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If any fighter comes to mind when someone mentions the Luftwaffe, it has to be this one: the Messerschmitt 109. Of all the variations, my particular favorite is the 109E--I just like the look of the huge cannon in the spinner. This is a Hasegawa kit, and came out several years ago. It was a cinch to assemble, with virtually no filler needed. I usually don't go too far in regards to researching a subject, but since I was soo keen on this puppy, I went ahead and drove into Washington D.C. and took a good long look at the Me109 on display at the Smithsonian National Air and Space Museum. Since the kit itself was fairly well detailed to begin with, my trip to the museum was more to make sure nothing was glaringly wrong, rather than try to make sure everything was absolutely correct. In the end, my only real changes were the addition of brake lines on the landing gear, and a bit of extra cockpit detail.
I followed the kit directions in regards to painting the model. The cockpit was painted and installed befroe the fuselage halves were joined, as were other internal pieces. The camo pattern is a mix of splinter (wings) and mottled (fuselage sides), with a wonderful bright yellow on the engine cowling. The underside was painted using Aeromaster lichtblau (light blue). The splinter camo was achieved using low tack masking tape masks and an airbrush. Lighter colors were applied first. The mottling was applied with a trimmed sable brush which had almost outlived its usefulness. The paint was stippled on with fast daubs in a random pattern along the sides of the fuselage until sufficient covering had been achieved. The brake lines, propellers, and tires were painted flat black.
The decals were applied over a coat of future floor wax, then allowed to set several days. A very light wash of black was applied to the recessed panel lines of the cowling. A similar wash of dark grey was applied along the panel lines of the remaining areas. A wash of dark green/grey was applied to the landing struts, which was followed by a very light drybrushing. The final step was to spray the entire kit (except the canopy) with a coat of Testors semi-gloss. When this had dried, I hand brushed the tires with Dullcote to remove any shine.
