Eduard 1/48 Bf109E-7 Trop ProfiPACK
By Jacob Russell
The Plane
The Messerschmitt Bf109E-7 (E for Emil) came into service during the late summer/early fall of 1940. During the Battle of Britain the Luftwaffe discovered that the Emil's fuel tank was too small for the thirsty Daimler Benz DB 601 engine.
When the engine was operated at its maximum power setting during combat the fuel consumption was a prodigious 500 liters per hour. Once the aircraft had flown across the English Channel it was limited to mere minutes of combat, before the pilot was forced to disengage and return to base.
The E-7 was identical to the earlier E-4 variant, with the addition of a pylon fitted to the aircraft center line. It was able to carry a 300 liter drop tank and the ETC 50 or ETC 500 bomb racks with the addition of this pylon. Luftwaffe units now had greater combat range and were also able to convert their aircraft to fighter/bombers. Most E-7 aircraft had a pointed spinner, unlike that of the E-4, which had a hole for the MG FF cannon.
The tropicalised version included a survival kit, in the event of a forced landing behind enemy lines. The first aid kit was augmented with food rations, and a rack in the rear fuselage held either a triple barrel shotgun or Mauser Kar 98K rifle.
The E-7 Trop also had strengthened main landing gear tires for operations on unimproved air fields, dust screens and an filter on the supercharger intake. The pilot kept this filter closed during takeoff and landing, and then opened it once in flight. There were also sun shades added to the top part of the canopy.
The Model
The kit comes in Eduard's usual stout cardboard box with an attractive illustration of an E-7 Trop flying low over the desert. It consists of 192 parts on 5 gray plastic sprues, one of which is clear. 23 of the plastic parts are unused for this variant. I'm happy to note that these spare parts will come in handy for my other 109E kits, such as the ETC 50 and 500 bomb racks and bombs, plus the clear canopy parts for the earlier E-1/E-3 variants.
Because this is the ProfiPACK boxing, you also get a set of canopy masks plus 2 photo etch frets. Included on these frets are enhancements such as pre-painted instrument panel and seat belts, rudder pedals, intake screens, etc.
The surface detail on the fuselage and wings is superb with very subtle rivet detail that will look very nice under an oil wash. The cockpit is comprised of many small, extremely well detailed components, and it will look outstanding with careful dry brushing and an oil wash. You have the option of having the engine exposed, for a maintenance diorama, or the cowling closed for a clean look. The decal sheets, one of which is stencils for the airframe, are in register, legible, bright and well printed. The main sheet includes markings for 5 aircraft:
"Black Chevron/A," flown by Oblt. Ludwig Franzisket, Stab I./JG 27, Ain-el-Gazala Airfield, Libya, June 1941. This aircraft is RLM 79 Sand Brown over RLM 78, with RLM 80 Olive Green splotches on the fuselage upper spine and upper wings and an RLM 04 Yellow cowl, rudder and spinner plus a white fuselage band.
"Black 3," 2/JG 27, Ain-el-Gazala Airfield, Libya 1941. This colorful aircraft was still in the European theatre camouflage of RLM 02 and 71 over RLM 65 Light Blue. It had an RLM 04 yellow cowl and rudder, and a white fuselage band. The upper cowl was over sprayed with a heavy application of RLM 71 Dark Green, with "tiger stripes" on the fuselage beneath the canopy. This plane served with another Gruppe and the earlier aircraft number was over sprayed with RLM 70 Green. The spinner was painted half white and half red.
"Black 8," 2/JG 27, Ain-el-Gazala Airfield, Libya, 1941. RLM 79 over 80 with RLM 80 splotches on the upper spine and upper wings, with white fuselage band and red/white spinner.
"Double Chevron," flown by Hauptman Eduard Neumann, Gruppenkommandeur of I./JG 27, Ain-el-Gazala Airfield, Libya, Summer 1941. European camouflage scheme of RLM 02/71 over RLM 65. RLM 04 Yellow nose and rudder with a white fuselage band. The spinner is RLM 70 Dark Green with a 23 Bright Green cap with a narrow white band between the 2 greens.
"Yellow 4," 3/JG 27, Ain-el-Gazala Airfield, Libya, spring/summer 1941. RLM 79 over RLM 78 with RLM 80 splotches on upper spine and wings.
All of these aircraft are colorful and exciting. The 109E-7 Trop aircraft of JG 27 are among my personal favorites. Some sources maintain that JG 27 aircraft that were painted in Sicily, prior to flying to North Africa, were painted in Italian, rather than Luftwaffe camouflage colors. Consult your references!
Conclusion
The Messerschmitt Bf109 E is an iconic aircraft and it has always been a popular subject for modelers around the world. Academy, Airfix, Hasegawa, Hobbycraft all offer Emil kits in 1/48th, but the Eduard kit is a decided cut above them all. It is accurate and well detailed, and numerous aftermarket decals are available if none of the kit options interest you. I highly recommend this kit and I would like to thank Eduard for providing the review sample.
References
Messerschmitt Bf109 in action Part 1, Aircraft No.44, by John R. Beaman, Jr. and Jerry L. Campbell, Squadron/Signal Publications, 1990
Messerschmitt Bf109E, The Blitzkrieg Fighter, by Marek J. Murawski and Jakub Plewka, Kagero Publications, 2013
War in The Desert: North Africa June 1940-June 1942, Jagdwaffe/Luftwaffe Colors, Volume 3, Section 3, Classic Publications, 2003