Mike Posted March 8, 2017 Share Posted March 8, 2017 Bf.109G-2 ProfiPACK 1:48 Eduard The G variant of the 109, colloquially known as the Gustav was one of the primary fighters available to the Luftwaffe during the closing years of WWII, and saw extensive active service, all the while being upgraded to combat the increasing Allied superiority in the air. Happily for the Allies, the supply of experienced pilots was fast running out, so as good as the upgrades were, they couldn't make an appreciable difference to the outcome. The G-2 differed from the initial G-1 insofar as it eschewed the pressurised cockpit, and it was sometimes fitted with different head armour for the pilot. The Kit The G-2 is the latest of Eduard's series of Gustavs, which seems to be expanding nicely, and that suits me as the G is aesthetically my favourite 109. The Profipak boxing contains extra goodies for the more advanced/adventurous/better off modeller, and makes a well-rounded package overall. Given the aforementioned differences between the sub-variants, there's not a huge amount of differences between the airframes. The cockpit is adorned with most of the coloured PE to upgrade the detail, and the first deviation from the earlier G-6 is the complete engine cowling moulded into the fuselage, with only the gun troughs added from the inside. Small PE hinges and flame damping panels are still added from PE, and the intake filter for the tropicalized variant has a pair of PE meshes that require bending to fit the cylindrical housing. It has a pair of small stays added from the PE set to stabilise it in the airflow, which is a nice touch. The flying surfaces are all mobilised and capable of being depicted deflected one way or t'other, and Eduard have now released a set of hyper-detailed flying surfaces (648310) for the G series, which we'll be reviewing shortly. The wingtip lights have been moulded into the wing parts, so a small mask has been included to help you cut a neat demarcation between the wing skin and the light, unless you are going to remove the styrene and replace it with clear? The radiators have PE mesh skins, as does the chin-mounted oil-cooler, the flaps consist of upper and lower elements just like the real aircraft, and there is a choice of tyres for your decal options. Another choice is offered for the clear windscreen part, with a common square profile canopy and fixed rear portion with the earlier larger aerial mast, which has the usual post and PE attachment for your choice of rigging material at the tail-end. There is a canopy stay wire included with the PE, which is a great addition that adds realism, and is common throughout the G-series Profipaks IIRC. With the prop added, it's just a case of choosing whether or not to add the additional armament in the shape of underslung cannons in gondola cowlings outboard of the landing gear bays. These are also available as Brassin replacements (reviewed here) if you are going for detail and perhaps wanting to leave open the access hatches to show off the cannon breeches. Supplied on yellow kabuki tape, a sheet of pre-cut masks supply you with a full set of masks for the canopy, with compound curved handled by using frame hugging masks, while the highly curved gaps are in-filled with either liquid mask or offcuts from the background tape. In addition you get a set of hub masks for the wheels, allowing you to cut the demarcation perfectly with little effort. Markings As is often the case with Profipak boxings, there are five decal options included on the larger decal sheet, and a set of stencils on the other sheet, which will allow you to build one of the following: Bf.109G-2/Trop 2./JG 77, Matmata, Tunisia, Early 1943. Bf.109G-2/R-6/Trop, W.Nr.13916, Fw. Hans Döbrich, 6./JG 5, Alakurtti, Finland Feb 1943. Bf.109G-2/R6, Lt. Walter Krupinski, 6./JG 52, Maykop, Soviet union, October 1942. Bf.109G-2/R6 W.Nr. 13949, Mjr. Hans Hahn, II./JG 54, Rjelbitzy, Soviet Union, Jan 1943. Bf.109G-2/R6, W.nr.13633, Hptm. Wolf-Dieter Huy, 7./JG 77, Tanyet Harun, Egypt, Oct 1942. The stencils are shown on a separate placement guide on the back page of the booklet, and both sheets are printed in-house on their by-now familiar vibrant blue paper, with good colour density, register and sharpness. In use these decals settle down well with a little solution, and the carrier film is closely cropped and slightly glossy. As always, there are some removable Swastikas at the corner of the main sheet, and some two-part decals that can be made into a Swastika by the modeller in territories where that's a difficult subject. Conclusion A very nice rendition of the G-2,with suitably disparate schemes that should appeal to many out of the box. The surface detail on these kits is by now legendary, and the addition of the PE just improves on the basic kit, which is already excellent. Highly recommended. Review sample courtesy of 3 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JasonC Posted March 9, 2017 Share Posted March 9, 2017 Is there a dedicated G-2 fuselage sprue? Or is there some sort of filler part to deal with the recesses for the cowl bulges? cheers, Jason Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
treker_ed Posted March 9, 2017 Share Posted March 9, 2017 (edited) Just had a quick look on the Eduard website - these are the wrong fuselage sprues! Here's a copy of the picture straight from the Eduard site : This ties in with the description that Mike has also given in the text. Regards John Edited March 9, 2017 by treker_ed 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mike Posted March 9, 2017 Author Share Posted March 9, 2017 Yep - brain let me down again. I've just replaced the errant pic with the proper one 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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