1:24 Bf 109G-6

A fighter of many flags

No other version of the 109 served so many air forces as the G-6. Besides the Luftwaffe it was flown in 1944 by Hungarians, Romanians, Finns, Slovaks and Bulgarians and by the Aeronautica Nazionale Repubblicana of Italy, and each state carried its own markings on the fuselage and the wings. For a builder that means the choice of scheme alone decides half the work with painting, because a cross, a crown, a blue swastika or a three-color cockade differ from each other in shape as well as in size.

Three sets for spraying the markings

In the package there are three sets of masks for national markings. The paint applied stays part of the finish rather than a film above it, so it can be worked over with pigment, oils and a thin wash without worry. It is exactly that resistance during the final dirtying of a model that tends to be the reason why builders in the large scales come back to masks. A sharp edge is perceptible with the naked eye on a large model, because a cross on the fuselage in one twenty-fourth measures several centimeters.

Where to begin

The proved sequence is simple. First the inside of the cockpit and the inner layer of masks come in turn, once the canopy is sealed in the outer frames are added and only then does the model go into camouflage. The reverse order usually ends with a mask that cannot be pressed into the corner of a frame because a dried layer of paint on the neighboring surface is in the way. It also pays to let the clear part mature properly before a mask is stuck on, or the adhesive from the mask will print into the soft surface. The set carries masks only; the plastic parts of the 109 and the paints do not belong with it.