Revell Bf 109 G-6 in 32nd

 

This model blog has just finished a Revell G-6 in 32nd scale OOB - a first build of this kit that has been in the stash for some 13 years now! It's a decent kit, goes together reasonably well - except for the horrible spinner arrangement - and is here finished in AK Real Colors. The spinner spiral was masked and painted as were the fuselage 'Bauchbinde'. As usual I bought some Quick Boost add-ons (bulges, charger intake) and then decided that really the kit parts were just as good so the model was finished OOB in the kit markings - this is a late-war machine with the tall tail and Erla Haube to represent the machine as flown by the Gruppenkommandeur III./JG 5 ace Franz Dörr. Dörr achieved around 120 victories, his last in late October 1944 in the Eismeer Geschwader flying over the Far North. 

below;  essentially the same kit - in the G-10 version - as built by Auguste Kleinpeter to represent 'yellow 8' of 9./JG 300

new-tool Airfix for 2026 at The Model Works show

 

January saw the second ever Airfix model show held at Airfix HQ in Margate, Kent. The show featured a table of Airfix new-tools for 2026 and participation from the local clubs, including East Kent, Gravesham and Shepway.  Here are the first views of the new Ju 52, Canberra and Jaguar T.2 on the Airfix stand including the 'new' Club Viggen kit, far left. The new Ju 52 with open doors, hatches and roof looks especially impressive - but then with a slated retail price of around £50 it certainly should be.

 

1:72 MPM Fw 189 C/V-6

Luftwaffe enthusiasts spend a lot of their time (I would imagine) lauding the brilliant designs and innovative engineering of much of the Third Reich's aeronautical output. Only there were a lot of 'duds' among them. And, despite the fearsome MPM box-top art, the Fw 189 C/V-6 was just one of these.

First flown in early 1940 the C/V-6 was the 'ground-attack' variant of the Fw 189 with the original fuselage nacelle replaced with an armour-plated 'nacelle-type' structure for a pilot and rear gunner. Both crew members had strictly limited views outside of the machine. The aircraft was powered by two Argus inverted V-12's of around 460 hp each. By way of comparison, the Hs 129 had two 691 hp Gnome-Rhone engines, while on the Allied side, for example, the Bristol Beaufighter and Douglas A-20 both had twin engines of 1600 hp. That the Germans would design aircraft around the Argus V-12s and French-made Gnome-Rhone radials obviously indicates the limitations of their aircraft engine production. The Germans did not have high-horsepower engines available in the quantities the Allies could produce. The smaller engines resulted in severely under-powered machines but did at least have the advantage of being of small profile. The Germans did of course have warehouses full of captured engine stocks that they wanted to use, some obviously state-of-the-art… in 1937. This resulted in many unsupportable design compromises..

The Fw 189 C/V-6 was entered into the competition for a new ground-attack/close-support aircraft that the Henschel Hs129 eventually won, the unconventional Blohm-und-Voss Bv 141 having already been eliminated due to its unproven asymmetrical form. Two prototypes of the -C were manufactured for testing, the V-1b and the V-6. The V-6 was designed to be armed with two MG FF 20mm cannon and four MG 17's firing forward and a twin MG 81Z for the rear gunner. The rear armament was optimistic at best given the gunner's restricted field of vision, especially when compared to the original Fw 189.

The kit was a straight forward build albeit rather lacking in detail - no gun barrels (I used Master), no bombs or racks - which I intend adding from an old Airfix Fw 190 kit. And the glazed parts of the cabin - except for the windscreen- were solid and had to be cut out.  The best part of the build for me was exhuming some old unused Aeromaster 'Warbirds' acrylics from the back of the paint 'stash' which I used for the 70/71 segmented finish - they went on beautifully, despite being, what, 30-40 years old?! Whatever happened to these paints and why has no-one kept the formula in production?

Fujimi 1:48th Bf 109 G-6/AS

 

Sixth completion of 2025. This one of the Fujimi Bf 109 Gustav boxings ('G-6/AS Special Escort') finished as 'Green 5' of I./EJG 2, the Ergänzungsnachtjagdstaffel (night fighter replacement training unit), in overall (semi-) gloss back finish. Pilots for this special Moskito hunting Staffel were drawn from the ranks of the Ergänzungsnachtjagdstaffel instructors and tasked specifically with 'Moskito-Jagd' as described by Joachim Geier in the German-language "Jet & Prop" magazine issue 3/03. Decals were a mix of the AIMS 'Monotone Me's' sheet and those issued by Start Verlag (see Luftwaffe im Focus #4). Note rather unusually, for a Luftwaffe machine, the painted prop tips. Seen on the table at model club night. Has subsequently been given a coat of 'satin' Galeria varnish to tone down that glossy finish a little..

 

IBG Models Gotha Go 242 in 72nd build review - finished

 

Finished the IBG Models Gotha Go 242 in 72nd. Here it is on the table at last night's model club..

Not too happy with the mottles on the fuselage. I had them down nicely but then managed to flood one side and ending up re-spraying and re-spraying. I might try something else.. with a thin brush and very diluted paint. (see first image)

IBG Models Gotha Go 242 build review (2)

 

Gotha on its wheels (briefly for the picture) and almost ready for paint. Still plenty of smaller detail parts to be fitted but given that a certain amount of masking will be necessary, I've left these off..

Another view, with 72nd scale 109 in the picture. I've planned to pose the cargo ramp door open having replaced the plastic struts with some metal rod  (to the right, to be painted separately)

IBG Models Gotha Go 242 in 72nd

 

Here in the 'garden of England' we are in the middle of a week of 20 C/ 78 F sunshine, so the modelling stuff goes out into the garden. Just coming to the final stages of the new IBG Models Gotha Go 242. The build log is elsewhere but here's a view from the garden..

Rolf Pingel's Battle of Britain Kommandeur I./JG 26 machine - Hasegawa Me 109 E

 

Fourth completion of the year!

Hasegawa Me 109 - is there an easier build out there? Not sure though that I'm 100 % convinced by the shape of the nose. Decals from Kagero. Pingel's Emil was photographed during November 1940 - the blue of the fuselage now heavily mottled, although the machine still has large areas of yellow.  I used Xtracolor enamels. 

of course, once again the aerial isn't right. I've since replaced it with something a little more acceptable, although I hate wrestling with EZ Line. The trick here is to zap the super glue with accelerator ..

Hs 123 Airfix 'Vintage classic' - applying EZ line/AMMO rigging

 

 I finished this Hs 123 last year - but was always unhappy with the aerials. I decided to replace them  with EZ-line - and took a few new photos. Application technique has been 'refined' since my rigging efforts with the new-tool Airfix Swordfish and the Airfix Tiger Moth. Firstly, decant some accelerator into a lid. Next apply a drop with a cocktail stick to the anchor point. Then touch the EZ line aerial dipped in super-glue for instant results.

Giampiero Piva Luftwaffe models on Flickr

 

Giampiero Piva brush-painted Luftwaffe models on Flickr

 https://www.flickr.com/photos/162245214@N07/

A week at the ECPA-D in Paris

 

I have another good reason for not attending Telford (again) or completing a model this month (again) - I'm just back from a week at one of the world's great photographic archives - the ECPA-D in the southern Paris suburb of Ivry. This is the second time I've been to the French Defence archive. The ECPA-D houses a superb collection of albums - many digitised - including the 'Fonds Allemand' or 'German collection'. The 'Fonds Allemand' is an archive of over 400,000 photos, films and sound recordings taken by German wartime PK 'Bildberichter' or photo reporters. You are free to consult the collection and make low-res copies for personal use. Unfortunately the archive have now closed their photo-lab where you used to be able to order hard copies for 2 euros each. Digital copies can be ordered but the prices have increased. So if you want new photos or inspiration, whether you're a modeller or a 'researcher', you'll get a great welcome from the very helpful staff only too ready to help you explore their amazing collection of photo albums, both the physical and digital. You need to book a 'research' slot via the ECPA-D web site and hand over your passport as you go in as this is a department of the French military housed in the old Fort d'Ivry - built between 1841-45 - and part of the southern defensive belt of the city of Paris. 

Below; a partial view of the photo albums that comprise the 'German collection', followed by a 'mosaic' view on the screen of each 'reportage'. Each individual image can be enlarged to full screen size! These photos were all taken by professional photographers. Curator Nicolas Férard has written a very nice book entitled "Propaganda Kompanien" about the work of the PK 'Bildberichter' photo reporters that appeared (in English) through publisher 'Histoire & Collections'. One tip from me - the best results can be obtained by taking photos of the photos!