**** DONE: Tamiya 1/48 Messerschmitt Bf-109E-4/7 - JG 26

[Night Fighter Nut]

Cool.

 

[Airframes]

Got a little parcel of spare tools ready for you Maria, just need somewhere to send them !

 

[BikerBabe]

Thanks again guys.

Now I've got a wee prob with the model here:
I've been sticking stuff together - cowling's assembled, painted and attached, body's together, wings are attached now, but no matter what I do, the darned "pants" or whatever they're called - on the "legs" (landing gear) just won't fit right into the underside/holes under the wings.
It's those metal flap thingies that are attached to the landing gear, which will make the underside of the wings more aerodynamic by covering the retracted landing gear when in the air. Know what I'm trying to describe here???

Any advice, guys? Please???

 

[Wurger]

Of course any pic would be appreciated. It seems the problem with these wheel bay doors is the result of the way of assembling you chose . Have you checked its fitting before you started painting and assembling?
Could you tell me more details about the fitting? At what area it doesn't fit correctly for instance.

 

[Crimea_River]

I can think of a couple of things. First, the "pants" on the 109 do not go all the way into the recess. There was a gap at the hinge when the wheels were retracted. Are you trying to model the landing gear down or retracted? If retracted, the model's wheel, leg and "pant" assembly will not fit into the recess as it's too thick. You'll need to make modifications. If the landing gear is modelled down, the top of the pant at the hinge end should be almost in line with the underside of the wing and not inside the recess.

Of course, without pictures (= 1000 words) as Wojtek suggests, it's hard to see the real problem. Other factors could be "pants" in wrong direction (i.e. they are mixed up) or they may be incorrectly glued to the struts.

 

[BikerBabe]

Hi again guys.

First, I'm making the model a wheels-down version
The problem is that there's a gap between the wheel bay doors (Thanks Wurger! ) and the underside of the wing. I guess that's impossible to avoid, as the wheel "leg" is set too far from the edge of the hole in the wing for everything to fit properly.
Plus the underside of the wheel bay door and the edge of the hole in the wing doesn't line up correctly = incorrectly assembled, is my guess.
Luckily, I haven't yet glued the wheel struts into the underside of the wing yet, so I guess I can take the struts and the wheel bay doors apart ever so gently, and try again.
Will do, thanks again guys.

 

[Wurger]

Maria, here you are a few drawings that show the area of the main landing gear, both retracted and opened.Also from front and side views.

 

[Airframes]

Good info Wojtek. Maria, you might find it easier, and more accurate, to fit the undercarriage legs first, and fit the doors after the legs have set.

 

[BikerBabe]

Podziękowania, Wurger, I'm saving 'em for reference.

Good info Wojtek. Maria, you might find it easier, and more accurate, to fit the undercarriage legs first, and fit the doors after the legs have set.

Thanks Terry, I did just that, it worked as it should.

 

[Wurger]

You'r welcome.

THX Terry.

 

[Wurger]

I also had a problem with the covering of landing gear legs when assemling the Airfix Bf109 of 1/32 scale. These doors were too long and I had made them shorter.What is more I had to put them a little bit deeper into bays. A few shots below.

 

[BikerBabe]

Hi again Wojtek, and dziekuje za zdjecia.
I managed to sort out the wheel bay door problem with a somewhat satisfactory solution, mucking about with the things until they fitted okay.
The last couple of days I've been painting some more parts, getting them ready for assembly, and today I've been attempting to mask the cockpit canopy.
Put short: I HATE masking cockpit canopies!!!

I also touched up some parts, like the edges of the infamous wheel bay doors - some of the photos shown is taken before fixing the sloppy edges - and painting the little air intales/coolers on the port side of the cowling, plus silvering up the intakes on the underside of the wings. I accidentally hit them with the paint brush while I was painting the light blue covers, and so they needed a dot of silver/metal to get them to look nice again.
There's more touching up underway, but right now this is as far as I've gotten.

I also stopped by my model shop in Copenhagen on my way home from work; they called earlier to tell me that the Tamiya weathering kit that I had ordered, had arrived.
So now I've got "mud" for the upcoming BMW R75 and/or the wheels and undercarriage of the planes, when I get that far.

Anyway, here's today's results:

 

[vikingBerserker]

Wow Maria, looking nice!

 

[Crimea_River]

Coming along nicely.

 

[Wayne Little]

Doing good Maria!

 

[JohnAnthony]

That's coming together very nicely! Keep the pics coming.

 

[Airframes]

Good stuff Maria, and I see Jan has sent you one of his spare eye make-up sets!
BTW, if this is in the BoB period, the drop tanks weren't carried until very late 1940, and only really came into proper use in spring '41.

 

[Wurger]

A very nice work so far Maria. I agree with Terry these drop taks weren't carried until the end of 1940.

Is the assembling for the BoB GB Maria? If yes, I have to move it to the correct sub-forum. Please let me know.

 

[BikerBabe]

Hi again guys and thanks for your kind words and encouragement. *curtsies*
Seems like i have to remove the drop tank, then - thanks for the info, Terry. *hug*
And about the Group Build - erm, with my rate of building: When exactly is that BoB group build deadline???

 

[Lucky13]

Very nice work Maria!

Still got your book sitting here btw, haven't forgot about it!