Acadamy BF109 G6 - First Build..

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spongtastic

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Get ready to fill&sand! But seriously eBay bargains are the best way to teach patience and technique before trying more expensive kits. I'm currently fighting the wings of a 99p Heller f4u1 after the ease of a new airfix P40. Reminds me that I must have been less concerned with the end results at the age of 11 and I'd rather waste 99p and get it wrong than waste £20 on a Tamiya!
 
B

Bunkerbarge

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Modelling is a learning process that will last you all your life. You will learn from this kit as you will learn from the last one you make but above all enjoy it.

This will take a good bit of filling and filing but it can be improved quite a bit. The radiator intake can be improved with careful filing so you will need some needle files or a few small emery boards. Manicure type emery boards are very usefull and can be cut down easily or, as I do, glue some wet and dry to wooden coffee stirers.
 
M

mobear

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this is a wrestling match between you and messie,however i think you may be winning
 
F

fuma

Guest
Its fair to say we have all been were you are now. Just take your time and try and enjoy the work and remember it is a hobby.

Judging from the photos, you will need to spend some time with your favourite filler, needle files, sand paper, generic electric rotary tool!!

We all have our own ways of working just a matter of finding and trying what methods give you your best results.

Good Luck!! :smiling3: :cool:
 
M

Magicadey

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as you can see i've been using some filler. will keep going on it! the wing will sort out hopefully. i guess i should build the filler up then try and level it do matches other wing..
 

eddiesolo

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As has been said, some emery board, fine modelling files will help in sorting out rough areas, but the important thing is to have fun and just go with it, take your time and leave it if you feel frustrated, carrying on will defo make it worse :D

Looks okay to me.

Si:smiling3:
 

flyjoe180

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Looks good so far Adrian. Enjoy the process, like the others have said it's all practice and experience. One bit of advice, and I'm unsure how much filling you've done on it, but along seams and wing roots etc, put some masking tape either side of the area or line to be filled. This helps you get the filler in the correct area, and also protects the surrounding detail when you sand it back after it has dried.
 

flyjoe180

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Point the model downwards and try to shake the bit out. Otherwise some surgery is required, or just live with it and scratch build a new part. Been there done that, very recently too!
 

monica

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hello and welcome ,agree with Joe about all you can do
 

flyjoe180

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Glad you retrieved that bit Adrian. Good progress, keep going, before you know it you will have a completed 109 on your hands.
 

stona

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Here's my top tips for fitting wings to fuselages.

First test fit everything before you glue it together.

If you have a very large gap it may be possible to 'splay' the fuselage slightly to minimise this, but there are limits imposed by what's in the fuselage, usually a cockpit assembly. You can use bits of sprue across the fuselage to hold it out, just make sure that your 'spacers' won't interfere with the fit of anything else!

Also make sure that you have the wing dihedral (the amount the wing bends up relative to the fuselage) correct. It may be you need to lift the wing tips which will close the gap at the wing root. Don't go mad with this. I've seen models with nice wing roots but rather improbable dihedral angles :smiling3:

Anything but the largest gaps, which may require some plastic card shims, I fill with CA glue (superglue). I run a medium or thick CA into the gap and immediately sprinkle either baking powder or talcum powder onto the glue. The talc is for the smaller gaps and has the added bonus of smelling nice. Leave it thirty seconds and sand it flat. Don't leave it for any length of time as this home made filler will cure much harder than the surrounding plastic and become difficult to sand without causing precisely the kind of damage to the surrounding area which you are trying to avoid. Unlike plastic putties it doesn't take hours to harden and, crucially, it doesn't shrink. I estimate that I can do a wing root in less than five minutes.

Small gaps can be fixed with your normal plastic filler. I swipe it in the gap and remove any excess with an cotton bud moistened with an acetone based nail varnish remover. If you are careful you won't need to sand at all, but you may need to repeat the process due to aforementioned shrinkage.

If your test fit reveals a step rather than a gap then you need to think about ignoring the instructions. Steps are very difficult to fix seamlessly and without losing a lot of detail.

A good trick is to fit the upper wings to the fuselage first. This should leave no gap (obviously) and also no step. When you come to fix the lower wings you may need to make some adjustments but the most usual result of this technique is a small gap along the inboard leading edge of the wing which is easy to fix and, most importantly, easy to fix invisibly.

Others will have their own techniques, but many will be variations on this basic theme. There's almost always a judgement call to be made about how to go about solving each problem and that will only get better with practice and experience. I've been making model aeroplanes, joining wings to fuselages, for a long time and I still learn from every model.

The most important thing is to have fun, try things out and see how they go. Every model you build is not going to be a masterpiece........ask me how I know :smiling3:

Cheers

Steve
 
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Magicadey

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thanks. this had a big step on one side. nearly all gone now with filler and sander. will see how it looks after painting
 

monica

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nice going once it has a coat off primer on will show all the floors , you will need to refill and sand,

and all what Steve has said is great help and advice,
 

colin m

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Have also primed it with humbrol rattle can grey primer through airbrush (what a mess). done some more filling and sprayed hte wheel wells. scared about the camo paint job!

Just wondering if you need to decant ? I use Halfords primer straight out of the can. It can be a bit too powerful for smaller parts (hold them down with blu-tack / masking tape) but the actual model, just fire away.
 

stona

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\ said:
Just wondering if you need to decant ? I use Halfords primer straight out of the can.
Me too. Halfords Plastic Primer works best. You do have to be careful not to flood the model as Colin alluded to, but you shouldn't need to decant.

Cheers

Steve
 
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