the build was inished and one more pass of
Micro Sol would have paid of to make them
sit 100%. Once all the decals had been secured
with a few more coast of the Aqua Gloss, it
was time to add the weathering and the wash.
I began by using Flory Models Black wash by
using a thin-ish paint brush and painting over
each panel line and all the rivets. I did these
in sections, one wing, then forward section of
the fuselage, aft of the cockpit to the tail, other
wing and inally the whole of the underside
in the same fashion. Once the wash had given
time to settle in so it wouldn’t be afected by
small amounts of paint, I dry brushed Tamiya
XF-85 Rubber Black down the side, leading
from the exhausts to simulate light exhaust
weathering. I didn’t want to overdo the
weathering, more make it look like the aircraft
had no more than ive to ten missions under its
wings. The same was done with the air intakes/
outtakes on the underside. Tamiya X-11 Chrome
Silver was then applied in small amounts with
a thin pointed brush to any areas that would
be stepped on or receive any grief whilst in the
heat of battle or any areas maintenance teams
would need to access. The last areas to
receive a wash was the landing gear
using the Flory Washes Sand, which
I applied heavily and did then not
remove all of it to give it that
used and warn look to it.
Now that all the
weathering had
been completed
to what I thought
was just right, I applied a
coat of Vallejo Matt AcrylicVarnish which I thinned to a ratio of 60:40 water
to varnish. I sprayed light coats of this all over
the model until the aircraft was fully coated and
had a nice matt inish to it. I added the landing
gear, prop/spinner and un-masked the canopy.
One of my favourite moments in modelling is
peeling of the canopy mask to reveal a lovely,
clean canopy glass section which is
still perfectly opaque. The inal
and most frustrating touch
was to add the antenna wire. I
don’t currently have any EZ line,
like I see a lot of people use, so
black invisible thread is the next best
alternative. The top section from the tail
in to the pole above the canopy was easy
enough, it was the middle piece going down
that was the hardest. After about ten
minutes, I inally got it in place andI’m glad I did as it tops of the end of a fantastic
build and of a very iconic aircraft. If you are
wanting to build one of the most iconic ighter
aircraft of the second world war and want to
particularly build one of the mid war variants,
then look no further. This kit was a dream and a
pleasure to build. The it was fantastic, and theextra etched parts just set the cockpit of a little
bit more. I cannot recommend this kit enough;
with this amazing quality it is unbeatable in its
ield. Even for the beginner modellers out there,
if you want to venture in to 1:48, this is the kit
for you. MA(^56) BF 109F-4 WEEKEND EDITION WWW.MODELAIRCRAFTMAG.COM