Eduard Bf.109-G Engine (648406 for Tamiya 1:48)

[Mike]

Bf.109-G Engine (648406 for Tamiya)

1:48 Eduard Brassin

 

 

Tamiya's new Bf.109G-6 gets the Eduard treatment in stages (we reviewed some of the earlier sets here), and this time it's the engine compartment.  As usual with Eduard's larger resin sets, they arrive in the oblong Brassin box, with the resin parts safely cocooned on dark grey foam inserts, and the instructions sandwiched wrapped around, providing extra protection.

 

 

Inside are four bags of resin in two shades of grey, a single sheet of Photo-Etch (PE) brass in a separate bag with backing card, and the instruction booklet, which in this instance is fairly substantial consisting of nine sides of folded A4.  The set includes the gun bays in the nose, and begins with the construction of the main engine block, which has an amazing number of PE and resin parts added, even before you have left the first page of the instruction.  The oil tank, engine mounts and turbocharger are installed too, with the gun bay next, linked with various hoses and bracketry.  Looked on as a whole it seems quite daunting, but if it is like any other Eduard engine set, it will fall together once you have gone through making up sub-assemblies and painted them.  The level of detail present and the care taken to explain it all thoroughly in pictorial format is stunning, with additional wiring needed from your stocks to do the whole thing justice and mimic the layout of the real thing.

 

The installation requires the removal of the front part of the fuselage, which is where the magnets are housed that allow the stock kit to have removable panels.  I find that a bit of a gimmick myself, as I can barely handle any of my kits without breaking the small parts off, so wouldn't want to be fiddling with the model after completion anyway.  With the new resin engine showing off so much detail, I wouldn't want to hide it away anyhow!  The rear of the gun bay latches neatly onto a couple of depressions on the kit, and then it is a case of wiring it in, and replacing the kit cowling parts with new resin ones that depict the parts in-scale, and with greater detail.  The lower cowl is depicted unlatched on one side and swung down, which is held in place by PE tongues, while the upper cowling is opened on both sides gull-wing style, with a 19mm wire prop (from your own stock) holding them in place.  An optional resin tropical filter is included if it is required, which has some detailed PE mounts to affix it to the cowling in front of the intake.

 

Conclusion

This will not be a "quick slap it together" upgrade, but if you take the time to paint and assemble it correctly, it will provide your model with mind-blowing detail that simply isn't possible in styrene.

 

 

Very highly recommended.

 

 

Review sample courtesy of