Bf109E-1 | Part 8 – PIP

Farbton 71 Dunkelgrün (dark green)

Next color is Farbton 71 Dunkelgrün. All its segments were airbrush freehand and slightly larger to allow some overspray of the following color.

Farbton 71 Dunkelgrün is self-mixed according to the
color chart by Jürgen Kiroff. 71 is a pure darkgreen color
with no brownish tint.

The leading edges of the wings and tail planes remain in
Farbton 65 hellblau.

Bf109E-1 | Part 7 – PIP

Farbton 04 Gelb (yellow)

Farbton 65 Hellblau (lightblue)

The engine cowling was airbrushed in Farbton 04 Gelb (yellow) and the next day masked with Tamiya tape. Then fuselage and all lower surfaces were airbrushed in Farbton 65 hellblau (light blue).

Engine cowling in Farbton 04 Gelb (yellow)

Yellow engine cowlings became a typical tactical marking
from late August 1940 on German fighter aircraft

Bf109E-1 | Part 6 – PIP

All aluminum parts of the airframe were airbrushed with a gloss aluminum color. All fabric covered parts as well as the propeller blades were airbrushed an iron oxide red color. These colors were left to dry for 3 days.

Aluminum-colored undercoat

Iron-oxide-red-colored fabrics

Canopy framing airbrushed
in 02 RLM grau

Tyrannosaurus | Part 6 – Plants: Cycads (cycadophyta)

For the cycads I used laser-cut leaves from Fredericus rex and made the stems from scratch using a dense urethane foam and a carving knife.

Painting

Painting was mostly done by airbrush using Tamiya acrylic. I started with a dark green color and gradually added yellow to the mixture towards the tips of the leaves. Some tips received a tan color to immitate dried leaves. Smaller details were painted by brush.

Cycad with a high stem

Cycad with a low stem

Tyrannosaurus | Part 5 – Detail painting of the head

I painted the eyes and some other details of my Tyrannosaurus rex.

Tyrannosaurus rex – head details

Photography – Still lifes

Apricot colored Rose

Bf109E-1 | Part 5 – The base coat

Once the airframe is finished I applied a coat of Mr.SURFACER 1200 to check for blemishes and scratches.

Propeller assembly

Engine cowling – lefthand view

Details of engine cowling

Details of wing root

Gap an trailing edge of engine cowling

Gin port of the wing-mounted MG17

Cooling slots revealing the engine block
of the DB 601

Bf109E-1 | Part 4 – The engine cowling

The trailing edge of the engine cowling of the Emil formed a gap to let out hot air from the engine compartment. This was done by thinning down the trailing edge of the cowling and re-shaping the upper fuselage contour.

Gap on trailing edge of cowling

Dryfitting of cowling parts

Adjusting cowling parts for better fit

Bf109E-1 | Part 3 – The Oil cooler housing

The Oil cooler housing needs some refined inlet and outlet lips. These are made of styrene strips and sanded to shape.

Scale modeler´s breakfast

Styrene strips glued in place

Inlet and outlet lips sanded to shape

Bf109E-1 | Part 2 – The Oil cooler

Adding sidewalls

The oil cooler is missing some sidewalls. These can be made of thin styrene sheet. Glue a piece of sheet styrene to the side walls and then trim to fit.

Thickness of the sheet is 0.13 mm

Cleaned-up fuselage parts

Dry fitting of the oil cooler

Dry fitting of the oil cooler

Bf109E-1 | Part 1 – The Cockpit

Cockpit

This is the 1/32nd scale kit from Eduard. Construction started with the cockpit. All part received a gloss aluminum base coat followed the next day with a coat of 02 RLM grau. Weathering consits of a pin wash and some chipping done with a wooden chisel.

Cockpit – overview

Cockpit – Sidewall details

Cockpit – Rudder pedals and foot rest

Tyrannosaurus | Part 4 – Scratchbuilding a swamp cypress

Making a Taxodium sp.

Taxodium sp.

I want to include a swamp cypress (Taxodium sp.) into my diorama. I carved the stem from urethane foam and used magic sculpt for the surface of the stem with its chraracteristic grooves. The aerial roots are also done using magic sculpt.

Painting was done in the following order:

1. Tamiya XF-57 Buff applied by airbrush
2. Tamiya XF-64 Red Brown applied by sponge
3. Thin coats of umbra and sienna artist´s oils applied by brush
4. SLIMY GRIME LIGHT from AK interactive: Algae rings on the lower portion of the stem
5. Sprinkling on bright and darkgreen paint to add details and breaking up the artificial appearance of the algae rings.

Algae ring applied using masking tape

Looking through the foliage

Tyrannosaurus | Part 3 – Desiccation Cracks

I tried to develop a technique to make desiccation cracks. After some experiments I found the following formulae: 

pigments + water + white glue = desiccation cracks

I applied the mixture by brush to some depressions were water would have accumulated after flooding or heavy rain falls and let it dry. The shrinking paste created cracks revealing the dark underlying layer. This resulted in a nice contrast to the red oxide colored surface. Some white pigments mixed with thinned lacquer were used for salt and mineral incrustations.

Please also note the foot print of Tyrannosaurus rex in the upper left corner.

Desiccation cracks

Tyrannosaurus | Part 2 – The Ground Work

The Base

For the base I made a relief from plaster. Once dry it was brush painted a dark earth color. I wanted to do a laterite soil with its typical red iron oxide colors. Laterite is a weathering product of rock common to areas in tropical climates with a high amount of rain fall and high temperatures.

For this I made a rather liquid paste of white glue, water and pigments from VALLEJO (natural sienna and dark red ochre in an approx. ratio of 1:2) for coloration. The paste was applied by brush and right after its application to the ground work I tilted the base with the basin for the lake being the lowest point. Next I sprayed water over the base to create the convergent drainage system exposing the dark ground color underneath the laterite layer.

Convergent drainage system

Tyrannosaurus | Part 1 – Painting

I studied geology and paleontology at the University of Stuttgart, Germany, in the 1990s. So it is just natural for me as a scale modeler and paleontologist to do diorama involving a Tyrannosaurus rex. I decided to use the beautiful model created by David Krentz. The model is 1/40th scale.

After assembling and cleaning up the joints and seams of all parts I washed Tyrannosaurus rex with a polymer remover. He didn´t like it and he bite me! Anyway, next I airbrushed the model with several coats of a resin primer.

Painting is done mostly by airbrush using cellulose paints. I decided to do a male Tyrannosaurus rex in a basic dark green coloration in due consideration of the law of counter shading according to Abott H. Thayer. This means that I painted the lower portions a bright tan color and the upper portions a dark green color. I use some orange as a signal color on his head and neck.

The diorama will show him walking along a lake shore.

The pictures are showing the painting in progress (PIP), some final details are still missing.

Lefthand view

Righthand view – details of head and neck

Hi,

this is my blog. It will primarily deal with 

• scale modeling
• dioramas
• camouflage and consealing coloration
• cooking & fine wines
• photography & art

I hope you´ll enjoy Artisan Modeler!

Bye,

Bernd aka 109.