Very tidy work, Rowan 
Yep, the good ol days when it seemed more fun as a kid just to get the things built, rather than worrying about quality of finish our accuracy 
Welcome back to the dark side of 1/72: lower cost; quicker builds; and space in the display cabinet for more models 
Cheers Russell 
No kit’s perfect, and there are a couple of points that I’ll need to sort out on the Emil today. The first is that the panel lines on the fuselage don’t all quite line-up top and and bottom, so I’ll fill and re-scribe them:
The other is the only bit I don’t like so far in how the kit’s designed. There are a couple of seams around the nose radiator that don’t correspond with a real-life panel lines:
Against that, the seams at the wing roots are among the best I’ve ever seen. If only all kits’ seams were as tight!
All the best
Rowan
Hi again
A bit more progress. I fitted the 4-part cowling today. This was a tad fiddly, simply because the tolerances are pretty tight in this scale. Actually, I guess you could call it “5-part” really, because there’s still the supercharger intake to add:
Without checking against references, my gut feeling is that the cowl guns should project out of the openings a bit further. I carved away a bit of the ammunition feeds to move them forward of their designed location but, looking at the result, I probably should have done a bit more.
The tailplanes are only dry-fitted to make painting easier, but it’s definitely starting to look like an Emil.
It’s reached the point where I really need to think about which colour scheme to go for. At the moment, I’m leaning towards option C, flown by Hptm. Wolfgang Lippert of II./JG 27 in the Greek Campaign during the spring of 1941:
All the best
Rowan
Nice. A couple of questions re: the kit:
Have you built the Tamiya kit? I like the detail I’m seeing here, but that’s another kit where the fit is just incredible…
Hi Phil
The answer is “no” to all your questions. There’s no pilot figure and, if you have a look at the sprue shots in the review, you’ll see there unused parts for a drop tank and rack, but no bomb(s) as yet. I imagine there’ll be a supplementary sprue in later boxings to cater for that, because Special Hobby are clearly aiming to cover all the bases in this series of kit.
I haven’t built Tamiya’s 1:72 kit (really only because I so seldom work in this scale). Their 1:48 Bf 109E was actually the very first kit I built for Aeroscale (way back when we were still part of Armorama) and that went together like a dream. That should hardly be a surprise, because it’s what Tamiya are renowned for. If I remember correctly, I only ever dry-fitted the wings, the fit was that good. That’s going back nigh-on 20 years and it’s sadly still not that often that I find as tight a joint at the wing roots, but this kit has it (although I did use cement).
All the best
Rowan
Looking forward to seeing how you paint the yellow nose. I did Tamiyas 109 earlier in the year and completely ruined airbrushing the yellow nose. Several attempts and strip downs and I was just not happy with any result. Would love to discover the secret of airbrushing yellow! The only colour that has defeated me.
Hi Stephen
I must admit it was the yellow nose that attracted me to the scheme. Yellow is a notoriously difficult colour because of its low opacity. I always apply it over a white undercoat. That’s no guarantee it’ll turn out well this time, but it’s the route I’ll follow. 
The other thing to bear in mind with yellow is that black pre- and post-shading tends to look greenish (yellow and black pigments produce an olive green), so I use very dark brown instead of black for yellow areas.
All the best
Rowan
Glad to know it’s not just me! I sprayed over a good coat of Tamiya white primer using Vallejo Modelair yellow. Very translucent. Even tried light coats at lower pressure but didn’t seem to help. Will practice on a few things and try again in the near future. Maybe even try a different brand of paint and see that helps.
Best of luck with it.
Hi again
I didn’t get as far as throwing any paint at the Emil today. 
To begin with, I spent most of the day waiting for the courier (I can’t hear the doorbell from my workshop) - and then, once they’d delivered, the jinx of this kit’s wingtips struck again! I’d just got the kit ready for painting when I somehow caught it with my sleeve as I turned away.
The result - the '109 decided it was time to test its wings and go flying! 
Sorry, sometimes when everything’s gone wrong, all you can really do is laugh! Anyway, it broke both repaired wingtips off as it landed. So, there’ll be a delay while I replace them yet again. Will it be the third or fourth time? - I’m beginning to lose count!
Actually though, I’m counting myself lucky; I could have had the undercarriage and propeller test-fitted when it happened. 
Even so, I did my best Victor Meldrew “I don’t believe it!” imitation.
I’ve got work tomorrow, so it’ll probably be Thursday when I post the next update.
Take care and stay safe.
All the best
Rowan
Hi again
OK - so, I’m back on track with new wingtips - or should that be “new-new” (probably “new-new-new”) wingtips?! I think the moral of the story is… take care to fit the ailerons as soon as you can!
So, (barring another test flight! ) tomorrow’s job will be to start painting - and a quandary; do I stick with the acrylics I’ve used so far, or start to mix and match some enamels that are readily to hand? Decisions, decisions!
All the best
Rowan
Rowan! Be careful with the acrylics if you don’t intend to prime the model, they don’t stick all that well to bare (and even worse, glossy) plastic! Over a primer coat they should do just fine even if they aren’t as sturdy as enamels.
Magnus
Cheers Magnus
I probably would have forgotten - I so seldom use water-based acrylics for anything other than detail-painting. I probably will end up using either enamels or lacquer-based acrylics, because I’m more in my “comfort zone” spraying them. I’ll check what paints I’ve got knocking around in the workshop this morning - I can already see a fresh pot of Colourcoats RLM 65.
All the best
Rowan
Hi again
A quick update. I’ve sprayed the nose white as an undercoat for the yellow, and it’s instantly highlighted that I need to do more work on the seams on the sides of the lower cowl. I had a hunch they’d be a bit of a pain.
Anyway, the sun’s shining, so I’ll make the most of the opportunity to get out in the fresh air for a hike while the paint dries properly. Then it’ll be time for another sanding session.
All the best
Rowan
Hi Rowan!
Sorry to hear of your troubles with the wing tips again, clearly the Allies haven’t gained full air superiority yet and the Luftwaffe are still trying to get in the air 
As for the the paints, it’s good to stick with what you’re comfortable with: I’m a toxic avenger too and still using enamels; have been using them since I started in the hobby all those years ago; I’ve still got some enamel tins of paint from 30 years ago that are good to use; in fact looking over what I’ve got, I’ve got every paint I need to build my entire AC stash, barring the basic colours of black and silver, so I can’t justify the cost of changing to acrylics now; and the few times I have tried air brushing acrylics has not been met with much success…
Lastly, there’s nothing quite so good as a good pot of Colourcoats 
Hi Russell
A “toxic avenger” - I love it!
I’ve probably got a few paints tucked away that date back to the 1970s - Humbrol Authentics and Airfix tinlets. I think I even found an old bottle of Airfix enamel while I was rummaging through a drawer of forgotten stuff a couple of years ago (although I’m sure that would be useless now - it never was much good, even back in the day)!
All the best
Rowan
Hi Rowan,
I would go with the Colourcoats range of paints, they are some of the best paints I have ever used, just a shame they smell so much lol.
I remember the old Airfix paints, the only paints I ever used as a youngster. I still remember the way the paint loved to form great blobs at the bottom of the tin, and you had to stir them for ages 
.
Andy
Hi Andy
I totally agree about how good Colourcoats are. They are my “go-to” enamels. The smell of enamels and lacquer-based paints doesn’t worry me because I have a spray booth that vents out the window, but it would certainly be a major H&S factor for anyone working in an unventilated space.
Yeah - the Airfix tinlets weren’t great (better than the globby paint in their 1960s / early '70s bottles, though), but somehow or other I managed to get half-decent results with them.
But if I ever worried about the quality of the paints available back in the '70s in the UK, I’ll always remember getting a kit which a school-friend brought back for me from a cultural exchange visit to the former East Germany! Wow! The paints in that were not only mostly pretty ropey, but lethal; sealed in lead vials and with a smell of solvent that knocked you across the room when you opened them! Although - saying that - the aluminium paint worked amazingly well for a dull metal finish, even brush-painted. Ahh - happy days!
All the best
Rowan
Couldn’t agree more guys: Colourcoats have been my #1 go to paint for a number of years now. Humbrol make up the balance (over 50 colours) of my stock.
Never had Airfix paints, only ever Humbrol and the odd bottle of Testors. The Testors have all gone decades ago, but if I mix the old Humbrol enamels and thin them down with enamel thinners, they spray beautifully-better even than the new tins from them. There must be some value in their toxicity
You’re absolutely correct too, Rowan, spraying enamels requires a properly exhausted spray booth which I’m lucky to have also. I remember back when I was a kid brush painting them and the smell of the thinners permeating the house 
Lord knows what my parents thought 
Hi again everyone
Ironically, after all the talk of Colourcoats, I’ve actually ended up using Mr Hobby this time - my other “go to” paints. It’s not a question of one being better than the other, simply that a complete line-up of necessary Gunze Sangyo RLM colours fell to hand as I scoured my chaotic workshop! I thin both brands with generic cellulose thinners, so good ventilation is vital, whichever I use.
(Note to self: Once this build’s finished, I really MUST take advantage of being furloughed from work due to Covid-19 to sort out my workshop and make it fit for purpose again! )
So, back to the build. I’ve had a couple of fallow days for one reason or another, but I got going again today, preparing the Emil for camouflage. I always pre-shade my military builds, but I thought black would be a bit stark in 1:72, so used dark grey instead, spraying white lightly on the unshaded areas to maintain some contrast against the bare grey plastic:
All being well, I should get the exterior finished this weekend.
Take care and stay safe.
All the best
Rowan
@Merlin I read a review of this kit describing it as “on par with Eduard” and also some speculation if Eduard had been a part of the development, do you have any opinion on this? Still haven’t gotten one yet by the way, Hannants seems to have gotten priority over most other retailers and even though Special Hobby sell all their own other new kits this one is still listed as “unavailable”. Oh well, I’ll get one eventually and don’t lack other kits to build in the mean time !
You’re making good progress and I look forward to seeing it painted!
Magnus
