The SAAF Forum

Here are some of my 32nd scale builds done in 2023 - a very productive year of model building :

Firstly
Messerschmitt Bf 109G-10 using the Hasegawa K-4 kit. I did this based on a well published series of photos of a Croatian Air Force aircraft which defected to the Allied area in Italy late WW2. The colour finish is speculated and the original German wing and fuselage crosses have been painted over. The aircraft had a distinct goat motif either side of the fuselage in yellow dashed lines. For the Croatian markings and the goat, I used the wonderful Montex Masks set which included masks for the crosses and decals for the goat motif.

20221004_122611 by Malcolm Reid, on Flickr

Me Bf 109K-2 by Malcolm Reid, on Flickr

The port fuselage cross was quite weathered as can be seen in the image blow :

Me Bf 109K by Malcolm Reid, on Flickr

Me Bf 109K-6 by Malcolm Reid, on Flickr

Me Bf 109K-5 by Malcolm Reid, on Flickr

Me Bf 109K-4 by Malcolm Reid, on Flickr

Me Bf 109K-3 by Malcolm Reid, on Flickr

From various images of this aircraft, large areas of the original camouflage appear to have been randomly oversprayed in a medium grey :

Me Bf 109K-1 by Malcolm Reid, on Flickr

Colours used were :
Under surface - MiG-063 acrylic thinned with water
Upper surface - RLM81 braunviolet from Modelmaster and RLM83 dunkelgrun from Modelmaster (incorrectly labelled RLM82 on the bottle
Medium grey overspray on the fuselage using Tamiya XF-25
Medium grey patches on wings using Tamiya XF-19
Exhaust stains a combination of Tamiya XF-1/XF-64 (50:50)
Weathering one with MiG Ammo washes.
Nose cover was clearly "borrowed " from another aircraft which had been painted in the standard late war grey/green camo

Second 109, this time the Revell 32nd Bf 109G-2 operated by JG54 "Grunhertz" on the Eastern Front. I love the simple elegance of the G-2 - no budges on the nose to make it look ugly...The Revell kit comes in at a reasonable price of around R750 in your LHS and is a very nice kit straight out of the box. I only added seat belts.

Me Bf 109G-2 - 800 (7) by Malcolm Reid, on Flickr

Me Bf 109G-2 - 800 (8) by Malcolm Reid, on Flickr

Me Bf 109G-2 - 800 (1) by Malcolm Reid, on Flickr

Me Bf 109G-2 - 800 (9) by Malcolm Reid, on Flickr

Me Bf 109G-2 - 800 (10) by Malcolm Reid, on Flickr

Kit decals are printed by Cartograph and were excellent in both print register and saturation and settled down well on the model using Ammo decal setting solution.

Me Bf 109G-2 - 800 (2) by Malcolm Reid, on Flickr

Colours were :
Upper surfaces :
1) RLM02 light green-grey - Mr. Colour 60 lacquer paint
2) Green FS34102 - Mr. Colour 303 lacquer paint
3) RLM71 dunkelgrun - Mr. Colour 17 lacquer paint
Under surface - RLM76 - Mr. Colour 117 lacquer paint
I then sprayed a thinned filter of 50/50 Tamiya X-2 white / XF-83 medium sea grey to tone the colours down a bit
Weathering was done with MiG-1209 Starship Streaking Grime (undersides) and MiG-1009 Starship Wash (upper surfaces)
Exhaust stain a mix of X-2 black / XF-64 red-brow

Me Bf 109G-2 - 800 (11) by Malcolm Reid, on Flickr

Me Bf 109G-2 - 800 (3) by Malcolm Reid, on Flickr

Me Bf 109G-2 - 800 (4) by Malcolm Reid, on Flickr

Me Bf 109G-2 - 800 (5) by Malcolm Reid, on Flickr

Me Bf 109G-2 - 800 (6) by Malcolm Reid, on Flickr

Next is the wonderful Hasegawa Ki-44 Shoki (Tojo). This is a fine little kit faithful to the Hasegawa recipe of not over detailing the kit and thus making it expensive. Build quality is great. I added some aftermarket seat belts as well as ignition leads to the engine cylinders - others OOB. All the markings were masked with Tamiya tape and airbrushed on, with the exception of the kill mark on the port fuselage.

Ki-44-8 by Malcolm Reid, on Flickr

Finish was achieved as follows :
a) Base natural metal coat was Alclad ALC-101 Aluminium
b) Various panels were masked and darkened with a light overspray of Tamiya LP-19 gunmetal / X-1 black mix
c) Flaps and rudder were lightened using a light overspray of a mix of Tamiya LP-11 silver and X-2 white
d) Interior and external fuel tanks were painted in Mr. Colour 127 Nakajima Cockpit Colour
e) Weathering done with using various MiG washes.

I did not apply a base black coat before applying the Alclad - it's not necessary. However, make sure the surface finish of the model is free of any blemishes as these will stand out like a sore thumb. I used Tamiya tape direct onto the Alclad to mask without any problems.

Ki-44-3 by Malcolm Reid, on Flickr

Ki-44-7 by Malcolm Reid, on Flickr

Ki-44-6 by Malcolm Reid, on Flickr

Natural metal finishes are difficult to accurately photograph - note the variation in colour between the images above and below :

Ki-44-5 by Malcolm Reid, on Flickr

Ki-44-4 by Malcolm Reid, on Flickr

Ki-44-2 by Malcolm Reid, on Flickr

Ki-44-1 by Malcolm Reid, on Flickr

Heinkel He162 Salamander or Volkswagen or Spaatz or....Another nice Revell 32nd scale kit - like Hasegawa, very simple and easy to build. I masked the wing and fuselage crosses and spread these. All other markings are kit decals (Cartograph).

He 162-4 by Malcolm Reid, on Flickr

Colours are - RLM84 braunviolet and RLM83 green with RLM76 underside - I can't remember which paints I used but I think they were the Modelmaster paints.

He 162-3 by Malcolm Reid, on Flickr

He 162-2 by Malcolm Reid, on Flickr

He 162-1 by Malcolm Reid, on Flickr

He 162 by Malcolm Reid, on Flickr

Then we have the Kitty Hawk 32nd P-39 Airacobra. This one done up as an ex USAAF machine operated by Russia. The kit is very nice with reasonable fit and great detail OOB. I only added seat belts and some minor details in the engine and nose gun bays.

P-39 (7) - 800 by Malcolm Reid, on Flickr

I used the kit decals which worked really well with some MiG decal setting solution :

P-39 (5) - 800 by Malcolm Reid, on Flickr

P-39 (8) - 800 by Malcolm Reid, on Flickr

P-39 (9) - 800 by Malcolm Reid, on Flickr

P-39 (10) - 800 by Malcolm Reid, on Flickr

Colours are :
a) Upper olive drab - Tamiya LP-28 - this gives a really nice patchy finish typical of OD aeries.
b) Undersides - Mr. Colour 13 neutral grey
Weathering with various Mig washes.

P-39 (11) - 800 by Malcolm Reid, on Flickr

P-39 (6) - 800 by Malcolm Reid, on Flickr

P-39 (4) - 800 by Malcolm Reid, on Flickr

P-39 (3) - 800 by Malcolm Reid, on Flickr

P-39 (2) - 800 by Malcolm Reid, on Flickr

P-39 (1) - 800 by Malcolm Reid, on Flickr

And finally the exceptional Tamiya 32nd Vought F4U-1 Corsair. This kit must be built to understand just how good it is. Detail OOB is exceptional, fit is exceptional. Second only to the new Tamiya 48th F-35 in model greatness.

F4-U Corsair-8 by Malcolm Reid, on Flickr

Overall finish is Tamiya AS-8 dark sea blue decanted from the spray can and thinned with Tammy yellow cap lacquer thinners.
Chipping was layered starting with aluminium and then yellow primer.
Wash to pop fine detail was done with Tamiya Panel Line Grey

F4-U Corsair-7 by Malcolm Reid, on Flickr

I posed one wing open to show off the wonderful wing fold detail

F4-U Corsair-6 by Malcolm Reid, on Flickr

F4-U Corsair-5 by Malcolm Reid, on Flickr

F4-U Corsair-4 by Malcolm Reid, on Flickr

All markings masked (thanks Herman for the masks) with the only exception being the numerals on the landing gear doors.

F4-U Corsair-3 by Malcolm Reid, on Flickr

F4-U Corsair-2 by Malcolm Reid, on Flickr

Added some ignition leads to the engine, otherwise all OOB :

F4-U Corsair-1 by Malcolm Reid, on Flickr

Wow, you have done the kits justice.

Very nice.

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How come every time my ship comes in, I'm at the airport?

Very nice collection. i particularly like the Ki-44.

Since they are all fighters they won't take that much space.

Awesome builds!

You have done justice to the kits!

How did you create the weathered Croatian insignia on the port side of the Bf 109G?

Also how did you mark the red ring on the cartridges of the Air Cobra?

I like the weathering on the forward portion of the Corsair's port wing, how did you do that?