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Messerschmitt BF-109E3 "Channel Front"
This model was the beginning of a long road back for me
into model making. I had not completed a model in years, due to family
and job concerns, and this one showed how rusty I was. For example, I
have always had trouble with seam filling, and this kit was no
exception. Since this is from a very old mold (and it is not like the
current issues form Japan), that made it even worse. I also discovered a
new painting method, which I will explain in more detail later in this
review. To begin the journey back, I began with a fairly simple model,
the Monogram Classics reissue of the Me-109E. I decided to do this one
as an ME-109E3/4.
 Opening up the box, one will find a pretty good molding, with all the
raised panel and rivets that was in vogue 30 plus years ago. I did
notice however that the wing parts seemed to be somewhat thin, and the
lower wing piece was warped a little on the right wing tip. The rudder
area was also quite thin, and I almost ripped it in half when I was
removing it form the sprue ( I had twisted it off the spruce by
accident, a big no-no). There was some flash on the landing gear and
what little cockpit parts that there are. The rest of the parts were
pretty flash free.
As always with me, construction began with the cockpit area. This model
is one of those Monogram kits that was meant to be played with, more
than an actual model, because all that is in the cockpit is a pilot that
is integrated with the seat, which is attached to a plate which is the
back wall of the cockpit. The landing gear can go up and down, and the
wheels can be "flared " with a hot knife so the wheels could roll. You
also get a decal sheet for cockpit instruments, with no floor, stick or
side panel details.
Since I do not get to excited about loads of details in my cockpits (the
canopy is molded closed anyway, unless you want to do some surgery with
a razor saw), and since this kit is not going to be in a contest, I
installed the back plate, and brush painted the interior Polly Scale RLM
02 . I was going to install the pilot, but I usually pose my aircraft on
the ground, and unless the aircraft just got back from, or was going on
a mission, there would normally not be a pilot in there, so I decided
not to include him this time around.
After the cockpit was done, I dry fitted the major fuselage and wing
assemblies and sanded down the high spots to help with the seam filling
later on. Since this kit was a reissue, I was not surprised at the
thinness of the plastic in some places. Not only was the lower right
wing tip warped, but the upper right wing was warped as well. After
running the warped part under very hot water for a few minutes, it
easily went back into shape, because the plastic on the upper wing tip
was so thin. After drying the parts off, I cemented the fuselage halves
together, as well as the wing assemblies.
After the wing assemblies were glued, and the two fuselage halves were
together, the seam filling began. I have used Zap a Gap super glue, with
an accelerator to do fill seams in the past, but I have since gone back
to using putty, and a using a method that I got from the Aircraft
Resource Center website on filling seams, using automotive body putty
and nail polish remover. I usually mask off with masking tape the area
that needs to be puttied, apply putty, let it set for 10 minutes or so,
then dipping a Q tip into regular nail polish remover, blend the putty
and the seam or hole that needs to be filled. The nail polish remover
softens the putty right up, and you can contour the putty to just about
any surface. After the putty dries for a few days, I usually check it
over, then give it a quick swipe with 1200 grit sandpaper to make it
glass smooth.
The wing roots where they meet the fuselage, and the top and bottom of
the main fuselage need filling, as well as the stabilizers. The upper
and lower wing assemblies surprisingly need very little filling. After
doing this for a week or so, the seams finally came out to where I
thought they looked pretty good. I usually dust a light coast of Testors
Flat Light Aircraft Grey on the seams from a spray can to check them
out, and lo and behold, a little more work was need. This did not go as
bad as I expected, but it has been a while, and as I stated before, I
was never very good at seam filling anyway.
 After all the filling was done, I cleaned the whole model under cool
running water to remove any dust and putty particles, let it dry, then
gave the whole kit another light coat of the Testors Flat Aircraft Grey
out of the can. After letting the primer coat dry for 2-3 days, I
proceeded to the paint stage.
Now the other area that I have always had trouble with was airbrushing.
In fact, because I never got the hang of both airbrushing techniques,
and the right mixing ration of thinner to paint, I have always somewhat
dreaded painting a model. So on this kit, I decided to experiment. I
also collect Hotwheels 1:64 scale die cast cars, and Mattel usually puts
any graphics on the cars by a method call Tampo, which means that the
image is painted on the car by a succession of hits by a sponge or some
other similar device. I decide to try this same technique by using a Q
tip. The paint I use is the Polly Scale line.
To paint using this method, you have to make sure that the Qtip that you
use is not to fluffy. Just pour some paint, unthinned, into a small dish
or cap, and dip in the Qtip. Gently tap the Qtip onto a blank sheet of
paper to get rid of any excess paint, and then holding the Q tip almost
parallel to the surface of the area that you are going to paint on the
model, roll the Qtip between your fingers, just as if you were using a
paint roller. The paint flow does not want to be too thick. Repeat the
above until you paint the section of the model that you want. This
usually takes about two coats to cover well. Oddly enough, I have found
that with the Polly Scale paints, the lighter shades used less paint
than the darker shades. For example, I painted this kit, RLM 65 on the
bottom (light blue), with a splinter camo on top of RLM 70 (Black
Green), and RLM 71 (Dark Green). The Light Blue completely covered in
two coats, where the upper colors covered in 3-4 coats each!
The big advantage to using a Q tip is it looks like you airbrushed it,
and it makes a great soft edge between two different colors, just like
an air brushed line. Please note that if you use this method of
painting, you must let the paint dry for at least 1 day, preferably
longer, between coats of paint, and certainly before doing any decaling
or weathering. If there are any mistakes, like thin areas or maybe the Q
Tip got dragged a little, just do the above procedure again. The
negative to this method is that it takes a little longer to do say a
1:48 scale B-17, because of the size of the model. If you have old
paint, you may have problems with clumping and thin spots on the model
itself. For more information about this painting method, please visit my
painting via the Qtip page.
After the final paint coat was on, I brushed on Future floor wax with a
sponge brush to seal in the paint, and let the Future dry for a few
hours. After this, I began to put on the decals. I usually use the Aeromaster aftermarket decals, when I can get them. I used Aeromaster
sheet # 48-165, Emils over Europe, Pt 1., for this aircraft. Since I
usually use aftermarket decals, I decided to make this Me-109E a model
that was right at the beginning of the Battle of Britain in the late
summer of 1940. The decals went down fairly well, and I only had a one
decal that silvered a little bit. After I let the decal set a little
bit, I applied the Microscale Decal setting solution to help the decals
snuggle down and look more painted on. I let the setting solution do
it's magic, and checked the decals the next day. The next day,
everything looked OK, so I sponge brushed another coat of Future over
the whole model to seal in the decals, and then the weathering process
began.
It seemed that German aircraft ground crews took much better care their
aircraft than other nations (except maybe the Brits) in World War II
did, because I have yet to find a picture of a really weathered German
aircraft from that time period. Because of this observation, I kept the
weathering to just above minimum. No real chipped or faded paint, and
very little dirt. I did do a little wearing on the wing root areas where
the ground crew would work on the aircraft, and where the pilot would
enter the cockpit. I also did very light cannon and machine gun blast
residue, exhaust stains (this did seem to happen to a lot of German
aircraft, especially if the aircraft had the inverted Junkers engine
like the Ju-87 Stuka had), and some mud on the wheels, and the under
side near the tail wheel because this particular aircraft was in a
squadron on a grass airfield in France. I also did some aircraft fuel
stains near the fuel tank filler caps.
 It was at this point that I also did the small parts painting, as well
as the canopy panel lines. The canopy lines were done via the Qtip
method, but before the paint dried, I dipped a wooden toothpick in water
and gently rubbed off the paint that had got onto the canopy windows.
Since Polyscale paint is acrylic, this method worked fine, and because
the toothpick was wooden, the canopy windows did not scratch.
After the weathering was complete, I put on the pitot tube, landing gear
wheel covers, and other small miscellaneous parts on the model. After
these parts were good and dry, I did a coat of Testors Dullcote on the
whole model. When this was dry (a day or so), I painted the oleos on the
landing gear with bright silver paint, and installed the canopy.
That is pretty much it. Except for the thin plastic, and the fact that
the aircraft mold is over 30 years old, and it has been a long time
since I actually finished a model, I think that the kit came out pretty
good.
Until next time...
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