Eduard 1/32 BF-109E-1

By Gary Meinert

Photos by Will Riepl and Gary Meinert

INTRODUCTION

For the history of the subject and my first-look review of the kit, see the June 2009 Internet Modeler.   I obtained the kit  from Internet Modeler and I am pleased to have had the opportunity to both review and build it.

CONSTRUCTION OVERVIEW

The big decision is whether to build this model with the cowl off and the engine displayed, or leave out the engine and build it with the cowl in place.  I chose the latter option, although this created unexpected difficulties.

Where this model really shines is in the cockpit, thanks to Eduard's excellent photo-etched(p-e) parts, especially the color p-e instrument panels and belts.  The many plastic and p-e parts for the cockpit create a very high level of detail--I felt no need to add more.

The clear parts were also excellent and gave me no trouble.  The kit-provided masks worked well, although they are for the outside canopy surfaces only.  I did my own masking for some of the inside surfaces.

I decided to replace the kit main wheels with Aires resin wheels, and the kit exhaust stacks with Quickboost  resin exhausts, as they are notably better detailed and more accurate than the kit parts. These were the only aftermarket parts used on the project.

Speaking of accuracy, possible bugaboos include the slats/slat wells, and the length of the main landing gear legs.  I'll let the '109 Experten hash this out.  Overall, the kit builds into a first-class replica of the early Emil.

CONSTRUCTION PROBLEMS

There were three major fit problems to deal with:

1. The OIL COOLER  ASSEMBLY  was a headache.  The ceiling (part A12) was too wide and had to be trimmed.  After much adjusting, I still had trouble positioning this assembly properly within the fuselage halves, as it needs to protrude slightly into the bottom fuselage cavity to form a locator lip for the wing section.
2. The large COWLING piece (part A6) did not fit very well.   First, I had to cut off two raised portions of the underlying gun mount (part G9) to allow the cowling to go down.  However, the cowl was too narrow in the rear and I installed a plastic spreader bar to widen it. I also had to fill and sand to blend the right front cowl into the rest of the fuselage.  A related problem was that the propeller assembly did not center properly--I cut away some of the mounting pin(G16/E24) to allow proper alignment.
3. The WING TO FUSELAGE join was another poor fit with filling and sanding required on the bottom front and back sections, as well as on the topside at the wing roots.

IMPROVEMENTS

Naturally, I couldn't resist adding a few home-made improvements.  Most of these were very easy to do:

1. drilled out the gun barrels
2. drilled out the lifting bar holes in the rear fuselage
3. made (from plastic rod) the tiny bakelite fairing in the top rear fuselage (this receives the antenna lead -in cable)
4. made (also from plastic rod) the fuel dump pipe under the fuselage
5. added solder wire upper and lower brake line pieces(the middle part is provided by the kit)
6. made cooling flap position indicator pins from metal silk pins (these protrude from the wings near the walkway stripes)
7. covered the tail wheel oleo with tape (simulates leather)
8. added lubrication access plugs (red decal dots on main landing gear doors)

PAINTING AND DECALS

My model was airbrushed with Testors Model Master enamels for the RLM 02, 70, and  65 colors.  For the upper surface dark green (RLM 71) , I used an old bottle of Aeromaster enamel.  Surface panel line/rivet detail accenting was accomplished with pencils.  For weathering, I used primarily a combination of paint and powder.  I also applied some streaked artists oil paint on the bottom fuselage behind the oil cooler to represent the oil leaks from the Daimler-Benz engine.

The national insignia and most of the stencils were taken from the Eduard kit decal sheet.  They responded very well to my usual method of decal application with Solvaset over a Polly Scale clear gloss coat, followed by a Polly Scale clear flat coat.

The JG2 Richthofen badge came from EagleCals EC50 and the red 9 from EagleCals EC121.  (The number was actually a 6 that I cut 2mm from the stem and flipped over to make a correct-sized 9.)

REFERENCES

My aircraft, Red 9 of 2 Staffel, Jagdgeschwader 2, is from early 1940 and is relatively clean.  It features a non-standard camouflage pattern for the upper surfaces.  My reference for Red 9 is the Classic Colours  series, Jagdwaffe Vol.2, Section 1.

For general references on the Bf-109E, I found the Squadron In Action and Walk-around books, plus the Aeroguide No. 2 most helpful.

CONCLUSION

I give Eduard's Emil high marks for detail, accuracy, and features.   But the fit problems reduced the enjoyment of the build.  This is a project suitable  for modelers of intermediate or above skills.

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