Best 109E in 1/72

[Stressy]

Currently, which of the Bf109e  models in 1/72 is the one to go for?

[Duncan B]

In my opinion you have 2 choices, Tamiya or ICM. The Tamiya kit is a little beauty but it has a problem in that the fuselage is a couple of mm too short. The ICM kit looks very much to be a clone of the Tamiya kit but the fuselage length has been corrected (you can see on the inside of the fuselage parts where the alteration has been made). The ICM kit's detail is a little softer than the very crisp detail on the Tamiya kit but is stilll more than adequate in 1/72.

 

I have built multiples of both and to be honest on casual viewing I can't tell which is which, if I get up close I can see the tell-tale panel line on the Tamiya kit but it isn't a big deal.

 

The Tamiya kit, note the distance between the vertical panels where the yellow 2 is just behind the canopy, they should be the same separation as the other vertical panels.

 

The ICM kit, note the distance between the first and second panels behind the cockpit is the same as the others on this kit (sorry about the poor quality photo but you can see what I'm on about)

 

Duncan B

[lasermonkey]

Duncan has pretty much summed up the differences between the ICM and Tamiya kits. Many years ago, back when the ICM kit first appeared, I built both kits side by side for an online review. I think it is fair to say that the ICM kit is "heavily inspired" by the Tamiya Emil! yes, the detail is softer on the ICM kit and some parts won't go together without modification, but once done, I do think it captures the lines better. You may notice the difference when you come to put the decals on, as the difference in the alignment of the fuselage sections may make the positioning of the markings look a little odd on the Tamiya kit in reference to these panel lines.

 

On the two ICM E-3s I have built the canopies were truly awful and I found them to be unusable. They were poorly shaped and somewhat cloudy. I have heard others say that theirs were ok, but I haven't built any since. The E-4 canopy was absolutely fine.

 

Interestingly, when it came to the kit stencil decals, whilst those in the Tamiya kit were much sharper in detail, the ICM ones looked somehow more realistic on the model, being quite subtle in comparison.

 

This is what they look like together. The white-nosed Emil is the Tamiya kit.

 

Bottom line is that I'd still build both.

 

Cheers,

Mark.

[72modeler]

 

@lasermonkey

Mark,

 

Your photos and description show the error in the Tamiya kit perfectly- I had always thought the error was ahead of the fin. I have so many Hasegawa and Tamiya 'E' kits, I'm wondering if the cross sections are compatible, if I couldn't remove the narrow section from a Tamiya kit and replace it with the proper section from the Hasegawa kit? Or maybe just cut at the aft most panel line of the too narrow section and put in a plasticard spacer? I guess what I am after is making use of the sharper detailing on the Tamiya kit. What are your thoughts? I do have two of the ICM kits- maybe I should just shut up and build them, using the better detail parts of my Tamiya kits, of which I have four! Decisions, decisions! (If this were a civil project, I know how @Moa would do it, but I'm not nearly the 'plastic surgeon' that he is!)

Mike

[Wm Blecky]

I've read (damned if I can find where now) that while it is true that ICM is pretty much a clone of the Tamiya kit and they have lengthened the fuselage, apparently, they lengthened it incorrectly.  I'm going to try and find where I read that and will share it here. 

 

I used the ICM kit as a "guide" to lengthen a Tamiya 109 kit.   A little more work, but I was not keen on the soft details of the ICM kit.  I had also experienced some difficulties getting the ICM prop assembly to sit correctly in the ICM nose, so I used the Tamiya parts which fit like a glove.

[Bedders]

Any votes for the Airfix? And if not, why not (disclaimer: I don't know much about 109s but I've been given an Airfix kit).

 

Justin

Edited May 15, 2020 by Bedders

[Bonhoff]

6 minutes ago, Bedders said:

Any votes for the Airfix? And if not, why not (disclaimer: I don't know much about 109s but I've been given an Airfix kit).

 

Justin

Just built the Airfix one - I enjoyed the build (First 1/72nd 109 in 45 years) but whether it's better than the Tamiya or ICM is up to the experts. 

 

IanJ 

[Work In Progress]

The 1/72 Airfix one is a thoroughly decent little kit in my opinion - the 2012 tooling onwards. You have to be quite careful not to accidentally buy the older tooling as it was released as late as 2010 in a current-look red box and there are quite a few knocking around the second hand market

Edited May 15, 2020 by Work In Progress

[Graeme H]

For me, it's all about cost, I can get the Tamiya and Airfix ones for about 25% less than the ICM one (go Figure), I do have 3 Airfix ones, but not built one yet, but just looking in the box, I have painted the interior on one, so must have had plans.

As others have said the detail on the ICM one is soft, I still have 2 unbuilt ones I got back when they were much cheaper.

 

If you are in the UK, then the ICM kit will be much cheaper, but as also said the canopy in the ICM kit is rubbish as it is in all of mine.

Seeing as it bears a very close similarity to the Tamiya kit  I used a Falcon vacformed canopy with no problem.

 

Just had a look at the Airfix one, as said it seems very decent, and curiously the fuselage has a narrower panel just behind the cockpit, almost matching the Tamiya one, but is slightly longer, maybe 05 of a millimetre or less, the overall length is slightly longer though.   Seeing as the Airfix supposedly do Lidar scanning, I would give them the nod on accuracy, but there is really not much in it.