1/48 Eduard Bf109G-6 Double Chevron

[jkim]

Seeing all of the new build activity and discussion has spurred me to throw another Eduard Bf109 kit into the mix... the Eduard 1/48 Bf 109G-6 Late Profipack edition. I got the idea for this build when I built the Revell Bf109G-10 Double Chevron flown by Eric Hartmann. This will be a G-6 in a winter scheme as depicted in these photos. You can see that the temporary white over the standard 74/75 scheme is not uniform and comprised of large blotches. Other items to note about this particular G-6 is the lack of an antenna on the spine... the aerial goes straight into the fuselage. There is no DF loop antenna although the base is present. The battery box enclosure on the sloped rear deck from a MW50 system seems to present. Note the later Erla Haube-style canopy and the short tail wheel.




I found a couple of nice color renditions of this G-6 including a profile by Claes Sundin and a dramatic in-flight painting by Adam Tooby, although both incorrectly show the antenna and DF loop in place.




The basis of this build will be the newly retooled Eduard Bf109G-6 kit. I was given this kit as a Christmas present by fellow SPAM member Speedgraflex. As an acknowledgement of this generous guesture, I am dedicating this build to my friend, Bruce.

[jkim]

I was planning on presenting this build on Friday. But for some reason, I have lost connectivity to SPAM from my home. All weekend long, I fruitlessly dialed up SPAM and kept getting a busy signal (Connection Timed Out). I still have this issue but I am able to connect from other locations. Last week, I was really excited by all of the activity and discussion here on SPAM and I looked at my small stash to see what I could contribute...



I am currently working on a Trumpeter 1/32 Me 262 build on another site so I thought starting another 1/32 project would be a little too much for me. Ah... what about the Eduard Bf109G-6 kit that Bruce gave me over the holidays? Being a Profipack, it would probably be a shake and bake without too much additions necessary. Alright... let's take a closer look at this kit....



The majority of the grey plastic is contained on four sprues. I like Eduard. Not only do they make superb molds, they pack their kits with tons of choices. The fuselage sprue contains a couple of different gun cowlings, three gun cowling "bumps" and three different upper tail configurations.


The molding detail on Eduard's 1/48 scale kits is world-class. The riveting is incredibly refined.




Similarly gorgeous molding on the wing parts. This is a brand new kit, replacing the G-6 kit that Eduard released in 2014! What kind of company replaces a kit within four years of release? Eduard proved that they took customer comments seriously when they addressed the documented issues of their 2014 release.






This sprue contains most of the external detail parts. Separately molded control surfaces, radiator boxes, rudders, exhausts, supercharger intakes and gun barrels are found here.




Another reason why I LOVE Eduard. One of the few companies with the balls to mold their exhaust openings and gun barrels OPEN. Thank you thank you thank you!

[KennyX]

OBOY HEEEERE WE GO!! What a great subject to pick, too! I’m excited about this.

[jkim]

Not one. Not two. But THREE prop choices! In addition to the exterior pieces, most of the cockpit parts on this sprue.


The instrument panel is very NICELY molded. Although the Profipack edition comes with a PE instrument panel, there are some pluses to a molded instrument panel that I'd like to take a closer look at. Eduard was thoughtful enough to provide a separate instrument panel for the PE option so you don't have to go through the trouble of shaving off the molded panel.



More choices on the clear sprue. Whether your G-6 has the older framed canopy or the newer Erla-Haube style, you get multiple choices here. I've yet to figure out the differences but it's good to know that your marking choices will most likely be covered by what Eduard has supplied in the kit. A few pieces were already detached from the sprue and floating around in the baggy... no big issue but Eduard could improve packaging of its clear parts.




The Eduard decal sheet has markings for five different G-6's of which none are Hartmann's Double Chevron. With my ability to make my own masks with the Silhouette Portrait cutter and my stash of spare decals, I should be able to cobble together the markings for Hartmann's machine. The only question mark right now is the red heart.



Taking a closer look at the instrument panel decal, I noticed that the gauge faces are a light grey, which seems to be an odd choice. It's not the first time I've seen this though. The Revell 1/32 Bf109G-10 Erla kit also included an instrument panel decal with light grey instrument faces, although their Bf109G-6 kit had the traditional black instrument faces.



Finally, a look at the photoetch sprue that Eduard throws into the Profipack. Most of the standard bits are there including the instrument panel, seat harnesses, foot pedals and those tiny knobs and switches that will probably get pinged into the twilight zone during construction. A nice addition are the exhaust deflectors, which are normally molded way too thick when presented in plastic.


Next up... a comparison between the molded and photoetch instrument panels.

[KSaarni]

Very nice the late G-6 with the special "modern" canopy type!
Interesting subject also

Happy to see a fresh build from you John!



- Kari

[jkim]

OBOY HEEEERE WE GO!! What a great subject to pick, too! I’m excited about this.

Very nice the late G-6 with the special "modern" canopy type!
Interesting subject also

Happy to see a fresh build from you John!



- Kari

Thanks! This build was pushed forward because of your two Eduard 109 builds. I like 109's too but I have a spot spot for the later models like the G-10 and K-4. This G-6 is on the cusp of being a later model because of its tall tail and Erla-Haube canopy. Some have even referenced this aircraft as a G-14.

[jkim]

I'm throwing up a lot of posts since this work has been accumulating since Friday. Sorry for the content overload!


Here is a closer look at the instrument panel choices after giving each a coat of RLM 66 Dark Grey. The plain face is the backing that Eduard provides for the photoetch instrument panel. Obviously not a fair comparison at this stage but I think this is a good illustration of some of the advantages of the molded panel... the 3d relief. Oh... and I've chosen to replace the kit gun sight (Eduard gives you the choice of either a Revi 12 or Revi 16 sight) molded in clear plastic with a resin Revi 16 by Quickboost that I have in my spares box.



The photoetch instrument panel is comprised of three main pieces, meant to be stacked on top of one another to give a bit of depth to an otherwise flat presentation. Also note the heavy texture that is inherent in Eduards pre-painting process.



With the PE instrument panel assembled, the comparison between the two panels is more fair. The PE stacking does give the PE panel some depth but the detail on the PE panel is obscured by the texture. I'm not clear on the presence of the central lower panel that the PE part has that the plastic piece lacks.



I've decided to apply the instrument panel decal on the kit part. My enthusiasm for the decal has soured a bit based on the low contrast of the white on grey of the instrument dials. If I didn't have a good back-up choice, I would probably opt to punch out each of the dials and apply them individually. Let's see how it goes.


Here is the issue with applying instrument panel decals onto an instrument panel with raised detail. Without decal solvent, the decal simply sits on top of the detail. The clear decal is a nice touch over the more commonly found black backing but even so, it is difficult to line up the decal to the raised detail.


I had a feeling this was going to be a tough decal to conform to the details so instead of using Microsol, I busted out the Walters Solvaset, which is one of the "hotter" decal solvents around. Be careful with this stuff as it can sometimes destroy delicate decals. Even with multiple applications of Solvaset, the instrument panel decal proved to be stubborn and unwilling to conform.



Meanwhile, the assemble PE instrument panel shows much more promise, especially after a shot of clear flat is applied to reduce the texture from the color printing process.



A quick dab of Alclad Aqua Gloss into the dials of the PE panel and the PE panel definitely looks like the better candidate.



After 5-6 applications of Solvaset onto the instrument panel decal, I decided to take more extreme measures to see if I could make it look any better. I used a sharp x-acto blade tip to poke holes into all of the areas of the decal that had not conformed. I then applied more Solvaset and used a damp cloth to physically press the decal down into the recesses. The brute force approach did yield some results but I found out that the decal was quite aligned with the molded detail. I painted out the misaligned gauges and gave the panel a flat coat. A dab of gloss into the dials and now both of the finished instrument panels can be compared. I'll be using the PE panel in this build.



Meanwhile, I've worked on adding the reflector glass on the Revi 16 gun sight. Quickboost gives you a pre-printed acetate sheet for the reflector glass pieces.



After the reflector glass pieces are cut out, they are glued into place using Elmer's White Glue. Can't really tell but I've added a touch of clear bluish green to the edges of the rear element. This trick makes the gun sight more interesting in 1/32 scale but is hardly noticeable at 1/48.

[jkim]

The cockpit parts were given a coat of RLM 66 Dark Grey. Details were picked out using a paint brush. After painting, gloss coat was applied and the interior parts were given a black pastel wash to highlight any detail. The Eduard cockpit is made up with a combination of plastic, unpainted PE and pre-painted PE so that has to be taken into account as the cockpit is painted and assembled.


Here is a look at the cockpit sidewalls, which are primarily molded into the interior surfaces of the fuselage with a few plastic and PE pieces thrown in.


The PE seat harnesses were lightly kinked at random spots to give the harnesses a less rigid appearance. They're better than nothing but I don't particularly like PE harnesses. Fabric belts from HGW or MDC are preferrable with resin seats with molded harness detail being my second choice.


Here is a look at the cockpit with all of the painted bits in place.



And finally, a check to see how the cockpit fits into the fuselage sides.



I don't think I'll do much weathering in the cockpit... maybe a bit of pigments on the floor and sidewalls. I'm planning to leave the canopy closed on this model.

[KSaarni]

There is just something in Eduards 109 cockpits!

Even if you have seen trillions of times this setup, every time you see a build the cockpit looks so good!
Nice work with the belts and the cockpit all in all!

- Kari

[jkim]

Finally... I did some work on the kit exhausts. They are designed to be installed from the inside prior to gluing the fuselage halves together. I prefer to paint my exhausts separately and install them AFTER the painting process so I started looking for ways to do this. Note how the backing of the exhaust part fits exactly in the mounting space.



I just have to block off the mounts from the inside using plastic card... so simple!



Here is what the exhaust openings look like from the outside.



Now that the exhaust openings in the fuselage have a backing, I just have to trim the backing of the exhaust parts narrower so that they can fit into the opening. Since the backing sat flush with the mounting space, I don't even have to thin the backing of the exhaust part... it should be an exact fit. Voila...



The exhausts can be now installed after the fuselage is glued together. Just a reminder to show the exhaust ends that were molded open by Eduard, saving me that time-consuming process!