Valiant Wings Airframe & Miniature 5 Early Series (to E-9 including T) and 11 Bf.109 Late Series (F-K & Z)

[Mike]

Airframe & Miniature 5 Early Series (to E-9 including T) and 11 Bf.109 Late Series (F-K & Z)

A Complete Guide To The Luftwaffe's Famous Fighter

Valiant Wings Publishing

 

There won't be many folks that have an interest in WWII aviation that would say "Bf.what now?", and a great many of us have a fondness for this aircraft, despite what it represented at the time.  They are just pieces of metal and rubber, afterall.  The Bf.109, a product of the Messerschmitt works was a pre-war design that went on to serve valiantly (excuse pun) to the end of the war, and went through many variants, including a Zwilling twin, and a T that was supposed to serve on the still-born aircraft carrier Graf Zeppelin.  Even though it was supposed to be replaced on a number of occasions by supposedly better aircraft, it soldiered on alongside the Fw.190 to the very end, and as a Spanish Casa, and in other foreign service even beyond.  A few original airframes still survive, but if you see a 109 in the sky at an airshow, it's most likely the previously mention Casa that sports a Merlin engine, with exhausts high on the modified cowling.

 

This is a series of two books, the first of which covered the early 109s and was released in 2015, now joined by its sibling that covers the later marks up until the end of production.  They also cover the oddities mentioned above, which will be of interest to anyone that is interested in the almost or what-if possibilities of this versatile airframe.  I can't seem to find our original review of Number 5, so in the interests of completeness, and the fact that the early edition has been republished due to demand, packed with even more information and photos.

 

Both books are perfect bound in a card jacket and printed on glossy paper with spot colour throughout.  The author for each one is the prolific Richard A Franks, with Richard J Caruana providing the colour profiles as usual with this interesting series.  Pasted to the rear of each volume are a set of plans that will be of great use to any modeller that likes to compare and contrast their plastic replicas with profiles and plans.

 

 

Airframe & Miniature 5, Bf.109 V1 to E-9 including T-series – ISBN: 978-0-9567198-7-4

 

 

Consisting of 208 pages, it details the development of the 109 from early design work, prototypes, initial production and the early marks that saw service during the expansion of the Reich, and the Nazi's "dry-run" of their Blitzkreig warfare during the Spanish Civil War, and finally in the early part of WWII when it was tested against the British Spitfire and found to be a reasonable match during some modes of flight, but in need of improvement if it was to keep up with the steady development of the fabulous Merlin engine and the Supermarine engineers constantly improving on the original design.   The pages are broken down as follows:

 

 

 

 

Airframe Chapters

Evolution	10
Bf.109B series	14
Bf.109C & D series	26
Bf.109E prototypes	33
Bf.109E production	41
Bf.109 T-series, projects and one-off conversions	55
Camouflage & markings	61
Colour Profiles	81

 

Miniature Chapters

Bf.109V1 to E-9 and T-series kits	92
Building a selection	108
Building a collection	126
In detail: The Bf.109	148

 

Appendices

Bf.109V1 to E-9 (including T-series) kit list	191
Bf.109V1 to E-9 (including T-series) accessories list	195
Bf.109V1 to E-9 (including T-series) decal list	199
Bibliography	207

 

Fold-Outs

Scale plans – V1, B-0	Fold Out A
Scale plans – D-1, E-1, E7 Trop, T-2	Fold Out B

 

 

 

 

 

Airframe & Miniature Volume 11 – Bf.109 Late Series (F to K including the Z-series) ISBN: 978-0-9957773-0-9

 

 

With an expanded page count up to 240 pages, this volume documents the struggle to develop the 109 past the point that it probably would have seen if it weren't for the changing tides of war and the whirlwind that Nazi Germany reaped after its failure to conquer Britain, and the declaration of war by the American after Pearl Harbour shook them from their isolationist reverie.  The changes involved many dead-ends, including V-tail, retractable oil cooler, skis, wide-track undercarriage and just about any kind of aerodynamic of mechanical updates that the engineers thought could give them advantage over the Spitfire and eventually the Mustang, Thunderbolt and many other late war heavy fighters. 

 

 

 

The page breakdown is as follows:

 

Airframe Chapters

Evolution – Bf.109F Series	24
Evolution – Bf.109G Series	41
Evolution – Bf.109H, K and Z series	62
Camouflage and Markings and Colour Profiles	69

Miniature Chapters

Bf.109F to G series Kits		110
Building a Selection		119
Building a Collection		135
In Detail: The Bf.109F to K		166
	Cockpit & Canopy	167
	Fuselage	177
	Engine, Radiator, Cowls & Propeller	179
	Supercharger Intake	182
	Cowl Types	187
	Oil, Fuel, Coolant, Oxygen, Hydraulic & GM-1 and/or MW50 Systems	190
	Wings & Flight Controls	194
	Tail	199
	Undercarriage	203
	Armament, Ordnance & Drop Tanks	206
	Camera, Radio & Radar Systems	216
	Miscellaneous	221

Appendices

Bf.109F to K Series Kit List	222
Bf.109F to K Series Accessory List	228
Bf.109F to K Series Decal List	233
Bibliography	239

 

1:48 Scale Plans Fold-Out

 

 

 

Conclusion

As we have come to expect from this series, indeed any of the Valiant Wings publications, the text is interesting, the photos of high quality, and the drawings are crisp with lots of informative captions.  The colour profiles are of high quality, and the isometrics that show the differences between marks are my personal favourites.  There is plenty to interest the aviation enthusiast as well as the modeller, but the modelling section is great for us plastic fiends, with models of the highest quality being showcased with tips and tricks to obtain similar results (talent willing!), with all major scales represented from many manufacturers.

 

This series has become a great source of knowledge for those of us that don't know everything already, and with them in hand, you are poised to do a better job of your latest 109 project, especially if you're looking at detail.

 

Very highly recommended.

 

Review sample courtesy of