@Russelle Isn’t there a saying “never put your skis where your mouth is”? I’ve been lucky with my skiing but the road bike has cost me a broken collar bone once. When on the MTB, a good ride always comes with some cuts and bruises 
!
On a serious side: having to visit a dentist while abroad is one of my nightmares. Japanese dentists probably are world class but I still would be very nervous having someone I can only communicate with in a limited way fixing my teeth…
Still in the “almost-ready” stage. More almost ready than last time 
Magnus
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Ouch! Well, that’s the first thing that comes to mind when I think of broken collar bones and road bike! Was that a result of a collision with a car?
It’s always my worst fear when out on the road bike: impetus to set off early before the traffic gets bad 
Had a few health incidents whilst travelling over the years, but definitely agree, when there’s a language barrier it’s even more stressful 
Meanwhile the more “almost finished” look is definitely looking awesome! Especially the white! 
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Both looking great, now that they’re close to the end of your assembly line, Magnus. But opposite to Russell, I go (of course) with MT-213 
Btw, my experience of medical help outside of Germany is limited to the sjukhus in Torsby when I was a teen in the 1970’s …
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@Russelle I crashed during a long distance event (“Vätternrundan”) that is 300 km around one of the biggest lakes in Sweden. I made about 290 of the 300 km, finishing the last 10 in an ambulance. No cars (apart from that ambulance) involved 
!
@BlackWidow You survived TORSBY! That’s something !
Magnus
That’s it, two from my quartet of Eduard 109s finished!
Since I’m doing four in one go, there are two left to finish. I’ll continue with the Finnish theme and will do a G-6 from Finland while the remaining G-4 will be Italian.
These have, as usual, been moved to the collection!
Magnus
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Another 2 fine additions to your collection, Magnus! Well done again! 
As you know my soft spot for everything Ilmavoimat I like MT-213 very much, especially in that Sotamaalaus paint. Clear for landing!
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@BlackWidow That’s a beautiful photo Torsten, thanks! MT-213 looks really well maintained.
As I wrote earlier, there are two further builds in this same batch.
Masking on the Finnish G-6. It had a symbol on the rudder showing an odd-looking, yellow, creature that I cut masks for while I was doing the number 9 anyway. This one differs from the G-2 in that it has blue backgrounds for the Finnish markings and also it was painted in a German standard camouflage.
The same process on the Italian G-4.
And this is what I managed to do last night and this morning! Still a bit more painting to do but they’ll probably be ready for decals during the coming week.
Magnus
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Nice progress on the other 2 “Mersu”, Magnus!
The well maintained look of MT-213 comes from a needed repair since MT-216 taxied into it on the 20. May 1943. Some more statistics of MT-213:
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Delivered to the FiAF on 9. March 1943 in RLM 74/75/76
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Flew in 3 units with various pilots
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Had a total of 158 flying hours
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12 aerial victories
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Crashed on the 18. July 1944
All statistics are taken from the above mentioned book. The photo was taken in March 1944 at Suulajärvi.
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@BlackWidow Keskinen and Stenman are legends when it comes to Finnish aviation books, I have a few but they are printed in rather small quantities and tend to sell out fast.
Italy got many of their 109s second hand from the Luftwaffe (they were really modern considering how popular second hand is today!) and the Italians painted over the German markings using their own paint stocks. There are a few colour photos where this can be clearly seen, the Italian grey is a lot warmer/browner than the German colours. Eduard suggests mottling using Italian green as well, I can accept that on the fuselage but on the wings I think they simply stuck to grey. I have a colour photo of this aircraft in an old Italian book I bought in Vigna di Valle more than twenty years ago, this suggests some kind of mottling but it is difficult to tell. I ended up with this interpretation and I think I’ll stick to that. I now see that I need to repaint the fin as well using my Italian grey but after that everything should be ready for a clear coat and some decals!
Lower surfaces finished as well! No decals yet, all visible markings were done using masks.
Magnus
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