Special Hobby Messerschmitt Bf.109E-1/B ‘Hit & Run Raiders’ (SH72474) 1:72

[Mike]

Messerschmitt Bf.109E-1/B ‘Hit & Run Raiders’ (SH72474)

1:72 Special Hobby

 

 

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 Spitfire.  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 Eduard in your favourite scale of 1:72. It arrives in a modest top-opening box that has the usual red/white/grey theme, and inside are two sprues of grey styrene, a clear sprue, a bag of resin parts, decal sheet and the instruction booklet printed in colour on glossy paper, 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 various 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 the cockpit floor, adding a bulkhead at the front along with the rudder pedals.  The sloped aft 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 decal belts are slotted into the rear of the cockpit, and the instrument panel is made from a detailed styrene backing part, which receives two dial decals to finish it off.  It is then glued to the nose gun bay floor, which is painted up and attached to the front of the cockpit on top of 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 styrene extras, painting things as you go along, then a pair of inserts are positioned 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 all the bays, the main 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 and roof surfaces are painted RLM02, also painting, then installing the radiators and ducting of the chin intake.  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 added after painting the interior and adding decals to the front and rear faces of the radiators to depict the matrices.  The fuselage and wings are brought together, adding the leading-edge slats, which should be deployed under their own weight when parked.  The canopy can be posed open or closed, consisting of a fixed windscreen and rear section that accepts the antenna, then the canopy opener is prepared by inserting a choice of two styles of head armour inside, and deciding whether to glue it closed or open to the starboard side, held in place by a retaining strap of your own making if you feel adventurous.  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, 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, leaving the resin palette and four bombs that each have four “screamers” fixed to the fins before they are glued to the underside of the fuselage with the assistance of a grey outline on the final diagram.

 

 

Markings

There are three options included on the decal sheet with variations on the early war high demarcation scheme, having custom mottle or overspray pattern differentiating them.  From the box you can build one of the following:

 

• Black 8, 5./JG77, Pilot Uffz. Heinrich Brunsmann, Almyros Airfield, Mainland Greece, April 1941
• Yellow 10, II./JG54, occupied France, October 1940
• Black Triangle+G, 2./JG27, occupied France, November 1940

 

 

 

The decals appear to be printed by Eduard and are in good registration, sharpness, and colour density, with a thin gloss carrier film cut close to the printed areas.  I mention Eduard because from 2021, the carrier film on their decals can be coaxed away from the printed part of the decal after they have been applied, effectively rendering them carrier film free, making the completed decals much thinner and more realistic, and obviating the need to apply successive coats of clear varnish to hide the edges of the carrier film.  It’s a great step further in realism from my point of view, and saves a good quantity of precious modelling time into the bargain.

 

 

Conclusion

A great collaboration, and the additional resin makes for an interesting model.  You don’t see too many 109s carrying bombs.  Did I mention the detail is excellent?

 

Highly recommended.

 

 

Review sample courtesy of

[Hook]

Another great 'un! All three schemes look great.

 

Cheers,

 

Andre