Eduard 1/48-scale Messerschmitt Bf.109E-4 Weekend Edition (Kit 84166)

While at the hobby shop a few days ago I picked up this Eduard 1/48-scale Messerschmitt Bf.109E-4 Weekend Edition kit. As this is my first Eduard kit I went into it with great anticipation and have not been disappointed. Even the packaging sets this kit apart from the majority, with a sturdy box holding beautifully molded parts protected by resealable plastic bags. The clear part are in their own ziploc baggie. The decals are superb as are the instructions.

Eduard's Weekend Edition kits are the same plastic parts as their Profi-Pak kits, but only the plastic parts. They don't include the photo-etch or canopy masks, and rather than the multiple choices in marking include decals for only a single aircraft. In the case of the Bf.109E-4 those are for W.Nr. 5819, Obstlt. Adolf Galland, Geschwaderkommodore JG 26, Audembert, France – December 1940, a find choice for this iconic aircraft.

Inspection of the parts shows the magnificent recessed panel line and rivet detail:

This detail is consistent across every part of the aircraft's surface. Such a change from the raised panel lines and rivets I was so used to in the kits of the 70's and 80's!

Interior detail is a bit less prevalent as this model is intended to use Eduard's photo-etch details. It is still excellent in quality and will build into a great looking cockpit. Here are the cockpit walls for reference:

The kit includes a fully detailed DB-601 and gun bay for displaying the kit with the cowlings removed. I decided to forgo this option as I just don't have a safe enough spot to display what would be a very delicate model.

Building starts with the interior parts. The cockpit, firewall, oil cooler, and tail wheel all need to be built and inserted into one fuselage half before the fuselage can be closed up.

Oil cooler:

Interior parts were painted with a base coat of Tamiya XF-22 RLM Gray. Details were picked out with flat black, flat white, and flat yellow.

There are two options for the instrument panel included in the kit. One is flat panels to be used with supplied decals, the other is raised detail panels for painting. I chose a third option and applied the decals to the raised panel using several applications of Micro-Sol. The result was well worth the effort.

The panels were given a light misting of Testors Dullcote to knock down the gloss of the decals. After installation you can't tell they weren't hand painted. Once they and the other interior parts were glued in place I closed up the fuselage. I also built the wings at the same time.

The fuselage goes together with nearly invisible seams except in the area of the oil cooler under the chin. There I had to used a dab of Squadron White Putty to smooth things out.

Once the glue had set up properly (and a small accident had been cleaned up after knocking my Testors Liquid Cement bottle over) the wings were joined to the fuselage. Once again the seams were nearly invisible and required no filling. Even the wing root/fuselage join, an area where many models have issues, was miniscule. The cowling and access panels for the engine and gun bay were also installed.

More photos to come!

Grr....

Suffered a major setback in finishing the Hummel. I was trying to paint some of the detail parts when I dropped a brush full of Model Master Metalizer. The result is not pretty:

I'm not sure how to proceed at this point. Options are to lightly sand the affected areas and try to repair the existing paint job, or to lightly sand the entire thing and start over. The lower hull and tracks weren't affected so that can be masked off whichever way I choose to go. If I do decide to repaint I"ll go with a different camo scheme. This one is neat but a bit more than my current airbrush skills were capable of. There are simply too many flaws for my liking, so this would be a really good excuse to redo things. Got to think about it some more - maybe while we're waiting for our landlord to fix the broken air conditioner.

Caution: Wet Paint!

Put the first color down on the Hummel:

Model Master Acryl Panzer Dunkelgelb (Dark Yellow). Still have to add the camouflage colors - once I determine for sure which pattern I'm going with, that is! Red Brown and Dark Green, or just Dark Green. Not going to attempt the winter schemes as I do NOT like airbrushing white paint.

I've also been working on painting and weathering the tracks. First time ever doing anything but painting them steel and I think I did okay:

Primed with Tamiya Light Grey, then base coated with Model Master Metalizer Steel (Non Buffing). After that a wash of Model Master Acryl Shokoladenbraun (Chocolate Brown) and a wash of Model Master Rust enamel. Finally dry-brushed with Steel on the contact surfaces. Might have gone a bit heavy on the rust wash but that's okay.

More work on the Hummel

Finally managed to get a bit more done to the Hummel.

The model is just about ready for paint. I still need to assemble the tracks (Dragon Magic Tracks) and set the length so I can permanently attach the idlers. Once that's done it will be time to prime and lay some paint! The paints I will be using are Model Master Acryl over Tamiya primer.

I only started using the paints a few weeks ago but I'm really liking them! After a bit of a learning curve (you MUST use a good primer with these for them to stick) I find they go down quite well and give an excellent finish. They brush well, resulting in a smooth, flat coat. Airbrushing also provides excellent results, although depending on the airbrush you may need to thin them a bit for them to flow properly.

Dragon's 1/35 Hummel

I've taken a slight break from working on the Arizona. Yesterday I tried airbrushing the hull and the results were rather less than spectacular. I don't know if I over-thinned the paint or if I simply didn't prepare the surface well enough but whatever it was the paint just lifted right back off. I'm using Model Master Acryl which is a new paint for me so it may just be a new learning curve at work. Whatever it is, I've set it aside for now and decided to work on something else for a bit.

That "something else" is the Dragon 1/35 Sd.Kfz.165 Hummel (Late Production) that my wife bought for me as a delayed birthday present. This is my first Dragon kit and I must say I am extremely impressed with the quality and detail! It's one of their Smart Kits that includes photo-etch frets and an aluminum barrel for the main gun. It also has their Magic Tracks that consist of individual links - 144 of them on each side. I must say that step, building the tracks, is one I'm both looking forward to and dreading!.

Here's the box art:

I neglected to take photos of the parts trees before I started construction but there are plenty of reviews of the kit online, both video and photo.

The kit instructions are CAD generated and more resemble engineering assembly diagrams than traditional model kit instructions. Tamiya set the standard for those years ago and it's been one that other kit makers have had a hard time matching. Fortunately it's not that difficult to decipher Dragon's instructions, at least for me. Then again I do have a background in both architectural and mechanical drafting as well as multiple forms of CAD so it may just be that they're something I'm used to. Either way once you examine the parts and locations they go it's easy enough to figure out.

Assembly starts with the sprockets, idlers, return rollers, and road wheels. From there the suspension is assembled and put in place, then the final drives, driver's compartment cover, fighting compartment floor and gun mount deck are installed. Fenders go on, but where Dragon calls for installing all the fender mounted gear (tools, jack, etc.) I opted to leave those off until a later time. This is where the kit stands now (please pardon the messy workbench, it's a bad habit of mine):

Just from this much I can tell you there will be many more Dragon kits in my future! I grew up on Tamiya armor kits and while I still love them, they simply cannot match the level of detail Dragon puts in at remotely the same price. I'll still be building Tamiya but if it comes to a choice of of Dragon or Tamiya for the same subject Dragon will most likely get the nod.

Goodies for my stash

I used to have a stash of 30 or 40 kits waiting to be built. Not big by some standards - I know guys who have literally hundreds of kits in closets and on shelves - but decent. That was a long time ago, before moving out of Texas, going to college, getting married, moving again, that sort of thing. I'm slowly convincing my wife that just because I'm still working on one kit doesn't mean I can't buy another for later on. Not sure she believes me just yet but I'm persistent.

She has bought me two more kits, one a delayed birthday present and another as a thank you for replacing the broken screen on her iPad. Here's what I have in my micro-stash:

 

I'm really looking forward to building these!