Me-109 E-3 & E-4 double build

[AndrewE]

Hi,

I would like to join with the following two. I seem to have more 109's in the stash than anything else so as well as being my first group build this is a good oppotunity to reduce the number and get some modelling done.

The first kit is the Academy 109 e which I shall complete as an E-3 using decals from the Aeromaster Luftwaffe Top Guns sheet. It will be the aircraft flown by Heinz Bar of 1./JG51, Pihen, France in September 1940. Bar was shot down over the Channel on 2nd September 1940 and when later questioned by Goering about what he was thinking while in the water he replied "Your speech, Herr Reichsmarschall that England is no longer an island!". During the Battle of Britain he shot down 10 aircraft bringing his total to 13, he was then transferred to the Eastern Front where his tally rose to 221 victories by the end of the war. Heinz Bar was killed in a flying accident in 1957.

The second kit is the Tamiya offering which I shall do as an E-4 flown by Ofw. Rudolf Rothenfelder of 9./JG52, Beaumont-le-Roger, France, September 1940.

Andrew

Edited November 18, 2010 by AndrewE

[maltadefender]

Bring on another White 13!

[FZ6]

Hi Andrew,

Look forward to seeing your progress on these kits.

Regards,

Mark

[AnonymousDFB1]

Nice choice, look forward to seeing them take shape

[AndrewE]

OK first update on the builds.

Firstly a quick word on the two kits. The Tamiya 109 is as expected a work of art, my only quibble is that the wings seem to have slightly too much dihedhral but this should be easily corrected. The Academy kit on the other hand has several major problems and the only thing stopping it going back into the stash is that its the only 109E I have with the E-3 canopy.

Problems are:- 1.MG troughs on the cowling are musch to far down the side of the cowling, not deep enough and the guns are not staggered.

2. There are no openings on the cowling.

3. The engine exhausts are much to flat and have been moulded back to front.

4. The flaps on the underside of the wings stop before the oil coolers which are therefore moulded as one piece. (see pic below)

5. The wheels look terrible.

Tamiya kit showing openings at front of cowling and position of gun troughs.

Academy Kit showing lack of openings and the rather odd position of the guns. The exhausts have been drilled out at this stage ready for replacements to be inserted.

Academy kit with the replacement exhausts in. These were from the spares and I think are from an old Hasegawa P-51. Not quite the right shape but they are a big improvement over the kit. I have also removed the top of the cowling with a view to remaking it with the gun troughs set more on top of the cowling. I may reuse the kit guns or else make up some new ones usiong some plastic tubing.

Comparison of the wing undersides showing how the Academy oil coolers are a single piece instead of having the flaps extend through them.

And again after suitable rescribing of the Academy wing. Shape is still off but at least the flaps now go the full extent of the wings.

Edited August 22, 2010 by AndrewE

[AndrewE]

Both fuselages now closed up. The only additions to the cockpits were some brass etch seatbelts to the Tamiya kit.

I have reset the gun troughs on the Acadeny kit and filled in around them with Milliput. The guns have also been removed and the troughs deepened. Once it is all sanded down it should look much better than the original.

[FZ6]

Nice work on the Academy kit bringing it up to scratch. It makes a big difference.

[murfv]

I will be following this with interest as I picked up the academy kit last week and a

few pointers will a great help.

[FalkeEins]

as Andrew said, it's a dreadful kit - even the 'new' Airfix 72nd Emil - fuselage parts date stamped 1976 - would be a better choice. But that's some neat work..

just to point out a typo in the Errormaster instructions, Rothenfelder flew with JG 2 ..

Edited August 23, 2010 by FalkeEins

[AnonymousDFB1]

Looking good

[Deon]

I can't help but notice the difference in the fuselage spines, which is correct?

[Enzo the Magnificent]

I have reset the gun troughs on the Acadeny kit and filled in around them with Milliput. The guns have also been removed and the troughs deepened. Once it is all sanded down it should look much better than the original.

Now that's good work!

[AnonymousDFB1]

I can't help but notice the difference in the fuselage spines, which is correct?

I was wondering that as well

[AndrewE]

QUOTE (Deon @ Aug 24 2010, 10:49 AM)

I can't help but notice the difference in the fuselage spines, which is correct?

Sorry not to have got back on this earlier, I have been rather distracted over the last couple of weeks with my sons train set. Hope to get back to some modelling this week and progress these two 109's a bit further.

I have looked at some photos and found an excellent one of a crash landed 109 without a canopy and surprise surprise it is the Tamiya kit that is accurate. The Academy is very nicely moulded but that is about the only thing going for it unfortunately. Still I've started so I'll finish as the saying goes.

Andrew

[Deacon]

This is a great build thread Andrew.

Comparing the two manufacturers kits is a great way of showing the shortcomings of their products and helps others when they are trying decide which kits to buy.

I haven't got the Tamiya 109, I do have Revell, ICM, Hasegawa and Airfix though. i think I need to gat a Tamiya one, soon.

I will be watching the rest of this thread with interest.

Deacon

[AndrewE]

Things have been rather slow recently on these two 109s but I have now finished a couple of other projects so hopefully I can now crack on on finish them before the group build ends.

Spent some time over the last few days reprofiling the nose of the Academy kit.

This shot shows the styrene sheet sandwich I made up for the engine vents at the front of the cowling that are missing from the kit.

Took a while to get everything sanded and profiled but in the end it looks about right.

And a quick comparison with the Tamiya kit.

[FZ6]

Looking good Andrew!

I like the method you used to replicate the vents.

It's looking much better.

[AndrewE]

I like the method you used to replicate the vents.

It's looking much better.

Yes it is, but I wish I had had two Tamiya kits in the stash to start with! To be fair to Academy they did revise the tooling of their Me-109E and I think I have one of the originals before some of the errors were corrected.

Andrew

[AndrewE]

Quick update. Just finished the main paint schemes tonight. I had a change of mind on the Tamiya kit and opted for the JG.53 yellow nose scheme with the red band rather than the JG.52 scheme. Mainly because of the red band but also because of the 70/71 uppersurfaces make a nice contrast to the 71/02 uppersurfaces on the Academy kit. I used Xtracrylix which I find go on OK but come off too easily when removing masking tape (Tamiya variety). Undercoat is Halfords plastic primer.

Painting is the part of kit building I probably enjoy the least. Great when it goes to plan but I seem to find that too often it does not. I think I sprayed every colour on these two twice before getting a result I was happy with, and even now I am in two minds about redoing the mottling on the other side of the Tamiya kit as it did not go to plan. I will probably leave it as it is though or I will never get them finished before the end of the GB.

[AnonymousDFB1]

Looking good Andrew

[AndrewE]

Thanks Mish. Decals are now on but I took this weekend off to go to Telford (helping out on the AIMS stand all weekend), now back home so should be able to get them finished by the deadline.

Andrew

[AndrewE]

Decals, u/c and tailplanes now on. The Tamiya kit has a set of True Details wheels on and the Academy kit has the Tamiya wheels. The spare Academy wheels are so lacking in detail they will go into the spares box (but cannot see them ever being used on a 109). Had to replace the tailplane struts on the Academy kit as they were too thick and did not seem to fit no matter which way around I put them.

[rowmk9]

Those 72nd Emils are looking superb mate! in this scale the 109 is really quite a petite model so to get them looking as good as that is impressive work.

[CliffB]

Sorry Andrew but I've only just got into this thread - I'm very impressed by the work that you've put into these two. The results show that it was well worthwhile.

Cliff

[AndrewE]

Finished at last.

Thanks for all the comments along the way, I'm just pleased to have finished them in time for the end of the GB. Nothing like a deadline to get things moving.

No prizes for guessing that the Tamiya kit was the easiest to build and should I ever want to do another E-3 I will go and get the Tamiya version which I saw in Modelzone today for £10.25. I did manage to pick up a 1/48th Hasegawa 109 E-4/7 at Telford for £10 so £10.25 for a 1/72 is on the expensive side but it is a very nice kit, the only thing that it needs is new decals as the kit ones are rather on the thick side.

The later boxing of the Academy kit may be better than the one I had but I will stay clear of both in future although having finished it with all the corrections I am pleased with the outcome.

I will post some more pics in the completed gallery.

Andrew