The Pilot

'Yellow 1' was flown by Josef 'Pip' Priller who in October 1940 was StaffelKapitain of 6/JG based at Mardyke in Belgium.  At this time he had 20 Aerial victories, plus two against ground targets.  By late 1944 his 'kills' had reached 101 victories, making him the third highest scoring Luftwaffe ace on the Western Front during WWII.

The Aircraft

This Bf109E is from early in his career and is marked from the time of his receiving the Ritterkreuz for twenty victories (seen in white on the tail). The plane is finished in RLM71/02/65 with dense mottling on the fuselage sides consisting of RLM70, 71, and 02. The mottling even covered part of the JG51 badge on the rear fuselage.

Click on images below to see larger images

The Kit

This Airfix kit is from the 70's and so lacks the subtleties and sharp details of more modern kits of today, however I picked this up for under £20 which was a bargain despite its lack of detail and overly thick molded plastic.  The kit is built mainly OOB with a few little bits of detail added here and there.
The fit of the kit is OK if you want to show the engine and fuselage armament however there is problems if you want the paneling to show the fine lines of the aircraft fully assembled.
The kit was painted in Xtracrylix, sealed with Johnsons Klear, washed with paynes grey alkyd and then panel lines were sprayed with Tamyia smoke.

Lee