MDriskill

For whatever it may be worth...I have compulsively bought every Eduard late-109 "Dual Combo" boxing as they were released. Here's a list of sprues, and which are in each kit (the one I don't have is the CS.199 two-seat trainer, some of the missing sprues likely are from it): Eduard Bf 109 Sprue List (All sprues have series prefix 70150): A - "Avia S.199" clear parts B - ? C - "Avia S/S 199" main details D - "Avia S/CS 199" wing, tail E - "Avia S.199" sliding canopy fuselage F - "Avia S.199" hinged canopy fuselage G - ? H - "F2 F4" clear parts I - ? J - "GK" clear parts K - "F2" fuselage, square wheel well wing L - "F2 F4" fuselage, round and square wheel well wing M - "G2 G4" fuselage, wings N1* - "G5 G6 G14 G6 Erla" fuselage, wings N2* - "G5 G6 G14 G6 Erla" fuselage, wings O - "G10 Erla" fuselage, wings O2** - "G10 Erla" fuselage, wings P - "G10 Mtt/G14 AS Mtt" fuselage, wings Q - ? R - ? S - "G6AS G14AS Erla" fuselage, wings T - "Bf 109 K4" fuselage, wings U - "FGK" main details V - "G5/G6/G10/G14/K4" prop, rudders, wheels W - "F4 late prop" *sprue N1 has two wing tops with with no wheel bulges (G-2/4), and two with small bulges (G-5/6/14). Sprue N2 has two wing tops with small bulges, and two with enlarged bulges (G-10/14/K). **sprue O2 corrects the overside right-side nose gun fairing on the original sprue O. Kit numbers + items included + 2141, "S.199 Mezek" Dual Combo - Sprues Ax2, Cx2, Dx2, E, F - Masks, color PE 2141-1x2, decal options 12 + 2142, "Wunderschone Neue Maschinen Pt. 1" Dual Combo - Sprues Hx2, Kx2, Lx2, Ux2 - Masks, double color PE 2142-1, double plain PE 2142-2, decal options 14 + 2143, "Wunderschone Neue Maschinen Pt. 2" Dual Combo - Sprues Jx2, Mx2, Ux2 - Masks, double color PE 2143-1, double plain PE 2143-2, decals options 14 + 2144, "Gustav Pt. 1" Dual Combo - Sprues Jx2, N1x2, Ux2, Vx2 - Masks, color PE 2144-1&2, plain PE 2144-3&4, decals options 14 + 2145, "Gustav Pt. 2" Dual Combo - Sprues Jx2, N2x2, Ux2, Vx2 - Masks, color PE 2145-1x2, plain PE 2145-2x2, decal options 10 + 2150, "Gustav Pt. 3" Dual Combo - Sprues S, P, Jx2, Ux2, Vx2 - Masks, color PE 2150x2, plain PE 2150x2, decal options 10 + 2155, "Kurfurst" Dual Combo - Sprues Jx2, Tx2, Ux2, Vx2 - Masks, color PE 2155x2, plain PE 2155x2, decal options 9 + R0022 "Bf 109G-10" Royal Class Dual Combo - Sprues Jx2, O, Px2, Ux2, Vx2 - Masks, color PE R0022-1&2, plain PE R00223x2, decal options 10 - Well masks, Brassin exhausts, wheels, tailwheels, replica data plate + 70162 "Bf 109G-10 Erla" Profipack - Sprues J, O2, U, V - Masks, color PE 70162-1, plain PE 70162-2, decal options 6

The Polish retailer Super-Hobby has about the slickest scale modeling web site I've ever seen. Their selection is fantastic, the site is smooth and fast, and almost every item includes full sprue shots and scans of the instructions. They have become my go-to if I just need a quick check of what a new kit looks like. Here's their page on the Eduard K, hopefully useful from comparing to the OP's G-10: https://www.super-hobby.com/products/Kurfurst-Dual-Combo.html

Veering slightly off-topic...the center section and right wing spans of the Hasegawa / Italeri C.202 / 205 kits are near-perfect. The left wing actually is longer, but only by about half the correct amount (a scale 10cm instead of 20cm). Pic is Hasegawa bits:

Following on to Giampiero's notes above...I've held on to a couple Supermodel Macchis just for those interesting extras, ha. That pioneering kit is poorly shaped and roughly molded, but you can't say it lacked ambition! On paper you could do most early, late, or prototype C.202's. Given IBG's extremely thorough sorting of Spitfire variants and the prototype, in my dreams we see such Macchi bits from them someday.

He did have a 109E, and a couple early 109F "specials," with telescopic sights. I think I recall reading he used these more for long-range spotting than for shooting.

It's disappointing there's been no news on these since February! Some of my very favorite aircraft...my favorite scale...but if they wait much longer I'll be too old to do more than gaze longingly at their tiny parts! 🙄 BUT, it's not like IBG hasn't been busy making others happy with excellent new releases. The current crop of C.200 kits is frankly atrocious. I hope IBG will eventually include the early enclosed-cockpit version, whose canopy geometry has never been correctly redered in any kit or published drawings. BTW The C.200 and C.202 both use the Piaggio P.1001 propeller. The C.205 (and FIAT G.55) used the P.2001 - similar but with slightly broader blades. Among the details missed on pretty much every 1/72 C.202/205 kit to date: + Wing dihedral is too flat. Really destroys the overall look. + Unequal wing spans are not right. + Prominent gap at the rear of the cowl, which completely surrounds the nose. + The hinged canopy is not parallel to the fuselage datum, but tilted downward at the rear. A subtle part of the elegant fuselage form (and contributor to Giorgio's "hump horror" when wrong). + Offset panel line and external reinforcing gusset at the tail cone joint.

That is fabulous! Beautiful job on an unusual subject. Loved the linked WIP thread as well...being a card-carrying old draftsman there is a selection of old-school bow pens here so I'm definitely giving that technique a try. Again - bravo!

FWIW - Kōtare's site has a PDF of their new 1/32 scale 109K's instruction booklet. It may be the most accurate, detailed, and best-illustrated descripton of a K cockpit in captivity. https://www.Kōtare-models.com/products/k32009-Kōtare-132-bf-109k4

How much glycol is used on an air-cooled engine?

Well at this stage we're admittedly into the fact-free, I-don't-really-know, "how many angels can dance on the head of a pin" phase of the discussion! 😜 But I would counter your excellent logic with: + So far I've only found the angled dark area on late NDW-built 190's. I don't know how extensively the windscreen cleaning system was used, but I'm reasonably sure it wasn't exclusive to these aircraft. + The dark area is large and fairly evenly colored, with a pretty clean aft edge, and looks much the same on each aircraft - "Yellow 4" in the last pic being the exception. I would think fuel dripping down from a few tiny holes in a pipe, cleaning by ground crew over time, etc., would be uneven and streaky, and less consistent in appearance between new and in-service aircraft. + In every case, the area extends well forward of the windscreen. How would that tie to the cleaning system?

Good question! I guess the one closest to being in service is JG 6's A-9 "Red 5." Those photos were taken just after it had been flown from Liberec to Furth and surrendered, the color one above after the caked-on Czech mud had been hosed off. The JaPo book has 15 photos of "Red 5." None show the serial number, but the typical NDW details are present. The angled dark area could almost be interpreted as a clear coating, perhaps with a small amount of tinted paint mixed in. The JaPo book has photos of another NDW-built A-8 from JG 6 surrendered at Furth, "Red 7," serial 961198. To my eye - unlike the later NDW A-8 (serial 961243 best as I can make it out?), atop the Mistel in the photos posted above - it has no trace of the angled dark area.

I can't disagree with your observations...except that so far I have found these distinctive, full-height angled dark areas ONLY on late, NDW-built, FW 190A's and F's. Which suggests to me that - odd as it all seems - they were purposefully done. I suspect the dirty panel lines above "Yellow (?) 4's" wing root are remnants of exhaust staining that has been cleaned off, but clung around these joints due to the uneven fit that you mention. They are not visible in any of the previous pics, but most of those appear to be machines that have seen less use.

Another interesting example. No serial visible, but the grooved windscreen frame and gun cover corner without bump (blue arrows), plus the wide wood prop, confirm it's a late NDW A-9 or F-9. Note two differences from the pics above: a rather haphazard application of the dark angled fuselage area, and the very dark paint at the wing root and fairing (red arrow). Might the latter support the idea it all had to do with controlling exhaust stains? This photo was posted by SafetyDad in an earlier thread here on detailing the Fw 190A-9:

There is at least a 99% chance that you are correct, of course. And yet...the idea that some fellow found a little fun in the middle of a collapsing Nazi hellscape rather appeals to me!

FWIW: a color photo of A-9 "Red 5" above, also from one of JaPo's books. The angled dark area is less obvious in the glare from this angle. This well-worn machine has several other interesting details.