During the hurricane I was able to almost complete this model. Here are some pictures, and description of the work that was done.

The propeller was assembled and glued in place, trying to mimic the position found in the photos.


I used a #2 pencil lead, and colored in the outer tips of the propeller blades. This makes it look as if the paint was worn off the tips of the propeller blades, being eroded by operational use in a dusty / dirty airfield condition.

The upper half of the radiator flap was painted using RLM 75. Then I carefully airbrushed the edges using RLM 76, being careful to conserve what air I had stored in the compressor tank, since we were without regular electrical services during the hurricane. Thank God we had a generator, or none of this work could have happened.

This is what the Gustav looked like at this point.

Next I painted the wheel hubs by hand, using a Semi Gloss Black color for the wheels. The tail wheel / strut assembly was painted too. I also applied Ultra Bright Chrome color Bare Metal Foil on the oleo portion of the tail wheel strut.
The wheels were glued into position, and allowed to dry overnight.

The following day I used a Tamiya weathering deck and a cotton bud / Q-tip swab to apply the black / dark brown exhaust stains on the sides of the fuselage and upper wing portions at the wing root.

Taking a clue from our very own Martin / administrator here on Imodeler, I brush painted wood grain colors to the Morane Mast that is located under the Port side wing. According to what Martin has posted, these masts were supposed to be left in a bare wood finish, using only a clear protective varnish on them. I tried to duplicate the wood grain look here, using various shades of brown and white paints.


Next I mixed up some Windsor and Newton oils, using turpentine as the base. I mixed some Lamp Black along with some Burnt Umber colors to replicate the look of used leaking oil. This mixture was carefully brushed on under the oil cooler radiator, and "blown" back under the fuselage.

Here's a close up showing the tail wheel strut and tire. The Bare Metal Foil looks pretty good I must admit. If you look even closer, you can see how I added a little dirt and grime on the fuselage, as if it was splattered up there by the tail wheel.

Here you can see how the Tamiya weathering deck and a cotton bud Q-tip was used to create the look I was after for the exhaust stains.

The radio loop mast and base was painted using RLM 66. After this picture was taken, I carefully touched up the base using RLM 76 since the edges looked way too sloppy for me.

However, I am not sure if this RLM 66 is indeed the correct color. It looks much darker in the original photos here. I have seen some model Bf-109's that were finished here using a reddish brown color for the loop's base, as if it might have been made from a Bakelite material.

It's also entirely possible this loop antennae unit was simply removed from another regularly camouflaged 109, thus making it look much darker on this particular aircraft since it was painted in overall RLM 76.

If any of our 109 Experten know the correct answer about this, I would like to hear from you please.
Erik, @airbum
Pedro @holzhamer

The ground adjustable trim tabs on the rudder were painted Red.

The 109 is standing on her own feet now, shoes and all !

I carefully drilled out the cowling barrels, using a #76 drill bit. Once drilled out and painted, I carefully glued them in position.

Here is how the Gustav looks now. If you look very close, you can see how I carefully scribed in the sliding side window on the canopy. I made it look as if the window was closed. I was too afraid of shattering the canopy if I attempted to cut this portion open as it is seen in one of the original pictures.

All I need to do now is add the antennae lead cable, dirty up the tires some and this one will be done.

I'm thinking the base of the propellers on the back side were likely covered a little with some RLM 76 overspray paint.
I don't know if I will attempt this feature or not, especially now that I have the spinner glued on. Had I thought of this earlier, it would have been much easier to do.

So please watch out for this one to show up in the headlines section soon.

As always, comments are encouraged. Thanks for stopping by.

Really nice result, Louis @lgardner
At least the modelling did not suffer from the Hurricane.
The weathering looks beautiful.

Louis, you may be right thinking it is a spare base for the loop, but I suspect it might be bakelite-colored if it is a new part. Considering how the 76 is at the base of the prop, it is unlikely it was taped for respray, so the replacement, new or re-used, is a very likely scenario.

The plane is looking very good @lgardner, and I am happy to see the scribed ventilation window being a success!

Here’s the latest update on the Gustav.
After some thought, I decided to mask off the spinner and nose section. Since the spiral and spinner were airbrushed and hand painted, I didn't have to worry about lifting up the decal spiral.

Once this was done I also trimmed off the tail post on top of the rudder. Later on this trimmed area was touched up using some 76.

I was curious about how the antennae cable was ran on this 109. So I took one of the original pictures and zoomed in on it again. Then I found my answers.

Here you can see the remnants of the damaged cable. It looks as if it is no longer under tension. You can see there is no short mast at the top of the fin. You can also see how the end run of the antennae cable attaches to the fin assembly.

So I cut off the part on the Hasegawa plastic. This was a very simple fix. Once I smoothed the profile of the fin to match the leading edge on the rest of the fin, I carefully touched it up using RLM 76 in my airbrush. I was paying extra close attention to the paint application because I didn’t want to damage or accidentally spray 76 on the Swastika or the Werke numbers.

Armed with this information I decided to give the other end of the cable a closer look. This is what I discovered here. It was connected to the short antennae mast on the Erla Haube hood. If you look closer you can see how the antennae cable has slack in it here too.

Now my antennae questions are answered, so I can correctly install the cabling and have it routed correctly.

Going back to the spinner now:

Here you can see the results of the fine mist I applied to the back sides of the propeller blades. You can also see how the tips were covered with a #2 pencil lead to simulate bare metal. When light hits the propeller tip location just right, it shines just like bare metal because of the pencil lead application.

Here's another close up showing another one of the other blades.

This next picture is showing the last prop blade. You can see how each one of them now has a light coat of RLM 76 over spray, at the base and only on the back side of each blade. I believe this is exactly what the real aircraft was painted like.

Now I’m very glad I decided to take the extra step and spray a little bit of overspray here. Originally I was going to leave it alone.

On the front side of the propeller assembly, you can see there is no 76 overspray here. If you look even closer, you can see the cannon barrel has also been drilled out.

I am very pleased with how the exhaust stains look. Here you can also see how the propeller spinner backing plate was painted RLM 76, just as it was on the real plane too. As Erik mentioned, the spinner itself was not hard to remove, and was likely done so prior to painting the Gustav in overall 76.

You can also see how the nose scoops were opened up. All 4 scoops are done this way. The tires were also "dirtied" up some using a Tamiya weathering deck.

Remember in one of my last posts, when I mentioned how the Morane Masts were supposed to be left in a natural wood color, using a clear varnish as a protectant ?

Here is a picture that the founder of Imodeler himself has posted on IPMS Stockholm. This picture is part of the is a Bf-109G10 walk around series of Gustav pictures that Martin has posted. This is an excellent set of detailed photos that Martin posted online. Full credit goes to him.

I actually found this tidbit of information about the clear varnished wood to be very interesting.

OK, so I'm a certified airplane geek... ;). I’ll admit that.

Thanks Martin ! You rock buddy.

As always, comments are encouraged.

Really amazing result, Louis @lgardner

Spiros, @fiveten
John, @johnb
Tom, @tcinla
Thank you all for the kind words. I am very happy to say this one is now done.

I added the antennae cable using elastic thread. I also repainted the radio DF loop and base. I painted the antennae base a reddish brown color to resemble the appearance of Bakelite. I also painted the actual DF loop using a chrome silver paint. I am fairly certain these loops were left in a natural metal color, most likely stainless steel or aluminum.
The last thing I decided to do was to repaint the wood grain effects on the Morane mast. I think I had it a little bit too red the first time around.

So enjoy the pictures, and look for it in the headlines section. It feels good to finally complete one... I have a BUNCH of them started, but this one I can now declare it as completed.

I want to thank everyone who commented, and made this a very fun and enlightening journey. This model would not have been as authentic looking, if not for the help of my 109 Experten friends.
Erik @airbum
Pedro @holzhamer

Again I sincerely thank you all.

Take care, and as always, comments are encouraged.

What a great finish, my friend @lgardner! A pleasure to see our friend 's @tom-bebout present taking shape. Congratulations!

@lgardner

Although I have just comment on your final article of this model- on the headlines- I feel I need to add a penitence. You see, have completely lost track of this WIP, and it’s a shame since a lot of info you present here (and discuss) are really good.

I just checked Jochen Prien book about the G-10 and go figure that the batch was made by Regesnung factory, and accordingly to the source, the rudder should have no trim tabs… when your close up photos clearly point that as wrong. A lot of dogmas regarding WW2 being challenged lately, and you have just hit this one in the nail.

The only thing I cannot decipher is the black round hatch that cover part of the leg of “white 4”, though there are several other G-10s that also have it. Seems like a specific alteration made in the field to some machines