This is my Tamiya Bf-109 E-3 in 1/72nd scale. It was completed
earlier in 2005, around April, and showed up at CAMS in New Brunswick where it
took Best of Show in Juniors, and the IPMS Nationals in Atlanta, Georgia, coming
in 2nd place in juniors.
Summing the kit up in a paragraph shouldn’t be too hard, it was a typical
Tamiya kit, the fit was better than excellent. The usual construction methods
were used, but no filler was needed for the most part, a tiny bit under the nose
to correct a mistake on my part was all that was needed... I tried to make it a
little better than the rest by re-scribing a few panel lines that lost
definition due to some sanding, mostly on the fuselage, and a fine line was
scribed down the "backbone" area to represent the seam line I hear is
present on 109’s.
As far as painting goes, I used all Tamiya acrylics. A little white was used
to prime the areas that will be sprayed yellow next, then I masked off the
appropriate areas and sprayed the undersides and fuselage XF-23 lightened down a
little bit, then Tamiya’s equivalent to RLM 02 and RLM 71. The demarcation
lines came out perfectly, and I liked how the paints sprayed. I had pretty good
luck spraying the mottling and that turned out to be my favorite detail on the
plane. Decaling and weathering went as usual, and to top it off, I added a human
hair aerial.
Dad made the base for me and I think it adds a nice touch.
The build went smoothly, and painting was pretty well painless. I couldn’t
have spent more than 15 hours on the whole thing, and it was very enjoyable all
in all.