Written by 4:13 pm On the Bench

WIP : KA Models 1/48 Bf 109G-10

Next up is a Shelf Queen I dug up to finish. The kit inside the box is actually a Fujimi mold but with an additional fret of photo-etch.

The kit was started by my son and as you can see here, it’s actually almost at the painting stage already.

I began by checking my son’s work with the gaps. 🙂

He didn’t use any of the photo-etch so I decided to keep the fret for my other Bf 109 kits. I made the battery box using 0.25mm plastic plates instead.

After a quick paint and weathering I think it looks alright.

After a few rounds of fixing gaps that remained, the kit is ready to be painted.

After a base of black and marble coat of white I painted the first color of RLM76.

I used AK Interactive RLM76 for this. The wheel wells were painted in Lifecolor RLM02.

The fuselage is primarily RLM74 and RLM75 with a partial mottling pattern on the lower half of the upper fuselage. I have AK Interactive and Mr Hobby Acrysion colors for these. Thinking that it would be easier to do freehand camo when the paint was thinned with lacquer thinner, I went with Acrysion RLM75 Gray Violet. The Acrysion thinned and sprayed well thinned with Mr Levelling Thinner so I topped up both bottles of Acrysion (both RLM75 Gray Violet and RLM74 Gray Green) to the brim with thinner. However, the paint solidified into a thick goop instead. I’m not quite sure why it happened but I had to throw tem away.

So now I’m stuck with using AK Interactive paints. I’ve always found acrylic paint to be harder to use for finer painting as I need to be spot-on with the thinning ratio and pressure.

But I went ahead with using AK Interactive RLM74 for the 2nd color.

Using slightly thinned paint and a lower pressure and being very careful and slow, the random mottling turned out OK.

I also went back in with RLM74 to fix any overspray.

It could be better but I’m happy with the results I got.

The demarcation lines on the wings are tighter so I used blutack as guides.

Looks good from 2 feet away!

Next is the red band around the tail. KA Models provides this as a 2-part decal but I think painting it makes more sense so I went ahead and with using masking tape.

I tried to match the red color on the decal and decided on Model Masters Acryl Insignia Red as a base, and a glaze using Vallejo Model Air Red on top.

The kit finally looks somewhat finished. Until…

I realized that I painted the red band too forward!

So some time was spent to paint over the wrong band and then repaint a new one.

After a gloss coat, the decals were added. These were very easy to use and reacted very well to Mark Fitter and Mark Softer. Due to policies against them by some countries, the swastikas were designed as 2 parts that required aligning.

Once the decals have cured and given a wipe down, I added chipping around the port wingroot, canopy frame and the nose and propeller. These were done with both sponge and paiint brush using Mig AMMO Matt Aluminium.

Everything was then given a panel wash using thinned Abteiling Starship Filth oil paint. The wash also helps to knock down the contrast of the chipping.

I then added grime and staining using Mig AMMO Shader Starship Filth and Grime on the undersides.

The upper surfaces were also weathered although it’s not as visible due to the dark colors. I also added more chipping to simulate new and older chips. I also used Mig AMMO Shader Starship Filth for the exhaust stains running down the side of the fuselage.

After installing the antenna, drop tank and landing gear I tackled the rigging using Mig AMMO 0.2mmm Medium Fine Rigging. These were (surprisingly) elastic and I used CA glue to attach them. The attachment points were then painted over by hand.

The canopy masking were removed and I’m glad that I did a good job this time so there wasn’t any need to do corrections or cleaning up. Last to be attached was the propeller.

I had some problems with doing freehand camouflage but I think the end result looks quite good.

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