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BODENPLATTE Fw 190D-9 & Bf 109G-6/14 - 1:48 Eduard Limited Edition


Julien

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BODENPLATTE Fw 190D-9 & Bf 109G-6/14

1:48 Eduard Limited Edition

 

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For this limited edition boxing the kits are focused on German aircraft that participated in the Operation Bodenplatte on January 1, 1945. This was an attempt by the Luftwaffe to gain air superiority over the stalled Ardennes battlefield. The operation achieved surprise and initial success, however it ultimately failed. While many allied aircraft were destroyed on the ground actual aircrew casualties were light and most of the losses of aircraft were easily replaced. This would be the last strategic operation mounted by the Luftwaffe in WWII. This boxing contains two full kits, PE and masks (not shown).

 

BF 109G-14A/S

This edition from Eduard is the very very first release of Bf 109G-14/AS version in this scale. 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-14 was brought into service at a crucial time for the Axis forces, as the Allies pushed inland from the beachhead at Normandy, and it had an improved water injection system that gave the engine extra performance, plus the new clear-vision Erla-Haube canopy as standard.  It was also an attempt to standardise the design to ease the job of construction, which had become decentralised due to the ferocity of the bombardment of the industrial areas by the Allied bombers at that stage of the war.  As a result, few sub-variants were made of the G-14 even though over 5,000 were built, with command fighters and high-altitude variants the main exceptions, but the U4 had a high powered 30mm MK108 cannon fitted through the engine and firing through the centre of the prop.

 

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At the start of the build the modeller will need to decide to build the G-14 or the G-14/AS as two different fuselage sprues are in the box for both aircraft. Once the is done construction starts in the cockpit, which has a number of PE controls added to the floor, and a full set of PE instruments that are ready to add to the painted cockpit, as well as the fuel line part that is supplied on the clear sprue because it has a glass section as it runs through the cockpit to allow the pilot easy access for checking if there's fuel getting to the engine.  A choice of humps between the pilots knees cater for the cannon fitted U4 sub-variants, and a full set of painted crew belts are supplied on the PE fret, plus rudder pedals for good measure.  More PE is attached to the cockpit sidewalls, and with all that glued and painted you can close up the fuselage around it, not forgetting the retractable tail wheel used in one of the decal options, with a spinner back-plate fitted to the front of the fuselage, and the exhaust stubs with their slide-moulded hollow tips inserted from inside into their slots.  The nose cannon insert, supercharger intake and cannon bulges in front of the windscreen fit into their respective areas, and a set of flame deflectors made from PE are added over the exhaust stacks to prevent blinding the pilot in low light flying.

 

The G-14 had a couple of options for the tail fin, with the increased use of non-strategic wood, so the fin base is moulded to the fuselage, while the tip is one of two separate choices, with a straight rudder hinge, or the more familiar cranked hinge-line.  The fixed tail wheel for four of the decal options is fitted to a recess under the tail at this point too.  The wings are full span underneath, and depending on your decal choice you may need to open up some holes for a centre-line rack and on the port wing for the forward-raked antenna carried by most decal options.  The wheel bay sides are modular and mate with the inner surface of the upper wings to give an excellent level of detail once finished.  A small pair of rectangular panel lines are scribed into the fuselage just in front of the windscreen using a PE template that is provided on the sheet, and a pair of teardrop masks are supplied for the wingtip lights, which are moulded into the wing, but can easily be replaced by cutting out the area and fitting some clear acrylic sheet of a suitable thickness, then sanding it to shape and polishing it back to clarity.  A depression depicting the bulb can be drilled in the clear part before gluing to further enhance the look if you feel minded.  Separate leading-edge slats, ailerons and flaps are supplied, with the latter fitting around the radiator bays under the wing, which have PE grilles front and rear.  A scrap diagram shows the correct orientation of the parts to ensure that both layers align correctly as per the real thing.

 

The narrow-track landing gear consists of a single strut with moulded-in oleo scissor, a captive cover that glues against it, and the two-part tyre with separate hubs on each side.  A choice of radial or smooth tread is offered with no decal options suggested for each, so check your references, or just make a random choice.  The legs fit to scokets in the wheel bays, and horn balances are fitted to the ailerons, the antennae under the wing are added, and a small PE access panel is glued under the fuselage behind the wing trailing edge.

 

Before fitting the canopy, the clear gunsight must be partially painted and fitted to the top of the instrument panel, and a pair of PE grab handles are attached to the inside of the windscreen, which should be partially painted RLM66 inside or outside before the exterior colours.  The canopy opener also has PE parts added plus the pilot's head armour and an aerial on the rear, with a PE retaining wire included for posing the canopy open.  A manual starter handle is also present in case you wanted to show your G-14 in a more candid pose on the ground.  The prop is a single part and is sandwiched by the back plate and spinner before being inserted into the hole in the front of the fuselage.

 

Two styles of additional fuel tank are supplied, one with a flat bottom edge for ground clearance, and the other with a smoother exterior. These fit on a rack that sits on the centreline for two of the markings options, a rudder trim actuator is fitted to three of the options, and a small twig antennae is fitted to all options with a tiny circular base, both of which are made of PE.

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Conclusion

These are superb kits from Eduard, and they are priced well, considering the detail and markings options included.  They don't bother with novelties such as magnets to hold cowlings in place, but if you should perchance want to show off your engine, you can get a superbly detailed resin one separately and those that don't want to show off their engines don't have to pay for parts they aren't going to use.  The G is my personal favourite, so I'm more than happy to see another one from Eduard.

 

Very highly recommended.

 

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Review sample courtesy of

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Fw 190D-9

This edition from Eduard is a reboxing of their original kit from 2011, and depicts a late airframe, and in this boxing the aircraft have been fitted with Ta.152 tails, which is suggested by some to be due to a shortage of the correct Dora tail.  It is noticeable because it has a more sloped leading edge and less square profile.  

 

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Construction starts with the cockpit, and here the majority of the PE is used to upgrade the instrument panel and side consoles. The styrene parts have detail on already, which must be removed if you use the PE, and the areas to be removed are helpfully marked in red on the instructions. The instructions are typical Eduard style, leaving no vagaries as to the location of parts. Forward of the cockpit is the nose machine gun bay, which can be detailed with a large number of parts if it is to be left open, or with the omission of the MGs and their ammo boxes, the bay can be closed up with the use of a pair of MG stubs that glue into the bay cover. As the engine ancillary units (including the super-charger and engine mounts) are in the same bay as the MGs, leaving it open also shows off the nicely detailed parts.

 

The main part of the engine is not depicted in this kit, but the exhaust stacks are mounted from the inside of the fuselage in their own recesses, and are held in place by the front bulkhead of the MG bay. The detailer will want to open up the exhaust stubs to add a little realism here, or stump up a few shekels for the resin parts that are available from Eduard. Once these are installed, the modeller can close up the fuselage after choosing which type of tail wheel to use, depending on which tail unit the fuselage has. Eduard are helpful in providing a key to which type to use based upon the paint schemes.

 

The wing underside is a single piece unit, with a long spar running along the back of the landing gear bay, to which additional ribs are added to detail the gear bays themselves. The wing mounted cannons go through the bays here, and must be added at this point due to their tapering shape. It may be wise to chop off the last section and replace it later in the build with a piece of fine tubing if you are a tad clumsy like this reviewer. The upper halves of the wings can have the cannon bays left open to expose the breeches of the 151/20 cannons, or if left closed, a blanking section can be substituted. The flaps are moulded integrally, but the flying surfaces can be posed at an angle to give a little extra visual interest, and are added after the wing halves are joined. The whole wing is then offered up to the underside of the fuselage, so test fit before applying glue.  The rear empennage is standard, irrespective of which tail you have opted for, and the rudder for both tails is poseable, while the elevators fit to the fuselage with a large attachment tab, so should stay horizontal, but check anyway.

 

The landing gear on the 190 is long and canted in slightly, which is shown by the helpful diagram, and the modeller has a choice of two wheel types here with either smooth or treaded tyres. The wheels themselves should be installed at an 8o angle to the oleo strut, which would be fun to measure if it weren't for the 1:1 scale drawing that is provided. The retraction jacks fix within the bay to large contact points, so a strong landing gear should be the result. The modeller can choose to pose the cowling flaps open or closed, which are provided as separate rings that slot in behind the main cowling onto a large cylindrical spacer. The super-charger intake is installed at this point, as are the gun troughs on the forward fuselage. The nose gun bay cover is installed, along with the wing mounted gun bay covers, which if modelled closed, receive a nice set of PE piano type hinges once installed.

 

Although the clear sprue includes four canopies, only two are actually used, with the choice being open or closed. The head-rest & armour is installed in the canopy, as well as a tiny PE grab handle, and a standard windscreen mounts over the coaming to complete construction, other than choosing to mount a bomb or fuel tank on the centreline pylon. 

 

 

Decals
This really is the main reason to get this boxing (along with the first AS kit release), with 8 decal options. There are 4 for the 109 and 4 for the 190.There are also a sheet of stencils for each aircraft. Decals are in house fro Eduard and should pose no problems.

 

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  • Bf 109 G-14/AS, W. Nr. 784986, flown by Ofw. Paul Schwerdtfeger, 11./JG 6 Bissel, Germany, January 1st, 1945
  • Bf 109G-14/AS, W. Nr. 784993, flown by Uffz. Herbert Maxis, 13./JG 53, Stuttgart - Echterdingen, Germany, January 1st, 1945
  • Bf 109G-14, W. Nr. 781183, flown by Uffz. Werner Zetzschke, 4./JG 4, Darmstadt - Griesheim, Germany, January 1st, 1945
  • Bf 109 G-14/U4, W. Nr. 512335, flown by Othmar Heberling, 2./JG 77, Dortmund, Germany, January 1st, 1945

 

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  • Fw 190D-9, W. Nr. 600161, flown by Gefr. Hans-Karl Götz, 7./JG 26, Plantlünne, Germany, January 1st, 1945
  • Fw 190D-9, W. Nr. 500093, flown by Ogefr. Dieter Kragelöh, 3./JG 26, Fürstenau, Germany, January 1st, 1945
  • Fw 190D-9, W. Nr.210194, Fw. Werner Hohenberg, Stab I./JG 2, Merzhausen, Germany January 1st, 1945
  • Fw 190D-9, W. Nr. 210079, flown by Lt. Theo Nibel, 10./JG 54, Varrelbusch, Germany, January 1st, 1945

 

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Conclusion
This is a welcome release from Eduard for those who like the aircraft which flew in the last major operation of the Luftwaffe brought together in one boxing.

 

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Review sample courtesy of

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27 minutes ago, KingTiger435 said:

Was everything shown in pictures come in the kit? (I didn't read all of what you wrote).

Yes you get both kits, photo etch and masks. There are 2 different fuselages for the 109 for the G14 & G-14/AS

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57 minutes ago, Julien said:

Yes you get both kits, photo etch and masks. There are 2 different fuselages for the 109 for the G14 & G-14/AS

Thats a really good deal for a kit then, i saw it online for around £75

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50 minutes ago, KingTiger435 said:

Thats a really good deal for a kit then, i saw it online for around £75

Only £58 here in the uk (plus postage)

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1 hour ago, KingTiger435 said:

Wow I must not have checked it well then, that is an amazing deal, shame no detailed engines though.

Eduard sell the super detailed engines separately

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  • 8 months later...

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