Eduard 1/32nd Scale Bf. 109E-4

It has been over a year since my “First Look” at this kit appeared. In the long period of time between my first look and finally finishing this kit, some important changes have taken place. First and foremost, Eduard at long last released their “Corrected Canopy”. In addition, later releases such as the 109E-3 and E-4/7 Tropical, corrected the wheels that were so one dimensional leaving only a few flaws for the modeler to deal with. That being said this kit has become an enigma in that it will never be released in the original form again. My build was originally intended to be an Out of the Box interpretation. In the end I made a couple of corrections because research pointed out how far off the parts supplied were. Let it be known that I DID NOT CORRECT everything that could be dealt with, just those items that struck me as important enough to require my attention!

Construction

Construction begins with a decision. Does the Modeler wish to build the kit with the Engine exposed or close up the cowling and show off the overall lines of the aircraft? I chose to build the cowling buttoned up, my usual preference. The interior detail is as good as most Out of the Box interiors I have seen from other manufacturers. Eduard has provided details for only those areas easily seen, leaving further details to the modeler. PE Instrument Panel & switch panel details are supplied and fit well. I had some difficulty locating the chains on the left fuselage half so a word of caution here. Care must be taken when fitting the lower instrument panel, part # F19, and PE panels PE5&6, to the pedestal, parts F22 & F26. I had difficulty with this assembly locating properly into the right fuselage half after attaching to the cockpit floor. Another PE part I had trouble with was the rudder pedal assembly. In the end I cut away the bar portion of the PE and attached each pedal individually. Finally the Oxygen Bottle is decidedly too tall. Remove about 3 rows of holes from the bottom and you are in the ballpark. Basic interior colors are RLM 02 grey, with details picked out in appropriate colors. The seat is OK, and would benefit from fabricating a seat pad, (something I did not do). Colored PE seat belts round out the interior and were pretty straight forward to assemble.

Next up was the chin radiator assembly. Every build I have followed of this kit has had a problem with this assembly. I tried sanding both attachment points, dremeling out the locations on the fuselage halves, etc. etc. In the end I was never able to get the type of fit that I would call satisfactory! On my next 109E I intend to glue the fuselage halves together and then try dropping the radiator assembly in from the top. In addition I will trim a little off of each end of the PE grills, PE #32&33, as I think they may contribute to the fit problem.

Once all of the interior assemblies are complete, it is time to join the fuselage halves. I found no major opportunities here with the exception of the aforementioned chin radiator. Construction continued with installing the tail surfaces and tail wheel, again no problems encountered. ( I did sand away the heavy tread detail on the tail wheel).

The wings are next up for assembly and this is another area where opportunity exists. First Eduard missed a golden opportunity to utilize PE for the Wheel Well lining and bag. I chose not to correct this but one does wonder why Trumpeter got this right with PE and the MASTERS of PE at Eduard have not added this detail. ( Even the After Market set does not include the lining). As I stated earlier this was supposed to be an OOB build.

During one of the MANY discussions of this kits merits I became aware that the leading edge slats were TOO wide chord wise. This is based on research by another modeler who actually measured the slats on a surviving 109E. I would have left this alone but the final factor was the wing cross decals. Eduard appears to have made theirs slightly smaller to fit in the space and not cross over the slat. When I looked at available aftermarket decals I realized that the wing crosses would overlap the slats by about 2mm. Not a huge deal? Well maybe not but it was so easy to fix I couldn’t resist! I simply laminated 2x 2mm strips of evergreen styrene into the well. I removed just under 2mm from the slat, then sanded everything to airfoil/ shape. The finished product does make a difference, at least to me !

The wing assembly was attached to the fuselage with no difficulty arising. I added a small strip of Evergreen on the upper wing to fuselage join per the original. Just for the record even without this strip little to no filling would have been necessary! Under wing intakes were now added and I again strayed from Out of the box by lowering the flap on the rear of the intakes.

Cowling assembly was next and like those before me I had trouble with the fit. In the end a lot of superglue got the cowling mostly lined up! On the original the Panels represented by part #s A4,5, and 11 were one assembly. I filled the seams after installation, and all was good.

Assembly was now finished with the exception of landing gear and small details.

Painting

I chose to utilize one of the options offered by Eduard in the kit. What more natural choice could there be for a WW1 fan than the 109E-4 flown by Helmut Wick, commander of JG. 2 “Richthofen”? The overall scheme consists of RLM 71 Dark Green, and RLM 02 Grey, over RLM 65 Light Blue. I utilized a combination of Polyscale, Gunze, Xtra Color, Floquil, and Testors Model master paints. Wicks aircraft was a long time service machine and had undergone several marking changes. Most noticable was the hand mottled camo on the fuselage sides. I hand brushed Testors RLM 71 acrylic in tiny splotches to simulate the “Sponged” on appearance. I then sanded with 12000 grit polishing cloth to smooth out the surface.

On the original the commodore markings were applied over the freshly painted out group commanders markings. I simulated this by airbrushing fresh RLM 65 then added a few sprayed mottles of 71 per the original. On the original fuselage panel joins had collected a considerable amount of dirt and grime. I tried using some restraint with oil washes of Black and Burnt Sienna so as to avoid the HEAVY BLACK PANEL line look. I think I succeeded pretty well. Wicks aircraft also showed a considerable exhaust stain. I simulated this with Oil Pastels rubbed on a piece of sand paper, then brushed on. I like Oil Pastels as they tend to be more permanent than standard chalk pastels.

Decals were all from the kit with the exception of the upper wing crosses as mentioned earlier. Final finish was Tamiya Clear Flat. I decided on flat as this was such an old bird I felt the sheen would be somewhat weathered away. One note on the kit under wing decals for Wicks aircraft. The instructions call for decal #4 but the L shaped fill ins seem to be made for the smaller under wing crossFinal assembly was straight forward, attach the gear, canopies, pitot tube, and aileron balances. The PE parts such as the bungee on the canopy fit well and are easy to work with.

Conclusion

As stated earlier this kit will not be released in the future as it was originally, with the poorly detailed wheels and misshaped canopy. For those that purchased the original kit, the canopy replacement makes a huge difference! In addition Eduard has released a PE detail set that enhances interior and exterior details. There is also a white metal landing gear set available but I am not sure at this time if the gear length issue has been corrected ? The rest is up to the individual modeler to decide just how far you want to take your build. I believe my build shows what can be accomplished by an average modeler. My opinion is that the basic kit, in the hands of Modelers with superior skills, is bound to be the basis of many a contest winner in the future.

Thanks to Matt Bittner, IM, and Eduard for the Review sample.