1:32 Bf-109 G-10 - National Insignias (for Hasegawa Kits)

Insignia sprayed, not stuck on

This item does not save work on the glazing but on the markings of the airframe. Instead of decals it offers cut masks for the crosses on the fuselage and on the wings and for the other insignia the machine carried. A sprayed insignia has no carrier film, so no glossy outline arises on matte camouflage and no so-called silvering appears over riveted joints. On a model more than a quarter of a meter long that is a difference you notice even from a distance.

The subjects are the G-10 aircraft from the turn of 1944 and 1945. The markings were being simplified at that time: full crosses with a white and a black field were giving way to sparing outline forms that could be applied quickly and without delay, because time and material were being saved on the finishing operations.

The masks are cut to the dimensions of the parts of the Hasegawa kit, so the position of the insignia does not have to be worked out with a ruler. The base must be perfectly dry, however, or an imprint will be left along the edge of the mask.

Watch out for one thing: the insignia on the lower surface of the wing differed from those on the upper side in size and placement, and on some machines they were missing from the underside altogether. Before a mask is laid on, it pays to compare it with a photograph of the particular aircraft, because a sprayed marking can no longer be removed as easily as a decal.

Procedure: the light field is sprayed first, and once it has dried the second layer of the mask is laid on and the dark outline added. The transition between the colors comes out sharper when it is sprayed lightly and perpendicular to the surface, not from the side.