pencil lines as a guide. This will allow a clean, un-painted surface to attach the gondolas to, after painting the model.
PIC 6. One of the kit cannon gondolas, with the 'solid' barrel removed. The ejector port (red arrow) is in the wrong place, and needed to be filled. The blister shown (yellow arrow), is in the approximate location of the bulge and deflector immediately below where the empty shell case and link ejector ports should be, and had to be removed.
PIC 7. Work underway on the modifications to the gondola, with the empty case ejector port cut, the original port filled with melted stretched sprue, and the bulged deflector and link ejector port in the process of being shaped. This has been built up using plastic strip and stretched sprue, and will be carved and sanded to shape.
PIC 8. A tube cutting jig and saw were used to cut some 0.75 mm alloy tube for the cannon barrels.
PIC 9. One of the gondolas almost finished, with just a bit of tidying and polishing to do. The alloy tube 'barrel' has been slotted into the housing and fixed with CA. Although not very visible here, more CA has been built-up around the joint, to represent the canvas gaiter around the barrel. The smaller notch beneath the empty case ejector port represents the link ejector port, and will be enhanced by painting, once the gondola and barrel are painted.

With luck, I should get the gondolas finished tomorrow, and then start on the painting process - so back then !

Thanks Wojtek.

Got the rudder sprayed white, with the paint continuing onto the fuselage as a base for the RV band. It was masked when dry, and the green for the RV band sprayed, using Humbrol No.101 matt Mid Green, with a touch of matt black to darken it a little.
Once this is fully dry, the band area will be masked, and the tail-planes fitted, in their 'new' position, and then the first colour, RLM 76, will be sprayed overall on the fuselage and fin, and the underside of the wings and tail-planes.
I'm hoping to get this done tonight and, with luck, get the main upper surface colours on tomorrow. Then I have to figure out the best way to mask and spray the RLM 75 into the areas of the fuselage crosses, before doing the mottle.
I'll probably trace the outline of the grey part of the crosses, and make a mask, if my hands work enough to allow this.

Back probably later tonight or, if not, some time tomorrow.

Good Grief Terry that is a LOT of fiddly exacting work. Me Hat is off to you sir

Great detailing Terry. The gondolas (gondolae?) are much improved.

This build is moving along nicely!

Nice one Terry, looking forward to the paint

Thank very much chaps.
Didn't get the painting done last night, as there was a power cut, due to icing at a sub-station or something, just before I was ready to start.
Ending up going to bed, and reading with the help of a head torch !
Should get it done today though, all being well.

Good job I didn't get the RLM 76 sprayed, as I almost forgot the Kommandeur's 'winkel' (as the actress said to the Bishop !)
As this is a solid black marking on Franzisket's aircraft,, and the only suitably sized 'winkel' decals I have, all have the white outline, it will have to be painted. So I decided to 'reverse mask' the marking, painting the black first, and then masking over this, as this would be easier, and more accurate to align, than trying to mask the outline and then 'fill-in' with paint.
The RV tail band was masked first, and then the 'winkel' markings were done, as explained below.


PIC 1. The tail band was masked, and the edges of the tape burnished down. A thin coat of the green was then applied to the tape edges, to create a seal, and hopefully prevent any 'bleed' of the camouflage colours. The excess green paint outside the masking was lightly sanded, to help prevent a buil-up of paint around the tape edges.
With this done, strips of masking tape were applied to the area where the 'winkel' would go, acting as a guide for a rough, penciled outline of the markings.
PIC 2. The tape was then removed, and the rough shape of the 'winkel' painted in matt black enamel, deliberately wider than ultimately required. The starboard side shown here, required the lower stroke of the 'arrowhead' to be widened slightly, which has since been done.
PIC 3. Once the paint had fully dried, masking tape was cut to the required dimensions, which are approximately the same width of 'stroke' as the white portions of the fuselage cross, and placed in position and burnished down. The central, triangular 'arrow', which is approximately the width of the black (or in this case, grey) central section of the cross, was then cut and placed in position.
Once the masks had been fully fixed and burnished, most of the excess black paint was scraped off around the outline. This had been applied fairly thinly, by brush, over a very thin, sprayed coat of matt white, and was easily removed without leaving a rough surface.

With the 'winkel' masks in place, the tail band masked, and all open apertures on the model masked or otherwise sealed, to prevent any spray 'mist' entering the cockpit, the model can now be sprayed in the first colour, RLM 76, this time using Model Master enamel, very kindly supplied by Andy.
I'm hoping to get this done later this evening, but I have to go out to a meeting for a 'Help for Heroes' event I'll be involved in, so it might have to wait until tomorrow.
Thanks again for the continued interest in this build, and I'll be back some time tomorrow, at the latest.

Well done Pal. Wouldn't it be easier to use a template for the winkel applying? However your way is always fine and gives the proper effect. :thumbright

Thanks Wojtek.
I had considered making a template mask, but the wider Tamiya tape I have, which would be needed due to the dimensions of the winkel, is a different type to the 'standard' tape. It's fine for general masking, but I have doubts about its ability to remain firmly burnished enough, at the edges, for the sharp outlines needed in this case.
Also, with my stiff hands, and some rigid fingers, it was much easier for me to position the separate strips of tape, rather than having to try to align a larger mask accurately.

Grasped.

very impressive Terry

Good work Terry. I probably would have chosen your method as well despite having to paint the light colours over black.

Thanks very much once again chaps !
I was more concerned about covering the green over-spray, than the black, but sanding it back a bit certainly helped.
The RLM 76 has now been sprayed overall on the fuselage and fin, lower tail-planes and wing undersides, as well as the drop tank, cannon gondolas and wheel covers.
The Model Master paint sprayed beautifully, although it looks like it might be drying with a semi-gloss finish, which isn't a problem. The excess black paint remaining around the 'winkels' covered easily enough with a second coat of RLM 76, and, so far, the finish looks good overall,
I can't move the model at the moment, as it's still 'tacky', and balanced inverted on a couple of paint tins, but I'll post pics some time tomorrow and, hopefully, I'll also be able to show at least the RLM 75 camouflage on the upper surfaces.
Got to go out to that meeting now, so back tomorrow .............

Nice progress Terry. detail stuff is particularly good

Nicely done Terry.

Good work there Terry.

Thanks, Michael, Kirby and Wayne.

This is how it looks so far.
The finish is beautifully smooth, although as mentioned previously, it has dried semi-gloss, which is actually beneficial, as it'll help with the gloss coat for the decals.
The paint on the model itself is still very slightly tacky in parts, but only just, and this, along with the semi-gloss finish, suggests to me that the paint probably needed a little more stirring. It had sat, unopened, for over two years, and the carrier had separated to a clear liquid, above the color pigment, so I gave it a really good stir anyway, but should have really stirred for longer than the approximately 5 or 6 minutes spent.
No problem though - it'll just take longer to fully cure, but should be OK to apply the next colours by this evening.
The drop tank had a small hole drilled into the rear, and a length of sprue shaved and glued in place, to act as a handle for painting. This will simply be cut off, leaving the hole plugged with the same plastic, and sanded smooth and then re-touched.

I'm aiming to get the RLM 75 sprayed this evening and, if it dries quickly enough, the RLM 74 will also be applied, leaving the mottle until tomorrow.
I'll post pics when it's done.