Messerschmitt Bf 109F-4 JG27 Bir el Asta 1942

As is customary I started with the cockpit 

I must say that the fit and detail of this kit is unlike any I've built before. 90% of the time (so far) the engineering has been great, if fiddly. The only part I had particular problems with so far were the gun troughs on the cowl. These are one of the few parts in the kit that exhibited any flash, but a perfect fit is absolutely critical. In the end, I got them to work, with one area that will need some very minor filler. However I'm left wondering why they decided to do them as a separate part 

Moving onto the wings, these perfectly demonstrated what must be the current mantra of Eduard: "why do with two parts when 8 will do?" The wing assemblies comprise 13 parts, 17 if you use the provided PE radiator faces (I did). 

The way they engineered the radiator cooling flaps in genius; with a little bending you can get them to pose open. Far and away better, if desperately more complicated than the 5 piece wings of the Tamiya Bf. 109E that I recently finished 

I turned my sights back on the cockpit. Eduard gives you a plethora of PE to play with in the cockpit. In the end, I only used about half of it, I found the decals for the side consoles adequate, and some of the more tiny pieces are unlikely to be seen, even with the canopy left open as I intend to display this little Friedrich 

all the major assembly was sorted in one day, I started this morning after breakfast, about an hour on the bench, and came back for another session after I put the kids to bed. Probably about 4 hours total build time so far. I've dry fit the wings and tail surfaces, and have decided to not glue them in place at this time. The fit looks so good, that I'm going to dare to paint the bulk of the aircraft disassembled. This should allow some nice crisp demarcation lines at the wing and stabilizer roots 

I added the final details that were required before paintwork could commence: Tropical filter on the air inlet, the larger of the two chin scoops, exhaust with PE baffles, leading edge slats in the deployed position, and a bomb carrier on the bottom centerline 

I added the final details that were required before paintwork could commence: Tropical filter on the air inlet, the larger of the two chin scoops, exhaust with PE baffles, leading edge slats in the deployed position, and a bomb carrier on the bottom centerline 

I scrounged the shop and attic for some diorama goodies and I came up well. 

Here's the preliminary idea for the vignette: 

I'm well into decal mode. So far ive used components of four separate decal sheets to come up with the insignia for this little guy: the Eduard kit's crosses, a Hasegawa Bf 109G-6 for the III Gruppe squiggles, a Printscale JG52 sheet for the numbers, a Techmod generic sheet for the atypical borderless-swastikas, and soon I'll be adding two more into the mix for stencils and the III./JG27 logo on the engine cowl... 

I stand by my yellow insignia punt... 

After a short work day I came home and whittled out the base for the diorama out of that chunk of mahogany from my scrap bin. It fits the poly carbonate box/hood/cover/thingy rather well for only about 15 minutes of work: 

Its just about the perfect size for a Friedrich, a Kubel, and some desert airfield detritus: 

Im waiting for a decal sheet to come in the mail (should be here friday), the III./JG27 shield on the engine cowl. My available sheets only have the Stab./JG27 emblem which is similar except the little airplane silhouettes are gold/yellow on the later and black on the former. In the meantime I've turned to making and painting all the ancillary details for the vignette. Starting with the pilot... 

This little guy is from the Ammo by MIG figure set "Panzer Crew 1943" but this particular fellow is wearing a Luftwaffe Tropical flight jacket. So while it's maybe not ideal for a tanker in 1943, it is perfect for our little scene here. Figure painting is just about my least favorite thing in this hobby, I almost universally avoid it, because I almost universally botch the job. I nerded out on youtube figure painting videos for a while and finally relented and picked up the paintbrush. I'm actually delighted at the result this time around... 

Spent the evening straining y eyes and wits painting boxes, barrels, and what seemed like a million jerry cans... 

Nothing much new to report other than I'm impatiently waiting for my scenery supplies to arrive in the mailbox and for the varnish to dry on the base... 

Okie dokie... I've started on Afrikan scenery.

First, I started off by finalizing the positions of all the major players in the scene, including some real rocks that looked that part: 

The rocks were then fixed to the base with hot glue: 

After watching a bunch of how-tos on YouTube, I decided to use AK's "Terrains" line of diorama base materials. They do several different consistencies and textures suiting a wide variety of locales. I'm using two similar but noticeably different types; "Desert Sand" is very light in color and texture supposedly simulating the fine light sand of dune type deserts, and "Sandy Desert" a slightly darker orangey color and with a bit more grit to simulate the more rocky fringes of a sand desert. Either way, they come out of the pot looking and feeling like slightly demented custard: 

Using a mixture of a butter knife, an old sponge, and a couple different brushes I started slathering the gritty custard, I mean "terrains", on the base. I started with the rougher and darker "Sandy Desert" around the rocks and built up into mounds along the back and right edges of the base 

This was followed by a thinner layer of the "Desert Sand" mostly in the middle of the base and leading a little path through the mound to the right edge. I tried to maintain troughs and ditches, via my applicators, in the directions that tracks would have been left by the aircraft and the Kubelwagen. They are a bit exaggerated now, but that's just temporary. I also plopped the pile of boxes and the fuel drums into their positions so the sand formed around their bases without gaps: 

Then the most important tool came out: an opaque black beer. This was useful while I was waiting for the "terrains" to start to set up. As it was doing so and started to fir up, I came back every so often with a brush wetted with water to stipple and knock down the edges troughs and craters of the sand 

Finally, as everything further firmed up, I went through with a few sprigs pulled from some Woodland Scenics brand "Fine Leaf Foliage" which is usually used to make fine trees for model railroads 

Overnight the terrains had mostly set, it's still a bit soft in the most built up areas. It definitely shrinks a bit, so I'll have a little remedial patchwork on some of the more noticeable shrinks and some cracks. The "Desert Sand" is a touch rougher than i expected, but it's supposedly sandable after fully cured, so I'll probably knock it back a bit with fine sandpaper before all is said and done. I did add some more leafy and tufty plant bits from my random assemblage of model railroad scenery supplies 

The postman delivered the final decal sheet that I needed to complete this Messerschmitt; a sheet of JG27 emblems from Peddinghaus. After applying the shields to the engine cowling, I've undertaken the task of finishing off the million or so stencils included on the Eduard decal sheet. For my sanity, I'm only doing a handful at a time, starting with the little dashed lines denoting the walkways on the wing roots... 

Also, over the weekend I finished up the landing gear. I thought I had taken pictures of the construction and painting process of these little, but important bits. Alas, such photos aren't anywhere to be found in my phone's album. 

All decals on, matte clear applied, and onto final weathering. Since I'm modeling this Messerschmitt as it was before the incident that resulted in it being yard art at an RAF Aerodrome, I'm trying to tread the line between "used" and "nearly derelict". Starting with a thin pin wash of Tamiya Dark Brown Panel Liner: 

All decals on, matte clear applied, and onto final weathering. Since I'm modeling this Messerschmitt as it was before the incident that resulted in it being yard art at an RAF Aerodrome, I'm trying to tread the line between "used" and "nearly derelict". Starting with a thin pin wash of Tamiya Dark Brown Panel Liner: 

I started off my Friday evening by slathering the clear sprue in my off-brand Future/Pledge/Non-Descript-Acrylic-Floor-Gloss. While I left that to dry, I finally committed to making the as-yet-unkown Jabo stencil on the fuselage sides below the cockpit. I made a tiny circle mask out of Tamiya tape and commenced to hand painting the stencil with a brand new tiny bristle brush. Thankfully, the one on the actual aircraft is hardly detailed, so I didn't have to suffer too much... 

I started off my Friday evening by slathering the clear sprue in my off-brand Future/Pledge/Non-Descript-Acrylic-Floor-Gloss. While I left that to dry, I finally committed to making the as-yet-unkown Jabo stencil on the fuselage sides below the cockpit. I made a tiny circle mask out of Tamiya tape and commenced to hand painting the stencil with a brand new tiny bristle brush. Thankfully, the one on the actual aircraft is hardly detailed, so I didn't have to suffer too much... 

The clear canopy bits were then cut off the sprue and fitted to the model. A slight bit of sanding was required, but not much to get it perfect: 

Then came masking the canopy using the kit-supplied yellow-tape masks and some additional Tamiya tape for the insides: 

A spray of RML66: 

Followed by RLM79. While this was drying, I too the time to paint the gunsight, still on the sprue: 

And finally, the masks removed, the gunsight and canopy parts were glued in place: 

Our pilot need only await aerials, navigation lights, and a few spots of touch-up before joining his steed in the diorama: