in
1/48 scale
By Mike Hanlon
Released several years ago
and re-released with different decals and accessories several times since,
Hasegawa’s Bf109G-6 is an excellent rendition of the definitive G series
Messerschmitt. Starting with their
earlier 109F kit, Hasegawa has provided a new fuselage, spinner and propeller as
well as detail parts for the G-6. Kits
covering the G-14, G-10 and K-4 have since been released.
Leftover from the 109F is the wing assembly and landing gear.
There are some superfluous panel lines that need to be filled and an
additional panel line on each wing that needs to be scribed.
The landing gear bays have to be carved out from the circular F style to
the later G/K style wheel opening and the trim tabs need to b modified.
All of these changes are clearly spelled out in the kit instructions.
None of these modifications presents a major challenge.
Actual construction begins with the ten piece interior. True Details makes an inexpensive resin replacement for this kit, but I chose to use the kit parts. My only addition was photo etched seat belts from True Details. The interior was painted RLM 66 given a wash of Burnt Umber oil paint and dry-brushed with Neutral Gray. The rudder pedals were painted with a silver pen. While a decal is provided for the instrument panel, I chose to paint it and highlight the details with Prismacolor colored pencils. This is a very quick and effective method. Simply paint the instrument panel in RLM 66, paint the gauges with black, once dry you can pick out the details in the appropriate colored pencil, usually white, silver, yellow or red then apply a drop of Future to each gauge to simulate the glass. Mistakes can be wiped off with a Q-Tip and redone.
While the interior pieces
dried, the fuselage was glued together. Once
everything had set, I inserted the instrument panel and the completed cockpit
from below and set it aside to dry. I then painted the RVD band in RLM Green 24 (PollyScale) and
the underside of the cowling RLM 04 Yellow (again using Pollyscale).
To ensure proper coverage of the yellow, I first undercoated the area
with white; I also painted the white rudder at this time.
Once dried, I masked these areas off with Tamiya masking tape.
I then added the insert for the nose guns. This required a small amount
of sanding and filling to blend in, but it was not a major problem.
Next came the wings.
The first step is to open to mounting holes for the wing bulges.
The G-6 used small kidney-shaped bulges and the proper holes are visible
in the landing gear well. If you
wish to fill these holes, attach the bulges before cementing the upper and lower
wings together. Once the wings have
been assembled you won’t be able to fill the hole and sand it smooth.
I also opened the mounting holes for the drop tank and 20mm cannon
gondolas and added the two radiator inserts into the wings before gluing the
wings together. The remaining wing
assembly is simple but I chose to leave the leading edge slats and three part
flaps off until after painting.
The remaining subassemblies were completed and set aside. The supercharger air intake and oil cooler were added to the model prior to painting. The canopy was masked with E-Z masks and attached to the model with Krystal Klear prior to painting.
I chose to model a G-6 from 1./JG 27 stationed in Austria in May 1944. The aircraft was in the standard RLM 74/75/76 scheme with the aforementioned yellow cowl underside, green fuselage band and white rudder. The sides of the fuselage were mottled in RLM 74,75 and 02. RLM 76 was lightly sprayed over any of the mottling that seemed too heavy. The spinner and propeller blades were RLM 70 Black-green. All paints used were from PollyScale. Markings came from Aeromaster sheet 48-383 Augsburg Eagles part V.
One feature of many late
war 109s was an overlapping of the underside color on to the upper wing in a
wavy pattern. I traced the wings on
to a sheet of paper (spare kits are handy for this, my model was assembled by
this time.) I then drew and cut the
pattern out and used this as a mask. I
had to reverse the mask to do some touch-ups, but I really liked the way it came
out.
After painting, I decided
to try something different for weathering.
I airbrushed a thin spray of Gunze Sangyo Smoke over all of the panel
lines then proceeded to gloss, decal, and then flat the aircraft.
The smoke subtly highlights the panel lines and blends into the paint.
I liked the effect very much, especially over a multi-colored camouflage
scheme.
The landing gear was
attached prior to decaling as it makes this process much simpler.
Final assembly included the addition of the leading edge slats, the
flaps, antenna, propeller and drop tank. The
canopy was unmasked and I had a finished 109.
A simple and
straightforward kit, I recommend it any one who wants to add a mid to late war
109 to their collection.
