Eduard 1/48 Adlerangriff Alte Hasen
By Jacob Russell
This is Eduard's second decal sheet of Messerschmitt Bf109Es flown by German aces who participated in Unternehmen Adlerangriff ("Operation Eagle Attack"), the Luftwaffe's 1940 campaign to destroy the RAF (Royal Air Force). This sheet covers 5 aircraft, which are as follows:
"Black 1," Bf109E-3, Hptm. Horst Tietzen, CO of 5./JG 51, Desvres, France, July 1940. This Emil has the earlier rounded windscreen and canopy and it was painted in RLM 02 Grey and RLM 71 Dark Green camouflage over RLM 65 Light Blue. The upper and lower wing tips, horizontal stabilizers nose and upper rudder were RLM 04 Yellow, the fuselage sides had a dense RLM 02/71 mottle and the spinner and backing plate were RLM 70 Dark Green and white.
"White 8," Bf109E-4, Hptm. Hans-Karl-Meyer, CO of 1./JG 53, Rennes, France, August 1940. This plane was painted RLM 02/71/65. The 02 and 71 were carried down low over the fuselage sides and the cowl had an RLM 23 Red band covering the unit badge. The spinner was RLM 02 Grey and the canopy frames were painted RLM 71 Dark Green. The upper wings were painted in a non-standard RLM 02/70 pattern.
"White 1", Bf109E-4/B, Hans-Ekkehard-Bob, 7./JG 54, Guines, France, September 1940. This fighter/bomber had a white spinner and RLM 02/71/65 camouflage. The cowl and rudder were RLM 04 yellow. A dense mottle of 02/71 covered the fuselage sides, obscuring the Stammkennzeichen (factory radio codes).
Bf109E-4, WNr. 5582, Hptm. Rolf Pingel, CO of 1./JG 26, Audembert, France, November 1940. This plane was also painted RLM 02/71/65 with an RLM 04 Yellow cowl and rudder. The yellow extended over the gun cowling and the fuselage sides had a loose, but dense RLM 02/71 mottle. The spinner was white with a thin blue band and back plate.
Bf109E-4, Hptm. Hans "Assi" Hahn, CO of III./JG 2, Bernay, France, November 1940. This Emil was painted RLM 02/71/65 with a loose 02/71 mottle. The cowl, spinner and rudder were RLM 04 Yellow and kill markings were superimposed on top of the Yellow.
The decals are up to Eduard's customary standards. They are crisply printed, fully legible, in register and have excellent color.
The Messerschmitt Bf109E is one of my fighter planes and I am always happy to find more colorful decal options for it. If you're looking for something different in a Bf109E-4 camouflage scheme you'll find 5 of them on this great decal sheet. I recommend this sheet and I would like to thank Eduard for the review sample.
References
1) Wikipedia: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Adlertag
2) Messerschmitt Bf109E, the Blitzkrieg Fighter, by Marek J. Murawski and Jakub Plewka, Kagero Publications, 2013