slow progress on Bf 109E build

Did I speak too soon on praising Dragon Wing Tech's Bf 109 kit? It seems so. This shows the folly of in-box reviews in general, what looks good on the sprue doesn't always hold true when it comes to actually putting the kit together.

There is some fit problems with the nose panels that only came to light once construction was well underway. My advice to those currently building the kit is to dry fit the nose and front cockpit parts as it looks like the manufacturer has miscalculated the way the parts come together. It simply isn't possible to fit the nose panels together without making some adjustments to the internal parts first. Easy to do when dry fitting but a problem when parts are already cemented in place.

Oh well, it's certainly not Tamiya Spitfire quality but then again it was only about a third of the price. Get what you pay for? I'd say so.

Tamiya and Aero Imageworks together

Does it get any better than this? I don't think so.

New 1/32nd scale Bf 109E-4 kit

While searching around for a kit to depict Galland's Bf-109E in 1/48 scale I came across this new kit from Dragon Models in their 'Wing Tech' Series in 1/32nd scale. This looks to be an excellent kit but for some reason it hasn't received much publicity.

Perhaps everyone thinks that only Eduard can do 109 kits but let me assure you if you think that you'd be wrong. Admittedly I'm yet to start building the kit, but a quick check of the parts reveals a nicely detailed kit that looks like it will fit together with precision. 

  

The kit reminded me of Tamiya's late mark Spitfires in 1/32nd scale, with its crisp, refined parts and the inclusion of engine and armament details. It also includes decals for five aircraft including Galland's W Nr 5819. Lets cut the parts from the sprues and get this one started!

EBay bidding for Spitfire kit hits new high

A vintage, Airfix 1/72nd scale kit of the Spitfire Mk IX sold recently on Ebay for a staggering $133.51 AUD. What were you thinking! This reminds me of the ridiculous prices for vintage Airfix kits suggested in Arthur Ward's book Airfix, celebrating 50 years of the greatest plastic kits in the world . This is a great book for anybody with an interest in the history of Airfix, but don't take any notice of his price guide.  Even now, over 11 years after the book was published they are still grossly inflated. There are of course the odd, rare occasions when somebody gets over excited and in the heat of the moment goes crazy in an auction. Oh well, I sure hope he enjoys it, I'm sure the seller is pleased.

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more on Galland's Bf 109E

I've been looking around at what kits are available of the 'E' model and come across this Hasegawa kit with markings for Galland. I was interested to see what c&m choice Hasegawa made but alas they weren't prepared to take a punt! They suggest it was either RLM 71/02/65 or 74/75/76.

If we look at RLM painting instructions LDv 521/1 dated 8 November 1941 we find the first official reference to the colours 74/75 and 76. Even if we assume the documentation lags behind their existence and use, it seems highly unlikely they would have been available in 1940.

Could W Nr 5819 have been repainted in 1941 with 74/75/76? If we look at the four core reference photos, taken during the first quarter of 1941, we see it has all of its stencils. This strongly suggests that the paint scheme is its original one and there has been no significant repainting. We know the time frame for these core reference photos by looking at the 60 kill bars on the aircraft and the existence of Galland's 'F' model 109. A further photo not provided here was taken at the same time as the four core reference photos that shows Galland's 'F' with '5819' in the background.

All this is pointing to RLM 71/02/65 as the aircraft's basic colour scheme.

more to come later.......

More photos of W Nr 5819

Galland in 5819, of note is the mottling to the fuselage and the demarcation at the wing tip.

fuselage appears to have a faded camouflage however this is most likely a flaw in the printing and/or photo itself. What are the two 'dots' forward of the schlageter?

Nice closeup of the fuselage emblems together with mottling to the fuselage. The mickey mouse emblem appears to be different compared to the core reference photo. In this photo the football body is lighter than the surrounding fuselage suggesting it has been painted white or an off-white.

 taxing to take-off, again we see a mottled fuselage and a RLM 04 nose. This colour is more of an orange/yellow.

 close-up of cockpit and fuselage markings.

 Galland and friends enjoying some french wine!

 Rudder displaying 57 kill markings on a RLM 65 background with the remainder painted RLM 04. The circles above the bars record the date of the aerial victory as day, month  with two digit year underneath.

Here we see Galland and friends gathered around the rudder of 5819 showing 'only' 45 kills.

more to come....