Tamiya 61050 Messerschmitt Bf 109E-3 (Adolf Galland)

Kit#: 61050.

Price: Can´t remember.

Decals: Three options.

Notes: Great fitting kit.

History:

From the kit's instructions: "Without a doubt, the Messerschmitt Bf 109 can be claimed as the most famous and successful German fighter aircraft of WW2. It was the world's most advanced fighter at the time of its debut in 1936, and remained as the standard fighter for the Luftwaffe throughout the conflict.

Created by the brilliang engineer Willy Messerschmitt, it had the smallest possible airframe built around the most powerful engine available. It also boasted many of the then innovative features such as an all metal stressed skin construction, retractable main landing gear, automatic Handley-Page leading edge slats, etc...

The Bf 109 saw first combat during the Spanish Civil War and fully demonstrated its exceptional maneuverability, inherited from its precedent Bf 108 Taifun multi purpose sports plane.

The Bf 109 underwent numerous improvements throughout its career, and mass production of the E variant started late in 1939. Within one year, about 2000 "E" aircraft rolled out.

Its excelletn performance contributed greatly in the active service of German pilots at the Western Front and during the Battle of Britain. 

The E-3 version used an improved Daimler Benz DB601Aa engine capable of 1100hp output. This engine had provision for mounting a 20mm MG FF cannon on the crankcase and firing through the propeller hub. 

The Messerschmitt Bf 109E was one of the best fighters of the early World War 2 period, on part with the British Spitfire."

The Kit:

Coming inside a top opening box, the kit parts come bagged inside a single bag, with the clear parts and polycaps coming inside another bag. Instructions are of the typical 1:48 Tamiya style, being foldable and easy to follow.

There're three decal options included in the kit:

1) Adolf Galland's Bf 109E-3 "Double Chevron and Bar", III/JG26 August 1940, France. Painted in RLM 02/71/65.

2) Bf 109E-3 "White 3 and Bars", II/JG77, October 1940, Norway. Painted as above.

3) Bf 109E-3 "Single Chevron", II/JG54, Autumn 1940, France. Painted as above with mottling.

Construction:

Construction began, not surprisingly, in the cockpit. I painted all the parts in RLM 02 (Revell 45), with the instrument panel being painted in black, and the rudder pedals being painted in silver. It was at this time that I separated the cockpit halves from their sprue and painted the walls in RLM 02 too, with many of the small details being picked up in black. After the cockpit parts were dry, I glued them together, and then glued the full cockpit to one fuselage half. This was later followed by the other half, and then I glued the exhausts and the cooler intake.

With the fuselage done, I set on to build the wings. The wings are diveded into the top and bottom halves. I glued them first, and then glued the flaps in the down position. The slats came next, these were glued too in the down position. With the wings complete, I glued them to the fuselage, and left them to dry. While the wings were setting, I glued the horizontal stabilizers and their struts (breaking one in the process), and glued the rudder too. I left the virtually complete aircraft to dry before going to the painting stage.

Colours and Markings:

I had decided early on to paint this aircraf as Adolf Galland's machine. I first outlined the colours with a pencil, and then painted the RLM 71. After the 71 was dry, I painted the RLM 02. I then painted the RLM 65 on the fuselage. I did the same to the wings, and erased any remaining paint ridges with a fine sandpaper. I then glossed the entire aircraft to prepare it for the decals.

Decals behaved OK. They were a bit thick, but placing them first inside hot water managed to soften them quite a bit, and they moderatly conformed to the panel lines. I then matt coated the entire aircraft.

Final Construction:

This stage is always the one that takes more time. I painted the landing gear struts in RLM 02, the wheels in black and tyres with RLM66. The propeller was painted in RLM 70 (Revell 40) with silver in the hub, and later I built it up and glued it together. The last parts to be added were the clear parts. These were painted with the fuselage colours and glued to the aircraft with Revell's Contacta Clear.

Conclusions:

Both the Tamiya and Airfix kits are similar regarding the construction and the options provided. However, the Tamiya kit has the upper hand regarding fit and ease of assembly.