Clear the Bench! Zoukei Moura Bf-109G14 Non-Hartmann Build

[GazzaS]

Welcome back to the fray.  It's been slow going waiting for the oils to dry.  Brimming with impatience, I broke out the hair dryer after adding more streaking.  That allowed me to add some airbrush smoke residue on the center, and grime towards the wheels.

Despite the fact that I used various shades of grime, they all kind of blended together more than I wanted.  I will finish up the grime area hopefully tomorrow with some grayish pigments.

 

Then, I decided it was time to get cracking with the One Man Army stencils.  They are so finely cut.  Finer than I could accomplish with my Silhouette Portrait.  Any they are kabuki paper masks, so the won;t stretch like my masks. 

The direction card in the packet says to use dark gray instead of black.  So I used SMS German gray which is very dark and meant for Panzers.  You will notice that it;s not easy to read in the mottled areas.

 

And far easier to read where the paint colors are more solid.

 

They really are amazing, and there's no danger of silvering or showing a thickness of carrier film.

Sorry for the blur.  But I really like this photo.  I devoted a lot of time and effort into weathering that yellow band to give it more structure and presence.  So, despite the fact I wanted to show the results from the One Man Army masks...  I'm more or less fixated on the weathering.

 

And now I'm reminded that I need to place 1001 scuff marks on the wings adjacent to the fuselage.

Happy Trails!

[BlrwestSiR]

That last photo really looks amazing. The weathering on the fuselage band is phenomenal and definitely worth being proud of. 

Those 1man Army stencils look great too. I might have to consider them in future. 

Carl

[Martinnfb]

Super realistic.

[harv]

Wow, really amazing looking build !!.....harv 

[Jeff]

Master Class !

[GazzaS]

6 hours ago, BlrwestSiR said:

That last photo really looks amazing. The weathering on the fuselage band is phenomenal and definitely worth being proud of. 

Those 1man Army stencils look great too. I might have to consider them in future. 

Carl

 

5 hours ago, Martinnfb said:

Super realistic.

 

4 hours ago, harv said:

Wow, really amazing looking build !!.....harv 

 

2 hours ago, Jeff said:

Master Class !

Thank you, fellas!

[GazzaS]

The final stencils I'll be using from 1 Man Army on this particular build, and my thoughts on Luftwaffe aircraft and stencils.

After going through my entire archive of late war 109  photos, the only conclusion I can make is that there is no way to be certain whether the provided stencils were used or not.  Perhaps they were painted over.  I went looking for the -ZU stencils used on cowling latches.  In the dozen or so photos from the correct angle and taken at a useful distance I can say only 1 in 12 show the -ZU stencils.  But that's my limited archive.

So, I present the 'red' stencils on my ZM 109.

Many of us work from 1 photo.  Then perhaps we assume what we see on another picture of the same type of machine is what happened all of the time.  There is really no way to be 100% right unless you can provide documentation.

 

Happy modelling!

 

[GazzaS]

Hi Friends!

     One more for today.  So, since my last I:

A.  Continued to weather the underside.

B.  Added the exhaust streaks with pigments and then over-sprayed them with a thinned soup of yellow gray.

C.  Added the remaining decals.

D.  Put on the wheels.

I will soften the decal colors with some thin filters applied by airbrush.

The black panels on the wing root definitely take the 'dirty' aspect out of the exhaust staining.

I got fed up with the way the '9's faded into the RLM 76.  So, I put the masks back on (amazingly I had not thrown them away, yet) and added some RLM 81 and and RLM 82 to neaten it up.

I am not quite content with the splay of the landing gear legs.  It looks more like 109F to me. 

So...   What's left to do:

A.  Foot scuffs and metal chipping where applicable

B.  Adding appendages...   the 109 has many:  Aileron balances, Morane mast, DF loop, Canopy, Antenna wire...  am I forgetting anything?

C.  Matte coat.

D.  Pilot, Ground crewman, and base.

 

Happy modelling!

[Peterpools]

On 11/25/2022 at 5:20 AM, GazzaS said:

Welcome back to the fray.  It's been slow going waiting for the oils to dry.  Brimming with impatience, I broke out the hair dryer after adding more streaking.  That allowed me to add some airbrush smoke residue on the center, and grime towards the wheels.

Despite the fact that I used various shades of grime, they all kind of blended together more than I wanted.  I will finish up the grime area hopefully tomorrow with some grayish pigments.

 

Then, I decided it was time to get cracking with the One Man Army stencils.  They are so finely cut.  Finer than I could accomplish with my Silhouette Portrait.  Any they are kabuki paper masks, so the won;t stretch like my masks. 

The direction card in the packet says to use dark gray instead of black.  So I used SMS German gray which is very dark and meant for Panzers.  You will notice that it;s not easy to read in the mottled areas.

 

And far easier to read where the paint colors are more solid.

 

They really are amazing, and there's no danger of silvering or showing a thickness of carrier film.

Sorry for the blur.  But I really like this photo.  I devoted a lot of time and effort into weathering that yellow band to give it more structure and presence.  So, despite the fact I wanted to show the results from the One Man Army masks...  I'm more or less fixated on the weathering.

 

And now I'm reminded that I need to place 1001 scuff marks on the wings adjacent to the fuselage.

Happy Trails!

Gaz

Weathering looks so good and those mask/stencils are amazing. Completely agree they are much more effective on solid colors they over a weathered surface, but I guess that would be the actual way we would see it in the flesh.

Nice tight closeup of the yellow fuselage stripe - lots going on to look so realistic. 

Going to order a set of masks and give them a try - they do look mighty good. 

 

 

[DocRob]

This becomes better with every update, Gary. I like the weathering and the blending of the decals and markings. Good to hear, the 1ManArmy masks work well, as I willuse them on my actual Corsair build, which means soon, hopefully.

Cheers Rob

[GazzaS]

8 hours ago, Peterpools said:

Gaz

Weather looks so good and those mask/stencils are amazing. Completely agree they are much more effective on solid colors they over a weathered surface, but I guess that would be the actual way we would see it in the flesh.

Nice tight closeup of the yellow fuselage stripe - lots going on to look so realistic. 

Going to order a set of masks and give them a try - they do look mighty good. 

 

 

 

7 hours ago, DocRob said:

This becomes better with every update, Gary. I like the weathering and the blending of the decals and markings. Good to hear, the 1ManArmy masks work well, as I willuse them on my actual Corsair build, which means soon, hopefully.

Cheers Rob

Thank you, fellas!

[KevinM]

Gary.........Splendidly done!!

[GazzaS]

2 hours ago, KevinM said:

Gary.........Splendidly done!!

Thank you!

[GazzaS]

Scuffing. 

Time after time, someone had to clamber up on the wing either to get into the cockpit or to service the guns and motor.  Please tell me what you like and dislike about the following series of photographs.   I have my own opinions, but would rather here yours, first.

Worst comes to worst, I can sand much of it back even though it is already matte coated.  If I hadn't applied a matte coat, you wouldn't be able to see anything.

 

Thank you in advance, for your input!

 

Cheers!

 

[Martinnfb]

Loving it ! 

[DocRob]

Nice idea about the scuffing, Gary. I like the first picture a lot  with black scuffing on the side of the fuselage and lighter scuffing through the soot. Your non Hartmann, enters the plane from the left side obviously. The white scuffing in the wing areas, I find a bit too much .

Cheers Rob

[Peterpools]

Gaz

Nice work on the scuffing - something you really don't see much of. In the second and third photo, I think there should be a little more scuffing in the middle area which would even out all the walking marks. All in all, an awesome effect

 

 

[GazzaS]

On 11/28/2022 at 6:09 PM, Martinnfb said:

Loving it ! 

 

On 11/28/2022 at 7:18 PM, DocRob said:

Nice idea about the scuffing, Gary. I like the first picture a lot  with black scuffing on the side of the fuselage and lighter scuffing through the soot. Your non Hartmann, enters the plane from the left side obviously. The white scuffing in the wing areas, I find a bit too much .

Cheers Rob

 

On 11/29/2022 at 7:24 AM, Peterpools said:

Gaz

Nice work on the scuffing - something you really don't see much of. In the second and third photo, I think there should be a little more scuffing in the middle area which would even out all the walking marks. All in all, an awesome effect

 

 

Guys,

     Thank you for your earnest replies.  I waited for a week, and the more times I looked at my result, the more I hated it.  So part of today's update will show my new results.

I started by sanding back the earlier attempts at scuffing.  I left enough of it in place to hint that some slight paint damage has occurred.  I may still change it later.

My next tasks were to add all of the protruding parts common to Luftwaffe fighters late in the war.

I had four different DF loops on this machine.  The original, two brass, and the final one, Stainless steel.

The original DF loop broke when I lost control of the machine and my lap prevented it from making it to the floor.  The fragile plastic couldn't outlast my clumsiness.  And the two brass DF loops either got knocked off repeatedly, or because of their softness were continually getting knocked out of shape.

So I thought to myself...   "I'll fix your wagon!"  So, I have these Stainless steel wheel stencils which are on a fret.  And the thinnest pieces of the fret are just narrow enough for the job.  Notice the nice blued color?  I hot-blued it by heating it red hot, and then dropping it into olive oil.  So I can avoid painting it.

I also had to worry about how I was going to attach the antenna radio aerial.  I hate the simple expedient of just drilling a couple of holes.  It just seems wrong in larger scale.

I've had a love affair with Bob's Buckles since I first used them to rig a WNW kit.  Just don;t tell Mrs. Buckles.  Here, I have attached the eyelets to both the antenna mast and the vertical fin.

The largest and most frail protuberance is the Morane Mast and the pitot tube. 

According to the regulations the aerodynamic wooden fairing was to be left in a natural color with a clear varnish for protection.  I painted the metal parts RLM 71.  I saw somebody do it with red and white stripes like the nightfighters had on their lower aerials...  But I haven't seen any photographic evidence of it.  This is a plastic kit part.  Mucho Fragilico.

 

I also weathered the wheels and wheel well covers so that they would fit in with my very dirty underside.

I really wanted the wheels to appear much dirtier.  But weathering over black...   and trying to be subtle about it...  Gives weak results.  But I can live with that.

 

Finally...   A couple overall shots.  You can see I didn't forget the FuG 25 IFF aerial under the rear fuselage.

Thanks for looking...  

...and as always, your comments are appreciated.

 

Happy Modelling!

 

[Peterpools]

Gaz

Looking so good. Nice work on scratching out a new DF Loop Antenna - looks really good. What a brilliant idea for using Bob Buckles as hooks to attach the antenna wire wires - might just try it on the P-40.

BTW, the aerodynamic wooden fairing/antenna on the left front wing, modeling wise looks so good but in the flesh, it looks like an easy accident waiting to happen. Takeoff and landing with the stick a bit too far forward or a bit of a bounce you just might hit the ground with it and ground loop the 109 or even worse. They had a bad enough reputation for takeoff and landing accidents with the gear being so tightly close together.

 

 

 

[JohnB]

Outstanding work Gaz! VERY well done. I like it!!!!

[Martinnfb]

Outstandingly truthful rendition of the late war 109 camouflage and weathering. Bravo !

[harv]

Fantastic !!....harv🏆

[GazzaS]

8 hours ago, Peterpools said:

Gaz

Looking so good. Nice work on scratching out a new DF Loop Antenna - looks really good. What a brilliant idea for using Bob Buckles as hooks to attach the antenna wire wires - might just try it on the P-40.

BTW, the aerodynamic wooden fairing/antenna on the left front wing, modeling wise looks so good but in the flesh, it looks like an easy accident waiting to happen. Takeoff and landing with the stick a bit too far forward or a bit of a bounce you just might hit the ground with it and ground loop the 109 or even worse. They had a bad enough reputation for takeoff and landing accidents with the gear being so tightly close together.

 

 

 

 

6 hours ago, JohnB said:

Outstanding work Gaz! VERY well done. I like it!!!!

 

1 hour ago, Martinnfb said:

Outstandingly truthful rendition of the late war 109 camouflage and weathering. Bravo !

 

1 hour ago, harv said:

Fantastic !!....harv🏆

Thank you, fellas.

[CANicoll]

Gaz,  Oh beautiful!!  I'm definitely taking some of your ideas, such as Bob's Buckles, which are brilliant.  I didn't know about the wooden mast, which means I need to go back and redo a couple of my builds.  Really like the rivet effect and the overall weathering - it blends so nicely.  Just a super job all around.  I'd almost say you had a WWII 109 in your backyard as reference - lovely work!

Chris

[GazzaS]

12 hours ago, CANicoll said:

Gaz,  Oh beautiful!!  I'm definitely taking some of your ideas, such as Bob's Buckles, which are brilliant.  I didn't know about the wooden mast, which means I need to go back and redo a couple of my builds.  Really like the rivet effect and the overall weathering - it blends so nicely.  Just a super job all around.  I'd almost say you had a WWII 109 in your backyard as reference - lovely work!

Chris

Thank you, Chris.  Very kind words.