1/72 Revell Bf-109F4

Gallery Article by Robert Serfőző on Mar 22 2012

 

 

The Hungarian simmental Messerschmitt

During the Second World War, the Royal Hungarian Air Force has used various types of Bf-109s,usually the Hungarian 109s flew with the standard RLM camouflage. However, one Bf-109F4 was, for cinema film reasons, repainted according to the Hungarian color standards.

After seeing original pictures of this particular machine, I have decided to build this model.

I built one of these into the F4 I am writing about in this time.  The three Bf-109G10 Revell kit built into one of my F version.  When building the kit, the drawings in the Polish Kagero Publishing’s Bf-109F book helped me a lot. 

 

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When building the kit, I first made the ’humps’ of the AS engine disappear, as well as the openings for the spark plug coolings.  I also made the area in front of the cockpit into the right shape and cut out the triangles for the windows. Then the troughs of the machine guns were moved forward. After this, I cut out the control faces, so that later on, I can fix them in a hanged out position. I also added some details to the coolers, and to their moving planes under the wings. The wheel-bays were reworked too, because in the Fritz version they were of a semicircle shape.  The wheel-bay of the tail wheel was made out of a sealing material using a ball shaped cutter.  From the fin, I removed the controlling face, and added the F specific details to it.  All controlling faces got a slight canvas imitation by using a fine cutter. 

The wheel-bays, and the inside of coolers were painted with RLM02, and then received a gloss coat.  Other details were added to the coolers using the help of a pin and a ruler.

The whole surface of the kit received rivet imitations, using cog wheels of old wrist watches.

Using a scalpel, some adjustments were made on the exhausts too.

With the help of pictures of real F types, I detailed the sides of the cockpit, and the instrument, with self made parts.  Then they received a coat of RLM02.

After this, I made the air intake of the turbo charger smaller, and drilled a hole into it. The lights at the tip of the wings were made using a transparent plastic ruler.  The small pieces of ’glass’ were glued to their places in the wings, then I formed them to the right shapes with fine sandpapers, and then they were polished using a piece of soft clothing.

For the canopy, I used one manufactured by the New-Zealand company Squadron.  I got it into three parts first.  Then the frame of them was made using tin and aluminum foils, on which the rivet imitations were made using a pin.  The armor shield was made from tin foil too.

For the landing gears, the brake lines were added, then I replaced the wheels of the G10 with a Matchbox Bf-190E’s wheels.  The exhaust covering plates were made from thin aluminum foil too.  The connection point of the radio was made from a flattened needle.

Before painting I carefully masked the canopy, the wing lights and the wheel bays.  The control faces were glued to their places in a hanged out position.  Then the whole plane was cleaned with a alcohol.  Using the German DEKA hobbycolor acrylic paints, I mixed the colors of the brown-green-grey-light blue Hungarian camo.  The original paints were manufactured in the 1940’s by a company called Krayer és Társa (Krayer and Co.), and these colors resembled a lot to the German RLM61-, 62-, 63-, 65 colors.  First I sprayed the national colors of the fin, in a white, red and green order.  The the yellow marking was painted, then all these part got carefully masked.  The whole upper surface got a coat of light-grey first, then when it dried, I made the patter of the camouflage using masking tape.  I placed them on the plane so, that their edges did not stick down completely, which way a fine transition between the colors was achieved.  After painting the upper surfaces, I removed their masking, and prepared the under surfaces for the light-blue coat. After the light-blue has dried, the whole plane got a gloss coat.  The panel lines were made visible using a very thinned Humbrol grey paint.  The national markings were painted using self-made masks.  After the makings were at their place, they got a bit of gloss coating too, then their panel lines were highlighted by the mentioned very thin grey, made ’run into’ them. 

For the next step, I glued the landing gears to their places, and removed the masks from the canopy. The frame of the canopy, following the original pictures, was painted grey.  Then the control stick, and the pilot’s seat were glued to their places.  The seatbelt were added using Eduard photo etched parts.  The aerial was added using a line from a nylon stocking.  As a finishing touch, the airplane was placed on a self-made stand.

I really like the end result, and I sincerely hope you like it too! 

Best regards from Hungary,

Robi

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Photos and text © by Robert Serfőző