Trumpeter 1/24 scale
Messerschmitt Bf 109 G-6

by Roland Sachsenhofer

Messerschmitt Bf 109 G-6 JG 52 “Gerhard Barkhorn”

Trumpeter's 1/24 scale Bf 109 G-6 is available online from Squadron

Thinking of aircraft models it seems rather likely to built one in flying configuration. Nevertheless it took some time for me till I did my first with “gears up”. A client, wishing to have this specific Bf 109G-6 flown by top ace Gerhard Barkhorn in the latter half of 1942 with JG 52 in the East, suggested a flying appearance showing the fighter banking slightly to the left.

That suggestion had two implications, at least: first I had to get a proper pilot figure and second I needed an appropriate solution for a whirling propeller.

The pilot was found in the 1:24 scale Fw-190A kit from Airfix. I had to do some corrections to the rather questionable outfit of the original figure, working with filler, sandpaper and Tamiya masking tape to get a more likely appearance. The harness was made from etched parts.

Simultaneous I tried an approach to the phenomenon of whirling props, ending with two versions of airbrushed shadowy blades. One was made as a full circle of transparent sheet, the second consists of segments as you can see on the pictures. These segments are just plugged into the spinners back plate, the kits solid propellers can be fixed as an alternative.

The Trumpeter kit itself was a joy to build. Except the harness provided by Eduard no extra detailing was done. In my opinion, cockpit detail is slightly better compared with what Hasegawa offers in 1:32.

Trumpeter obviously does not expect that the gears will be build “up”. There are no parts for the retracted gear- fuselage connection, nor does the gear cover fit to the wings. But with a little bit of scratch building this problem could be solved.

I used the kits decals as far as they did fit to Barkhorns mount, the signature “Christl” beneath the cockpit was hand painted. Trumpeters decals looked good but did not work well. For example alle the “Balkenkreuze” fragmented into tiny parts and had to be arduously reassembled.

Even in 1:24 the Bf 109 is a handsome and handy-sized model. I am looking forward to my next 1:24 build; if the plastic stems from Trumpeter I will definitely exchange the decals!

If you are interested in the building process, please have a look on the workbench at the JAM Forum

As ever, remarks will be appreciated: ro.sachsenhofer@gmx.at

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Model, Images and Text Copyright © 2013 by Roland Sachsenhofer
Page Created 14 October, 2013
Last Updated 15 October, 2013

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