Messerschmitt Bf 109E-4

This model is the 1/72nd Tamiya Bf109-E4  It depicts an aircraft of I./JG3 in the autumn of 1940.  

 

The only additions to what was provided by Tamiya are the stretched-sprue aerial and the decals, which were pieced together from several sheets. The red stripes on the wings and the service triangles provided me with some delightful silvering.

The paints used were primarily from my dwindling stash of Floquil Military Colors, and represent RLM 71/02/65. The yellow is XtraColor RLM 04. I shot 'em on with my long-suffering Badger 150.

Judging from the pitot assembly casting a reflection in the underside of the wing in the photo I worked from, I was convinced this plane was polished out. I sanded both before and after the final clearcoat, which was XtraColor Satin varnish, using Micro-Mesh. I stopped going to finer grades when I judged it to be smooth enough. The yellow was not polished. Weathering was added with pastels and dark brown, dark blue, and grimy black washes for selected panel lines. A few scuffs were added with a silver pencil.

 

The photos were taken with a Nikon Coolpix 4500 set to aperture priority and about f7.5.

 

This kit is a little gem. I hope I have time to finish about a hundred more of them!