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I built this one a while back but never got to posting it. This Bf 109 was flown by Lt. Erich Schmidt of JG53 . Basically it's the new(er) tool Airfix kit with the prop from the old tool one. Thanks for watching! Luka

I got the Galland Eduard Bf109E and had a think about the subject. I saw the Possum Werks decals that covered the dogfight that ended in the demise of Luftwaffe top scoring pilot Maj Helmut Wick, Flt Lt John Dundas, his wingman PO Paul A Ballion. Perfect, I thought, 2 subjects in 1 go, I click buy.....then I looked at the date of Dundas'/Wicks' final battle....28 Nov 1940......after the official battle dates....not wanting to feel the wrath of the GB moderators, I looked at other options and with Helmut Wick he was promoted to Major just before the end of the battle, its debatable if his aircraft was repainted by 30 Oct.... So I sourced some other decals of his aircraft Wr 5344, before his promotion. He was the leading Luftwaffe ace the day he died, there are lots of old black and white pics of his aircraft, so thought I'd give it a go. Plenty of history here: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Helmut_Wick https://www.luftwaffe.cz/wick.html Never built Eduard, so any tips on this kit appreciated - will be built in flight so I have looked closely at the instructions ref the engine cover! Never done any mottling before so had a play over the weekend. The mottle on Wr5344 is really tight and what I would call 'dirty' so a sponge seems to be the best approach as per around the hole on the F111 wing! Nice 1/32 build here: https://forum.largescaleplanes.com/index.php?/topic/71809-eduard-bf-109-e-4-major-helmut-wick-1940/ http://falkeeins.blogspot.com/2009/12/helmut-wick-his-me-109-wnr-5344.html https://www.asisbiz.com/il2/Bf-109E/JG2-Stab/pages/Messerschmitt-Bf-109E4-Geschwader-Stab-JG2-Helmut-Wick-France-Oct-1940-0A.html Hope fully an interesting subject.

Hello out there. Can you help? I have some old but still workable decals from Aeromaster (sheet 72-003) and I want to use them to construct a model of Bf109E-4B/B W.Nr. 5901 (7 + I) that was supposed to have crashed in Kent on 2nd October 1940. I will be using one of the AZ 'joy-pack' kits I got recently. It's the red cowling band that attracts as something a bit different ! The decal info sheet says that the aircraft was in 70/71/65 camouflage, or it may have been 74/75/65. What was it, as it was in that transition stage between schemes and Autumn ? So, any sage advice or definite knowledge ? I'm tempted to go with a transitional 74/75/65 scheme as it seems right for a tip-and-run fighter bomber in October. My Interweb searches have left me with nothing certain, other than some modellers have already had a go at the aircraft with varying degrees of success. FatFlyHalf

Hello folks, My lovely wife decided last weekend to spoil me and offered me Airfix’s Messerschmidt Bf109E-4 in 1/72 scale. As I’ve been a bit inactive in the WIP section, I decided to share that build with you and to provide a (hopefully) daily progress (well, today will cover the first two days of the build). Willing to have a white nose 109 in my collection for some time, I purchased Almark decal for early Bf109E over Europe and will go for the ‘white 5’. As usual, I started with a good bath in soapy water to remove any potential remaining grease from the mould. Airfix new 109E is a good kit and loads of builds and reviews can be found on the web. Planning to display the model with an open canopy, I decided to improve a bit the cockpit though. First thing was to remove the moulded belt from the seat. At the same time, the oval-ish hole for the seat belts was drilled in the back of the seat. I continued with the trim wheels next to the seat. To create those wheels, I used two different sizes of Punch&Dye. After some tries, I managed to get two reasonable circles. Two disks coming from the left over (inner circle from thz smaller size Punch&Dye) were then cut to replicate the three supporting branches and glued back into the larger circle. A small bit of plasticard was used as a support and everything was glued next to the seat. Finally, a small piece of ø1mm rod was added to form a lever. The work moved then to the side panels: on the left side, it was quite simple with only the throttle box with its lever to add (not the neatest detail I have ever made... 😧). The right side required more work. I started with the electrical distribution box made of a small rectangle of plasticard, using very small length of rod as switches. If you count them, there are a couple missing. But the idea here is not to be 100% accurate but to have a busy-looking cockpit as close as possible to the reality. Then is added a small box with a bit of copper wire for what was probably the control box for the fuel (identified with the colour yellow of the pipe). The next bit was a bit more challenging: the oxygen system. The kit provides it as a (very) thin shape moulded on the side of the inner fuselage. As, from my point of view, it is one of the most noticeable part of an early 109 cockpit, I decided to give it a bit more ‘fat’. For that, I started with a thin sheet of plasticard that I drilled following amesh I had drawn beforehand on the plastic. Once happy with the result (a few trials were required), I glued the obtained grid on a piece of sprue that had been shaped to give a ‘correct’ appearance. Looking at the picture, I realised that I could have used my sand stick a bit to clean the part. But looking with my eyes only, the result was satisfactory. To finish the oxygen system, a few bits of plastic rod, small plastic discs and thin copper wires were added. While the glue was drying, I moved on to the other parts that will require a layer of RLM02 paint. This includes the wing radiators that saw their inlet and outlet thinned down using a blade. The head armour plate was also thinned, using a sanding box this time. Once ready, RLM02 (Gunze H70) was sprayed and after a few hours drying, black, yellow, blue and white were hand brushed on the different details (after looking at the pictures, some touch-up are required...). So here it stops for today. Cheers, Antoine

Cripes... I just realized I don't think I have posted a complete model here, so here goes. This is the Eduard 1/48 Bf109E-4 Profipack and is the third aircraft I have completed since I got back into the hobby four years ago.