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Bf-109 J / Ha-1109 conversion, SBS-model 1/48 FINISHED

Started by Erik Gjørup · 125 ≡ · ↻ 1 year ago · airbum, Bf109, Ha1109, sbsmodel, Tripala

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Erik Gjørup said 3 years, 8 months ago:

Tub

Had some time on my hands today, and gave the office-tub a few hours’ worth

The Tamiya 109G-6 is a strange creature. Some of the parts are really well made and build up to make a very realistic model. However, apart from two different settings for the radiatorflaps, flaps and slats, the ailerons, elevator and rudder are all centered.

The rudderpedals are extremely well made, but can only be positioned neutral. That may be a place to make some future mods on another one of these?

The Hisso-engined “109”s were unable to have a MK firing between the cylinders, and thus the cover for that was removed. The baseplate was retained however as it forms some protection for the pedal arrangement.

To make that the plastic was modified to enable me to make a plate.

Glued in place and with the cover for comparison

Not that it will be possible to see a lot, but I know it is there (and so do you now)

The office is made like a bathtub that slides into the fuselage, and this time I did remember to install the lap-belts before it had to be done through the small opening after all was assembled.

Tamiya has really made it easy to make the details, like the pull-rod on the wall, and almost all the sub-assemblies/parts can be detail-painted before they are glued in place.

There are a few hatches that need to be deleted, and some filler was used, pre-sanded and will be finished later in the build to enable it to set. (should have tried the liquefied styrene here?)

With the majority of the fuselage assembled, yet another look and dry-fit of the nose.

It has some very nice details, and I shall be looking forward to assemble of this part!

There is a very thin scoop to go on the nose to make the two scoops there – it will be a bit of a challenge to get that one made I think.

And that was it for now. Constructive comments on the build are, as usual, very welcome!
George R Blair Jr said 3 years, 8 months ago:

Hi, Erik (@airbum). What is the blue part on the starboard side of the cockpit? I don't recall ever seeing it before.
Spiros Pendedekas said 3 years, 8 months ago:

This a really great progress, my friend @airbum! (In fact your 109 progresses have become an addiction for me, so please do not make long 109 werke intervals!

Not that it will be possible to see a lot, but I know it is there (and so do you now)

That's really good attention to detail, unlike yours truly laziness attitude: "if you can barely see it, don't expect me to depict it!"

There are a few hatches that need to be deleted, and some filler was used, pre-sanded and will be finished later in the build to enable it to set. (should have tried the liquefied styrene here?)

You may have tried indeed! But the areas of interest are small, so filler is great, too.
(Per the amazing instrumental Rainbow song:) Maybe next time? ...with my usual advice: just use only the amount necessary. This is a wonderful stuff, but can be aggressive to the surrounding plastic if applied thick, possibly causing a sink mark.

Your Spanish 109 is looking splendid!
Erik Gjørup said 3 years, 8 months ago:

Thanks gents

George (@gblair), the blue is oxygen, regulator and stuff. It is made more or less this way from the Friedrich forward, and thus it was "inherited" in the Spanish HA-1... series as the first ones were essentially G-2 and G-4 airframes supplied from German stock. Later on they build the entire thing in Spain.

Spiros (@fiveten), thanks. Well, there may be a few other things in the pipeline, but at least one 109 or 109'ish thing will be in progress well into the future I believe. at the very least something DB6..- or licencebuilt version of the DB6..-powered. (Happy to see you are making good use of the text-options (BB-code I think it is called) here on iModeler - great stuff!) By the way, just read that the number is a consequence of the RLM issuing numbers to the engine-makers, the JUMO getting 200, and that is why their L-10 ended up as the 210 that powered many early German designs, 109 included, and DB did start up after being issued 600, their engines being designated DB6-something. And the reason they introduced injection was that the hollow shaft made it possible to install a gun firing through the center, this again did make it impossible to install a carburettor, and so they used injection, giving them an advantage over carburettor equipped Hurricanes and Spitfires in the early years - oh now, that was not related to this build - sorry. I'm of to the armchair for coffe and inspiration, then a few hours at the bench, and 4 days at work starting tomorrow. . . stay safe everyone.
Erik Gjørup said 3 years, 8 months ago:
Deep breath

With only minor detailing left on the office, attention moves to the oilcooler

The oilcooler installation means that some surgery needs to be done to the lower fuselage/wing assembly.

Before I get started, here are the parts so far

The small “bubble” in the intakeopening is actually to mount a support-rod! Amazing detail from SBSmodel (as usual)

I mentioned earlier that the missing MG-cover would not be all that visible – well, I was wrong!
1. Kristal Klear used to make a dome for the Spanish compass
If you imagine the IP in place it is very easy to see the missing cover.

And here we go. . .
1. First cut made with a saw
Parts laid up

And a few moments later, the rough-cut is done

Still in need of some finetuning, but that resin looks great!

One thing to be careful about is the wing/fuselage assembly.
1. testfitting only - glue later
If it creates a slight step, the filling and re-scribing will be a nightmare, so some extra care and support while the glue sets will be needed. Still some time away though, as the wings need to be made first (I think – at least that is what the instructions want)

And now I think this topic will have a break while I go to work for a 4-day weekend shift. I’ll be back later with this conversion
Spiros Pendedekas said 3 years, 8 months ago:

This is nice constructive work, my friend @airbum!
I love the super precise resin fit process.
Have a nice weekend shift!
George R Blair Jr said 3 years, 8 months ago:

Test-fit looks great, Erik (@airbum). You are very much a craftsman with your conversions. I am more of a "plug-and-play" sort of guy. If the resin doesn't fit at first, I get out a small hammer and massage it till it fits better. Hurry up and get your job out of the way so we can see what comes next. :o)
Erik Gjørup said 3 years, 8 months ago:

Thank you my friends.

@fiveten, yep - it fits like a glove!
@gblair, actually it is sort of "P'nP", just to get the intake positioned correctly you need to trim away just a tiny bit of the wing, nothing complicated! Now, I keep wondering why I am at work, Nice weather, freshly swept runway, and not a plane in sight! OK, got a few IFR-flights later, but really, where are everybody? Not a lot going on on radar, so it is not just at my small airport, it is all over Denmark that nothing is airborne!
Erik Gjørup said 3 years, 7 months ago:
Some tips and feathers

Wingtips and Tailfeathers that is

With a day off, it was time for a bit more on this one. I assembled the innards of the wings. No trace of trouble there – very well engineered and straightforward.

And the wingtips were added, and I am ready to glue the wing in place.

The rear assembly is nicely engineered too, but still some care is needed as it will be very difficult to fill’n file there due to all the nice panellines

It did have a tendency to drop a micron or two, and had to be nursed till the glue started to set properly.

Now, the tailfeathers. Those that have been here from the beginning will recall that I had some thoughts on the tailfin, as the propeller turns opposite to a DB-engine.
1. actually this is clear on the 109! (for the antenna to go through the fuselage without touching metal)
Tamiya has made a very pronounced offset fin (as the original), and it will need to be addressed if the result shall be a proper depiction of the real HA-1109.

Well – that will give me a reason to re-visit the entire HA-theme again at a later date – for now I will leave it as it is.

The tailplane is made as one item.

And while that ensures a very nice fit, I would have liked to be able to position the elevator to my own preferences. That is yet another reason to make one more later. . . .

And with the essentials in place, the nose gets fixed next time – stay tuned
Spiros Pendedekas said 3 years, 7 months ago:

Nice progress, my friend @airbum!

The Ha is coming along steadily and nicely.

For the fin issue, should your attempts fail (which I doubt, but anyway...), just handle the Ha to PFP QC/2 for an - as usual - Vne exceeded test flight, with a special request to apply full opposite rudder by that time...your fin will be permanently 'jigged" and reaffixed to the correct (for the Ha) angle...

However, due to structural concerns, The Ha will have to be put on a static display from then on...
Erik Gjørup said 3 years, 7 months ago:

I really wanted to wait till the next HA-build for the correct fin, but it is indeed tempting to have PFP QC/2 do the work for me. And I shall be perfectly happy to confine the plane to static display after that. I am however concerned there will be some buckled skin? 🙂
Thanks my friend!
George R Blair Jr said 3 years, 7 months ago:

Very cool, Erik (@airbum). I'm not sure if I have ever seen quite that much offset depicted in a model.
Erik Gjørup said 3 years, 7 months ago:

Thank you George (@gblair). It is more or less the same in the Zvezda kit - perhaps a bit less, but you will get to that I know 🙂

A small update comin' up
Erik Gjørup said 3 years, 7 months ago:

Fixing the nose

The nose gets glued in place

With the perfect fit of the SBS Resin, it is a very easy job to place the nose on the fuselage. As I mentioned earlier, I had broken off a corner of the resin.

A small piece of thick evergreen is curved on the back to follow the contour and glued in place – Cyano where it meets the resin, Contacta where it meets the styrene.

Now some filing and wet-sanding will follow later, for now I present the assembled product so far.

All is nice and easy on this build – the new Tamiya is one of the most easy I have come across, and the SBS resin just needs removing from the castingblocks. The only item that will take a small amount of skill/patience is the removal of the part of the wing, and then there is the clear in front of the windscreen that needs to be removed. SBS recommends you use the kit-IP, and if you choose to do that, it is also a very easy route to take.

whatsnext? – well, stay tuned! All constructive comments and info will as usual be welcome
George R Blair Jr said 3 years, 7 months ago:

Erik, your perseverance is amazing. Lots of work to replace the missing area, but should look fine when done. Resin is too expensive now to get frustrated and toss it.

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