noticeable ridges around the decals
that might catch the light on such a
blemish-free, shiny surface, and so
ruining the effect, I knew I would
need to do a bit more preparation
work before applying the top coat.
Therefore, I applied several
generous coats of satin varnish
over the decals which, once dry,
were gently flatted back with a wet
Fine Mesh Micromesh cloth. This
effectively reduced the subtle ridges
caused by the carrier film at the
decal edges. Once this was done it
was time to complete construction.THE FINAL APPROACH
The sturdy undercarriage legs
feature slab-sided attachment
points that butt-fit against the
inner edges of the wheel
wells. This simple design
forms a very positive joint
and sets the legs at the correct
angle. The wheel hubs provided
in the AMG kit are very passable
representations of the cast-alloy
items used on the real aircraft,
but they are designed to accept
the rubberised tyres supplied.
I am not a fan of rubberised
tyres on models. I can understandthe model manufacturers’ logic
in providing them, for if the real
things are made of rubber, then
surely model tyres similarly made
will look more authentic. But in
reality, of course, solid rubber
tyres will never truly resemble the
semi-inflated,
weighted tyres
on real aircraft,
and really just end
up looking toy-like,
so I replaced them.
For the main wheels I used
a pair of CMK resin items (set
48070), which I found amongst my
spares. The tail wheel came from
my plethora of Eduard spares, and,
as the relevant items in the AMG
kit are enormously oversized, so
did the aerial mast and the aileron
counterbalance weights. The “L”shaped pitot tube that attaches
to the underside of the port wing
was also overscale, so I fabricated
a replacement from short lengths
of stretched sprue. With the final
assembly completed (with the
exception of the central canopy
section and the propeller), I could
apply the final coat of varnish.
As mentioned above, the decaled
surface of the model had been
wet-sanded with Micro Mesh cloths
to a super-smooth finish, so very
little varnish was now required
to achieve a uniform sheen. My
method for the top coat was to use
a mix of matt and gloss varnish,
heavily thinned with about 70%
thinner. I applied it sparingly; this
final, heavily thinned coat dries
almost instantly, and has no time to
attract dust or debris which wouldmar the appearance of the finished
model. The finished propeller was
also coated with this thinned coat.
I allowed the varnish to
dry overnight, pressed the
propeller home onto the nose
of the model, attached the
canopy in the open position,
and my Bf.109A was finished.CONCLUSION
Arsenal Model Group’s early eagle
is a simple build that features
adequate, crisp detail, which
will please most modellers.
There is also plenty of scope for
those who enjoy the challenge
of super-detailing, particularly
within the featureless engine
compartment and the engine itself.
One problem that materialised
at the very end of the build
concerned the canopy masks. When
it came to removing them after
assembly, the adhesive proved to
be excessively strong, ripping the
canopy rear section away from
the fuselage. The adhesive also
appeared to have damaged the
plastic, causing reflective striations
in the uppermost clear section
of the hinged canopy. As noted
earlier, the masks were oversized
and needed trimming before they
would fit, so I would definitely
suggest abandoning them entirely
in favour of homemade masks.
Despite these small niggles,
I enjoyed this simple build, and I
already have it in mind to build a
second model from AMG’s collection
of early eagles – this time a D, in
night fighter guise, with its engine
on display: watch this space.
My thanks to Arsenal Model
Group for supplying the kit.“I ENJOYED THIS SIMPLE BUILD,
AND I ALREADY HAVE IT IN MIND TO
BUILD A SECOND MODEL FROM AMG’S
COLLECTION OF EARLY EAGLES”
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