safety first!

As some may have noticed the tailwheel snapped on Marseilles’ Friedrich, and so I made a desparate attempt to keep this one safe.

If it helps, time will tell – the other one snapped during painting, and I do think this contraption may have to come off for painting.

A snapshot of the cockpit – Löök panel lööks nice!

(I have ordered some from Yahu – they are near perfect!)

The wings in a squeeze

And before you know it, it will look like a plane!

OK – have to admit, this one and the Rumanian one are in the slow lane, as I needed to get something simpler in the fast track to clear the head

Shooters and straps

Still on a detailing frenzy, I have a few AM products in this one, and this time I will get to the guns and straps

First I made a plasticcard fairing inside the hood to hold the brass-gunports in place. They have to be staggered, and pointing the same way. . .

Some whitetack helped find the right spot

And, after fiddling, they were left to dry, and I pressed on with the very detailed seatbelts that came with the Löök set. I should have installed the lap-belts BEFORE assembling the fuselage, but with a bit of sweat they went in OK.

Those eduard belts are really nice. Please note the correct placement of the fittings – many 109’s got them all over the place, but this is the place for a F and onward. (will get into the Emils in a later build)

With the canopy hood nearing completion it was placed on the plane just for fun.

I really love that clear glass! – I plan to keep it closed, and those clear panes really lets you see the interior.

And with the whitetack out of the engineroom the guns look very nice too – even though they are generally hidden it was the outer openings I wanted to improve on – I think it is some great improvement on the plastic?

And that concludes this installment – you are very welcome to let me have your opinion here – it is expensive, but is it also worth it?

Where to go next? I really have no clue, so stay tuned. As always, comments are welcome

Keep your hat on

Or should that be keep your hut on?

While life has intervened lately, the season is slowly starting up for me again. Some minor progress has been made in the last month; The ailerons have been shaped to be deflected as per my plan, and they have been installed.

I think it adds a lot of interest to place moveable surfaces deflected – and remember to place the controls in the ‘pit accordingly!

Today I fitted the front and aft windscreen, painted them RLM66 (the inside color) and simply had to testfit the hood.

Not bad at all.

The intake has been installed too – I took the time to drill a hole inside, just to see if that sort of detail is justifiable.

Probably not – I will try and remember to post a picture of that when it is finished – till then you get to enjoy the turned guns once more 🙂 (I know – also difficult to see, but I know they are there)

Next time I may get around to some photoetch details!?

Those details. . .

Ailerons re-visited

Having had some time to do a bit of armchair aviation, I discovered that all the work I put into cutting off the base of the ailerons was wasted!

In reality the part that holds the hinge stays put, the rest moves!

And so some more scrabing and filing and sanding – lesson learned?

Next up, well not really able to tell, but kinda hoping some flaps or tailfeathers. Maybe both as there are quite a few 109’s in progress right now – stay tuned

Flappin’ n slattin’

Having decided to show it in the mediterranian heat, the coolers will be wide open instead!

And so it was possible to fiddle a bit with the flaps and slats. The slats were relatively straightforward, as it will be a just-landed aircraft, and the slats have not yet been reset in the closed position

The flaps were fighting a bit, I suppose it had something to do with me adding gunboats and strong clamps in the assembly. As mentioned in another post, the rear of the cooler will be mounted before assembling the wing in future builds.

The cooling flaps upper parts has been modified to sit flush with the wing, the lower parts fully open as I have seen that on a picture in one of my many reference books. (I know - in an earlier post I said they would be closed, but having stumbled upon a picture of the opposite, that was the final verdict on this one!)

Next I suppose the tail has been assembled and some primer will have been airbrushed – stay tuned

Looking pretty good Erik. When I was young and dumb using enamels, I never primed. Now that I'm older and slightly less dumb, I'm a firm believer in priming. Especially with older kits and the use of Acrylic paint.

Nice progress on all your builds Erik. Looking good!