What a pleasent surprise, Louis @lgardner
Very thoughtful of Tom @tom-bebout.
Really looking forward to this 109 in full RLM76.

You know what @lgardner? I just might strap in to follow this build! (If you need decals for no 44 gimme a PM shout - I just might have a few in the stash - or for "43" that was the same uniform 76-finish)

And just a challenge for you - it was not often noticed, but either 44 or 43 also had a fresh-air sliding window built into the left side of the canopy! Might be able to PM a picture for you some day.

Nice progress, my friend @lgardner!

Hello again my friends. Wow, it's been 4 months since I have made an update here.

Finally, I have made some progress with the gift that Tom Bebout was so kind to send me.

I was on a roll and didn't take time to grab a few pictures along the way. You know how it goes when you are in the zone. The particular machine I want to build had the small tire bulges visible on top of the wing. None were included in this kit, since it was boxed as a G-10. Instead it came with the large bulges as an attachment to be glued in place on top of the wings.
So I had to check out the parts bins, where I was lucky enough to find a leftover set from a previous Hobbycraft 109 build.

Sometimes it pays to squirrel away the leftover parts... 😉

The cockpit was built and installed after painting it. I used the kit supplied decals for the IP.
Since I'm going to close the canopy, and it's going to be a box stock build, I didn't go crazy with it. Even so, it looks good enough for me "as is".

The underside received a little bit of LQS along the seam under the nose. Otherwise, no filler was needed. One other thing worth mentioning, is the radiator openings under the wings had a little bit of flash on them. A few swipes with a file took car of that.

Building this Hasegawa 109 this way has eliminated the need for any filler along the wing to fuselage joint. I definitely will be building more of them gluing the upper wing panels on first. Even though these kits are considered by some to be dated, they still fit and build up very nicely.

Hopefully this one will get painted in overall RLM 76 soon.

Does anyone know what color these wheel wells could have been ? I'm guessing they could be RLM 02 or 76. It's hard to know for sure, since this likely was repainted in the field.

As always, comments are encouraged.

Thanks George, @gblair

I agree that Tom Bebout @tom-bebout
is a great fellow. We are lucky to have him here with us spreading cheer.

I made some more progress, and hopefully tomorrow I will be spraying on some RLM 76. I'm thinking like you are about the wheel well colors. Chances are, this plane would not have had fresh RLM 76 painted on top of existing 76, especially at this later stage in the War.

So RLM 02 it is !

Here are some pictures showing tonight's progress.

I assembled the main landing gear, and will spray them using 02 on everything on the inside of the gear covers, using 76 on the outside.

The ETC centerline rack was added. It's barely visible in the photos I have of the plane I want to build. The flaps were added, along with the aileron counter balance weights, Morane mast, and under the nose mounted oil cooler.

Switching over to the top side, the gun sight, and all of the clear bits were installed. I also added the various antennae's. Some minor sanding was done around the landing gear wheel bumps on top of the wings, to smooth them up a little. Once I mask the canopy and wind screen, it will be ready to spray in overall RLM 76.

This is the plane I want to build. I have been searching the internet, and I have found 4 different photos of this plane. Thankfully I have pictures showing both sides.

Apparently it was a popular subject to have your picture taken while standing next to it, (or on it), back in 1945... With the help of Pedro Rocha, I was able to narrow down what type this aircraft was. Late War 109's can be a mix of different parts, creating some confusion for people like me who are not experts on them.

Thanks again Pedro ! @holzhamer
Also I made some good progress on our mutual Dornier builds. I'll send you some pictures soon. 🙂

As always, comments are encouraged.

Great progress, my friend @lgardner! Good to see this one back on track! Regarding the wheel wells, RLM02 is the relatively "safer" choice.

Good call on the RLM02 for wheelwells. You may check your pictures of "43", as I seem to recall it had a sliding vent-window in the left side of the hood. Could be replicated by scribing a box, but check references. Just a small detail if you want a little extra on your OOB build.