Eduard 1/48 Bf 109G-5 Maj. Walter Dahl, December 1943

[Stuart]

Great stuff - I hope you son enjoys his birthday.

[speedgraflex]

I am still bummed a bit - it would be great to meet you! Happy belated birthday wishes to your son! I hope his party was a success, and no models were harmed during the festivities! I was thinking a lot about what you wrote re cockpit details—personally I would be over the moon to have what you have done here—but you are right—what we see is what matters. The interior color you use is just spot on with reference I have seen; the control surfaces and flight controls look ready for use. I really like the slightly powdery finish. I think that is such a difficult aesthetic to master—even the factory painted assemblies have this ghostly quality from paint formula and application. I was thinking that was why I was excited to see you build the Mustang: the cockpit has an entirely different luster from zinc chromate primers. You seem right at home with both approaches, mate. Are you going to build a Tunisia specific dio based on what Joe saw based on your pairing aircraft with armor? I would like to see this very much!

[kahunaminor]

Welcome back,
It has been a while between updates as life just seemed to get in the way. Casting your memory back you will recall the build was gloss coated and awaited panel washing. I moved forward in two phases. First I used the AKI enamel panel line wash for blue and grey aircraft. The wash was laid down with a fine brush in the main panel lines. Once set up, I removed the excess with AKI white spirit using a brush and cotton buds. That left me with a nicely defined panel lines but I wanted more. The Eduard kits have some lovely subtle rivet lines that I wanted to be “just visible”. I went back to my old standby for washes, Promodeller (Flory’s) Dark Wash. I applied the wash on a few panels to check the result. The beauty of this is that, being a clay based wash, it could be completely removed without negative effect on the paint or enamel wash. Enough from me, onto the pictures:



















I also recoated the armaments with Tamiya Gun Metal to get a darker finish:



I will let this set up for a day and revisit to see if there is any additional wash to add or remove.

Regards,

[KSaarni]

Outstanding work Kent!

Many great details in this build, excellent paintwork and very nicely ”dirtied”!

- Kari

[Stikpusher]

Couldn’t have said it better myself...

[BlackSheep214]

times 2

[speedgraflex]

Welcome back, Kent. You have been missed. I know it has only been a little over a month, but still, I was excited to receive notification of your new post. One reason on a personal level for my excitement was cleaning up my "outliers" in 1/48—a Trimaster FW190D-9 and a Hawk P-47D—and the Langnasen-Dora reveals my shortcomings as well as continuing education in regards to building aircraft. I do think I will re-read your tale of building the Gustav simply to feel the excitement you bring to the subject of building a highly developed and detailed model.

Congratulations on your progress! I have a few AKI's lurking in my tool box, and it is always nice to see the end result. Beautiful! And the Flory mud adds as well.

I would like to learn more about how you weathered the spinner hub itself; the flipped upside down shot really shows off a very realistic "used" finish. Kudos to you for your work. All the best!

[kahunaminor]

Thanks guys for the comments, I appreciate you taking the time.

Bruce,
I don’t see any pictures of your D-9, I would like to do so as you know we are own worst critic.

Back on page 9, I first mentioned the spinner. Just a gloss coat to protect the paint, then a sharp lead pencil. I run the pencil around the groove mid hub then just tap lightly with the point to build up small scratches and “dots”. The same method as you would use anywhere else on the aircraft.Some people may tap it horizontally, like a drum stick, but I have found there is a good chance it will skitter and create a long mark. It can be erased but I prefer to do it once. I then mask off the forward section at the aforementioned midline join and apply some dots AKI Engine Oil deposit or I think this one may have been Abteilung Oil, merely drawing backwards with a brush moistened with the AKI white spirit or odourless thinners. The mask ensures you get a clean demarcation at the join, with no random oil forward of it.

Looking forward to seeing more of your work.

Regards,

[speedgraflex]

Thanks for your reply, Kent. I’ve been studying your 1/48 Luftwaffe builds for awhile—finding a lot of gold in the developing subtle approaches you choose to paint and weather your work happens to be justified by the solid ground work you do in the assembly stage. I sincerely applaud how you manage to work through Eduard’s kits. Something Torben wrote sticks in my head, which could have been about the Anton in their line up, but to paraphrase him: “There’s something special about all of those who build these Eduard kits.” Owning sprues for the 109, 190, and an Albatross, I see how their detailing is impeccable, but fitting must rise to the occasion, as yours does. I also appreciate a subtle finish, to be perfectly frank, and panel lines that are heavily shaded look cartoonish to me. Aircraft were/are washed and polished during service, and gaps or chinks in the metal skin would be closed.

What has always struck me is your integrity, willingness to experiment as well as remake something rather than accept inferior work. Again—it’s a rare quality and great to watch as well as learn from.

[kahunaminor]

Thanks mate,

I have always liked the early Eduard 190’s and whilst the engineering is complex on them, I feel the criticism was a tad out of proportion. Certainly they can be terribly frustrating in aligning three components of the cowling, or having to cut out the shape of the wing MG to get the covers to fit, but a little thinking outside the square and concentration can bear fruit. For me the benefits outweigh the criticism of the kits. It involves being that little bit of a modeller and not merely a constructor. Having said that, the new molds are seriously excellent and eliminate the “unbuildable” factor so often complained of. I also have a stalled Albatross in the pile which is just awaiting some bench.

Regards,