AML's 1/72 Messerschmitt Bf109D

By Chris Banyai-Riepl

The Kit (click on thumbnails for larger image)

Normally I would be starting this review off with a brief history of the type, but for some reason I felt like I had already done that. Probably because I did in my review of the Sword 1/72 Bf109D last month! It's very ironic that two companies out of the Czech Republic would release a kit of the same plane at almost the same time. Naturally I thought of the possibility of the AML kit being a different boxing of the Sword kit, or vice versa, but this is not the case. While the Sword kit was a blend of injection and resin parts, the AML kit is all injection (with the exception of the vacuformed canopy), with brass detail bits.

In fact, there are really no similarities between the two kits, other than the fact that they're both Bf109Ds. The AML kit is nicely molded, although not quite as nicely molded as the Sword kit. The cockpit detail is adequate and in general done to a better quality than most other short-run kits. Once the cockpit is together, the rest of the assembly is pretty much standard. Detail has been added to the lower sides of the upper wing halves for the wheel wells, which is a nice touch.

The fit will take some work to be perfect, but AML has started to use locating tabs of sorts to help out. Rather than the typical peg and hole arrangement, this kit uses a method that vacuform modelers would be familiar with. Plastic "ledges" are placed along the join for the opposite halves to rest on. While these don't provide any positive locating of the two parts, it does add a bit of strength to the joint and aids somewhat in keeping things aligned while the glue is drying.

With the Sword kit fresh in my mind, I decided to compare the two in terms of accuracy. In my review of the Sword kit, I determined that the vertical tail and rudder were too small. Not so in the AML kit. The tail here looks spot on. This is good, but unfortunately they didn't get the kit 100% right. On the nose, the line running from the spinner to the chin scoop is a bit too deep. Luckily, though, this is a short run kit, so there's plenty of plastic left after you trim that down to a more accurate shape.

The decals are excellent. A total of four choices are provided: two from the Spanish Civil War and two from Germany in 1939. The two from Germany are finished in the standard 70/71/65 scheme, with one carrying a double chevron marking and the other being red 6. The two Spanish Civil War birds are finished in the standard RLM63/65 scheme, with white wingtips and rudder. One of the choices is the mount of Werner Mölders, complete with kill markings and his "Mickey Mouse" emblem.

Conclusion

It's nice to go from having a basic early Bf109 kit to having two current technology Bf109Ds. Each kit has its own merits and downfalls, but both are worthy of attention. If you're only going to build one Bf109D, I would go with the Sword kit and take the effort to fix the small error in the tail, but if you want to build a bunch of these early Messerschmitts, the AML kit is probably the more cost- and time-effective way to go.