Peterpools

Hubert, thanks you for confirming my research to this point. I'm going to thin out the plate and leave a small gap between it and the fuselage. Also need to spend a lot of time cleaning up the empennage as there are seams, gaps and steps that for the most part shouldn't be there. After reaching this point in the construction, I completely agree with Rob that the 109 suffers from a lot of the same issues previous ZM kits do: over engineered, way too many never to be seen parts after assembly and the instructions need to be cleaned up where the assembly drawings are a lot easier to understand and follow. I even found what I believe is an interior control rod that goes from the rudder to the tailwheel, allowing the tailwheel to be steerable instead of cables from the rudder to the tailwheel. Why even include such part that will never ever be seen?

Hi Gaz I've been struggling just getting the kit together after fitting and painting the rear interior and details at least RLM 02 for some effect which has caused all sorts of fit issues - the thickness of the paint has affected the precise fit. I also was a bit overzealous in gluing the cockpit to into the fuselage half and now need to fine tune one of the upper bear bracket holes for a better fit. ZM should have gone the route of how Tamiya secures their Merlin's to the firewall and not solely rely on the engine bearers. Right now, I'm trying to figure out how to correct the vertical and horizontal stabilizers fit and look as ZM did a poor job. I've been downloading and studying a lot of photos and have come to the conclusion (hope I'm right) the plate in between the fuselage and the horizontal stabilizer should be attached to the horizontal stabilizer and pivot with it as part of the trim system and it is way too thick. Still looking at photos and trying to understand then entire empennage of the 109, as photos just look different then the kit.

Martin Pretty clever way of heating the cockpit at altitude.

Hi Gaz I've gone back, bookmarked your build and refer to it more and more as I find ZM's instructions to be lacking and unclear with certain details, that have led me down the wrong path.

Scott Terrific work on detailing the Revell gear with Tamiya parts - looks mighty good.

John Looking good and right with Carl - fantastic progress.

Thanks Gaz, very much appreciated. Looking at both photographs, I can see how you handled the edge seam and where ZM missed the boat on the actually to be seen details. I'm with you and wish ZM would have devoted a lot more time and effort into the correctly replicating the visible details and left almost all the hidden details out - a waste of time and money. I'm almost ready to button up the fuselage, added all the fuselage details, which I painted then RLM 02 only for what little could be seen through the open access panel. I decided to add all the fuselage ribs as they are what align both halves otherwise it becomes one huge unsupported butt join, top and bottom.

Thanks Paul, very much appreciated.

John Yup, only way to bring in what you need. SB use to carry them but they only have a few colors and that's it.

Hi John Nice progress on the paint work and it's so easy to see you're using Xtracolor, as the finish is so smooth and glossy. Yup, completely agree that all the interior details just disappear by this stage of the game. I'm close to closing up the fuselage on my build and all the interior detail is so quickly vanishing except what can be seen through the small access panel.

Hubert Looking forward to your Cutlass build as time allows.

THE FRONT OFFICE With the PE IP completely repainted and, in all reality, turned out to be a waste of time and money, it was time to tackle the front office ZM style. I know I have been somewhat critical of the kit and the same issues with the DB 605 applies to the front office. Wonderfully detailed parts, assembly in spots a bit more then finicky and the over complicated instructions were surely not a plus. As careful as I could be, there were some fit/alignment issues, especially with the two side panels and no matter what I did, the front end of the assembly suffered. While part fit for the most part is good, it’s not rock positive and tight. Like Tamiya, paint needs to be removed from all mating surfaces as it greatly effects the part fit. I test fitted the cockpit assembly into the two fuselage halves and all seems to fit well. My biggest gripe and frustration were the two key landing gear attachment parts; how and when they are added to the 109 could be a lot better. They are absolutely critical parts and with hindsight, surely could have been added much earlier, as I tend to follow instruction assembly sequences and this is way too late in the build process. The bulkhead had already been painted and glued into place, making for the chance and likelihood of error an alignment error a strong possibility. Why didn’t ZM just mold these three parts as a single piece, insuring everything would be straight, true and of maximum strength. Tackled just the seatbelts portion at this stage and decided to use a combination of the AirScale Luftwaffe WWII set and the ZM PE sets. A solid two hours were needed but they do look good. The repainted IP and cowling are just being test fitted and seem to be OK. The aux fuel tank line/gauge came out well and I was very careful to use Model Air RLM 04 Gelb Yellow as most yellows in the stash are way too bright and the wrong shade.

John Absolutely so - ZM needs to keep in mind that when so many parts are needed, all depending on each other for the alignment of the next or it's trouble in paradise, less is more. critical alignment parts such as the two parts that the gear attaches to the cockpit bulkhead, should have been one part for all the obvious reasons and not three. Detail is one thing but critical detail - something way different. Thinking back on Carl's 109, he had trouble with these two parts and it derailed his build.

Carl Awesome video and yes, it does wonderfully show the diversity of aircraft being flown by the Navy in that era.

Gaz and John I'm in your camp John with my feeling on the kit. I've been working as carefully as I can and still struggled with some of the cockpit parts. I have my reservations on how well I did with the landing gear attachments parts at this stage - surely there has to be a better way of molding those two parts in place, so they are spot on the money and so key to the build. Mine look good (❓) but I won't know for sure how I did until later on in the build. Absolutely way over engineered with way too many never to be seen parts after assembly and while the instructions are very detailed, the isometric drawings are way more confusing then a help and even a good number of the plain drawings show way too much of unnecessary details for locating the parts being worked on.

Looking so good 👍

Right with Hubert

Thanks Gaz and I agree, I should have used the kits IP and not purchased ZM's PE set, which was way more work then it was worth and I wound up painting it anyway. Front office is nearly complete and test fitting the entire assembly right now into the fuselage halves - so far so good.

Rob Wonderful progress on the Arizona as this stage of weathering added an amazing amount of life and interest to the hull, shafts and the propeller assembly - lightly and delicately done.

Just like Harv said - nothing but the best!

Thank Carl, just can't tell you how grateful I am for going the extra mile for me; solved a huge problem as the New Zealand Postal System didn't recognize my zip code and prevented me from pre-ordering the kit, Carl to the rescue. AWESOME! What a few days: first the Revell Hurricane and now the Kotare Spitfire. I'll be knee deep in RAF WWII Day fighters for a good long while.

Absolutely! Money and time on ZM's part could have been better spent on working on part fit, better instructions or even, now here is a shocker: a lower price!

Mark Hlad to see the Big Sikorsky is back on the bench and in your capable hands

John Making terrific progress and I would say you are over the hump with the ZM 109 but I don't want to jinx you. I finally finished the main front office and spent a full day doing the seatbelts from a combination of AirScale and Eduard sets. Still swimming through a sea of parts that will never be seen - what a waste of time for sure.

Thanks Oliver, your way to kind. I only wish I have a tenth of your talent.