Messerschmit Bf 109G-6

It's been said that "The best book has yet to be written and the best song has yet to be sung." However, if you've been waiting for the best 109G kit, look no further Hasegawa has produced it. Is it possible for another manufacturer to make a better kit? Probably, but it's unlikely that another manufacturer will spend the money that will take to make a better 109 kit. However, the individual modeler can always add labor as well as after market items to make the basic Hasegawa 109s better.
Because the kit is engineered to allow a number of variants to be built by using small parts molded on the sprue you must be careful to use only those parts for the variant you wish to build.

Hasegawa has released their Bf 109G-6 in a variety of boxes, all are the same excellent kit with minor differences usually different markings.

The entire cockpit is painted Schwarz Grau and dry brushed with light gray to bring up the details. The instrument panel is black and again dry brushed with light gray to bring up the bezels, knobs and levers. Red, yellow, green,and white are used to add color to the dials knobs and levers. When the interior was dry the fuselage halves were glued together and installed the cockpit and instrument panel.
Before gluing the wing tops to the lower wing be sure to install the two radiator screens. The wing to fuselage joints are extremely tight and to my non-contest standards required no putty. However, if you are building for competition you might make a different decision. The wing bulges are a little angular on the side facing the fuselage, but a few swipes of a sanding stick took care of it.
The protruding plastic representing the gun tube barrel was drilled outon the spinner and replaced it with a short piece of metal tubing. One of the finer points of the Hasegawa 109s are the individual cowl mounted machine guns. After drilling out the barrels they were painted with Gunze Stainless (NAMC213) and dry brushed with Testors silver and set aside.

Than the landing gear legs were painted with RLM 02 with Testors silver shock absorber sleeves and after using a wash of dark gray on the joints they were put aside. The wheel hubs were painted with RLM066 Black Gray and dry brushed with Testors silver. After that the tires with AeroMaster Tire Black and using shades of brown dried mud on the tires was simulated.

Hartman's aircraft carried the standard fighter scheme of RLM 76/74/75; Light Blue/Gray Green/Medium Gray.with yellow code letters and yellow theater markings. Gunze Sangyo paint were used for this model for all colors and each color was lightened by 25%. This colours on this model were applied with Badger 150 double action airbrush with a fine tip and first was sprayed Medium Grey 76 and than RLM 75 was added. At the and when the kit was dry the 74 was airbrushed. After the kit was dry(after one day) the kit was sprayed with . When the three colors were dry mottling the sides and tail begun. Then after few days when the kit is dry the kit was sprayed with kit overall with Future in preparation for applying the decals. As usual Hasegawa has supplied a magnificent decal sheet containing two different aircraft that Hartman flew.

German Colors...................Gunze Sangyo
RLM 02 RLM Grau...............MAH070
RLM 66 Schwarz grau...........MAH339
RLM 74 Graugrün..................MAH068
RLM 75 Grauviolet................MAH069
RLM 76.Hellgrau....................MAH062
RLM 27 Gelb...........................MAH004

Messerschmitt Bf 109F-4

The Bf 109F-4 continues Hasegawa's fantastic Messerschmitt series offering the entire line of 109s from the Bf 109E through the final war time production machine, the Bf 109K. The Hasegawa kits along with the B and C from HobbyCraft allows the modeler to build a complete collection of wartime Messerschmitt Bf 109s. Kudos must go to Hasegawa for attempting such an effort let alone completing it with such excellence.
  The kits have common parts where applicable, but Hasegawa has not spared expense in producing separate sprues of different parts as required to produce the most accurate representation of the respective aircraft.
  Molded in light gray plastic the sprues are virtually flash free. To often manufacturers have positioned the panel lines of the F and G the same ­Hasegawa has not, the panel lines are delicate and correctly positioned for each series.
  The cockpit is replaced with an after market True Detail resin (TD48493) cockpit which was designed for the Hasegawa kit. Using the painting guide that comes with the resin cockpit along with photos in Monogram's German Aircraft Interior book, the resin cockpit was finished and was set aside for installation later.
  Following the instructions the propeller shaft was installed and using Tennax 7 it was glued the fuselage halves together. The fuselage was set aside to dry while. When the fuselage and wing assembly were dry the cockpit was installed, then very carefully wing assembly was glued to the fuselage with Zap Superglue. 
The wheels were replaced with True Detail weighted wheels (TD 48003). First were painted the hubs, then covering the hubs with Fast Mask Wheel Hub Masks (TD83103) the tires were sprayed with a dark gray to simulate used rubber.
  The colors called for on the Hasegawa plans are three shades of gray, which are probably correct. 
  After a coat of Future dried, the kit decals went on nicely, snuggling down with an application of Micro Sol. A sealer coat was then sprayed of Future on the model and all the unassembled parts. When the sealer was dry several light coats of Testors Clear Flat Spray were sprayed and allowed it to dry overnight.
When the Clear Flat Spray was dry (at least 24 hours) the penciling process is next. Using a Koh I NOOR RAPIDOMATIC mechanical pencil with .03 lead the panel lines were penciled in as well as some rivets that Hasegawa has seen fit to indent. 
  Penciled panel lines may not pass the muster of the accuracy/realism police, but I've always thought of modeling as more of an art form based on engineering rather than an extension of engineering. And Hasegawa's engineering on their 109 series is superb, a perfect vehicle to add a good bit art.

Used Colours:

Gunze TS5061 RLM76 Light Gray
Gunze TS5060 RLM75 Gray Violet
Gunze TS5059 RLM74 Dark Gray

Messerschmitt Bf 109G series

....The Messerschmitt Bf 109G series of fighters had a number of variants: fighters, bomber interceptors with a variety of armament options, two-seat trainers, fighter-bombers, and - the subject of this article - reconnaissance-fighters. Like other Bf 109s, the reconnaissance version also had variants within variants. Some of the research material tends to be a bit confusing.
...The Germans apparently assigned the Rüsatz (R) numbers two through five for aircraft with a number of different types of cameras and mounting combinations. These 'R' numbers could be applied to nearly all models of the BF 109G series. Some of these 'R' numbers were also used to denote other optional equipment, such as drop tanks, guns, bomb racks, etc.
....The most common camera carried by reconnaisance aircraft was the Rb 50/30 - a large camera mounted behind the pilot and pointing straight down. Access to the camera was via the small baggage hatch behind the pilot, or by removal of the camera fairing on the belly of the aircraft. This camera had been mounted on Bf 109E and F series as well.
.Another camera used by the Bf 109 was the Rb12.5/7x9 or the Rb32/7x9 carried in the aft fuselage and pointing down and slightly out to the side. These cameras were normally mounted in pairs behind the fuselage access hatch on the port side of the aircraft. Some references indicate these two cameras could be carried in concert with the Rb50/30 camera, while other references leave you with the distinct feeling of an 'either/or' situation. Some Bf 109Gs also carried a small camera, known as a Robot 2, in the port wing leading edge.
....Camera controls were mounted in the cockpit. There is a single, small panel centered beneath the main instrument panel, while two additional switch boxes were mounted on the right side wall.
....Bf 109 reconnaissance fighters routinely carried a single centerline 300 liter drop tank. The R-4 variant in particular is discussed as carrying two such tanks - one under each wing. A drawing of this.....

Messerschmitt Bf 109

Messerschmitt Bf 109

The Messerschmitt Bf 109 was a German World War II fighter aircraft designed by Willy Messerschmitt in the early 1930s. It was one of the first true modern fighters of the era, including such features as an all-metal monocoque construction, a closed canopy, and retractable landing gear. The Bf 109 was produced in greater quantities than any other fighter aircraft in history, with a total of 33,984 units produced up to April 1945.[1] Fighter production totalled 47% of all German aircraft production, and the Bf 109 accounted for 57% of all German fighter types produced.[2] A total of 2,193 Bf 109 A-E were built prewar, from 1936 to August 1939. Approximately 1,000 Bf 109 derivatives were manufactured postwar under licence as Czechoslovakian-built Avia S-99 & S-199s and Spanish-built Hispano Aviación HA-1109 and HA-1112 Buchons.

The Bf 109 was the backbone of the Luftwaffe fighter force in World War II, although it began to be partially replaced by the Focke-Wulf Fw 190 from 1941. The Bf 109 was the most successful fighter of World War II, shooting down more aircraft than any of its contemporaries. Originally conceived as an interceptor, it was later developed to fulfill multiple tasks, serving as bomber escort, fighter bomber, day-, night- all-weather fighter, bomber destroyer, ground-attack aircraft, and as reconnaissance aircraft. Although the Bf 109 had weaknesses, including short range[3] and challenging take off and landing characteristics, it stayed competitive with Allied fighter aircraft until the end of the war.

The Bf 109 was flown by the three top-scoring fighter aces of World War II: Erich Hartmann, the top scoring fighter pilot of all time claiming 352 victories, Gerhard Barkhorn with 301 victories, and Günther Rall claiming 275 victories. All of them flew with Jagdgeschwader 52, a unit which exclusively flew the Bf 109 and was credited with over 10,000 victories, chiefly on the Eastern Front. Hartmann chose to fly the Bf 109 in combat throughout the war, despite being offered the use of the Me 262. Hans-Joachim Marseille, the highest scoring German ace in the North African Campaign, also claimed all of his 158 victories flying the Bf 109, against Western Allied pilots.

The Bf 109 was also used with good results by non-German pilots, such as the Finnish fighter ace Ilmari Juutilainen with 94 victories, the highest scoring non-German fighter ace in World War II [4], Romanian fighter ace Alexandru Şerbănescu with 47 victories, Croatian fighter ace Mato Dukovac with 44 victories and Hungarian fighter ace Szentgyörgyi Dezső with 34 victories.