Another Special Hobby 1/72 Bf-109E

Looking good, Magnus! :slightly_smiling_face:

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Everything comes to life with a wash, that petite surface detail is really nice.I’m using my old favourites MiG “Dark Brown Wash for Green Vehicles” and “Brown Wash for German Dark Yellow”. On the blue surfaces I’ve used “Dark Sea Blue” panel line wash. A bit worried for the wash-police since they are neither vehicles nor dark yellow. At least they are German :slight_smile: !

:raising_hand_man:

Magnus

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Your right there Magnus, applying the wash was a great decision :smiley:

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Yes! Very nice Magnus! :blush:

I must get back onto my own a/c as my efforts at the moment pale in comparison to your triple build :shushing_face:

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@Russelle Have you gotten yourself one of these yet or are you sticking to your Airfix-only-policy :slight_smile: ?


Almost there! An evil-looking little trio this… Antennae and canopies yet to do and then some further weathering and touch-ups!

:raising_hand_man:

Magnus

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Hi Magnus!

My Airfix only policy has been revised of late to a “no more Airfix” policy… :shushing_face:
Only Special Hobby, Eduard and Arma kits are now permitted to be added to the stash, with maybe the odd Tamiya here and there :wink:

That’s not to say of course, that I don’t have a few remaining Airfix kits left to build…
Now there’s just the problem of supply in a Covid world!

Meanwhile your trio of tyranny is looking exceptional :blush:

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@Russelle I’ve read between the lines that you haven’t been too happy with the 109 :slight_smile: ! I for one look forward to the Tempest and wish I had time and energy enough to do some of their twins, I would love to do the Beaufort and the Blenheim! And then I have my radial-engine Lanc to finish as well…

:raising_hand_man:

Magnus

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Hi Magnus :slightly_smiling_face:

You are correct in saying the Aifix 109 wasn’t much fun. But, over the last few years I’ve experienced a growing dissatisfaction with Airfix’s kits. :thinking: Don’t get me wrong, I really enjoyed the Gladiator and the Typhoon. :innocent: The Mk22 Spitfire was nice too. But the Hurricane left me scratching my head at its clunkyness and the Me262 wasn’t without issues. :unamused:
Most recently HMS Dauntless has become HMS Disappointment, :triumph: as every part has required reworking, the hull most of all. :rage: The details on the P-51 are soft and parts not really very crisp, some breaking before they’ve even been near sprue cutters. :face_with_symbols_over_mouth: In fact I’m now using a razor saw to cut parts from the tree to avoid them breaking. This just adds so much more time to the build-time which, as a busy parent, I really don’t have :exploding_head:

Like you, I’ve got a stash of red boxes: Stuka; Martlet; Warhawk; Swordfish; Be2c; Eindecker; Zero; Kate; and the the twins, Bf110; Blenheim; Whitley; Heinkel He111; and of course a Lanc. All of which are in line to be built. :+1:

But going forward I’ll only be adding to the Eduard/SH/Arma stash: An Airfix 1/72 kit retails around $20AUD, then throw in masks for around $10AUD and you’re up to $30. A profi pack from Eduard is usually around $25AUD includes masks and PE, along with spare parts trees, and the quality is a-grade. Same with Arma, although a bit more expensive at $35 for an expert set, but still ahead. :star_struck:

I’d love to add the Tempest to my red-box stash, but will wait to see whether it bests the KP offering first. :thinking:

In a nutshell, I like Airfix’s ambitions/design intent, but having spent 25plus years in the plastic injection moulding industry, I feel their execution (the manufacturing packaging and quailty control) is what lets them down. :zipper_mouth_face: and leads me to seek out better quality elsewhere :face_with_head_bandage:

Sorry for the rant… Didn’t mean to high jack your thread… Back to the show :slightly_smiling_face: :innocent:

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I think your absolutely right Russell. I was so pleased with the news of their latest new tool releases over the last few years, but very often disappointed with the result that I’ve seen in the box :roll_eyes:

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I agree, Tim. I feel sorry for the Airfix design team who do some fantastic work, but are hamstrung by the manufacturing process :worried:

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@Russelle @litespeed I agree with you when it comes to Airfix. I think part of the problem is that if they want to do a very popular subject like a Mustang or a 109, just doing “an OK kit that is a bit cheaper than the competitors’s kits” doesn’t work very well. I built their Mustang, it is OK but if I do another one I will revert to the Tamiya kit since the end result will be so much better for the same amount of work. They did the Me-110, it was cheaper than the Eduard kit, when Eduard released the weekend edition the prices suddenly were on the same level but the Eduard kit is infinitely better both when it comes to shape, detail and the fun-factor when building it!

On the other hand, they have the only Hawker Typhoon worth getting in 1/72 and the best Gloster Gladiator and Fairey Swordfish there are and many of the twins are the only game in town and quite nice kits as well! If I only could stop buying more 109s I would do a Blenheim :slight_smile:

Speaking of getting more 109s… I know I shouldn’t but I couldn’t help myself!

I will be trying to do this one a bit more cleverly based on what I have learnt building the other three!


As usual, the box art is top notch!


And with a bit of care and concentration it is an easy build that requires no filling whatsoever! Note that I have painted the interior of all intakes black, I have also glued all the little flaps and lips and baffles that I left off until after painting in my earlier builds. It is a lot easier this way!


I won’t show the engine but it is a very practical fixture for the prop, something that I noticed when trying to attach the props to my earlier builds… The engine fits inside the exhaust parts, I filled in with some super glue in order to make sure it doesn’t come loose later on. Parts like engine bearers, compressor and a bunch of other stuff can be left off, the only important parts are the two-part engine block, the horse-shoe-shaped oil tank and the prop shaft.

The hole in the spinner backing plate is a bit small, I enlarged it carefully using a tapered file until I got a good fit to the shaft! Regarding the tail wheel, I managed to break it on all my earlier build. I’ll give i a chance in this build as well but will try to be even more careful when handling the kit!

The “evil trio” is almost finished, stay tuned for some photos before Christmas!

:raising_hand_man:

Magnus

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I’ve come to notice a similar thing.
The mushy and clunky ‘detailed’ parts are one thing, but the silly mistakes are more than annoying.
Take the recent Mosquito with Post-War target tug fittings on the bomb-bay. The FG.1 and FGR.2 Phantom with missing details on the intakes and extended nose wheel leg. Something the FG.1 would only be seen doing when on the catapult. Airfix did notice this one and include an amendment in the instructions, telling you to chop up the leg and re-assemble it. Given the tons of reference on both of these aircraft, there was no excuse. Even Matchbox got that one right! Luckily I have a few far superior Fujimi Spey Phantoms to keep me busy.
I put it down to an over reliance of 3D scans of museum exhibits and tight deadlines set by management. Over here the Yesterday Channel has recently been showing a TV series ‘Hornby A Model World’ which reveals a lot that goes on behind the scenes. Heavily scripted and at times dull as dish water, it has been revealing. Notably that senior management are not modellers themselves. Now while that can be a good thing, they just came across on the show as not really having much idea about what the modeller today expects. There was a lot of looking at CAD images and saying ‘Ooh that looks nice’.
I have little hope of anything new coming next year. They made no announcement at Telford and their Facebook feed is filled with teasers of more old kits coming in their classic collection line. And given how toxic that page is, woe betide any real modellers who question this.

That said, there are some real gems. I really liked the Spitfire VC. Went together really well and has clipped and unclipped wings, optional tropical filter, 4 cannon armament. A lot can be done with this one.

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@phantom_phanatic The Airfix Phantom is actually an even better example than the Mustang. I just had a look in the box and quickly realised that I won’t put up my Fujimis for sale yet! And in that case I am not even sure that the Airfix kit is cheaper!

:raising_hand_man:

Magnus

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Not by much.
My LHS has both on the shelves currently and there’s not much difference between the price.
I got the Italeri rebox of the Fujimi FG.1 from them a couple of months back for quite a bit less than either!

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Way to go Magnus, looking forward to this one. Really like the Legion Condor markings :smiley:

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Yes! Completely agree, this is going to be a really nice looking model.

In all the discussion about what Airfix are playing at (and there was no intent to derail or hijack the thread Magnus) I plain forgot why I came here!

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I’m not parting with my two Fuji Phantoms. I think the surface detail on the Fuji F-4’s is really good and so much better than the Airfix trenches :smiley:

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Lol! :grin: Little wonder it’s difficult to get hold of SH 109’s down here in Australia :crazy_face: :stuck_out_tongue_winking_eye: :grinning_face_with_smiling_eyes:

Looking good Magnus! :blush:

@Russelle I suppose it doesn’t help then that I especially ask that they pick my kits from the Australian allotment, they are supposedly treated with a kangaroo-repellent that works equally well against the polar bears that roam my garden :slight_smile:

Jokes aside, I’m sorry to hear that they are difficult to get down under, lots of supply chains have been upset during the last two years!

:raising_hand_man:

Magnus

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:sweat_smile::sweat_smile::sweat_smile::sweat_smile::sweat_smile::sweat_smile::sweat_smile:

Well, I guess that will teach me not to hesitate the next time they come up as available locally :cowboy_hat_face: