Messerschmitt Bf
109G-6
by
Floyd S. Werner Jr.
|
Messerschmitt Bf 109G-6 |
Hasegawa's 1/32
scale Messerschmitt Bf 109G-6 is available online from
Squadron.com
When Hasegawa announced that they were going to
release a new 1/32nd scale 109 there were a lot of expectations. Would
they do the aircraft justice? Would they just upscale their 1/48th scale
offering? Would it be expensive?
Well I have to tell you that Hasegawa did the 109
great justice.
Instead of taking the easy route by up scaling the
quarter scale offering they totally made a new offering, which I have to
say is even better than the 1/48th scale stuff. That is saying a lot, as
the small scale model is beautiful. Let me tell you this one is even
nicer and really easy to build. Not only did they make a nice kit but it
costs just a little more than the 1/48th scale kit. What can I say but,
“Absolutely fantastic.”
Along with the Tamiya Zero (with a price tag
nowhere close to zero) the release of the G-6, G-14 from Hasegawa
and the anticipated G-4 from Revell/Monogram (cost is literally only a
few dollars more than the quarter scale stuff, how do they do it?)
Hasegawa has revitalized large scale aircraft market.
There is no need for a history of the Messerschmitt fighter as it is
probably the most famous subject out there.
OK with that out of the way now we can get down to building the kit.
The Kit
Eight light gray sprues are included, as well as,
one clear sprue. There are poly vinyl caps that seem to be the rage
nowadays and decals for two aircraft, one for Erich Hartmann and the
other for Gerhard Barkhorn. The detail can be seen upon opening the box.
I don’t know for sure but I would bet that Hasegawa used “Black 6” as a
pattern. I say this because of the set up of the forward scoops. There
was a lot of controversy over these scoops, but I have to tell you that
the three examples that exist have staggered scoops. It doesn’t appear
that all aircraft are set up this way but the survivors are. The
engineering of the kit indicates lots of room for additional models;
unlike the Fujimi quarter scale offering it is not over engineered.
Model Design Construction Cockpit
I decided to try Model Design Construction’s
interior instead of the kit cockpit. The kit offering is not too bad but
in this scale you want a beautiful interior and MDC offers up a great
cockpit.
The resin parts are bubble free and there was no
warpage.
If I had to find fault with the MDC interior it is
in the instrument panel. The panel’s gauges are flat and offer no
relief. The fit was impeccable and construction was very straight
forward.
The whole cockpit area, including the cockpit sill,
was painted Testor’s Model Masters RLM 66 and dry brushed RLM 02.
Certain areas were then worn with some silver pencils and silver paint.
After the dry brush I moved to the instrument bezels and either painted
them black or the appropriate color. Now that I had a nice interior I
had to figure out a way to make the instrument faces.
I decided to punch out the kit decals with a
Waldron Punch and Die set. Using Micro Sol to settle the instruments
into the proper spot was all that I needed. After they were dried I
simply applied some Kristal Kleer to the faces. It required a few
applications to get the look I was after but when I was finished I
really liked the results.
I glued the side walls on the fuselage halves and
mated the instrument panel where it was suppose to be prior to sealing
the area with the floor. I was very happy with the look of the “office”.
I left off the clear gas line part, gunsight and control stick until
later in the construction.
The gunsight was nicely molded and just required
scrap clear styrene to make it a beauty. I painted the one lens Tamiya
Clear Green. The gunsight was attached with a small rod that I drilled
into the back of the gunsight. The clear tube was a nice addition, but
be careful as it will get lost quickly. The MDC cockpit is a gem and
adds a lot to this kit.
I highly recommend it. I bought mine directly
through the MDC website.
The Fuselage
The fit of the fuselage is near perfect. It
probably was perfect, except for my gluing. The fuselage consists of
four parts, the front halves and the tail halves. The breakdown occurs
at a natural panel line in the tail boom so nothing is lost and if done
carefully will require no filler. The tail assembly has a big, no make
that huge, plug that almost snaps into the front halves giving you a
strong bond. A note about the spine of the 109; there is a natural seam
along the top and most of the bottom of the fuselage so don’t fill it
in. If you assemble this correctly there isn’t any area that should
require more than a couple of swipes with a sanding stick to get it
right. I took this opportunity to drill a hole in the tail antenna
mount.
A word of caution - the top of the engine area is a plug (this will
allow early versions to be built) and there are two provided. You have
to decide which one to use. Study your photos, I think I used the wrong
one. Oh well, the fit is so good and after I glued it I couldn’t get it
off. You are given a choice in the cowl gun bulges, so a little research
will help you out here. My aircraft had the extra “pressurization” bulge
on the right side.
I didn’t need a drop tank or rack under my aircraft but if you want to
mount one don’t forget to open up the holes on the belly panel before
you put it on. I attached the wing stiffeners and sealed up the belly
panel.
The Wings
One thing I was worried about was the way the wings
were mounted. They go on to the stiffeners, which are attached to the
belly panel and then run up the wing. What was I worried about? This is
Hasegawa. The fit of the wings on these stiffeners was perfect. Let me
say that again, perfect. The stiffeners ensure the dihedral of the wings
is correct and they also add strength.
The wings themselves are a pretty straight forward. Open up the holes
for the wing bulges, add the cooler front and backs put on the top of
the wing and you’re done. Again there is no need to fill anything the
fit is that good. I say that but you will have to fill in the wing
bulges mounting points and these are a little bit of a pain because of
the limited space.
The wings just slip onto the stiffeners and if you take your time the
fit is perfect on the top and bottom. If for some reason your fit isn’t
perfect I suggest that you get the bottom perfect and work the top. I
can’t see how it wouldn’t be but just in case. It would be easier to fix
the top wing than the lower.
The flap arrangement is easy and straight forward, except for the mold
release marks on the inside of each flap. This was easily filled though
and the fit of the flaps was easy with large mounting tabs on them. This
ensures that they are straight and at the same angle. I would recommend
that you put some .005 plugs in the end of the outboard flaps as this
seem is visible and difficult, if not impossible, to fill. Slats are
perfect and fit, yes again, perfect.
You will need to fill the clear part under the wing for the antenna
mount for a G-6 but this is very easy and it just snaps together. Are
you getting the idea that I liked this kit?
Other Stuff
I’m just going to hit highlights for the rest of
the kit.
The tail assembly is so slick and tight that I forgot to glue mine until
I was done with the kit. Literally the horizontals don’t require glue.
They interlock and are perfectly straight right out of the box. The
supercharger intake is easy and represented the hardest seam I had to
fill on the whole kit.
The lower oil cooler and belly insert panel fit, dare I say it again,
perfect. No glue on my belly panel.
The landing gear fits snugly into the mounts and the angle is, well you
know. The nice thing about the struts is that they have the brake lines
molded on and they look nice. I added the looped lower portion, but
these aren’t even seen and I won’t do it the next time. The angle of the
wheels is the only big gripe I have with this kit. The angle is too
vertical, but I was able to overlook it as once I test fit the wheel to
the leg I couldn’t remove it, again no glue. I’m sure that True Details
has an offering that will fix this issue.
Eagle Parts Spinner
I decided to use Eagle Parts spinner because it
looked more accurate and had better detail than the kit offering. I
required some drilling, but Eagle provides a drilling jig to help you
get the center of the spinner. When added to the kit the new spinner
dramatically changes the look of the airplane. Hasegawa still can’t get
that elusive shape correct. There 1/48th scale offering is horribly
bulbous. This kit’s spinner isn’t as bad, but not perfect. If you can,
use the Eagle Parts. Highly recommended.
Cutting Edge Exterior
I used some parts from the Cutting Edge exterior
set. This set addresses some items that are missing or could be done
better in resin. I used the forward scoops, exhausts, cowl guns, and
tail wheel assembly. There were a lot of other parts that I opted not to
use, but everything was typical Cutting Edge quality and bubble free.
You have to see these sand and dust filters - beautiful job Scott. By
far the best improvement that the Cutting Edge offers is the tail wheel.
Be careful though as the spokes are very fragile. It is nice that the
tail wheel is slightly flattened.
As you can tell you get to this point rather rapidly. I decided to try
Testor’s Model Masters Acrylic paint range. After preshading, I started
with the RLM 76, followed that up with RLM 75 Grey Violet and RLM 74
Grey Green. I found out a quick fact about myself. I am “dialed” in
1/48th scale. It was very difficult for me to spray the mottling effect
for 1/32nd. My pattern was very small and required me to think about the
spray pattern. I’m happy with the results now. One thing unique about
the airplane I was doing was that it had the zigzag pattern on the wings
and tail. This was going to be a bear, however, Cutting Edge came to the
rescue.
Cutting Edge Black Magic Masks
After studying the camo pattern I determined that
the Black Magic would be too stark. What to do? Then the answer hit me,
no wait that was my wife. Use Silly Putty to raise the masks off the
surface slightly. The key is to make sure that it is even at all points
and to spray at a 90 degree angle to the mask.
The Cutting Edge set definitely made my job quicker
and easier than doing myself. I did have to touch up some areas but it
was very easy after using the Cutting Edge Masks. Highly recommended.
Decals
I used EagleCals but you will have to wait until
the IPMS Journal comes out for the review. I think that you can judge
for yourself by the photos if I was happy or not.
Finishing
Barkhorn’s machine was kept very clean so
weathering was kept to a minimum. I start out weathering with silver
pencil followed with a wash of burnt umber. On top of the umber I used
pastels for the exhaust stains, gun powder residue, and dirt on the
landing gear. I was quite happy with the results.
MDC offers you the option of using the brass belts they have or for you
to thread your own belts on a spare set of buckles that they provide. I
like the look of masking tape buckles so I took this route. I think they
can be posed more realistically. I draped mine along the back of the
cockpit sill out of the way of the cockpit area. It would be a shame to
cover all that beautiful interior. Now I added the gunsight and control
stick. Attaching the cockpit glazing showed a slight fit problem, the
first for the kit. Nothing drastic but I did have to sand the clear
parts a little to get them to fit correctly. Next time I will attach the
canopy prior to painting.
That is about it. Is this kit perfect? No, but it is well worth the
money. I highly recommend the Eagle Parts, Cutting Edge exterior and
masks, and the MDC cockpit. They all add something nice to the kit, but
even without these parts the Hasegawa Bf-109G-6 is the standard by which
other reasonably priced 1/32nd scale kits should be judged. I highly
recommend it.
-
EagleCals -
Bf-109G-6s EC#42
-
Model Design Construction
(MDC) - Bf-109G-6 Cockpit Detail Set CV32003
-
Cutting Edge -
Bf-109F/G/K Detailing Exterior Set CEC32084
-
Cutting Edge -
Black Magic Bf-109G-6 Camouflage Masks CEBM32073
-
Model Car Garage -
Throttle Return Springs MCG-706
Click the thumbnails below
to view larger images:
Model, Images and Text Copyright © 2002 by
Floyd S. Werner Jr.
Page Created 09 November, 2002
Last Updated 04 June, 2007
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