Like the Bf 109G-6 I built a year ago, this kit was one of a lot that I purchased cheaply. It did not have decals, so I used Aeromaster 48-129C Mediteranean Bf 109s of JG 53. I decided to try a couple of new things with this build. This is actually the first 109F that I've built - all my previous 109's were either E's, G's or K's.

For the most part, this kit went together well. However, I had trouble with the cowling. It comes in two parts. I should have glued each half to its respective fuselage half before putting the two fuselage halves together. I should also have cut off the machine gun barrels and glued them to the inside of the cowling - the way they attach, only one is visible.

I think I primed with Ace Hardware brand gray primer from a spray can. One of the things that I decided to try with this kit was to use water-based paint, which I haven't used for a while and have never had good luck with. The RLM 76 was Model Master Acryl. I think I tried using Createx 4012 High Performance reducer to thin it. It did go on pretty well. The RLM 75 and RLM 74 were Lifecolor, a brand I had not tried before. I first tried using airbrush medium and water. That worked okay, but not great. I then tried using Jason Jones' reducer, and that worked better.

It wasn't until after I had painted the camouflage that I realized I had forgotten to paint the white fuselage stripe and the RLM 04 under the cowling, so they were masked and painted. It was much more difficult that way - need to make a note to myself to do these first! After they were done, I hand-painted the mottling, which matched the way the mottling was shown on the decal sheet.

Another new technique I tried was to polish the canopy. I used Blue Magic Metal Polish, which had been recommended by Gregg Cooper on his Gekko build on Hyperscale. It did not seem to make any difference, and in the end I dipped the canopy in Future as I usually do. I used a mask from EZ Masks to mask the canopy.

As mentioned above, the decals are from Aeromaster 48-129C. They went on without any trouble.

Page last updated February 14, 2024.