Peterpools

Rob The Bare Metal Foil does look good in the test and should be the way to go. What about adding a few drops of Tamiya Gloss Black to the Pure Blue to darken it up, as it's always better to shoot gloss paints when the paint finish is going to be gloss. Canopy fit looks good and I do remember those issues as had the nearly the same on my F4 at almost the same time as you.

Thanks Rob for the information and yes, since it was designed for cross country racing and the forward vision wasn't that important - almost like the Spirit of St Louis. Also back then, I bet there was no such thing as crowded skies.

Kriss, I'm 75 and have already been there. Our sight just deteriorates with age and stronger and stronger glasses are needed. Getting new glasses this week! If it wasn't for my magnifying lamp and or optivisor, I don't think I could build at all these days anymore.

Beautiful build and an exceptional finish. No wonder so much weight was needed, as there is a lot of airplane aft of the mains.

Thanks Rob "...There is a limited front view, with the indentions in front of the pilot, covered by the clear canopy, but I guess, the Caudron was not easy to fly..." Makes perfect sense now and I am assuming the vast majority of race time, the pilot is nearly always in a turn, so visibility wouldn't be that much of an impossibility. I'm more then sure, it took a pilot of exceptional skills to fly her as stability must have been sacrificed for speed. With I had some knowledge of the actual aircraft but I'm of no help here at all.

Thanks Gaz, much appreciated.

Gus Just couldn't ask for better care.

Thanks John The more I look at the cammo color demarcation lines, I'm pretty sure the color blend and separation does look good.

Thanks Gus, I'll check it out.

Rob Spectacular find and going to be an epic build. Will be following with enthusiastic interest. Learning to fly in a taildragger, you had to continuously Fishtail or S Turns on the ground to see where you were going, as you couldn't see over the nose. Once the nose was lowered on takeoff, visibility was a non-issue. But for the life of me, I can't understand how the pilot in a race could see what was in front of him. In a turn - no problems but straight ahead? Maybe a slight side slip or nose down attitude but flying blind straight ahead - yikes! Paging Ernie !

Thanks Kev, feels good to have finished the major air brush work and decaling is just around the corner.

👍

Pete OMG, looking fantastic

Nice choice for your latest build and will be following.

John What a fantastic recovery - looks terrific and no one would ever know the problems you had to resolve. So no primer now, just MM gloss light gray. I guessing but for your next build, you're going to be priming with a new bottle of Alclad Primer ?

Hubert sounds great and keep those pics coming

Thanks PW. Just glad to be around to get old - just can't do what we use to do and there are a lot more naps in the course of a week these days!

Thanks Phil, so greatly appreciate your thoughts and very kind words.

Bill, so very much appreciated and your philosophy on what is important is 00% correct. My outlook on life has changed and what use to let bother me and what I dwelled on, I rarely even give a thought to now. Family, health and friends come first and everything else falls into place.

Hi Gus Very much appreciated. All my Petscans are done at the NY Cancer and Blood Specialists and are set up by my oncologist. I've been very fortunate to have the very best of care and my Oncologist is one of the lead doctors at the cancer center.

Thanks Dave, getting there and hopefully by the end of the week, I'll have all the decals and markings on, which for means, I'll finally be in the home stretch.

IT’S CAMMO TIME When it comes to understanding the colors and application of Luftwaffe cammo on its WWII aircraft, I’m a rank newbie, as the 109 is first attempt after all these years. I seem to spend way too much time on paint and color decisions and the 109 was even more, totally new ground. I went with what I read, the classical trifecta of: RLM 74, 75 & 76. With RLM 76 and RLM 75 applied in one long day, it was time to face the music and figure out how RLM 74 is applied. John B came to the rescue as how to apply the cammo, late the night before and I had my road map – for Hartmann’s 109, it was going to be freehand, soft edges. I saw Martin’s post a bit too late as I had already finished airbrushing very early that morning. Food for thought for future projects. Weapons of choice: MRP paints and my H&S Infinity Plus with a .2 tip at about 10-12 psi working pressure. Starting at the horizontal stabilizers, I worked my way forward and a few hours later and the air brush work was done for the day. Looking at the finished freehand cammo, I thought the edges could be a bit softer. Lastly the RLM 04 Gelb Yellow for the fuselage stripe and the bottom of the wing tips. Careful masking and all was good. I had already primed and painted the spinner, prop, the canopy (inside and outside), gear doors, tires, wheels and the drop tank, earlier in the build and all the components are now ready for glossing and decals. The spinner was shot with Tamiya Gloss Black Lacquer and when dry, the white spiral decal was applied – had to be the hardest part of the build! I’ve purchased numerous bottles of my ‘go to’ gloss clears, so I wouldn’t run into the same situation as on my last build.

Hi Ernie When I need to use worms, my go to worm machine: 3M Scotch Removable Mounting Putty. Although most of my cammo work these days is all freehand.

Oliver, Awesome, simply awesome 🏆

John Does the primer lift off the model where there isn't any yellow paint? If not, then the yellow paint reacted with the primer. If it does, then you're 100% correct and the primer is NG. Why take chances and just strip the primer off the model and start over with a fresh bottle of primer? Always something hiding around the corner, especially when everything is going too good.