Kotare Bf 109K-4 with AIMS decals

[denders]

A couple of photos before closing up the cockpit area.

And with the cockpit area closed up.

Then mounting the IP, drilling several small holes, and then closing up the fuselage.

 

[denders]

Cockpit all closed up.

I'm not sure anyone has shown what is in the front end.

The fuselage closed up really easily. Glue next.

 

[denders]

Well, the wings are ready to go together.

And the wings joined to the fuselage.

And the oil coolers, flaps, and ailerons. I chose not to have the oil cooler flaps open.

And yup, the horizontal stabilizer isn't horizontal when the wings are level. I realized it way too late to do anything about it. I'm wondering if it started when I put the tail wheel mount in early so I could paint it inside the fuselage. Wondering if the way to have done it would have been to put it into the fuselage loose when I closed up the fuselage and then add some glue to it. It is noted in the directions that when placing the rudder push rod the rudder will be offset just a bit to starboard on purpose. Ah well.  Off to the paint booth for fun with paint and masking.

 

[denders]

I've painted the areas on the lower wings that will remain aluminum and masked them before applying RLM 76.

RLM 76 painted.

There are areas of the lower fuselage which John has questioned whether they might be old RLM65 stocks were used. MRP 181 is labeled as "BlauGrun Late war RLM 76 variant". I think that looks good so I'm going to use it. I did test it on the fuselage aft of the wings. I just need to mask things before I paint all the areas with that color.

[denders]

Okay, the paint I've chosen for RLM 77 is MRP 402 "Light Gray Ukraine AF Su-25 digital camo". It's close. To my eyes, it's slightly light and slightly blue. I'm thinking that I'll let it dry overnight and then look through MRP's grays again for the sake of research. MRP does not have an RLM 77 in the lacquer line which is what I prefer. The color swatch is from the Monogram book on German colors.

For anyone who owns a copy of that book, Page 43 is interesting.

[denders]

Masked for RLM 75 Grauviolett.

Unmasked.

Masked for the RLM 81 braunviolett rudder, then unmasked.

Next is masking for the RLM 71 Dunkelgrun spots.

I've scanned profiles and created masks for various colors. The green spots will be masked too.

I'm not sure about the Werk no., it's not fully readable on John's profile and I don't think I have any resources for having the correct Werk no. What I have is 3351xx.

 

[denders]

Green spots on the rudder and the paint over of a previous number on the fuselage with RLM 71 Dunkelgrun.

[Martinnfb]

Nice progress. 

[BlrwestSiR]

I'm with Martin, some very nice progress on the paint. 

[Skyraider3D]

Hey Dave, great to bump into you here! 😁

Excellent progress!

I've started one of these last month as well and right now I'm at the point where I have to apply the cockpit decals.

[KevinM]

She looking pretty good there Dave!

[denders]

19 hours ago, Skyraider3D said:

Hey Dave, great to bump into you here! 😁

Excellent progress!

I've started one of these last month as well and right now I'm at the point where I have to apply the cockpit decals.

Hi Ronnie, nice to see you too! Start a WIP thread and share your build with us.

Kevin, Carl, Martin, thanks. I was painting the red and white stripes yesterday and had some paint peel yesterday.  It's lacquer paint but perhaps I was being a bit too hasty. I painted the white, then painted the red, when I took masking off a small bit of white came off. So, I masked to touch that up and peeled a little bit of red. Arrgh! Both spots were under the white Tamiya tape that I used for the edge because the fuselage is tapered. I'll touch that up this morning.

I still haven't decided whether I'm going mask and paint the German crosses or just use the kit decals. The aircraft specific markings I'll definitely use John's decals. 

[denders]

Okay, I decided to paint the crosses and use John's decals for the aircraft specific markings.

I also picked up these extras. The kit wheels still require some filling and sanding which will erase the "tread" which is not recessed. And the spiral mask is to help with the spiral on the propeller spinner.

I'm also irritated because there are small areas where the paint has lifted. Like the one visible on the wing leading edge. That lifted when I was removing extra Tamiya Tape that I added around the wing cross mask.  There are some other spots too. Just small/tiny spots like that. Some of which I've repaired already.

Onward!

 

[Skyraider3D]

Bummer about the paint lift. I noticed when I sprayed the cockpit parts, the plastic rejected some of the paint. I guess there may be some mold release residue and the plastic needs washing first before applying paint. I never had such an issue before with injection moulded plastic (I did with resin).

[denders]

Yeah, I'm not sure what it is. I'm using MRP Lacquer.

 

[DocRob]

I think Skyraider could be right. I always wipe my models clean with alcohol on a cotton cloth before priming and painting.

Cheers Rob

[denders]

Well, whatever the problem is, I used a couple of post-it-notes to protect the surrounding area while I fixed the spot on the wing and one of the post-its lifted a small bit of paint too.  At least I still had paint in the airbrush and fixed that one right away.

[KevinM]

On 2/15/2026 at 3:55 AM, DocRob said:

I think Skyraider could be right. I always wipe my models clean with alcohol on a cotton cloth before priming and painting.

Cheers Rob

That's me to Dave I got a big ole gallon of 90% rubbing alcohol I wipe before the primer even the Alclad stays stuck.The plane is looking good though the mishaps always something very very few builds are perfect in our eyes.

[denders]

Working on the prop and spinner and Landing Gear.

[BlrwestSiR]

Great job on that spiral Dave. 

[KevinM]

1 hour ago, BlrwestSiR said:

Great job on that spiral Dave. 

perfect!

[denders]

Decals are on. I used the stencil decals from the kit. I'll save the 1manarmy stencils for another build.

Another clear coat then some weathering. Canopy needs assembly and painting. Landing gear needs assembly. MGs and antennas need painting and assembly. Seat belts.