This is my Eduard 1/32 Messerschmitt bf 109 D using the Alley Cat Conversion. This conversion consists of a one piece resin nose section, replacement resin flaps, blanks to fill in the area where the radiators need to be removed, a two bladed variable pitch propeller, nose cone and hub, exhaust stubs, the underwing oil cooler and a nice set of decals including the set I’ve used here for 6-68 from J/88 used with the Condor Legion in Spain 1938.
Eduard 1/32 Messerschmitt Bf 109 D with Alley Cat Models Resin Conversion
In addition to the resin conversion I used Kora Decals for the Prop blades, not totally accurate as they should be the early oval VDM logo (I have now removed the Hmilton Standard logos which are present in the pictures), I also added an Eduard etch set and Quickboost gunsight. The conversion was made from the Eduard 1/32 Bf 109 E1.
Eduard 1/32 Messerschmitt Bf 109 D with Alley Cat Models Resin Conversion
The conversion is straightforward to do and merges into the leading edge of the wing, it utilises the bulkhead at the end of the cockpit and lines up rather well. It is possible to use the E3 version too but that requires the removal of the gun bulges which adds another complicated layer.
Eduard 1/32 Messerschmitt Bf 109 D with Alley Cat Models Resin Conversion
This was an extremely enjoyable subject to model, the conversion was challenging but rewarding. The finished model gives a unique and attractive display piece and has been the spark of many talking points at shows. If you are interested in having a go at one of these conversions, order it up and jump straight in, that’s what I did!
Eduard 1/32 Messerschmitt Bf 109 D with Alley Cat Models Resin Conversion
I have linked my full video build for this one below if you’d like a more detailed look at the build.
Eduard 1/32 Messerschmitt Bf 109 D with Alley Cat Models Resin Conversion
RS Models is a short model kit manufacturer, the type of model kit that sends shivers down the spine of a lot of modellers. Horror stories abound of terrible fit, awful decals etc. Here is my story..
A friend runs a Facebook group dedicated to the Spanish Civil War, so in an effort to support the group I decided to build something British. One of the few British aircraft to have operated in the Spanish Civil War was the Airspeed AS.6J Envoy. RS Models have a few Envoys in their catalogue, so I took the plunge and opted for the AS Cheetah engine boxing and the scheme chosen was an aeroplane of the Republican airline Líneas Aéreas Postales Españolas (LAPE).
The build starts with checking the basic fit of the fuselage and wings. Trying to identify any glaring trouble that I might find later on. The fuselage sides and windows are moulded as one in clear plastic so this decidedly dodgy looking area was thoroughly checked, while I was at it I had a look at the front canopy. I glued the fuselage sides carefully in place, when dry the roof was positioned and checked. After adjustment I was ready to start the internal painting.
All parts ie resin seats, cabin etc was primed using Badger Stynlyrez grey. The seats are hand painted with Vallejo Model Color and I added my own seat belts made out of silver foil and painted. I didn’t think for one moment I’d ever see these once completed but “I know they’re there..” The rest of the cabin was left in Stynlyrez grey but with the cockpit sprayed in an interior green colour. A small, kit supplied pe instrumental panel was also glued in place.
Time now to install the cabin to the fuselage halves. This wasn’t a bad fit, thanks to the two bulkheads fore and aft. With two fuselage sides, together the roof was added. Careful manipulation of the fuselage side walls was necessary to get a decent fit. This still needed sanding to get something like.
Wings next. These were fine and didn’t pose much trouble. The horizontal stabilisers had a butt joint to the tailplane section so these needed to be glued in place with some care. Naturally, this being a short run kit, there are no location pins. This doesn’t have to be a massive problem but diligence is needed when gluing, for instance, wing halves. Dry fitting is recommended but this actually went ok. The port and starboard upper wing were glued to the one piece lower wing section then this assembly was fitting to the fuselage. Tape was used just to help with dihedral.
Next challenge is the front canopy. This part almost fitted but not quite. Too tall and not wide enough. Careful clamping, so not to shatter the piece, and some fettling is needed to make it some thing like. Even when the glue had dried, the canopy still had to be sanded to the shape of the surrounding fuselage. It was not going to be perfect, this is a short run kit don’t forget, but I tried to make it as good as I could, so when happy, the canopy was sprayed the cockpit colour. While I was at it, I sprayed some black primer on various joins to check any seams and nasties. These were attended to by a little filling and sanding, there wasn’t much to do actually. Next came installing the Cheetah engine nacelles. These are resin so the usual precautions are observed when removing from the casting block. Cyanoacrylate glue was used to fix these to the wings. Once in place, I removed the rest of the engine parts ie the cowling and the engines themselves. The engines were sprayed using AK Extreme gun metal and detail painted. They are of moderate quality so not much effort was made on them. I needed to get on with the main paint scheme, which I had been mulling over for awhile. The silver scheme is a silver paint rather than a metallic finish. What I decided to do was prime the airframe in Stynlyrez grey, this was then gently rubbed down with a fine sanding stick and AK Extreme white aluminium was sprayed to get this silver dope appearance.
Next task was to add the red bands and the Republican colours into the rudder. After some input from said friend, it was ascertained that the box scheme wasn’t entirely accurate. These bands were carefully masked, along with the rudder and sprayed with Stynlyrez white primer. The red was sprayed when dry, this colour was just Tamiya XF-7 red. In retrospect it would’ve been better to omit the white primer, as there now was a step between the red and the silver. The rudder was masked and sprayed XF-3, XF-7 and X-16 purple. These all were thinned with the new Tamiya Lacquer thinner, the one with retarder.. orange cap. A short decalling session later and I’m ready for some light weathering. This was oil paint, burnt sienna and black mix, well thinned and used as a panel line pin wash. I also used neat burnt sienna just dirty up a couple of areas on the fuselage.
The finish up, the propellers were sprayed black and the bosses painted a silver colour. The extremely fiddly undercarriage was painted and installed with some struggle. The wheels as with the props, were painted black with silver hubs. I have since learned that the Envoy was one of the first (if not first) commercial airliner to employ a retractable undercarriage.
So completes my adventure with the RS Models Airspeed AS.6J Envoy. Apart from the fuselage side walls/window area the kit was nothing to be alarmed about, sure there’s no pin locations and some of the panel lines are “debatable” but none of the mainstream players are going to release types such as this. We’ll leave them to their shake ‘n bake Spitfire’s, Mustang’s and 109’s. The more interesting aircraft are to be found in the short run manufacturers catalogue and more power to them.
Military Aircraft In Scale 