Bf 108 Taifun – the Royal Yugoslav Air Force
The Bf 108 was designed by Bayerische Flugzeugwerke company which was run under Willy Messerschmitt. Originally designed as a single engine machine it was produced to compete in 4th Challenge International de Tourisme in 1934. Before challenge it was given nickname Taifun by Elly Beinhorn because of it's speed and great expectations. BF Company designed it as a sport aircraft but real truth was that it was just a test subject for next generation of fighter planes. Because of it's performance it was mainly used as a trainer aircraft before jumping into the real fighter cockpit.
As a deal with Germany Yugoslavia bought some 100 Me 109 e3 planes. Because of complexity of a new plane Yugoslavia's pilots had to be retrained on some simpler aircraft. Logical choice was Bf 108 B1. Some records show that we bought some 13 Bf 108s for that purpose. Ther were stationed in Zemun, Zagreb, Nis... Ther were painted in blue and camo scheme using common RLM scheme.
i decided to give tribute to one machine which was stationed in Zemun near Belgrade.
I bought Eduard common pack and Lift Here decals with Yugoslav marking and correct propeller made of resin. Eduard kit was good choice because of it's simplicity and good fit. Although I made many changes during build. I made belts from scratch, handles, many wiring inside engine area, cables for landing gear etc... The main problem with Eduard kit is with the propeler. The propeler used by Luftwaffe and Royal Yugoslav Air Force is different. Luftwaffe used Me P 7 propeler but RYAF used Schwarz wooden propeller. Schwarz propeller was included in the Lift Here decal set, buuuuut (there is always but) it was made of resin with so many bubbles, holes, imperfections on the surface that I've spent almost few days sandin, priming, correcting, sanding... I've almost lost nerves but in the end I was almost satisfied with resin Schwarz and I've positioned it on the plane.
I painted whole plane with Vallejo Metal blue as a base coat and I made several tonal color changes to avoid monotone color scheme. There are just a few decals for plane. Decals for roundel were good but all other decals were to thick and I'm deeply unsatisfied with stencil decals because of thickness.
Basic weathering was done with Ak panel liners, Tamiya accent colors and Abteilung 502 oils...
So, this is my completed model, I hope that You will enjoy and comment, cheers 🙂
Beautifully done, sir...nice presentation as well.
Thank you 🙂
Well done and a very interesting scheme. Did you have any issues with the clear parts?
Theank You 🙂
Clear parts were too big for placement, I had to sand them to a proper size than to fill gaps eith putty becausy the bottom of the clear part for cabin were irregular shaped. Also the mask for canopy which was included was terrible and I had to use Revell masking tape. And after everything was done I found out that one minor sanding dust found it's way to enter the cockpit from the engine compartment and it is stuck inside :/
Altghought the clear part is without distortion not the greatest clear I have seen, but it is usable 🙂
Very nice! I find the Taifun a "boring" subject normally - just not enough pizzaz for me - but that scheme really dresses it up. I actually have one in my stash, and now I think I'm more enthused to built it.
I have to be honest, for me Taifun was the aircraft that I've decided never to do 🙂 As a non military aircraft, unarmed, sportish... it was "boring"...
But, I saw it on some video clips. I found that is very unique for that period of time, and also I was tempted to do it because it was used in Kingdom of Yugoslavia, and I fell in love with it 🙂
One of my most favorite aircraft ! Well done unique representation!
Thank You, very elegant plane for that period of time 🙂
That's some really nice work, Djordje. You've taken what I know is a simple kit and made it a beauty.
Thank You, Tom for such a kind words. I've beent thinking about some additional riveting, also. But I've done just basic on the wing panels.
VERY well done, Djordje! It's an interesting aircraft that is seldom seen.
Thank You for compliments 🙂
Great work Djordje! I love the colour. Having seen this done in standard and desert Luftwaffe colours I really think this wins! I've looked at getting this kit a number of times and been round the net checking scheme options a fair bit - for me your weathering and tonal work makes this the best version of this kit I've seen built! Brilliant stuff!
Thank You for such kind words! I could do Bf 108 in three color camo scheme but I thought it would be too 'common', so I decided to do it in blue one used for training, unfortunately I think that this particular machine was destroyed during German bombardment in April war in 1941. Until some time I was thinking that I will never do Bf 108, than I saw one stil running by some swiss enthusiastic pilot and I decided to do it in Royal Yugoslav marking. Fortunately I menage to buy Eduard kit because they are out of production now.