Messerschmitt Bf-109
After reading the terrific book ,”Star of Africa”, by Colin Heaton & Anne-Marie Lewis, I was struck with the desire to build a model of Yellow 14 , Hans Marseille's 109F.
This Monogram Promodeler/Hasegawa 1/32 Bf-109G-4 was a long term resident of my stash of kits waiting to be built. After looking it over, I decided it looked similar to an F model 109, or at least pretty close. A set of Life Like decals was obtained that had markings for 4 different 109Fs that were flown by the “Star of Africa”, and the work began. It was a simple build , no problems to report, just a little filler here & there along with sanding as needed. The tire bulges on top of the wings were omitted from the build in an effort to make this G-4 a little more F like. I used pre-shading when painting this airplane. The subtle tonal variations make the camouflage more visually appealing.
The kit is an older Hasegawa kit and has no real issues that cause any problems. It isn't overly complicated and comes with some nice resin main landing gear wheels. It's a fine kit. I'm not a big fan of after market parts ( other then decals) but this airplane could have benefited from a better after market seat. I put the kit provided pilot in it to hide the seat.
I'm pleased with the results and am looking forward to building other 1/32 WW2 fighters. I have a Hasegawa Fw-190A , Revell Stuka, and a Revell P-51D.
I hope you'll see some merit in my modeling efforts and I also hope you'll read the book “Star of Africa”. It is a well written and entertaining book on the life of the Luftwaffe's most interesting pilot. Parts of it made me laugh out loud. Hans Marseille was not your typical German pilot. Adolf Galland said of him
“ ….he may not have been the perfect officer, but he was the perfect fighter pilot”.
Absolutely beautiful, Jay! The whole process was well worth the end result. Congrats on another fantastic build!
Thank you, for the kind words , @1corsair64 . Your encouragement and advice helped me when I was ready to give up on it.
Hey, anytime, sir. You've done so much for me, the favor will always be returned when possible.
This is an absolutely beautiful model, Jay! Great job on the solid Hasegawa kit!
Great that you put a pilot in: the cockpit area looks busy now.
Loved your "forest" shots, as well as the rest of the pics you shared, both in progress and historical ones.
Thank you, Spiros @fiveten ! I appreciate your feedback. I enjoyed the project.
Awesome build, Jay.
Makes me interested in reading the book as well.
Thanks , John @johnb,
The book is great. I’m sure you’d like it. Because of his “ hero status”, Marseille was able to get away with saying and doing things that others would have been punished for. He always spoke his mind.
Love the outdoor pictures, Jay, sure was worth it completing this build, definitely liked.
Thank you George @chinesegeorge,
My back yard is my photo studio . Someday I’d like to come up with a better way to photograph models.
Nice work, Jay! It really looks the part.
Thank you, John @j-healy!
A really nice 109, and I like that basically "clean" desert scheme of a single color topside. Well done.
Thanks Greg @gkittinger ! It’s one of my favorite Luftwaffe color schemes. I used the preshading technique on it. The results are subtle, but I think it improves the look .
Beautiful work Jay, the F version is my favorite 109. Great job on the finish, this build looks great!
Hi Bob @v1pro, thanks for the compliment , I appreciate it. I’ve read many Luftwaffe pilots liked the F model the best too. The old Hasegawa kit is a nice one... goes together nicely and easily.
Nicely done, great job!
Thank you Robert @roofrat. It was one I had been wanting to build for quite awhile.
What an excellent result Jay. Impeccably built, beautifully finished & supplemented by a great collection of contemporary photos.
Thank you very much , Tony @tony-prince ! I enjoyed building and painting this kit. The book and the photos of the real airplane and the pilot & ground crew help bring some life to the project and make it more then just building a model airplane, it’s that but also a chance to learn some history and possibly get some understanding of the times.
A STUNNING rendition of arguably one of the most well known Me 109's from WW II. Well done Jay on capturing an authentic look on this model. Well done.
Thank you Morne ! @mornem , I’m very happy with the outcome. It’s the first time I made use of preshading. I think it’s worth the extra effort.