Mike Posted January 18, 2023 Share Posted January 18, 2023 Bf.109E-3 ProfiPACK (7032) 1:72 Eduard With almost 34,000 examples manufactured over a 10-year period, the Messerschmitt Bf.109 is one of the most widely produced aircraft in history and it saw active service in every theatre in which German armed forces were engaged. Initially designed in the mid-1930s, the Bf.109 shared a similar general arrangement with the Spitfire, employing monocoque construction and a V12 engine, albeit an inverted V with fuel injection rather than the carburettor used in the Spit. Initially designed as a lightweight interceptor, like many German types during WWII, the Bf.109 evolved beyond its original brief into a bomber escort, fighter bomber, night fighter, ground-attack and reconnaissance platform. The E variant, or Emil as it was more affectionately known was the first major revision of the original design, including an uprated engine and the attendant strengthening of the airframe that was required. It first saw service in the Legion Condor fighting in the Spanish civil war on the side of Nationalist forces of Military Dictator Franco, and then in the Battle of Britain where it came up against its nemeses the Supermarine Spitfire and Hawker Hurricane during the critical fight for the survival of the RAF and Britain, which was key to halting Operation Seelöwe, the invasion of Britain by the Nazis. Like the Spitfire it fought against, it was improved incrementally through different marks, the Emil was similarly tweaked to keep pace, with later variants having additional long-range tankage, plus structural improvements and a simpler squared-off canopy with clear frontal armour, but apart from various field modifications and a few low-volume sub-variants, it had reached the end of its tenure, and was phased out in favour of the Friedrich and later the Gustav. The Kit This is a reboxing of a recent kit in collaboration with Special Hobby in your favourite wee scale. It arrives in a modest top-opening box that has the ProfiPACK themed gold banner, and inside are two sprues of grey styrene, a fret of pre-painted nickel-plated Photo-Etch (PE), a sheet of pre-cut kabuki-style masking tape, two decal sheets and the instruction booklet printed in colour on glossy paper, and with profiles for the decal options on the rear pages. Detail is excellent, especially for the scale, and includes a lot of engraved panel lines and rivets in differing thickness and depths, as well as all the other recessed and raised details, plus engine and gun bays that you can expose as we’ve come to expect from Eduard and Special Hobby. Construction begins with nipping the ends off two raised lines on the cockpit front bulkhead, which is then glued to the floor along with a choice of styrene or PE rudder pedals, the latter shown being folded to assist you with the process. The sloped rear bulkhead is attached to the rear, and a box is made up in front of the bulkhead from three parts with details moulded on the sides. The seat and PE belts are slotted into the rear of the cockpit, and the instrument panel is made from the styrene backing part, which receives two sections of laminated PE along with some toggles and levers to detail it. It is then glued to the nose gun bay floor, which is prepared with a few PE parts installed on the diagonal ammo feeders for the cannons once the bay is attached to the front of the cockpit on the boxed in area. You can use a pair of barrel stubs on a cross-bar for the closed bay, or the full guns with breeches if you intend to leave the bay open. The engine is built around two halves, adding the serial decal and removing a small block of styrene from the rear before you add the ancillaries, supercharger and bell housing with horseshoe oil tank at the front, plus the two mounts and their braces on the sides. Before closing the fuselage halves, the cockpit interior sides are detailed with PE and styrene extras, painting things up as you go along, then a pair of inserts are places in the cowling behind the exhausts, the exhausts are inserted through their openings, and the engine, cockpit and tail-wheel are all trapped between them. If you plan on closing up all the bays, the top and gun bay cowlings can be glued in place along with the filter for the supercharger. At the rear, the rudder, elevators and their support struts are all installed on tabs and pins into their respective holes to ensure they are oriented correctly. The lower wings are full span, and the gear bay wall cut-outs are skinned with PE details, as are the surfaces of the radiators and the chin intake, which also gets skinned on each side of the trough that fits inside the fairing. The upper wings are brought in and glued over the lowers, and the three-section flying surfaces are installed on each trailing edge, with radiator fairings that have optional PE cooling vents glued over the cores. The fuselage and wings are mated together, adding the leading-edge slats, which should be deployed under their own weight when parked, and a gun barrel projecting from each wing. The canopy can be posed open or closed, consisting of a fixed windscreen that has PE detailing added, and rear section that accepts the antenna, then the canopy opener is prepared by inserting the head armour and a small PE lever inside, and deciding whether to glue it closed or open to the starboard side, held in place by a retaining strap made of PE. A scrap diagram shows how it should look from the front. The prop blades are moulded as one, and are sandwiched between the spinner and back-plate and inserted on the axle at the front of the fuselage, then all that is left to create are the main gear legs. Each leg is a single strut, and you should first remove the strap running down most of its length, replacing it with a PE brake hose, adding the captive bay door, and of course the wheel onto the short cross-axle. Another scrap diagram shows the correct orientation of the assemblies once complete. Fitting a pair of horn balances on the ailerons, and an L-shaped pitot probe under the port wing completes the plastic wrangling. Markings There are a generous six decal options on the sheet, with a variety of early war schemes to choose from. From the box you can build one of the following: W.Nr.1079, Ofw. Erich Rudorffer, 2./JG2, Baumont-le-Roger, France, September 1940 Oblt. August-Wilhelm Schumann, 5./JG52, Mannheim-Sandofen, Germany, November-December 1939 W.Nr.1380, Obstlt. Carl-Alfred Schumacher, CO of JG1, Jever, Germany, early 1940 Obstlt. Max Ibel, CO of JG27, Guines, France, September-October 1940 W.Nr.1271, Oblt. Helmut Heinz, CO of 4./JG77, Kristiandsand-Kjevik, Norway, September 1940 W.Nr.5058, Fw. Arthur Haase, 6./JG51, Marquise-West, France, August 1940 The decals are printed by Eduard and are in good registration, sharpness, and colour density, with a thin gloss carrier film cut close to the printed areas. The stencils are on a separate sheet, and are marked on a page of the booklet, separate from the rest of the markings to avoid confusion trying to read overly busy diagrams. Don’t forget that as of 2021, the carrier film from Eduard decals can be coaxed away from the printed part of the decal after they have been applied, effectively rendering them carrier-free, making the decals much thinner and more realistic, and obviating the need to apply successive coats of clear varnish to hide the edges of the film. It’s a great step further in realism from my point of view. Conclusion This is a highly detailed, comprehensive model of the early WWII variant of the Bf.109, complete with a good number of interesting schemes to choose from. Highly recommended. Review sample courtesy of 5 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Maginot Posted January 23, 2023 Share Posted January 23, 2023 The box art is exquisite. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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