1/72 Messerschmitt Me 209, Special Hobby

[magnusf]

First build in the new forums - lets do something speedy ! The Messerschmitt 209 was quite a performer and was the fastest piston engined aircraft for almost thirty years, rather astonishing considering that it wasn’t the most stable or easiest plane to fly. I get the impression that it was flown very little and after Fritz Wendel nailed the record with it it was quickly put away into a collection in Berlin. After the war it “vanished” but today at least the fuselage is in the aviation museum in Krakow.

On to the kit! I have always been tempted by this machine, I remember planning to get the Huma kit in the 1990s but never getting around to order it. This one I picked up at a whim in Moson.

Boxart. Looks fast!

It’s a tiny aircraft with a small parts count and then quite a few of these are intended for the fighter prototype that was based on the record setting aircraft. I added a pair of resin wheels and some canopy masks and that’s about what there is of extra goodies for this kit!

I’ve already done a bit of building…

…and a bit of painting…

…and even some further building! These will be set aside for drying now. I’m not so sure this was a smart way to install the landing gear but it all started with me being clever gluing the sockets to the gear legs just to notice that the sockets won’t go through the gear openings !

Regards

Magnus

[creading]

Interesting kit. Liking what you’ve done so far and looking forward to seeing more photos as work progresses.
Cheers,
C.

[magnusf]

@creading Thanks ! I’ll try to keep you entertained !

No way avoiding putty on this one, not even along the wing roots . I think the problem arose when I thinned the trailing edges. Anyway, nothing that can’t be handled even if I rather not had to!

Some putty here as well but a lot easier to sand!

Magnus

[magnusf]

Some more done!

The usual extra round of filling and sanding after first coat of primer. Seat in place, should be able to install the canopy tonight!

Magnus

[magnusf]

Soon we’ll see how this one looks in blue!

Canopy on! Masking the canopy isn’t rocket science but I’ve grown old and appreciate the ready-cut masks a lot !

A bit of Gunze RLM 02 for the frames, I’ve also primed it a second time but it doesn’t make for any good photos so you’ll have to take my word for it!

Magnus

[Russelle]

Good to see you on the new boards Magnus!

Watching with interest…

[magnusf]

Russell! Still finding my ways around in here but I’ll get used to it !

So, updates aren’t too frequent even if I manage to do a bit more or less every day.

Painting starts with a mask for the swastika on the fin.

There is a bit of a jump in the process here. After cross was in place, I masked it with a circular piece of tape and then I also masked the edges of the red field in order to only paint the area that really should be red. This way I hoped to avoid trouble with paint coverage when I got to the blue coat.

As can be seen I’ve used the actual letters from the masks I cut and put them over a white background, in this case it was easier than putting the negative masks over the blue and then painting white. Speaking of which, it isn’t really bright white but rather white with a drop of black in the proportions 30:1. Using straight white gives rather harsh contrast on the finished model and I sometimes finds it difficult to tone down and blend into the general look of the model.

And here are the masks, drawn using a scan of the kit decals as a background and then cut on my Silhouette cutter.

And finally it is blue! Paint is Mr Paint RLM 24 with a drop of black in 10:1 proportions. Pics from Krakow are difficult to interpret but I think that one is a good deal darker, I decided to stick with this though!

And finally I got to the favourite part of the process…

…pealing away the masks!

Magnus

[litespeed]

Looks great Magnus, I was thinking of acquiring this kit myself.
tim

[Russelle]

Great progress Magnus!

The new site takes a little adjusting to but once familiar with it, using it becomes second nature photo uploading is easy now too.

Those masks look great: what medium do you use? I’ve been trying out some new (to me, anyway) masking methods on the Gloster Gladiator for the bi-plane campaign and so far very happy with the results of the Camo

[magnusf]

@litespeed Well worth getting! It isn’t as sharp as I would have hoped for but still an easy build of a cool aircraft! Right now it is standing by for some minor weathering and then it should be ready for inspection !

@Russelle I’ve bought a roll of masking film on recommendation from @Holdfast that’s called “Artool Ultra Mask”, there are several metres in it so it will probably last until I’ve finished my stash!

While on the subject of German racers, Special Hobby have done the He-100 as well. It’s OOP for the time being but I suppose it will come back sooner or later, I’ll get that one as a companion to the 209!

Magnus

[Russelle]

Ahh Mal is such a great source of knowledge when it comes to making material…

Ultra Mask isn’t available down here so I’ve been using Aslan S79 with good results

Going to try their S41 next

[magnusf]

@Russelle Aslan? I thought you were in Australia, not in Narnia ? Do you have a printer or do you use it for hand cutting? Both works fine and in some cases I can cut better circles with my circle cutter than the Cameo does!

Finished the day before Christmas Eve after only about three weeks of work, without doubt a record for me!

I kept weathering to a minimum imagining this is what it would have looked like after the world speed record, Fritz Wendel having a beer (he was from a brewing family and took over the business when the war was over!) and the 209 about to be taken to the museum!

However, I think the aircraft was much darker in real life and it also was very glossy, on period photos one can see the almost glass-like finish. But I like mine as it is ! And I’m convinced that at least the beer part of the story is accurate!

As for the kit, it is very much a standard Special Hobby kit: It is good without being overly so. You won’t be able to build it without putty but there won’t be any need for excessive amounts either, fit around canopy needed a bit of work (a bad place for these kind of problems but manageable in this case) and some coarse details (scissors links are from an old Eduard Spit etch set, don’t tell anyone…). I really enjoyed the build and ended up with somthing that doesn’t look like anything else in the cabinet!

Finally, I did an avatar for the old site, no use for it around here but I archive it in the build thread:

The text is German for “speeding ticket” !

Magnus

[Russelle]

Hehe, yes, I see what you did there, Magnus

I think we’re a long way from Narnia down here in Australia though!

But, back on topic: Aslan seems to be the equivalent of Oramask, and so far I’ve had good results with it; I’m going to experiment with another version of their film (S41) which is designed for rough/undulating services next to see if it performs better than the S79

I have no Cricut machine or any equivalent type, so I copy the paint diagram, place the film upon it, then using a sharp scalpel I freehand cut the shapes. As for circles, I haven’t needed any yet, but if I do, Eduard circle masks to the rescue!

Of course, congratulations on another finish for the year! She’s a beauty for sure! How many is that now?

I’m hoping to finish my Gladiator before year’s end as well, to bring my total to 5!

You’re right though: a stint at home certainly reduces the lead time required to finish a model, as I’ve discovered working only 2.5 days per week thanks to the economic downturn forced by the Rona!

[Holdfast]

I checked out the Aslan S41 and as I suspected it has higher tack than the S79!

[Russelle]

I’d imagine so…

I’ve got a metre of it (fairly inexpensive) and will give it a try soon and report back