DarylH

Once I reached this point......... I positioned and secured the exhaust deflectors in the slots. This narrowed the opening down to the point where I could put the exhausts in and move them around a bit until I had them just where I wanted them. A little liquid glue locked them in place. I'm really starting to like this kit. I like the way the flaps assemble. The way they fit to the wing is a little fiddly but the way they assemble makes it easy to position them in an open position. That has been a problem for me on other 109 kits. Also, I installed the gear struts last night and they locke

Ooh yeah, I like every bit of that one. Well done!

The first small batch of 109Fs from the factory had the squared off wing tips of the 109E. The wingtips on the ICM 109F are seperate making the cutting and trimming a bit easier. Using the 1/48 drawing in my reference book I was able to get a good match to the wingtip contours. The wing tips had a simple ball type nav light which I simulated with the head of a strtaight pin. A couple of panel lines were also added to match my reference. It's getting a little closer to the paint booth. The photos of this aircraft show the lower cowling and lower wing tips as a darker color. With no oth

Love the rings GGoheen! ......(decal exhaust stains hmmmmmm).....

Well done Shadowforce! <_<

The F-0 update........pt 2 The marked area had to be trimmed to get the upper and lower wing halves to fit. The converted toothbrush power sander worked well for this. Once the wings were together I found that the fit was pretty poor. Trying to force them to fit would lose my dihedral so I carefully sanded both the inner edge of the wings and the outer edge of the fuselage fillets until I got a good fit and still had my wing angle. I like the kit so far.....some fiddling and test fitting is required. Remember the ICM plastic is thin and soft so trim slowly :blink:

The F-0 update........ I've finished the cockpit to my standards. There are other builders who are masters of the cockpit. I do my best but my detailing is merely adequate...... It's the kit 'pit with some extra plastic bits and a surplus set of Eduard pre-colored seat belts. I used the shallower oil cooler. The plastic is thin and soft. Some very careful trimming was required to get it to fit. Canopy parts are very brittle. I've managed to stress crack this one right down the middle. I can replace it from spares.

"Queen of the Midnight Skies" by Pape and Harrison is the history of the USAAF night fighters. It has many great pics of the P-70 along with the P-38, P-61 and Beaufighter. Great stories of the development of the US nightfighter arm and well worth the money!

The ICM 109s feature an engine and separate cowling pieces....... However, I operate on the philosophy that life's too short that's why I have a hobby Separate panels and exposed engines are most likely to cause stress in my hobby and if I enjoyed stress I'd stay at work! So the the pieces that make up the cowling halves were trimmed and carefully assembled on my smooth safety glass working plate. The cockpit is also a multi-piece affair. I cut off the long engine connection on the cannon breech cover and glued it to the firewall. The the instrument panel was attached to it's support

At least you're at the bench! :)

Dad passed on 8 years ago. He and my mother began attending 8th AF and 25th BG reunions about 1990 and had a wonderful time. He was a gunner/flight engineer primarily flying weather recon missions in B-17s. He left me his 25th BG unit history book which has many interesting stories. It's precious to me but if you have any specific questions I wouldn't mind looking for answers.

My father was in the 652nd BS of the 25th BG at Watton. He told me that he once had a wild ride in a Mosquito during a maintenance run. I'll be building a red-tailed Mossie soon and I'll use the Airfix kit....just 'cause I'm an ornery old Airfix fan I guess..... ;)

I'm using the ICM 109F which is my 1st time with that kit. Reference is from the $2 bargain bin at Old Guard Hobbies with supplementary decals from Mike Grant :D I wish I could read Czech but I get the pictures!

That looks sooooo much better than that round table with the pink bowl! I'm beginning my 109 project with Mike Grant special decals inbound :D

Dull Dark Green for the cockpit and yellow zinc chromate for other interior areas.

Cockpits were not natural metal. Cockpits were painted with a matt finish aluminum lacquer for corrosion protection. I personally favor Floquil Old Silver paint for use as aluminum lacquer.

I know very little about the kit but a beautiful build was just posted at HS...... http://www.network54.com/Forum/47751/messa...chbox+1-32+109E

I've had this idea in the back of my head.......maybe this GB will kick it forward :D So I'm in with a Me 109 F-0

WOW! There's a blast from my past. I built that Frog kit in high school......about 39 years ago I remember that I thought it was the coolest biplane I had ever seen and that I had a great time building it.

It's ten hours from Hooterville to Virgnia Beach. When the time comes I'll get Floyd to get up a head of steam in the Cannonball and we'll head out. :D

Mike Grant's decals are excellent. The CE Pyn-up sheets are also very well done but also quite pricey! For me the most compelling story of the Tidal Wave mission is the flight of the "Brewery Wagon" http://books.google.com/books?id=KV8Ma-VA6...rJXKU#PPA133,M1 http://www.b24bestweb.com/brewerywagon2.htm If I could find 1/48 decals for this aircarft it would move to the top of the pile!

Electric sex gleaming in the window........... My wife is still laughing!

test post.......please ignore

Test post..........please ignore.

-6 seems reasonable, just have to make the engine look more powerful........