Messerschmitt Bf 109F-2

[AnonymousAA74]

Messerschmitt Bf 109F-2

1:32 Hasegawa

The history of the Bf 109 is well trodden, and some of it is mentioned in the very recent Eduard review, but the ‘Friedrich’ was probably the most radical change to the initial Willy Messerschmitt fighter design, incorporating a new wing with modified slats, uprated Daimler Benz engine with smoother, more streamlined cowl and spinner, a retractable tail-wheel, and a reworked vertical tail fin, amongst other smaller changes such as shallower wing mounted radiators. This ‘F’ variant was developed around the beginning of WW2, and entered mainstream service around mid-1941, replacing the Emil in most theatres of combat.

Bf 109’s are like buses. You wait around ages for one, and then two turn up at once!

The Bf 109F-2 comes in the standard Hasegawa, sturdy top opening box with some great artwork of the Friedrich, depicting Hauptman Hans ‘Assi’ Han’s machine in flight. Inside the box, the first thing I notice is that the sprues aren’t individually bagged. Come on Hasegawa, these aren’t cheap kits, so at least protect the parts from scuffing! Luckily for this example, no parts were damaged in transit, although a couple were partially detached from the sprues. Sensibly, the clear sprue is bagged separately.

This kit contains 11 sprues of the now familiar light grey styrene, one small polythene sprue, 3 clear sprues, plus a small packet containing a small number of etched parts, pre-removed and fixed to a backing sheet. These parts make up the 4 metal stiffeners for the rear fuselage to tail joint. A standard folded instruction manual with 14 constructional sequences and a single decal sheet with 3 marking options complete the box contents. Where parts aren’t to be used, the instructions helpfully shade these parts out on the sprue plan.

The fuselage halves are now moulded as entire halves for all Hasegawa’s ‘F’ kits without the modular tail of the Gustav releases. The port fuselage side engine panel is moulded as a separate part to allow Hasegawa’s different kit configurations, and all external detail such as panel lining and access ports etc are refined and very crisp. As with other Hasegawa kits, the airframe is devoid of rivets, but this does allow you to add your own, should you wish. The interior cockpit wall detail is also nicely moulded with the same finesse, but, as in the previous ‘F’ I saw, ejector pin marks are again ruling the roost! As these are raised marks, and can be scraped down fairly easily, it shouldn’t cause any problems at all. Sidewall equipment does seem to be located over most, if not all of these areas, so dry fit first to conform that.

The rudder isn’t separate on this kit, but is moulded onto the fuselage and will take some surgery to pose it dynamically, should you wish to do so. Cockpit detail is excellent and quite fine in some areas. Looking at my limited reference, it also looks very accurate. I would try to replace the rudder pedals with some etch ones for that little extra realism. The cockpit seat looks quite odd to my eye. I know there was a little criticism of the seam on the F-4 release, and whilst these parts are available on this kit, they aren’t to be used. Instead, a one piece seat is the option for this kit, but the seat shape doesn’t look like anything I’ve seen on a 109. I do stand to be corrected, however. The instrument panel has finely engraved detail and the instruments are nicely moulded. I personally like to add my own instrument decals, and Hasegawa have included an instrument decal for this, if you wish to use it. I would perhaps make these into individual decals instead of the one part decal panel. Other cockpit parts have zero flash, and negligible seams on control stick etc.

The wing parts, including slats and flaps are moulded on a sprue which is carried over from the previous ‘G’ releases, and again, the ailerons are moulded integrally to the wing. Please check your references with regard to any panel lining etc, as we are assuming here that the ‘G’ is the same as the ‘F’. If there are changes, you may need to amend, if this is an issue to you personally. Wheel well detail is moulded into the inside of the upper wing and looks good according to my references. Inserts are available to fill in scalloped parts of this area which aren’t relevant to this version. Again, panel lines are excellent, and Hasegawa have perfectly matched the new parts of this kit to the standard and depth of detail of the older ‘G’ wing sprue.

One of the new ‘Friedrich’ sprues contains the horizontal tail surfaces, again moulded as one, with integral elevators. I find that disappointing as I like to set these myself. Depiction of the fabric and ribbing is excellent. The upper cowling and gun troughs look excellent and accurate to my eye, unlike some rather odd shaped ones seen on some releases. A pilot figure is supplied with three different type heads, although only part C6 is to be used.

Wheels are supplied in halves, and aren’t ‘weighted’ as we see so many times these days, which is unfortunate. The wheel hubs look more than passable and have a good depth of detail. Brake lines are moulded onto the undercarriage struts, and while Hasegawa have captured this well, it would still benefit from removal and adding your own solution from wire.

The large and instantly recognisable ‘F’ spinner looks to have a correct profile also. Some companies producing AM resin spinners will be disappointed with this! The prop blade entry point is also now shaped and not square sided. Various left-overs from the F-4 Trop version are still included in this kit, such as the filtered air intake.

Hasegawa have supplied the exhaust manifolds as separate parts, and although resplendent with their weld seams, the ends aren’t hollowed out sufficiently, and I would advise caution and attack these with a fine drill to open them up, or to look to aftermarket parts. MG barrels are moulded with nicely hollowed ends, but to get a more accurate feel, I would suggest replacing these with metal barrels, as those made by Master Model.

The grey styrene parts, on the whole are fantastically moulded, with no real flash to be seen on any of the sprues, and detail is exactly as you would imagine from Hasegawa.

The clear sprues support a total of thirteen parts, with five of these being forward canopies. Only two of these are shown on the sprue plan as being used within this kit, with parts 1, 3 and 4 being greyed out. An armoured windscreen is also supplied, and one machine can be modelled with this in place. One type of rear canopy and hood are given, plus a clear gun-sight reflector and wingtip lights. The clarity of these parts is first rate, and the framing detail is exceptional. No flash is to be seen anywhere, plus the sprue gates aren’t intrusive and shouldn’t cause stress to the transparency when removed.

A single, polythene ‘bung’ is supplied, from the black sprue ‘P’ to secure the prop shaft into the rear prop assembly. Also, 4 small photo etch parts are supplied fastened to a small piece of card. These items are the stiffeners for the rear fuselage/tail assembly, and don’t need any clean up as they aren’t fastened to a fret.

A single decal sheet is included which provides markings for all three machines.

The decals are presented on a single sheet, and the printing is quite thin, though not as refined as Cartograf. Still, the colour reproduction is both solid and authentic, and everything appears to be in perfect register. We have to have some amusement though, and that comes in the shape of some pretty awful seatbelt decals. They truly are dire and I would advise against using these, even if you are desperate! Either use some belts from RB Productions, or make some from lead foil instead.

The schemes given for this kit are:

• III./JG2 Kommandeur Hauptmann Hans ‘Assi’ Hahn, July 1941

• III./JG2 Kommandeur Hauptmann Hans ‘Assi’ Hahn, France, July 1941

• III./JG3 Kommodore Oberstleunant Gunther Lutzow, October 1941

Hasegawa’s instructions are impeccably clear and precise with nothing ambiguous. The style is the same line drawing one that we are used to with Hasegawa, and as stated, there are 14 main constructional sequences, with a number of sub-sequences. Diagram clarity is excellent and leaves no room for ambiguity. All paint codes are given as GSI Creos Aqueous Hobby Color, and M. Color. These can be purchased directly from Model Design Construction in the UK.

Conclusion

This is another great kit from Hasegawa, who are now rapidly filling in the gaps in the ‘F’ variant of the Augsburg Eagle. This isn’t a cheap kit, but it will build up into the most accurate ‘Friedrich’ available, plus building this straight from the box will still give an excellent representation of this machine, without having to spend extra money on aftermarket parts. You can never have enough Hasegawa 109’s, and this is no exception. Highly recommended.

UK distributors for

[Moofles]

great looking review, very tempted to pick one up.

[Iain Ogilvie]

Excellent review James!

I'd certainly second the recommendation

Iain

[colin ritchie]

Just working on the Trop F that I got for Xmas last year , and although i'm not a Luftwaffe fan by any means , the F series 109 kits are a dream to build.. highly recommended !, (just wish they were a touch cheaper!)