Cool Hand

That's 1/72? Superb job on this bird.

Looks great!

I can't see the photos either.

Beautiful job, Dai.

If you look closely at the image I sent earlier about the Erla wing pattern, you'll see that the cross does not meet the panel line it's positioned slightly outboard. Your decals are close to what I see in references.

The shape of the vertical fin is accurate. It was designed as an airfoil to counteract the effect of engine torque while in flight. The fuselage wants to twist to the left at the nose and right at the tail, so a an airfoil that pulls the tail to the left will keep things stable.

Looking real nice. Shame that the EagleCals are not reacting well with the decal solutions. Also not very good that the Eduard color is so far off.

This will seem tedious, but your best bet will to be create a new layer and trace over the image with the paint brush tool. Just use a color that's not black initially (I like red) so you can tell what you've drawn from what you haven't. You can make the new layer black when you are done. For the finer lines, you may need to scale down the smallest brush size 50%. How many pixels tall is the Eagle?

That looks great.

Try GIMP. It's a free image editor similar to Photoshop.

From looking at the decal sheets there are indeed a few definite MTT built 109's and a few possible ones. Here are the definite MTT 109's: Top three schemes on EagleCals #27 (Yellow 6, White 1, and White 12) Middle two schemes on EagleCals #42 (Yellow 16 and Yellow 6) Note that Yellow 16's rudder was not actually white - reference photo clearly shows it was just an illusion caused by the rudder being deflected to the right, making it look lighter in the sunlight. Possible MTT 109's Middle two schemes from EagleCals #171 (Red 11 and Blue 14) T

Yes. It's always a good idea to search for reference photos and other information. In some cases, you won't find all the information in one place and will need to piece it together. But it's not likely you will find a Werknummer unless you can find a source that can link a plane to a pilot or to an incident report. If a basic google search for the aircraft or pilot doesn't result in the answer being found in short order, then the Werknummer is probably unknown. In most cases, it's probably not worth much more effort than to find a photo pf the plane.

The paint pattern is the main clue. Otherwise you would need to know the aircraft's serial number, Werknummer (W.Nr.) in German. Unfortunately, unlike USAAF or RAF aircraft, these numbers are not painted large enough in most cases to be read in photos. Here's a clear example from a Jg 1 aircraft:

Yes, the Eduard instructions show an accurate camouflage pattern. Although I believe the rudder is white like the Eagle decals show.

And now you know why Luftwaffe subjects are are so appealing to some modelers, there is so much uniqueness between individual aircraft and the deeper you dive into the minutia of the details the more uniqueness you find.

It's your model, paint it how you want to. I just wanted to provide you with the relevant information regarding accuracy. I'm sure you will make it look good either way. Happy modelling.

Nice choice, Dai. Regarding the camouflage scheme on the decal sheet, it's probably wrong. I'm sure this plane is an Erla built aircraft and not one built at Regensburg. The Erla plant also produced the G-5 model with a pressurized cockpit. The air pump for this system needed a secondary bulge on the right cowling panel just forward of the main bulge. To simplify aircraft production, Erla decided to only make the G-5 cowl panel and to also use them on their G-6's. The aircraft you have chosen has this bulge, but it seems that the Tamiya kit only provides the standard G-6 cowl panel

Ok. Then I will suggest that you wait until you choose a scheme before proceeding with the painting. Since you are concerned with the proper hardness of borders in the camouflage colors, I will assume you will be interested to know more detailed information on how real 109's were painted. But it's your model and you can feel free to ignore this information. Bf 109G-6's were produced in three factories and each one has it own distinct pattern. This blog post has a great breakdown of the three types, but I will link the images here. http://theprofilepaintshop.blogspot.com/2013/

Generally, a semi-soft edge is what you will find for the main pattern on the wings, the fuselage patterns can vary more - especially the mottling. Which scheme will you be doing? That will give you a better indication of how the pattern will go.

RLM colors are Luftwaffe spec paints from WW2. RLM 02 is a warm gray that tends to tint to a beige or green. I don't think it would work for a seeker head, but RLM 74 looks like a good match for some of the pics in this thread.. Just rub it with a pencil after painting to get a metallic shine. Some color samples taken from this blog: http://theprofilepaintshop.blogspot.com/2014/07/ak-interactive-ak2001-luftwaffe.html

Exactly. I can see the logic in the "collaboration" theory when you only consider the Phantom because it's an obsolete aircraft. But the Super Hornet is a current front line fighter and the type will be the most encountered by the Chinese should any of their questionable moves in the South China Sea spark a shooting conflict. Any business with Meng beyond licensing the name and likeness of Boeing aircraft could and should constitute treasonous activity. And I don't think Boeing is that greedy and stupid.

Oh, that brilliant!

Fantastic build.

There's plenty of reference photos of Doras parked with the cowl flaps open including from JV 44. Go nuts.

Those are gorgeous. They look just right.