1/32 Hasegawa Bf109G-14 Hartmann

[Floki]

The weathering and chipping are all well done. The oxygen regulator looks fantastic as well. Looking at the IP the ammo counter PE blends in great with the work you did on the resin. Overall a amazing job and one to be proud of. Now just need to see them belts in there

[jkim]

Thank you guys! Going full bore on two builds right now, which helps pass the time. I think this is one ideal pandemic-suited hobby.

Can't really tell from the pics but the fuselage has been riveted.


Before I glued the port sidewall into place, I painted a few of the wires in yellow to kick up the visual interest.


I also put the seat belts on. The attachment still needs to be worked out later so I've chosen glue spots somewhat below so I can move the belts out of the way when I have to smooth out the rear deck of the cockpit.



Since the riveting is done, I've glued the fuselage sides together. Kinda cool doing this now with nothing else in inside of the fuselage. I'll attend to the center seam before moving on.

[jkim]

Not a very popular build I'm guessing, based on the lack of comments. I don't blame you guys! My 109/190 builds kinda blend into one another... even I'm starting to get confused.

Slow going on the G-14. I've spend alot of time on the fuselage seam. Filling it first and then re-scribing the line separating the right and left halves. Why go through the trouble of removing the joint when you end up re-scribing it? Because it has to look like a panel line and not a glue joint! I'm not precise enough in my cementing process to get a clean line in most cases so this is the only way I can get a relatively neat panel line. I've also finished off the riveting along the joints.


The gun cowling, which has also been riveted, is glued into place. Pretty clean with a few gaps that will need to be filled with White Milliput.



The characteristic gun bulges have been riveted. I've also scribed a secondary panel line on the bulges to match the fuselage.

[Medicman71]

Man your riveting work is awesome.

[speedgraflex]

To riff on what Mike wrote, “Those belts are awesome, too.” Seriously. I don’t think I have ever seen seat belts executed with such skill before! I like that you added the colored electrical cabling to the cockpit as well. Again, this was done with such skill, John. Seriously. There are builds and then there are your builds, which tend to breathe the ether so well that I find myself without a great deal of useful information or advice to give you. I do think this is an important subject and you are building it to the highest standard possible!

[Stikpusher]

I like the method of attaching the free ends of the harness in first. That replicates the natural gravity of them in the seat better. Once you have the cockpit installed and the seams on the decking cleaned up, the anchor points can be attached with no fuss.

As far your fuselage work goes... well, I’m waiting for you to work your voodoo magic...

[Duke Maddog]

Your work is far from uninteresting. I don't comment because I haven't the words to express my awe at what you are doing.

[jkim]

Thanks guys! Most of fuselage voodoo is done but you just can't see it because of the lack of contrast between the riveting, grey putty and grey plastic. I've debated about using a dark wash to highlight to work so that I can check it but I'm always worried about loading up the rivet holes with paint/excess sanding material before I get to the painting stage.

I have a spare supercharger intake from Barracuda but it is for Revell kit and is every so slightly undersized.


The kit supercharger fits much better so I've replaced the damaged weld line (Hasegawa stupidly put TWO sprue attachment points on the weld line) with stretched sprue.


I've also added some bolt details to the front face of the intake.


The gun cowling has been glued into place but there is a slight gap at the rear. It's very narrow and not very noticeable but I like all of my panel lines to have a finite "bottom" for visual consistency.


A great way to address these lengthy narrow gaps is Milliput. Milliput is a two-part epoxy that comes in different grades of fineness. I use White which is the finest grade. It has the consistency of clay so it has different uses than liquid putties. You just pinch off two equal sized bits of putty and knead them together until they are one uniform color.



I use the tip of a toothpick to apply the putty. Turning the toothpick tip can help force the putty into the crack.


Work your way down the crack until it is completely filled. You can take your time because Milliput is a very slow cure epoxy and won't start hardening for at least 30 minutes. This is the stage where most putty applications end. Normally, you can wait until this dries and then start sanding away. But this is where Milliput really shines.


Wet your finger and start rubbing along the putty application, Water will cut into the Milliput, simultaneously removing and smoothing the putty.


I want to remove the excess so I switch to a piece of damp paper towel and continue to rub down the area. Depending on how aggressive you rub, you can remove the putty until it is level with the surrounding plastic or even below it. This joint is a panel line so I'm not trying to eliminate the gap, just put a consistent bottom to it.



After the application, this area will need no further attention. No sanding required. You can do this type of thing with other putties but you'd need some sort of solvent. I like water because it will not harm plastic or even paint.

[BlackSheep214]

[Floki]

Your seam work is great and thank you for going into detail on how you work with miliput. I use it but since it's on the expensive side I tend to use Perfect Plastic Putty unless I need the joint to hold really well.