1/32 Trumpeter Bf 109G-10/U4/R2 - Magazine Build

[doogsatx]

Recently, I was contacted by The Weathering Magazine about contributing a build for an upcoming issue with a theme of late-war Luftwaffe aircraft. While exciting, it's also a bit daunting, since the build has to be done the first week of January.

I immediately veered toward a late 109 - last year I built Hasegawa's G-4 in 54 days and Revell's G-6 in 44, so the good ol' Messerschmitt seemed a safe bet for getting in under the deadline.

I initially chose a K-4, but it was one of those things where absolutely nothing went right from the start, leaving that sense of ill luck. Decided to put the K-4 back in the box and do a G-10 instead, and started looking for schemes. A bit frustrating, because there's one I've wanted to do for a long time, but it was a recce version and the only camera fairings I knew of were long since out of production.

Until I realized Quickboost made one...



Between the Quickboost fairing and Trumpeter's recent 1/32 G-10, I'll be tackling "Black 12"...





The magazine thing means I'll have to take this build dark once it comes around to painting, but I've got the go-ahead to show the construction and figured there might be some interest in it, since you don't see too many Trumpeter 109s being built. The brush-off they seem to get is unfortunate. Accuracy blah blah - it's not like the Hasegawa or Revell kits are anywhere near perfect in this regard. And Trumpeter has them, er, trumped in the engineering department. Full-length fuselages, single-piece lower wings, the only design of the three that aligns to the actual cowl hatches instead of the lazy top trough approach.

Anyway - work kicks off this weekend! Stay tuned...

[JimD]

I'm on mobile so it's hard to tell, but is that NMF on the undersurface of the wings? Either way that's one of the most interesting schemes I've seen and I'll be anxious to see the finishing process once published.

I'm very interested in the build portion of this one. I'm wanting to do a Trop F and I've been having a hard time deciding between Trump and Hasegawa. So this should prove informative on the engineering at least.

[TRM]

Go get it Doogs! Will be following along with the build and will be sure to check out the publication when the time comes!!

[doogsatx]

Nov 5, 2014 2:46:51 GMT -5 JimD said:

I'm on mobile so it's hard to tell, but is that NMF on the undersurface of the wings? Either way that's one of the most interesting schemes I've seen and I'll be anxious to see the finishing process once published.

I'm very interested in the build portion of this one. I'm wanting to do a Trop F and I've been having a hard time deciding between Trump and Hasegawa. So this should prove informative on the engineering at least.

Yeah, the bottom is NMF wings with puttied panel lines! Should be a looker for sure, but I'm going to have to put some real thought into the weathering.

As for Trump vs. Hasegawa, tough call, particularly with the F. It's generally regarded as Hasegawa's best 109. Trumpeter has the oft-bemoaned short rudder, but I don't know why people get all butthurt about that - Quickboost has a corrected one.

[wing_nut]

OK just keep that popcorn bowl full. Gonna be another cool build for sure. There were a few very late fighters with the bare metal under the wings. The wood tail Fw190D-9 "yellow (' I did in 5 scales was like that. it's a nice look.

Cool photo of the 1:1. Looks like a Tuskegge "Stang" in the background.

[JimD]

Yeah..a bare metal FW 190 is on my list of some day's...now I'll have to look for some more 109 examples for sure.

This particular example is weathered beyond belief almost. I think it will certainly be a challenge to reproduce in a convincing manner. I know if I tired to go that dirty it's just look like a bad overdone hack job. I'm confident you'll nail it though and I'll be grabbing a copy or getting a digital download...or what ever it is I'll need to get the article.

[doogsatx]

The G-10 showed up yesterday



Need to soak the parts before I can properly kick this one off, but I did a quick test-fit last night. Overall I'm pretty happy with the engineering. The only real issue I found was the presence of a wing root gap.



The way things go together, it looks like the cockpit floor and various other internal bits may act as spreaders. If not, the gap seems like it can easily be filled with some strip styrene.

[JimD]

Looks good. That gap shouldn't be too much of an issue I wouldn't think.

It doesn't look like Trumpeter went too crazy with the rivets either.

[doogsatx]

Nov 7, 2014 11:01:22 GMT -5 JimD said:

Looks good. That gap shouldn't be too much of an issue I wouldn't think.

It doesn't look like Trumpeter went too crazy with the rivets either.

They're there and they're a bit bigger than I'd prefer, but they aren't so bad and I think they'll work well enough under paint.

[Rick]

Looking forward to your treatment on the German side this time around. Glad to see your work is getting the recognition it deserves. Love the weathering magazine.
Rick

[doogsatx]

Official work began on the G-10 last night.

Sadly the Barracuda spinner is just a touch to wide in diameter to fit the Trumpy kit, so I'll be using the kit parts - which are a far sight better than the punishing Revell spinner at least.



A few notes so far...

This is a solid kit so far. The buildup is very different from any 109 I've ever touched (Eduard, Hasegawa, Revell, and a 1/48 Tamiya), but very logical. Detail is solid throughout. Not up to Tamiya standards or even what I've encountered in some recent Trumpy/Hobby Boss stuff like the 1/48 Intruder, but FAR better than what you'll get in a Hasegawa box. For the sake of speed/laziness, I'll probably be poaching a few cockpit bits from an Eduard set I've got for the G-6.

The engine assembly has a pretty sloppy connection to the firewall, but that ends up working out in its favor, since it gives it plenty of play to assure proper alignment. Ultimately it's trapped in place by a combination of cockpit, exhausts and prop hub elements.

Speaking of exhaust stubs - this is another 109 where you have to put the things in before you close the fuselage. The stubs are individual and have a bit of play, so I used the fuselage halves to help make sure they aligned properly.

The cowl panels continue to fit amazingly well - arguably better than on the real thing.

[TRM]

Love watching you work Doogs!! Shaping up nicely there!!

[doogsatx]

Work proceeds on the cockpit. I'd intended to stick with kit parts, but then I found an Eduard set I had lying around for the Trumpeter G-6, and then I found a resin 109G control stick and so there's a bit of aftermarket now, but nothing major.



Still plenty of weathering I want to do, plus I need to sort out the seatbelts. I have a set of the green-fabric HGW belts but they just look lost amid the RLM 66. So I need to track down some good old beige ones. Perfect excuse to hit the LHS, right?

I also got the Barracuda wheels drilled out last night. I'm a bit worried that one of them is slightly off-center so I need to poke with that a bit further. But even so, they're hands down the best 109G legs in this scale. The Hasegawas are competent but the molded-on brake lines are awkwardly done. The Revell legs are a three-piece torture and probably among the single worst parts of the kit. The Trumpy legs, meanwhile, consist of a single, well-detailed main shaft, separate oleo scissors, a plastic brake line, and some PE strips to clamp the line to the gear leg. They're great. They get the job done, fit, and don't screw around.

[JimD]

So...you'd recommend the Brassin legs for the Revell G-6 when I get to it?

As usual the Barracuda wheels are beautiful.

[doogsatx]

RLM 66 cockpits are nearly impossible to shoot on a white background. I'm going to have to bring in some black posterboard to really capture it, since the weathering work (MM Dunkelgrau drybrush, AMMO Dark Brown and Light Rust washes and Earth, #2 pencil) is nearly invisible.





Meanwhile, the Moto X perhaps over-captures the weathering...



In person, I think it's pretty effective. Dirty and has the look of a cockpit that's seen hurried use from less-than-ideal conditions, but not derelict or anything.

Still have belts and some other details to add. Unfortunately the way the cockpit goes together it's going to be tough to really capture it before the fuselage halves get closed.

[doogsatx]

Cockpit is 95% wrapped!

Jut have to finish up the gunsight (and do the shoulder belts, which won't be mounted until later) and I'll be that much closer to closing things up.

[wing_nut]

That's as fine as frog's hair.

[doogsatx]

Quite a bit of progress last night!

- Painted exhaust stubs with a mix of Alclad Steel and Exhaust Manifold

- Painted areas around exhaust outlets with Gunze C117 RLM 76

- Finished up Revi gunsight with MM Dunkelgrau drybrush and Vallejo umber wash on the leather padding

- Built crude install boxes for the cowl MGs. The Trumpeter kit includes the full guns, and I'm using Master barrels, so I matched protrusion length and used some styrene to build little boxes that will let me install the guns after paint.

- Closed the fuselage!





Closing the fuselage was...interesting. The fit overall is good, but the way the cockpit fits in means there's some care that needs to be taken. After I got the top and bottom of the fuselage halves tacked, I had to weld down the 'upper deck' and push the seat/bulkhead back and then weld it from behind to make sure it aligned with the upper deck portions. Nothing too arduous, but you have to pay attention.

I'm also *this close* to cutting the prop shaft off the DB engine. It's interfering slightly with fit of the prop, and doesn't really add anything (it also completely precludes use of an aftermarket spinner if I opt to go that way).

[DeafStuG]

Great works..........

[doogsatx]

Cowl covers installed. Wings on. Had the wing root gaps come back with a vengeance last night, but a spreader in the fuselage and some creativity in the gluing process got me a nice, good join with no gaps. Will need to sand down some of the places where the welded plastic popped out of the seam, but I'm going to have plenty of sanding to do anyway.





Verdict of the Trumpy G-10 so far? It's got a lot to recommend it. The cowl arrangement is probably the best among 109s I've built. The landing gear are solid. But the fit could be better, the spinner install is laughable, etc. Kinda feel like the Hasegawa, Revell and Trumpy kits all exist in this weird sort of equivalency. None really better or worse than the others, just better or worse in different ways.

[doogsatx]

The Trumpy kit is generally good, but it's missing one pretty distinctive feature of the 109G - the piano hinge on the cowl panels. Enter Archer with one of their resin decal things.



I was a bit worried about the carrier film showing through, but a layer of primer shows everything looking five by five.



The oil cooler scoop is a bit silly. Trumpeter includes PE for the radiator face, but nothing behind it, so you see right through and out the back. I fixed that with a sheet of evergreen painted black. The PE is black w/ Uschi Steel pigment.



Going to be shooting some more RLM 66 for the aft cockpit deck tonight, then get into all the joys of filling and sanding. JOY!

[DeafStuG]

Nov 10, 2014 11:01:52 GMT -5 doogsatx said:

My questions :- I seen on it (your photo) - Barracuda prop and spinner included.
Is these are parts fitted on your wingy or Trumpy plastic parts - prop and spinner fitted on it?

[doogsatx]

Alas, the Barracuda spinner is just slightly too big. So I'll be saving it for a Revell Erla or inevitable K-4...

[JimD]

Going together fairly well it appears. You're assessment of the 1/32 !09 family really isn't helping me. I'm doing up the Revell G-6 soon (I'll be getting the Brassin legs for sure), but I'm still not decided on an F...

Glad to see the Archer stuff works well too. I've been curious about them.

[doogsatx]

Broke into my absolute favorite part of the build process last night - putty. Yay.



Also...anybody know if the prop blades on the G-10 were metal? I know the fat blades on the Fw 190D-9 were wood and guess I just assumed the same for the G-10/K-4, but this pic seems to indicate otherwise:

[Rick]

Great progress Doogs. Filling, sanding, and cleaning up putty about puts me over the edge. Cockpit really turned out great. Ready for more!

Rick

[4bogreen]

Very nice build Doogs! i hope to learn a lot of this build for my future aircraft projects.

Regards,

Remco

[doogsatx]

All cleaned up. Getting pretty close to paint now...





Also did some extra finishing sanding and work with the Dremel + polishing wheel on the lower wings to prepare for the bare metal...

[doogsatx]

Rapidly approaching the point where I need to take the build dark...few more days at most while I mask and install the windscreen...

But for now, I started laying base coats last night. The lower wings are going to be bare metal, so they were treated to some Gunze C2 Gloss Black.



While I was at it, the spinner got similar treatment. Although it's going to be RLM 70 with one-third white.

[doogsatx]

Alright - time to take this one dark. I'll be sure to post the finals after the article's out!