Hasegawa's 1/32 scale
Messerschmitt Bf 109 K-4

by Ian Robertson

Hasegawa's 1/32 scale Messerschmitt Bf 109 K-4 is available online from Squadron.com

My model represents a Bf.109K-4 from 10./JG51 that landed on Borholm Island, Denmark, in early May 1945. After touching down several kilometers away from its intended airfield, the aircraft was secured by Danish civilians. Several months later it ended up in a local junkyard. A series of excellent photos of this aircraft appear in JaPo’s “Messerschmitt Bf 109 K-4 Camouflage and Markings” (pp 70-73).

At first glance “Black 1” appears to be a typical Bf.109K-4. However, this aircraft is unusual in that it was assembled with parts from Bf.109 K-4 and G-14 variants – a testament to the desperate conditions of the Luftwaffe at the end of the war. Rather than the standard DB 605D engine with wide-blade propellers, the aircraft was fitted with a DB 605A engine and standard VDM 9-12087 propeller blades. More obviously, the starboard engine cowl was from a G-14 (note the front half of the circular bulged fairing typical of the G-14 variant), as was the oil tank cover just aft of the spinner (the oil cap is lower down than on a K-4).

I combined parts from Hasegawa’s 1/32 Bf.109 K-4 and G-14 kits to build this model. Aftermarket additions included a Bf.109 K-4 cockpit from MDC, corrected spinner and drop tank from Eagle Editions, Bf.109 G-10/K-4 detailed wheel wells from Cutting Edge, and resin exhausts from Cutting Edge. All aftermarket parts I used were superb and greatly enhanced the final appearance of the model. Note that the Cutting Edge wheel wells are resin replacements of the inboard half of the wings – substantial cutting of the kit parts is required.

Construction of the Hasegawa kit(s) was straightforward and has been addressed in other articles on HyperScale and elsewhere. Prior to joining the fuselage halves I cut out the K-4 panels that were to be replaced with G-14 parts. I had no trouble mating the G-14 starboard cowl and oil tank cover to the K-4 airframe. The trailing edge of the G-14 cowl was a somewhat awkward fit, just as it appears in photos of the actual aircraft. I used the propellers supplied in the G-14 kit, and the oil cooler from the K-4 kit.

Photos of the aircraft show that the lower half of the port gear cover was missing and that the tail gear doors were wired shut.

Using Polly Scale acrylics, I followed the paint scheme shown for “Black 1” in my JaPo reference (pg 74).

The basic color scheme was RLM 83/75/76, with the rudder in RLM 81. I painted the starboard cowl RLM 74/75/76 in a scheme I felt would be appropriate for a G-14. I painted the wheel wells natural metal (Alclad II duraluminum) and the undercarriage struts RLM 66.

The lower half of the starboard gear cover appears in some photos to be natural metal, so I opted to show it that way.

I used EagleCals decals for the national markings, swastikas, spinner spiral, and stencils. The black 1’s on the fuselage were decals I made using a Hewlett Packard Ink Jet printer and Testors clear decal paper.

I sprayed highly thinned black paint to simulate exhaust stains. Some additional “post-shading” over the model was done in a similar manner, although much more lightly than for the exhaust stains.


 

Images of the completed model were taken outdoors in natural light with a Nikon Coolpix 5400 digital camera. The “unsharp mask” tool of Adobe Photoshop was used to restore some of the clarity and crispness lost during image compression.
 

Click on the thumbnails below to view larger images:

Model, Images and Text Copyright © 2007 by Ian Robertson
Page Created 04 June, 2007
Last Updated 24 December, 2007

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