[Ara1]

Hey guys,

I've reworked the right side ammo bulge. It took an hour and was fairly challenging.





You can see it's a bit smoother and in less profile. I haven't touched up paint yet, this is just knife and glue work. How does it look so far?

The left side is waiting for another day.

[wmosner]

Did you take the bulge off and rework it or just putty it while on the plane? Job so far looks great.

[Ara1]

Originally Posted by wmosner

Did you take the bulge off and rework it or just putty it while on the plane? Job so far looks great.

Thanks wmosner. I removed the plastic bulge, with was sturdily affixed to the fuselage via two locating pins. Then I used a #12 Xacto knife and cleaned what remained on the fuselage and inside the ammo cover. When I dry fitted the part, it was clear that the piece needed to be flattened (with force from my thumb) and reshaped for a tight fit to the fuselage. Using the knife and sandpaper, I carefully cut and sanded the piece a little at a time, dry fitting every few motions so I could see the gaps and where I had to focus my efforts.

I had to cut and sand a significant portion of the rear (pilot's side) of the piece as well as thinning all edges.

The next step (which I haven't yet done) will be to use some Testor's liquid clear window and flow it into the slight remaining gap. When that's dry, I can touch up the paint, but I won't need much. Then it's onto the other side!

It's a fairly difficult rework because the angle is a complex curve and there's a danger of removing too much material.

I will complete this side of the fuselage before attempting any work on the other.

[Captain Eddie]

Looking good, Ara.....what's a crying shame is it NEEDS the work you're doing!

[wmosner]

Well, I have one on order and will see if it needs the same amount of attention. This has always been one of my favorite schemes for the 109 and Graf was one of Germany's top aces. Would love to see 21st Century, Carousel or Eagle do this one and Hartmann's tulip 109 in 1:48.

[Ara1]

Originally Posted by Captain Eddie

Looking good, Ara.....what's a crying shame is it NEEDS the work you're doing!

Yeah, mine was probably built on the proverbial Friday...

[Epapazian]

I gave up on Franklin Mint-Armour a number of years ago due to their generally poor quality, lack of detail---especially on the bottoms of their models---and some bad color mistakes. Looking at the pictures you posted of Graf's BF-109, it appears that my concerns remain justified. In addition to the problems already cited, the colors don't look right. The standard upper surface scheme for virtually all Luftwaffe day fighters of this period was a two-tone application of RLM 74 and RLM 75. The former was a somewhat dark grey-green while the latter was a lighter "gray-violet"---the point being to display some disruptive contrasts. As for the sides and under surfaces, these were invariably done in RLM 76---a lighter gray-blue, with darker mottling of the sides via the upper surface colors. Instead of that, the FM BF-109 looks like it was painted with overly dark muddy grays, which show little differentiation. And what is that color on the under surfaces.....neutral gray? It certainly doesn't resemble RLM 76.

To be fair, other manufacturers also have color issues and I have had to repaint many planes from Matchbox, Atlas, Altaya, IXO, Corgi, Model Power and, even Dragon because of this. But FM/Armour has been in the diecast business a lot longer than most other companies. It's a wonder that they still haven't addressed this problem effectively. That said, I have no argument with anyone who likes and buys this model. The whole point of this or any hobby should be the satisfaction of the individual collector and we must recognize that few manufacturers are going to provide us with perfect products-----especially when they have so little control over the actual production and detailing process. I would like some of them to try a lot harder, however.

[Cruver Collecter]

Ara, nice fix on the bulge! Really does make a change to how the model looks.

[Ara1]

Originally Posted by Cruver Collecter

Ara, nice fix on the bulge! Really does make a change to how the model looks.

Thanks CC!

[Ara1]

Originally Posted by Epapazian

I gave up on Franklin Mint-Armour a number of years ago due to their generally poor quality, lack of detail---especially on the bottoms of their models---and some bad color mistakes. Looking at the pictures you posted of Graf's BF-109, it appears that my concerns remain justified. In addition to the problems already cited, the colors don't look right. The standard upper surface scheme for virtually all Luftwaffe day fighters of this period was a two-tone application of RLM 74 and RLM 75. The former was a somewhat dark grey-green while the latter was a lighter "gray-violet"---the point being to display some disruptive contrasts. As for the sides and under surfaces, these were invariably done in RLM 76---a lighter gray-blue, with darker mottling of the sides via the upper surface colors. Instead of that, the FM BF-109 looks like it was painted with overly dark muddy grays, which show little differentiation. And what is that color on the under surfaces.....neutral gray? It certainly doesn't resemble RLM 76.

To be fair, other manufacturers also have color issues and I have had to repaint many planes from Matchbox, Atlas, Altaya, IXO, Corgi, Model Power and, even Dragon because of this. But FM/Armour has been in the diecast business a lot longer than most other companies. It's a wonder that they still haven't addressed this problem effectively. That said, I have no argument with anyone who likes and buys this model. The whole point of this or any hobby should be the satisfaction of the individual collector and we must recognize that few manufacturers are going to provide us with perfect products-----especially when they have so little control over the actual production and detailing process. I would like some of them to try a lot harder, however.

I hear you. I didn't give up on Franklin Mint because there are several I'm very, very happy with. But there are many (Fw 190A, F4U, Spitfire, Zero) I will wait for others to offer.