Peterpools

Thanks Gaz, very much appreciated. In the end, I was very impressed on how the Revell Spitfire came out and looked. Now in the displace case, sitting with all her Tamiya cousins, she looks and fits in perfectly.

Pete Fantastic work on the details. Finding detailed photos on Israeli aircraft is a job in itself. Looking so good

Thanks Kev, a plumber's dream. I normally remove all the parts from the sprue for the assembly I'm working on, spend hours trying to see all the tiny mold lines (never, ever seem to find them all) and then it's air brush time. Of course, that was the easy part - trying to figure out which pipe was which was a chore unto itself. Someday, I'll remember to label those types of parts as I remove them from the sprues

Thanks Carl, very much appreciated. The DB 605 was for the most part enjoyable to do but the piping surely tested my resolve more then a few times. In the end, it does make for one good looking engine. I saw I missed a few rubber connections that Il paint tomorrow and then dive into the front office. John and I have been trying for quite a long time to hook up for a Buddy Build. We came close with the Revell Spitfires and we're getting closer with the ZM 109's.

Martin OMG - perfecto and what an education I'm getting. I've started on the ZM front office and the photos and video are going to work wonders. Thanks so much.

WOW - love the way the Malcolm hood fits ... the Kotare Spit sure looks like a winner🏆

Martin You're a prince! I triple clicked and saw the phot under it - awesome for sure.

Thanks Gaz, very much appreciated. At some point in the build, I'm going to have to decide how much of the engine cowl to add.

Rob Sure, seems like the best approach as for me. it's the overall look and feel of the model when done that's important. I get a lot of satisfaction and enjoyment looking at my completed builds in the display case.

Gaz Best way to go and when your Spit is done, she will look awesome.

Gaz I'm looking at a brand new, unbuilt Tamiya Spitfire Mk IXc still in the part bags and the fuselage has both panel lines and very delicate rivets. The sides have panel lines and the very delicate rivets run through the panels, along the fuselage, not next to any of the panel lines and none vertically. The upper fuselage seam that you have been working on is just a well scribed panel line on the Tamiya kit, with rivets only along the inside edge of the rear, long panel line and where it steps up; no rivets along that portion of the panel line. I'm not a Spitfire expert, so I have no idea who is right. When I build my Kotare Spitfire, I'm not going to worry about the rivets and the panel lines and build it as Kotare intended.

Thanks John I still have a small headache and I can hear echos of all the 'cuss words' needed to get the engine built. After carefully looking at the photos Martin posted, ZM surely left out a lot of easy details and there are also a lot of differences in the parts colors.

Martin Much appreciated and I wish I had these photos beforehand as I can see a lot of differences in ZM paintings instructions and the kits instructions plus a lot of details I could have added. A few good cockpit detail photos would be very appreciated.

John The ZM 109 is surely turning into an adventure. Just glad you were able to fix the broken brackets and get the engine glued into place.

Chris The Big Cat is looking so good and so glad you were able to work out a solution the overly long struts. Yup, love that head on take view photo - it's so classic of a Cat leaving the water. I often wonder how the QC department could let such an obvious fit problem slide by unless there was little, or no QC, with time and cost not allowing for corrections.

Thanks Hubert - what a pain for sure but worth all the work. Now onto the front office.

John Neat, careful and precise work, as your test fitting shows. Nice new choice for the paint scheme - definitely a colorful alternative and different. Of course, right now, I'm still planning on Hartmann's scheme but who knows things always seem to change. Yup, way over engineered on the tail and exactly the same issues both Gaz and Carl had. Note to myself - go back and look at all the suggested fixes. Why ZM just could do the tail as everyone else is a mystery to me.

Gaz Looks perfect ... the Sharpenair has to be added to the shop for sure.

UNDERWAY With the Revell Spitfire done and in the books, it was time to get going on my Buddy Build with John and of course, with the incredible speed and skills, there is no way I’ll catch up but I will give it go to at least try to stay on the same lap or so. My plan is to build the 109 OOB, kit decals and follow the instructions to the Tee, including the painting profile of Eric Hartmann’s aircraft. The only aftermarket I bought with the kit was ZM’s IP and cockpit PE set, which surely looks as it came straight from Eduard. Since the kit didn't include any seatbelts and harnesses, I purchased a set of the new AirScale 1/32 Luftwaffe seatbelts set and of course, smack dab on the PE set were seatbelts. Time to revise my plan and combine the two. Paints are going to be MRP for airbrush work and brush painting will be Model Air and Tamiya, both lacquer and acrylic. My very first 109, so the ZM instructions are going to be my guide and hopefully easy to follow. First up is the engine; a BD 605 inverted V12. Basic assembly is standard ZM style right down to the molded in cylinders. I did stray from the course with some of the color call outs. I decided to paint the engine semi-gloss black rather the flat black and all the plumbing either with Tamiya Lacquer Gloss Aluminum, Flat Aluminum and Mr Metal Color Aluminum but none silver as the instructions called for, which I thought would be a bit much. Right with John in that the plumbing does have a cuss factor all to its own. I followed the instructions step by step, went slower then slow, gave myself a good number of headaches trying to figure out how all the plumbing actually goes on and where. At the start of the plumbing, the engine bears needed to be installed, creating some installation issues with the aluminum pipes. The engine bearers were primer with MRP Black Primer and painted with MRP RLM 02. The details were highlighted with Tamiya Dark Brown, Dark Gray and Black Panel Line Washes. The entire assembly was lightly dry brushed with Tamiya German Gray to bring out the details and add a feeling of use and weathering, without being too heavy and noticeable. The exhausts and exhaust shields still need to be painted, weathered a bit and added. After finishing the engine assembly and looking back, the assembly sequence could be improved as not all the steps seem to be in the correct order. Also, while ZM provided a good number of drawings and photographs, larger and clearer three view drawings would be easier to follow. Plumbing attaching points and alignment are at times hard to determine. Photos show I need to go back and paint a few rubber connectors that I missed. Ready to start the second stage of the build: front office.

Gaz Surely sounding like a must buy for the; just in case.

Martin, awesome and now you can model an entire squadron of Border Lancasters.

Thanks Carl ... great tool to have on hand. I've only had to replace a few air brush needles in the past 10 years (I must be lucky or haven't noticed any bent tips. Definitely food for thought.

Thanks John for pointing out my terrible typing skills when I'm rushing and not proof reading. I did go back and correct my post.

Carl Awesome 👍

John You're flying now the some mighty nice work on the front office. I'm now working on my ZM 109 full time and you're so right about the BD 605 and all the plumbing.