PaulD Posted March 18, 2010 Report Share Posted March 18, 2010 (edited) I've started Airfix’s new tooling BF-109 for the Airfix group build over on Hyperscale. This kit isn't quite as nice as Airfix’s new spitfire IX. The fit is pretty good over all but Airfix made some obvious goofs that I decided to fix. First they left out the bulkhead behind the pilot, very obvious to see through the canopy. Second, the breech covers over the nose guns were molded as a single hump like on a sopwith camel. Third the pilot figure seems to be wearing a modern hard-shell helmet or a giant afro. I've added the missing bulkhead and shaved the pilot's head to a more reasonable size. I've also added some rudimentary cockpit detail. (the kit had nothing other than a seat) The October issue of Flying Scale Models has a nice set of scale drawings of the 109F so I decided to shave the breech covers completely off and convert the plane to an "F". The kit has a nose of constant taper, while the drawings show a much steeper taper just behind the spinner. To copy this I cut around the top of the cowl beginning at the first panel line behind the prop so that I could raise the top of the cowl like a car's hood and then shimmed it in this position. I then filled in front of this step and made a steeper taper down to the spinner. I also thinned the oil cooler and supercharger intake. On the landing gear openings I rounded the outboard ends to match the shape that most F's had. Rather than restore the panel lines I mangled, I'm filling in most of the other panel lines. Edited March 18, 2010 by PaulD Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mquan Posted March 18, 2010 Report Share Posted March 18, 2010 Looks nice so far Paul. The "dual Sopwith" hump was a prominent feature of Airfix's previous and ancient Bf-109G release! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ghodges Posted March 18, 2010 Report Share Posted March 18, 2010 Nice improvements! Looks like you're well on your way to very nice 109. Please keep us posted. GIL Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ClareWentzel Posted March 19, 2010 Report Share Posted March 19, 2010 Looks good Paul. Sorry to hear that Airfix have not gotten rid of the "Sopwith Camel hump". I remember how much an improvement the past model was over the blob that preceded it but this third edition should have been better. I know that you are building the model for an Airfix build but if you wanted a good F, why didn't you just build a FineMolds version. :D Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PaulD Posted March 19, 2010 Author Report Share Posted March 19, 2010 ... if you wanted a good F, why didn't you just build a FineMolds version? :D I can't explain it Clare, sometimes its just fun to do things the hard way. Sometimes I don't even use a kit at all: http://forum.ipmsusa3.org/index.php?showtopic=3188 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
adfogel Posted March 19, 2010 Report Share Posted March 19, 2010 Nice work, Paul! Later, Lee Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts