Martin's Messerschmitt Mayhem

[Martin R]

Despite still being deeply conflicted as to choices for this GB (inc. Airfix OT 1/72 Hurricane I, NT 1/48 Spitfire & Hurricane, 1/72 Do17Z), I'm going to go with an Eduard Bf110D of EPG210 and the Airfix NT Bf109E.

regards,

Martin

[DazDaMan]

Looking forward to these!

[Martin R]

Oh Gawd!

I just visited Waterlooville Model Centre (in Portsmouth. Yep, that's right. He moved there) and he had just had a delivery from Hornby. It would have been rude not to pick up an He111P, wouldn't it? I'm sure my wife will understand . . .

Interestingly, the Beaufighter / FW109A-8 "Black Friday" Dogfight Double was also there (the owner let me ferret around in the box. What fun! I just managed to resist the Beau, given that I've got 5 of the non-DD boxing on order from another source in September . . . )

regards,

Martin

[Old_Tonto]

Oh Gawd!

I just visited Waterlooville Model Centre (in Portsmouth. Yep, that's right. He moved there) and he had just had a delivery from Hornby. It would have been rude not to pick up an He111P, wouldn't it? I'm sure my wife will understand . . .

Interestingly, the Beaufighter / FW109A-8 "Black Friday" Dogfight Double was also there (the owner let me ferret around in the box. What fun! I just managed to resist the Beau, given that I've got 5 of the non-DD boxing on order from another source in September . . . )

regards,

Martin

You lucky blighter. What does the He-111 look like?

Nice choice for the GB too.

[Martin R]

Oh Gawd!

I just visited Waterlooville Model Centre (in Portsmouth. Yep, that's right. He moved there) and he had just had a delivery from Hornby. It would have been rude not to pick up an He111P, wouldn't it? I'm sure my wife will understand . . .

Interestingly, the Beaufighter / FW109A-8 "Black Friday" Dogfight Double was also there (the owner let me ferret around in the box. What fun! I just managed to resist the Beau, given that I've got 5 of the non-DD boxing on order from another source in September . . . )

regards,

Martin

You lucky blighter. What does the He-111 look like?

Nice choice for the GB too.

O_T,

I haven't inspected the parts carefully as of yet, but I have pored through the instructions carefully. My initial impression is that, despite having lots of detail, it doesn't look like a hard build; to me, a lot less intimidating than the Do17Z. There are inserts for detail in the fuselage sides, which is a nice idea. However, there are no bombs to stick in the moulded bomb 'racks', which is a shame.

The instructions say to paint the interior in Humbrol 32 which, according to the Humbrol colour chart, is a dark grey (RLM66). I have asked on Britmodeller, and the one response I've had so far confirmed my suspicion that the interio should be RLM02 instead.

Now, if the GB were 6 weeks long instead of 4, I would be very tempted to start this.

regards,

Martin

[Martin R]

I made a start on one of the Messers, at least; the Airfix Bf109E.

You know the score: delicate parts, large sprue gates, micrometer fit,etc. Here's a shot of the sprues and progress to date.



Parts were degreased and a scoosh of Humbrol primer was applied to relevant bits. Once dry, many parts were coated in RLM02 and, to satisfy my lust for progress, I joined the upper wing halves to the one piece lower. A fair amount of work scraping and filing was required on the interior of the pieces to allow the lower wing halves to sit flush with the slats, and to get the ailerons to sit flush with the upper wing surfaces. Oh and I took off the inboard locating pin to allow the upper and lower leading edges to align properly. Honestly, it's more like an MPM kit!

Still, I hope to get the cockpit completed tomorrow along with the IP decals (which do fit, provided you trim them very very closely to the dials). We'll see how I get on!

(I'm very tempted to also do the new Airfix Heinkel rather than the Eduard Bf110D, tbh).

regards,

Martin

[SteveC]

[quote (I'm very tempted to also do the new Airfix Heinkel rather than the Eduard Bf110D, tbh).

regards,

Martin[/quote]

I hope this build goes well Martin,

And yes, build the Heinkel, you know you want to, otherwise why buy it ?

Regards,

Steve

[Martin R]

Cockpit completed, thanks to Daz's gift of decals for Helmut Wick's yellow nosed 109E. Fuselage joined, together with engine cowlings both dorsal and ventral. Wings now added after some fettling of the joint to get a more '109 like dihedral.

There'll definitely be some filling of minor seams required. Hopefully, most will be amenable to correction fluid, but suspect that filler might be required in one or two places.

I'm going to bed now, so pics tomorrow.

regards,

Martin

[Martin R]

(I'm very tempted to also do the new Airfix Heinkel rather than the Eduard Bf110D, tbh).

regards,

Martin

I hope this build goes well Martin,

And yes, build the Heinkel, you know you want to, otherwise why buy it ?

Regards,

Steve

Thanks, Steve, and yeah, a start on the 111P is definitely getting more likely! Not sure about a finish though!

[Martin R]

[Martin R]

So, last night's pictures. First, a couple of shots of the completely oob cockpit before joining the fuselage halves. The IP decals do fit as you can see, although you do need to trim them right up to the instruments. I didn't even do a wash as I'm not convinced that anything will be seen through the canopy.





And here is where I finally got to:



Today, I applied correction fluid to most of the seams, then when dry, removed most of it with a cotton bud moistened in enamel thinners, being careful not to use too much or press too hard so that the plastic itself melted. A number of fuselage panel lines will need rescribing on top and bottom. Not sure I'll scribe in the longitudinal fuselage seams though, as they'll just look like poorly finished seam lines.

Next, apply tailplanes and their support struts, trying to remove the latter from the sprues without damaging them. Then a scoosh of white primer to see how things stand.

regards,

Martin

[DazDaMan]

support struts, trying to remove the latter from the sprues without damaging them.

Good luck with that. Both of mine broke, and I lost half of one of them!

[Martin R]

support struts, trying to remove the latter from the sprues without damaging them.

Good luck with that. Both of mine broke, and I lost half of one of them!

Aye, they're not the most robust.

[DazDaMan]

And my control column went west as well.

HSS in the end...

[Martin R]

And my control column went west as well.

HSS in the end...

Well, I got both struts off the sprues without breaking at least . I razor sawed the support sprue off one end and then cut the other end free with a sharp modelling knife. Cleaning up the part was easier when holding it from the sprue. Of course, I chopped the second strut in two when I tried to remove the sprue stub . Still, the cut bits fitted together OK. Just need to wait for the glue to dry and then scoosh some white primer over the model (remembering to mask off the cockpit of course). I need a white base for the yellow nose, spinner and rudder.