This must be my December kit, as I just noticed that the first time I built this was a year ago. This particular build started out well, but crumbled near the end.

Assembly went pretty well. As you expect with a modern Tamiya kit, it went together easily. Interestingly enough, the first part I assembled was the prop, but that was because I was building the Academy Bf 109G-6 at the same time, and it used the same colors.

I primed with Tamiya Grey Lacquer Primer, from the 40 ml jar, thinned with generic lacquer thinner. It went on pretty smoothly, but I still rubbed down the airframe with an old T-shirt before putting on the exterior colors. The last time I built this kit, I used all Tamiya for the exterior. This time, I used Polly Scale for the RLM 65, and Tamiya for the RLM 02 (a custom mix) and RLM 71 (XF-61 Dark Green) on the top. Everything sprayed well, but when I pulled off the masking tape, some of the RLM 65 came up with it. There were several spots where a chunk came off. On closer examination, it was clear that the primer had come off - not just the top coat. I was so frustrated at this time that I did not bother to mask and respray, but rather tried to touch up with a hand brush. Unfortunately, the touch ups turned out much darker than the rest.

The decals are from the kit. According to the instructions, it represents Adolf Galland's plane from III/JG26 in France some time in 1940. The decals worked very well, after letting them sit in the water for about 40 seconds. I was even able to apply the red walk area marker on the wings. I used Microset with a bit of glycerin added to the bottle. I've learned that adding the glycerin makes it work much better.

I used a little foresight on the canopy this time. I sanded the windscreen so it would fit snugly against the fuselage, which it did. I also sanded the rear part so it would fit well. I did all of this before dipping the clear parts in Future. However, when trying to clear up some overspray on the clear parts, I managed to smudge them. Also, the rear part is crookedly attached. It is always something.

Page last updated June 15, 2023.