Developments in the air force: Supermarine Spitfire

Building awesome models is cool, but I think it is even cooler to build several awesome models that match each other in scale, let it be about train engines by depi, cars, aircraft or something else. As I rebuilt the MiG-15 and finished the Messerschmitts I knew there will be more.

The new member is a Supermarine Spitfire Mark Vb. This was the last version with characteristic three-blade propeller of the early versions.

This is my first plane that uses a camouflage scheme. I think the dark green-dark bluish gray combination fits it quite nicely. It required more thinking than the previous planes as not every brick I needed was available in all the colors. I decided to build the markings from bricks as long as I can, I am quite happy with this one. With a USAF or Soviet plane I would have been in more trouble.

I was not happy with the existing Bf-109s either. As Dieterr89 pointed out, the wings were too narrow, especially when compared to the Spitfire. The Spitfire has a larger wing, but not by that much. The other problem was that the front section of the body was too wide. As I built the original version I was already thinking about how else can it be done, but the real inspiration came only while building the Spitfire.

So I rebuild the Swiss and the Hungarian Bf-109 as well. This was a serious rebuild, only the tail, the nosecone and the landing gear stayed intact. The wing is a bit longer now and the fuselage has been rebuilt completely together with the canopy.

I am much more content with it now. It looks like recently I need several iterations with all my models. With the Spitfire I am happy as it is, I hope it's going to stay like that.

The Spitfire story, part II

In the second part of our Spitfire coverage (part I) we look at models that stand out from the rest.

In terms of scale, the plane of legoleo is quite similar to others. At first glance the color scheme seems a bit unconventional: instead of using dark green and dark gray seen on many other LEGO Spitfires this aircraft uses a mix of light gray and normal green. It is not the color scheme that puts it above the field though, rather the motor built into the the nose that drives the propeller. We have seen similar things amongst the Messerschmitt builds too, but this model takes it one step further: instead of hiding the engine inside the body, the builder chose to integrate it in the shape of the body and expose it. Clever.

Next on our list is Brian Fitzsimmons. This plane has been built virtually only but still looks good. The fuselage and the wings are a bit narrower than on most other builds. The invasion stripes make the details more interesting. The three-bladed propeller looks a bit out of style though: the Spitfire versions used during the Normandy campaign had four-bladed propellers.

We have already covered Lego Monster in the previous part. As one would expect from a British gentleman he did not stop at building a single Spitfire. This is his second model, built a couple of years later at 1:20 scale. The larger size lead to more details and nicer shapes: in my opinion the wing, the body and the tail all look more nicely shaped and closer to the real Spitfire.

We saved the non plus ultra for last. thirdwigg has been already covered on the blog too, but I think his model is well worth another look. This plane is the largest of all, built at a grandiose 1:12 scale. As one would expect, the larger body makes it possible to have a really nice shape all across the board. But not only the shape is perfect, it is full of working details too, like the adjustable propeller (see video). If you are interested in how one decides to build something like this, it is all covered on his blog. It is also interesting to look at the two work-in-progress photos (1, 2) that show the plane in half-ready state.

And what comes next? As you could expect, I am preparing my own version. Not sure exactly when yet, but stay tuned!

The Spitfire story, part I

We have covered Messerschmitts on the blog earlier (part I, part II), let's take a look at the other side, more precisely Britain.

The Supermarine Spitfire is probably the most well known British fighter from World War II. It was a protagonist of the Battle of Britain when the Royal Air Force defended British airspace in spite of being in numeric minority. According to statistics there were more aerial victories by Hurricane pilots, but still somehow the Spitfire emerged as the symbol of victory. It could have been be due to its slightly better performance, or simply because it is somehow more aesthetically pleasing to look at.

Hence it is no wonder that numerous LEGO versions have been built over the years. Let's start with the model of Exploded LEGO. This is one of the smallest one I have found on the net. It is less colorful than the others, but still has plenty of interesting details. For example the yellow leading edge of the wings, or the small "flag" on the tail. In spite of its size it even has a retractable retractable landing gear!

We have introduced Mattias Martenssonnal (alias eremms) already during the Messerschmitt coverage. His model is a bit more colorful, light gray and dark gray gives you the characteristic camouflage pattern of  Spitfires. Unlike most others, the insignia are built from bricks rather thank stickers. I think it looks really good.

Stefan Johansson has been missing from with his Messerschmitt, but he will not be missing from this one. He also uses a dark / light gray combination. (Maybe this is a Scandinavian thing?) The plane is graceful but still has the typical Spitfire contour:

Scott Peterson has chosen the more typical dark green - dark gray combination. Somewhat unusually though he chose to use the airbrush to reach the perfect color combination. This is a later Spitfire version with four-bladed propeller:

Today's last creation is from Lego Monster who should be familiar to our readers already. He took his fair share of Spitfire building too. Today we look at the 1:36 scale version that was built a couple of years ago. The plane is built from real dark green and dark gray, which looks pretty nice, just like other details: the yellow part of the wing and the flag.

To be continued next week!

Swiss, but not cheese

I may have an affiliation with Hungary, but I do live in Swizterland. Coincidentally, the Bf-109G has served in both the Hungarian and the Swiss Air Force. Hence, I decided to build a Swiss Air Force Bf-109 as well. The aircraft is almost identical to the previous one except for the color scheme.

More photos on Flickr as usual. Enoy!

Messerschmitt uncovered

I am happy to start the New Year with something fresh and take a look at why I have bothered with various Messerschmitts so much.

Several years ago I have already tried to build one. The 2009 model was a heavy compromise: it was built in Lego Digital Designer and the bricks were chosen from the limited selection of DesignByMe that still existed. As a result most of the plane was black because this color had the largest selection of bricks.

It was already time to try again and build a fresh plane for the Puma squadron.

This is a Messerschmitt Bf-109 G6 "Gustav" of the Royal Hungarian Air Force from 1944, using the black and white roundel from WWII. The legendary "Puma" have accomplished many missions against American and Soviet planes.

As I plan to build other planes at the same scale it was important to pick a size in which the others will look good as well. I am a big fan of "micro" aircraft, but that would not allow me to build a lot of details. So I have chosen a different scale, 1:48. This is still somewhat smaller than other Messerschmitts, only Legohaulic's fighter coming close. My plan was to add as many shape and color details as possible. Hence, there are no other features: the landing gear is not retractable (although it is easy to remove) and there is not enough room for a minifig pilot either (although at this scale it would be still doable with some compromises). 

Another important point is the wing. I like building wings as thin as possible, I am not a big fan of thick and blocky wings. The current wing is built of two layers of plates, I think it would have been impossible to make it any thinner. The shape is just a bit blocky, but overall I am quite happy with the shape of the wings and the tail.

I am pretty happy with the outcome. At this scale the plane has pretty recongnisable shape and colors as well.

Please take a look at the Flickr album for more photos. As usual they can be found on Picasa as well.

The Messerschmitt story, part II.

Let's continue the story of LEGO Messerschmitt fighters. As I promised last week, today we look at models that have something unusual.

The plane of locolson is clearly larger than the others and sports two special features. The dimensions allow for more details here: it has a fully retractable landing gear. Many builders have this on their aircraft, but it is not a standard feature on other Bf-109 models. The list of unique features does not stop here, it also has a rotating propeller without any Photoshop: there is just enough room for the motor in the front of the cockpit and for the battery box right behind it.

ABStract/ did not fiddle with real bricks. The plane comes in three different versions. The first one has a classic "Battle of Britain" scheme. It has a retractable landing gear, but this one is hard to operate with your fingers. Nevertheless it looks quite decent:

The next version has almost exactly the same shape but a different color scheme: a tan-green combination, characteristic of the desert versions:

The third version has been significantly rebuilt. Unlike the first two "Emils", this is a "Friedrich" with a similar desert camouflage:

Lego pilot built his own plane on the computer. The propeller is worth mentioning, it looks quite different from the other planes. The fighter is just "finishing" an A-20:

Last but not least, take a look at this microscale Bf-109 from tbone_tbl:

The paint scheme is quite characteristic, the type can be instantly recognized from the yellow nose and wingtips. I think it would be impossible to build a Messerschmitt smaller than this!

The Messerschmitt story, part I.

After covering some trains last week let's take a look at an aircraft: the Messerschmitt Bf-109. This fighter is one of the most recognizable aircraft of WWII, the icon of German air superiority during the early years of war. It saw action during the Spanish Civil War and at the breakout of the "big" war it was already a battle-proven opponent.

It is well known and built many times from bricks as well, you can find quite a few variants on the net. Let's take a look at the best ones, starting with minifig-scale models and leave the more exotic ones for the next part.

For a start, let's look at LegoUli's model. In my opinion this is one of the best: the shape of the aircraft is excellent around the engine but also towards the rear of the airframe. The landing gear is fixed but looks very good. The 9-stud propeller is also an nice fit at this scale:

The plane of eremms was also built at a similar scale and it also has a minifig at the controls. The colors are similar but the details are quite different: the techniques used at the wing, the propeller and the cockpit differ quite a bit from the previous version:

Opëx Røver's plane is somewhat smaller: the wing is 14 studs compared to 16-17 studs on the previous ones above. Nonetheless the the details are finely crafted. My personal favorite is the tail section. I personally don't like the nose cone and the landing gear, but the color choice is slightly more interesting than on the planes above:

Last but not least let's see the creations of a real pro, Legohaulic. His models also illustrate the evolution of a build, how a rookie creation becomes a real masterpiece.

Frankly, the first model would not be part of this blog post without the subsequent ones. The model is recognizable but nothing special: it is large and does not have any particularly interesting details. The colors are not very interesting either and the photo is far from great. However it is a great basis for progress:

It is no wonder that the author tried a second time. The next one is a lot more sophisticated than the previous one: the engine, the cockpit and the plane overall are a lot nicer. Like the other planes above it also has enough room for a minifig piloting the stick. The most serious mistake is the green light on the port side. Looking at it more we can also realize that the plane is quite large: the wings are over 20 studs and the minifig at the stick looks a bit too small:

This is probably how Legohaulic has felt about it too because he decided to give it a third try as well. This is the result, probably one of the most well known LEGO variants of the famous Messerschmitt fighter:

Like the ones above it has a minifig inside, but it is more unusual than the others in several ways. First of all, this is the smallest of all models: the wing is just over 12 studs. The fuselage is only a little bit wider than 3 studs - I think it is quite an achievement to find room for a minifig inside. Another specialty is the choice of colors: unlike the other planes above the paint scheme makes heavy use of dark green, and it looks pretty awesome. The only strange thing is the small nose cone, it looks a bit smaller than it should.

And which one is the best? I will let you choose.

Next week we look at more special Messerschmitt variations.

Messerschmitt Bf-109

Most of the time I am a pacifist except when it is about warbirds. I have built this airplane about a year ago but it was not covered on the blog yet.

The goal was to build a Messerschmitt Bf-109G "Gustav" fighter plane from WWII. The original plane is probably the most well known German fighter plane from the era that flew in many air forces in the world including the "Puma" Air Defense Wing.

It was designed in LDD, so the most of it can be ordered on factory.lego.com-on. Some advice before you do so:

• Ordering on the site is limited to western countries. The price is approximately 80 USD.
  
• It may happen that some parts have run out of stock. Best is to download the LDD file, swap the critical parts to something else and it is ready to be ordered.

The way the plane was designed and built means the use of colors is ... cough ... interesting :) Most of it is black because most Lego parts are available in black. The undernose is yellow becuase a similar scheme was used on German elite squadrons. The tail has a Hungarian flag though.

After I got it from Lego I replaced the propeller with a 3-feather one using Technic parts and it got an undercarriage.



To check out the details please visit the album.