Andrew's 2x AZ Model Bf 109 G-6 - JG300 'Wilde Sau' (The Hunters and the Hunted)

adt70hk

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Good morning all

So these are the first two builds for my collection of 1/72 models connected in some way shape or form to the British WW2 bomber offensive, a collection I have decided to call 'The Hunters and the Hunted', for what I hope are obvious reasons.

The 109 is of course primarily a hunter in this context, although it was of course also hunted in the course of things such as intruder missions against Luftwaffe airfields and the like.

Firstly, a big thanks to @AlanG for putting me onto the Wilde Sau concept as it's not one I'd come across following my return to the hobby - and also for his general nachtjäger advice!

Also, thanks to Ian (@papa 695) for some indirect inspiration in the form of his Mosquito GB. I have entered his GB with one of my Mossies from this collection but needed a bit more practice on some wingy things beforehand and so these seemed the perfect solution.

And finally, thanks to @Allen Dewire for his more 'direct' encouragement....."C'mon Buddy, I ain't getting any younger here.....Get crackin' on 'em Sir!!!...........I wanna see this project come together............" ;) :smiling5:

For those not familiar with the Wilde Sau concept these were single engined fighters (Bf 109s and FW 190s) operating as nightfighters against the RAF's bombers in a 'free' role; Wilde Sau is normally translated as Wild Boar. The 'Tame Boar' were the big twin engined night fighters controlled by a ground stations.

One online source describes the high level concept as follows (Alan please feel free to correct any errors):

Colonel Hans-Joachim Herrmann recognized the weakening multi-engine German night fighter early on. He suggested to the commanding general of the night fighters, Josef Kammhuber, that day fighters should operate directly over the RAF invaders using a specially developed procedure.

With the support of the searchlight units and the flak, the enemy aircraft should be illuminated, or the clouds, so that the RAF aircraft stood out clearly.

At the end of June 1943, the Staff / NJVK Herrmann was set up in Deelen. The first voluntary missions and training was carried out by experienced bomber pilots and experienced blind flight instructors in order to test Major Herrmann's idea in practice. The day fighters in the early days did not have any additional devices for night hunting, so the missions could only be carried out by experienced pilots, and even that was still a risk.

https://www.jg300.de/njvk-herrmann.html (a German language site, so apologies for Google's translation)

I have started the build process as you may have seen on 'What's on the bench' but the usual box, sprue and instruction shots are below to officially kick this thread off.

ACW as usual.

All the best.

Andrew

------------------------------------------------------

The book that got me interested in the idea, a recommendation courtesy of Alan!







The kits, decals and kit supplied canopy masks....






































Some AM decals but more about these later....

 

Allen Dewire

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Thank you Andrew. Made my day Buddy!!!.....If I wasn't so butt deep in a project right now, I'd put my Arado 234 night fighter back on the bench. I love night fighters and have 6 different ones in 1/32 to do. I just need another lifetime to build them all...................

Prost and have fun
Allen
 

The Smythe Meister

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I`m with Alan,(Not in the Biblical sense mind!!;)),on this.......... Pleased to see it underway :thumb2: ,
Looking forward to following your progress..... and to the Mosquito GB that you mentioned:money-face:,
......... carry on........
 

adt70hk

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Good evening gents! Apologies for the belated reply but Junior had his football clubs end of season afternoon festival.

Good to have you all aboard, I'll try not to let you down!!


Thank you Andrew. Made my day Buddy!!!.....If I wasn't so butt deep in a project right now, I'd put my Arado 234 night fighter back on the bench. I love night fighters and have 6 different ones in 1/32 to do. I just need another lifetime to build them all...................

Prost and have fun
Allen

Allen, I don't know how to put this without sounding a tad rude but......was your day really going to be that quiet that this made your day!?!? ;) :smiling5: Seriously though good to have you aboard!

I`m with Alan,(Not in the Biblical sense mind!!;)),on this.......... Pleased to see it underway :thumb2: ,
Looking forward to following your progress..... and to the Mosquito GB that you mentioned:money-face:,
......... carry on........

Thanks Andy. it's been an interesting journey so far but more about that shortly!

Front row seat for me mate. Got to love the Wild Boar emblem :smiling3:

And there was me wondering what that funny boars head avatar of yours was all about!:smiling5::smiling5:

Very nice! Clean plastic and imagination….best part of the build is the the start…..lots of decals for braille though……

Thank Tim. Glad you like it.

You're right it is a lot of decals for 1/72 but my Spit and 109 Dogfight Doubles I did for the Battle of Britain GB had similar numbers, so at least I know what's in store. It will also give me plenty of spares which is something I have none of for any German aircraft.
 
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JR

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I'm in Andrew, have to admire the pilots that test the idea, very brave indeed.

Although I said no more 1/72 , I should have mentioned vehicles and not aircraft as I'm looking FWD to the Mossy Build .
 

Allen Dewire

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Allen, I don't know how to put this without sounding a tad rude but......was your day really going to be that quiet that this made your day!?!? ;)

Andrew, That's not being rude at all my friend. This is going to be a very interesting project and I'm glad you're doing it. Now as far as making my quiet day, hell, if I wake up breathing, that sometimes makes my day!!!.....I'm sitting down front front with a cold one at the ready for the start Buddy...................BTW, will Junior be helping out with this???

Prost
Allen
 

Lee Drennen

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Wow how can I not watch this seated in front by John,Tim, and Allen. I’m glad you are getting this project off the ground so to speak. lol.
 

adt70hk

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I'm in Andrew, have to admire the pilots that test the idea, very brave indeed.

Although I said no more 1/72 , I should have mentioned vehicles and not aircraft as I'm looking FWD to the Mossy Build .

They were brave indeed and I think we sometimes forget that given the nature of the circumstances. Good to hear you're still engaged in the Mossie build. Let me know if you need any 1/72 red stars!

Andrew, That's not being rude at all my friend. This is going to be a very interesting project and I'm glad you're doing it. Now as far as making my quiet day, hell, if I wake up breathing, that sometimes makes my day!!!.....I'm sitting down front front with a cold one at the ready for the start Buddy...................BTW, will Junior be helping out with this???

Prost
Allen

I'm glad to have you along. This particular build and the other builds are 'officially' solo jobs at this stage but if he wants to help out I won't stop him!


ATB

Andrew
 
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adt70hk

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Wow how can I not watch this seated in front by John,Tim, and Allen. I’m glad you are getting this project off the ground so to speak. lol.

Glad to have you along Lee. I'll try not to let you down!!

ATB

Andrew
 

adt70hk

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Hi all

So as said earlier, construction has already started.

Doing two kits at the same time means that any mistakes or things I think of doing a better/different way on the first kit can be immediately implemented on the second. I've already had a few instances of that and so one kit will be the test bed of sorts and the second will hopefully be the better finished model - at least that's the theory!!

I've not built an AZ Model kit before and at first I thought it may have been a short run kit as only 500 of my kits were made.

However, it turns out that the "500pcs" on the box refers to the number of kits with those decal options. There are actually somewhere in the region of 70 different versions/variants of the original 2013 tooling in existence, of which these two versions are the third from last and penultimate versions. They did a new tooling in 2020.

The plastic itself is pretty good to work with and is reasonably hard, certainly harder than the new Airfix plastic. Detail, although not at all bad for the most part, appears a little soft in places, certainly compared to Airfix at this scale....but then have Airfix over done things like panel lines at this scale? Below are some comparison shots with an Airfix FW-190 cast from a 2013 new tooling.

Whist I don't think this is officially a short run kit, the dry fit of the cockpit in the fuselage suggests it's not a perfect fit.

So far the worst thing to date is the way the fuselage goes together - there are only two fixing points, front and back, so it's very hard to line up properly. I have attempted to solve this problem by using styrene of various shapes and sizes to create lips and points I can line up the two halves with. Kit's 2s work much better having learnt from the first one.

Also, the hole for the exhaust is just that - a hole with no rear, so no way to easily get the depth right. On kit 1 I used liberal amounts of poly glue to keep in place; with kit 2 I created a blanking plate at the back using 03.mm thick styrene, which means I can paint it at insert it at at a later date.

The cockpit, whilst reasonably detailed on the face of it leaves a bit to be desired on the seat front, which was very lacking on alignment points. I'll therefore probably be using the pilots I bought.

The sprues don't have any numbers on but as there are only two and the parts are sequentially arranged on the sprue, and there is a clear sprue map it's not too much of a problem.

ACW as usual!

ATB.

Andrew

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Comparison shots with the Airfix 190 (ligher grey)







Kit 1's 'alignment styrene'





Kit 2's 'alignment styrene'
In this case I used thinner thinner styrene strips on the bottom of the fuselage - 0.3mm rather than 1mm - and 2mm rod on the rear top of the fuselage, rather than a channel shape.





Exhaust blanking plate





Kit 1's cockpit - kit 2's looks better but was not finished when I took this shot
Just noticed it needs tidying up a bit.



 
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adt70hk

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Jim R

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Hi Andrew
A little late to the party but I'll elbow my way in. I've never heard of AZ Models but these don't look bad at all. The Airfix kit does look to have slightly crisper detail but there's not a lot in it. Cockpits will paint up nicely. Good idea to put alignment strips into the fuselage halves.
Jim
 

adt70hk

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Hi Andrew
A little late to the party but I'll elbow my way in. I've never heard of AZ Models but these don't look bad at all. The Airfix kit does look to have slightly crisper detail but there's not a lot in it. Cockpits will paint up nicely. Good idea to put alignment strips into the fuselage halves.
Jim
Jim

Welcome to the party!!! Thanks for the support and glad you like the alignment strips, I thought it was quite an inspired idea!!

ATB.

Andrew
 
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