Messerschmitt Bf 109 D

Classic Airframes, 1/48 scale

Reviewed by Brett Green

Classic Airframes' 1/48 scale Messerschmitt Bf 109 D  is available online from Squadron

Although modellers have a great selection of Messerschmitt Bf 109E, F, G and K kits, the situation has been fairly grim for fans of the early Jumo powered prototypes and early production models.

Hobbycraft's 1/48 scale kits are widely available and inexpensive, but they are seriously flawed in terms of accuracy. Problems include too shallow and misplaced gun slots, incorrectly positioned carburettor intake scoop, inaccurate panel lines and cooling slots on the cowling, poorly shaped and poorly detailed radiator intake, very poor Schwartz propeller, short wing slats, undersized canopy (and one-piece too), cockpit configuration more typical of a later model and some 109E attributes on the fuselage.

Classic Airframes continues their family of Jumo 109s with their Messerschmitt Bf 109 D kit. This kit shares all the plastic and resin parts of the earlier Bf 109 C/D release, with five colourful new marking options.

Classic Airframes' 1/48 scale Bf 109 D comprises 34 parts in grey styrene; 17 parts in grey colored resin; a photo-etched fret; 3 clear injection molded parts; printed clear acetate sheet (instruments); instructions; plus a decal sheet and painting guide for four aircraft.

In common with the Bf 109 A and C/D kits, the plastic parts are absolutely first rate. Moulding quality is excellent, and the highly polished finish does not reveal any moulding imperfections on the exterior surfaces. This shiny surface will be especially useful for modellers who plan a bare metal finish for their Bf 109. Panel lines are crisply recessed, and fabric control surfaces are quite subtly done.

Click the thumbnails below to view larger images:

The shape of the model is accurate - a vast improvement over the old Hobbycraft kits. Specific attributes of the early 109s are well represented, including the wing root fairing without the reinforcement strip, long leading edge slats and the location of various hatches and panels. A plastic Schwartz prop plus a VDM variable pitch unit are both included, but the Schwarz prop can go straight to your spares box for this version.

Although there are no locating pins on the main parts, the bottom of the wing has been reinforced with a long spar. This will add rigidity and ensure the correct dihedral.

Resin parts are beautifully detailed. The one-piece cowls are cleverly delivered with the carburetor intake scoop, exhaust panel and even machine guns cast in place. Two different cowls are offered - one with the early exhaust ports (basically holes in the cowl), and the second with the late-style ejector ports. Cleverly, the ejector exhausts are cast as part of the one-piece resin upper cowl. If you are building this kit as one of the Ds offered on the kit decal sheet, you will only need the ejector exhaust-style cowling.

The position of the gun troughs, panel lines, exhausts and slots look to be correct.

Other unique attributes of these early Jumo 109s are well represented too, including a separate radiator intake fairing with fine radiator face detail cast inside, well-detailed cockpit floor and sidewalls, the seat, instrument panel with integrated gunsight, and the standard control stick. I was impressed with the rudder pedal assembly too, which even includes cast-on hydraulic lines behind the pedals.

The remaining resin parts are the wheels featuring nice deep hubs, short-length leading edge slats and wheel well inserts. A selection of the parts are presented below:

Some of the parts, including the radiator front, oil cooler, Schwartz prop, wheel well inserts and the instrument panel, are cast onto stout blocks so a combination of a good razor saw and caution will be required when preparing these resin components.

The photo-etched parts supplements all this nice detail with an instrument panel, harness, a fuselage face with cooling holes (a really nice touch), additional radiator face details and two alternate main gear doors. If the modeller wants to slice off the tail wheel oleo scissor, a photo-etched replacement is also supplied.

Markings

Five interesting marking options are offered on the instructions:

• Werner Molders, Spain September 1938 finished in 02/65

• Gotthard Handrick, Spain September 1938 finished in 02/65

• Hungarian Air Force around 1942, finished in the export scheme of Green, Brown abd Grey upper surfaces with RLM 65 lowers. This aircraft may have also featured the Hungarian tricolour on all tail surfaces.

• Swiss Air Force late 1938 finished in 70/71/65

• Swiss Air Force around 1944 with vivid wide red and white stripes on the fuselage and wings, white nose and red rudder.

There are also plenty of very interesting after-market decals available for these late-Jumo variants if you want a bit more variety.

Classic Airframes has delivered, without question, the best detailed and most accurate injection moulded Jumo-powered Bf 109 kit available in any scale.

Granted, this model will need a little more cleanup and preparation of parts than a long-run release from Tamiya or Hasegawa. Also, the lack of locating pins will call for extra care and dry-fitting. In other words, modelling skills are required, but anyone who has already built a Classic Airframes kit should not have any trouble coming up with a great result straight from the box.

I have already built Classic Airframes Bf 109 A and Bf 109 C/D kits and, with a little extra time spent on preparation, they were both a real pleasure to work on. 

I feel that Classic Airframes'  Messerschmitt Bf 109 D would be an ideal candidate for a modeller who has a few plastic kits under their belt and would like to try their first limited run offering.

Highly Recommended to experienced modellers.
 

Thanks to Classic Airframes for the review sample.

Classic Airframes kits are available worldwide through hobby retailers and from Squadron.com

Review and Images Copyright © 2007 by Brett Green
Page Created 24 April, 2006
Last updated 24 December, 2007

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