Subject: Re: 109 submission
From: "Steve Bamford ARC" <[email-masked]>
To: "Dean Large" <[email-masked]>
Date: Sun, 3 Oct 2004 23:03:09 -0700

Hi Dean,
I just wanted to let you know your article went on ARC today.  Thanks for sending it in.   

Steve Bamford
Aircraft Resource Center
http://www.aircraftresourcecenter.com
 
Live like there is no tomorrow;
Love like you've never been hurt.
Work like you don't need the money.
Dance like nobody's watching.
Sing like nobody's listening.
Live like it's Heaven on Earth.

  ----- Original Message ----- 
  From: Dean Large 
  To: [email-masked] 
  Sent: Saturday, August 07, 2004 5:21 AM
  Subject: 109 submission

    
  "1:48 Tamiya Bf109E/7 Trop" 

  by "Dean Large"
  --------------------

        Steve Bamford will insert full sized version of photo 01.jpg here 

  Back again with my second build after a twenty year layoff, and I promise to be less grumpy this time... After my offputting experiences with the Airfix P-51D I was looking forward to this one from Tamiya. How things have changed since the old Airfix days! Many people rave about this kit, and with perfect justification...the thing just falls together. No cement was needed for the upper and lower cowlings, propelIer, gun barrels, slats, flaps and tailwheel - they were so well engineered that they just pressed into place! I decided to enhance things further with a photo etched set from Eduard and try a resin cockpit from Hi Tech. First time I've used one of those, and apart from some initial problems getting things to fit, a lot of elbow grease and sanding of cockpit walls did the trick in the end. The PE set was ridiculously well detailed...even the chain for the elevator trim wheel was included, which looked thinner than a human hair to me! I also ordered a Squadron Crystal Canopy, but decided that the original Tamiya article looked better. The lids on 109s were built like something off a tank, and I thought the Squadron offering looked too delicate, somehow. Personal taste...

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  As a kid, I was bought a book containing views of WW2 planes, and the 109E was depicted with the desert camouflage scheme of the Tamiya kit. I was looking forward to finally building a plane with that same camouflage scheme after all these years, and it really needs an airbrush to carry it off properly. My old Humbrol model just about did the job in the end, but I've bought a decent one to replace it with now, as the poor old thing kept spitting blobs of paint at inopportune moments. The left wing of this model has been repainted three times to cover cockups when applying the olive green blotches, and the right wing and tailplane re-done twice! Paints used were Tamiya acrylics throughout.

        Steve Bamford will insert full sized version of photo 02.jpg here 

  After the camouflage was finally complete, I sprayed the model all over with Johnson's Klear, as we call it in Britain. First time I've tried that too, and I must say it's worth doing! Not only does it let the decals settle well with no silvering, and allow the chalk pastel/water/washing up liquid weathering mixture to flow, but it also means you can handle the model indefinitely without leaving greasy fingermarks all over it. Great stuff. As mentioned, panel lines were highlighted with pastel chalks, and although the effect might be a little stark for some, I rather like it. Not bad for a first attempt, anyway. I chipped the paint on the cowling, hatches, prop and wing leading edges with Humbrol Metalcote polished aluminium, and went for a restrained approach...some of these tropical 109s ended up looking like they'd been sandblasted. Mine is obviously relatively new on the Staffel, and is still being kept clean by the ground crews, explaining the absence of exhaust residue. The real reason is that with all the hassel I had getting the paint job right, I just couldn't bring myself to disfigure it too much! MicroSol and MicroSet were used on the decals (in the right order this time!), and with several applications and careful work with a toothpick, I got the Balkenkreutz on the fuselage to conform to the radio hatch. (I spent ages using the chalk pastel mixture to highlight the lines and fasteners on that hatch before realising that the national insignia covers it almost completely...D'Oh!) Final coat to seal the decals was Aircraft Colors flat clear, which comes in disconcertingly small bottles, considering the price. It's worth it though, as it goes on well, and tones down the underlying colours just the right amount.

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       Steve Bamford will insert a click-able smaller version of photo 08.jpg here.  Clicking on that photo will bring up the full sized version of photo 08.jpg 

  Finishing touches were the bulged/flattened wheels included in the High Tech resin set, stretched sprue radio antenna and canopy retaining strap, and a thin acetate replacement for the gunsight glass. I dropped the elevators and even positioned the joystick slightly forward to correspond with this, although you'd never notice it. (I know from experience that when you climb out of cockpit with a central stick, you push it forwards to give you more room to move, so many planes are parked with the elevators in this position.)  In the end, I was reasonably pleased with the overall result, and although a couple of people on this website have submitted the same aircraft in the same colour scheme...this one's MINE!

        Click on images below to see larger images
       
        Steve Bamford will insert a click-able smaller version of photo 09.jpg here.  Clicking on that photo will bring up the full sized version of photo 09.jpg 
         
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  Photos and text © 2004 by Dean Large