Messerschmitt Me-109G-6. 1:32 Revell

[Shar2]

Messerschmitt Me-109 G-6

Revell 1:32

The G series, or "Gustav", was introduced in mid-1942. Its initial variants (G-1 through G-4) differed only in minor details from the Bf 109F, most notably in the more powerful 1,455 HP DB 605 engine. Odd numbered variants were built as high-altitude fighters with a pressurized cockpit and GM-1 boost, while even numbered variants were non-pressurized, air superiority fighters and fighter-bombers. Long-range photo-reconnaissance variants also existed. The later G series (G-5 through G-14) was produced in a multitude of variants, with uprated armament and provision for a number of kits of pre-packaged, generally factory- installed parts known as Umrüst-Bausätze (usually contracted to Umbau) and adding a "/U" suffix to the aircraft designation when installed. Field kits known as Rüstsätze were also available for the G-series but those did not change the aircraft designation.) By early 1944 tactical requirements resulted in the addition of MW-50 water injection boost and high-performance superchargers, boosting engine output to 1,800–2,000 PS (1,775-1,973 HP). From early 1944 a number of G-2s, G-3s, G-4s and G-6s were converted to two seat trainers, known as the G-12. An instructor's cockpit was added behind the original cockpit and both were covered by an elongated, glazed canopy. The so-called Rüstsätze field modification kits and Umrüst-Bausätze factory conversion kits were part of a system promulgated by the RLM as a whole, throughout the German military aviation industry, with each airframe type number having its own set of "/R" and/or "/U" numbered designations for such upgrade packages.

The Model
Revell last released a new tool Me-109G-6 back in 1987 which was an ok kit for its day. Now they have released a brand new tooling of this great aircraft and boy does it look good. The kit unfortunately comes in the standard end opening and slightly feeble box with the parts protected in a couple of poly bags. The kit comes on three large and eleven small sprues of light grey styrene as well as two sprues of clear parts. All the parts appear very well moulded with only a very small amount of flash on a couple of the smaller sprues but quite a few moulding pips throughout. Detail is very nicely done with fine recessed panel lines, raised areas where necessary, finely executed rivets and fasteners and restrained detailing on the fabric covered control surfaces. The styrene is quite soft so be careful when removing parts and cleaning them up. Any ejection pin marks are thoughtfully placed in concealed areas. There are small sink marks in each of the propeller blades near the roots, nothing a small amount of putty and a quick swipe with a sanding stick can’t sort out.

Construction starts with the cockpit floor, onto which the rudder pedals and foot rests are fitted. Then there is a choice to make on which cannon the aircraft is fitted with, and therefore which breech cover to build. The instructions state that the Early version was armed with the Mk108 30mm cannon and the Late version was armed with the MG-151/20 20mm cannon. Now from research it looks like it should be the other way round so it may be an idea to just check before building your particular aircraft you are modelling. With the choice made, the two halves of the respective breech cover are joined and fitted to the front of the cockpit floor, onto which the joystick is also attached. The cockpit is further built up with the attachment of the pilot’s seat to the rear bulkhead. The pilots harness is pre-moulded onto the seat pan and the bulkhead, with the bulkhead ones being slightly too short and will need to be lengthened or replaced completely with aftermarket items. Rather than having parts moulded onto the insides of the fuselage halves Revell have gone for separate panels for the cockpit sides onto which further parts are added. On the starboard side the clear part that represents the fuel feed pipe is to be masked off before painting so that the inspection tube is left clear, beneath the fuel pipe the fuel pump is fitted. On the port side there are a pair of trim wheels and control runs attached. The instruments dials for the panel are in decal form but with some softener/setting solutions they should settle down ok onto the individual bezels. There is another Early/Late option when it comes to fitting the gun sight which is fitted to the top right of centre on the instrument panel. The cockpits side panels and instrument panel are then attached together with the cockpit floor and rear bulkhead creating a neat looking tub. Underneath the tub the wing spar is attached, whilst on top the rear upper bulkhead is fitted, with a choice of early or late depending on the position of the battery box.

With the cockpit complete several other assemblies need to be built up before the fuselage can be closed up. The tail wheel has optional long and short struts as well as different fairings, depending on which version is being built. This also goes for the upper nose cowling with alternative parts, both of which need to have the machine gun muzzles fitted from the inside before attaching to the fuselage. The engine exhaust stacks also need to be fitted from the inside pre painted and masked of before full painting commences. The exhausts are a little bit disappointing in that they are solid and will need some very careful opening up due to their shape. There’s bound to be some aftermarket items released soon to replace these. Once the cockpit tub, propeller shaft, tailwheel and under nose radiator mount are fitted the fuselage can be closed up. The three nose panels are then fitted with an alternative panel for the starboard side. The two piece carburettor intake on the port side is then fitted along with the cowl bulges, again with alternative parts for each version. Under the nose the two radiator grilles are fitted onto their mounting points before the radiator cover is fitted. The wing radiator grilles are attached to the upper inner wing panels which are then attached to the wing spar. Each main undercarriage bay is has the roof part moulded into the inner panels whilst the bay walls are made up of three separate parts. The one piece lower wing panel is then fitted to the upper inner wing panels and spar. While the model is upside down the two wing radiators have the forward intake lips added and two panels are fitted to the centre fuselage. With the model the right side up the upper outer wing panels are attached and the vertical tail unit is fitted, the modeller has the option of short or tall tails depending on which version is being modelled along with the relevant rudders. The rudder trim actuator is then attached to the starboard side of the fin and the horizontal tail assemblies are, with option moving elevators are fitted.

The model comes with the option of having the flaps posed up or down with each section being made up of upper and lower halves as do the ailerons. The inner and outer flaps of each wing are attached as per the modellers wishes after which the ailerons can be fitted. The leading edge slats can also be posed open or closed, but being spring loaded they would normally be deployed on the ground. The main undercarriage legs are each made up of an inner and outer oleo parts onto which the axle unit is attached along with the scissor links and a small link near the top of the inner oleo. The main door is then attached to the oleo. There are two types of main wheels and tyres, again depending on which version is being built. Each tyre is in two halves into which the inner and outer hubs are fitted. The details are quite nice, one with radial tread and one with a block tread, but these may get a little lost with having to sand the seam around the tyre unless fitted well. With the wheels assembled they can be fitted to the axles. The two part tail wheel is then fitted to its yoke.

Next in the build sequence is the assembly of the drop tank. Whilst he details on the tank are quite good it does seem a little pointy in the nose area and should be blunter. This may be rectified with a little surgery or sanding but most people will be able to live with it. The completed drop tank is then fitted to the adaptor plate and the four stays are fitted. The whole assembly is then fitted to the fuselage centreline. Depending on the version being built there are a number of different parts to be fitted before the canopy can be fitted. There are two types of canopy, an early framed type with separate rear section and a single piece Erla Haube clear view canopy. The windscreen comes with separate armoured screen which would be best “glued” with a drop of Klear or similar. With the aerial masts fitted to the rear of the canopies the relevant armoured plate can be fitted internally along with the locking handle. If the canopies are to be positioned open there are two blocks on the starboard cockpit side panel to provide a good strong joint. The propeller is now assembled out of the backplate, three individual blades, internal blade clamp and the boss. Unfortunately the join between the backplate and boss isn’t at a natural panel line on the real aircraft so will need to be carefully filled and sanded. The propeller assembly is then fitted onto the propeller shaft. With the addition of the pitot probe and underwing aerial for the late version, all that needs to be done is paint and adding a stretched sprue aerial wire for the model to be complete.

Decals
The decal sheet is printed in Italy for Revell, so presumably by Cartograph, although they don’t look up to the usual standard. They are well printed though, in good register and nicely opaque with very little carrier film except in the white outline crosses and the kill markings. The decals are quite matt in appearance but should settle down well with the appropriate solutions. There is only one option for each version and these depict the following:-

• Bf-109G-6 W.Nr. 160717, Stab II/JG-51, Rumania 1944 flown by Hauptman Karl Rammelt

• Bf-109G-6 W.Nr. 411960, Stab III/JG-5, Gossen May 1945, flown by Hauptman Franz Dorr.

Conclusion
This is a very nice kit and while there a few little inaccuracies I’m sure it will be a very enjoyable build and from what I’ve heard the part fitment is very good. Apparently this kit can be easily modified into a G-14 variant, but you have to resarch this yourself. Revell these days seem to excel in producing great large scale kits at a very affordable price, and this one is no different. It doesn’t matter that it doesn’t come with all the bells and whistles as it isn’t made for the experienced modeller, even though I’m sure they’d love this as a nice quickish build. This mark is in my opinion the best looking of the Me-109 series and a model of which I can highly recommend.

Revell model kits are available from all good toy and model retailers. For further information visit

[Monkey3]

Hello Shar2,

Thank you for a well detailed review and the v good images. Just a small point which I stand to be corrected on - the leading edge slats you describe as 'spring loaded' would be 'retracted' on the ground. I understood that the airflow pushed the slats closed in flight and were sprung loaded to automatically extend at low speed and therefore, would be often 'open' on the ground, unless pushed in when, for example, pushed in during ground handling. Although I havn't built a 109 (or much else) for years, it is one of the features I used to build into 109s after studying contemporary images.

Look forward to your thoughts.

Monkey 3

[Mike]

Monkey's right Dave... they tend to droop open on the deck

[Shar2]

My mistake, I'll amend the sentance. Thanks for the info.

[Carts]

Thanks for a very concise review,looking at the part breakdown it certainly seems that Revell have an eye on releasing other versions as they have included just about all the different fuel\oil\ filler points of all the 109 variants from the very early G series onward,and a G-14 seems to be a real possibility with whats included,especially with the inclusion of the canopy hatch with the battery compartment.So for about £20.00 you get a choice of 3 different versions of the Gustav,Good value!(apart from those of us who will need to buy 3 !)Fingers crossed for a G-6 AS,G-2,and a G-10.

[Antoine]

You could even have one slat down and the other up, due to ground handling, but in general it´s forbiden to touch them.

It would be interesting to have a look at the pre-flight check list to see if there's something about them.

Oops!

I forgot, thanks, Dave.

I got it right, this time!

[Parabat]

Just to add to this, and sorry for getting hooked up on this point, but I was under the impression the slats are not under any 'spring loaded' tension, but run freely, being sucked out by air pressure at low speeds, hence the ground crew being able to push them back into the stowed position on the ground.

A decent review though and I may just snag one of these.

[Alan Kelley]

Nice to see the inclusion of dials for the instruments.

[horrido109]

Parabat you are absolutely right. Those slats ran on rails with bearings only. Their function (up or down) was caused by aerodynamic pressure.

[Diamondbacks VF-102]

aloha,

anyone can tell if it is possible to build a G5 out of this kit? Have a really nice decalset in the stash to make a G5 so....

[Parabat]

I think you should be ok, as the G-5 was identical to the G-6 apart from the pressurised cabin.

[Shar2]

Don't forget to have a look at our review on the Alley at update set.

[Diamondbacks VF-102]

I think you should be ok, as the G-5 was identical to the G-6 apart from the pressurised cabin.

It had the erla haube..

[Parabat]

It had the erla haube..

True... How could I have missed that fact?!

You could scrounge or buy an aftermarket 'regular' canopy set?

[Carts]

It's included in the kit.

[Parabat]

It's included in the kit.

So it does, and it has a 'regular' tail option, so full steam ahead to make a G-5 for Diamondbacks 102 then!

[Armorguy45]

I might have to get this