This is a new decal
sheet from Cutting
Edge Modelworks. The sheet includes markings for 4 different BF-109
E/F's in 1/48 scale.
The BF-109 first flew in Sept
1935. The Bf-109E had a large caliber cannon that fired through the centre
of the propeller spinner, which was a marvelous engineering feat....but this
cannon was prone to jamming and was not installed on later Bf-109's. The
Bf-109 was a very competitive fighter and fought in all Luftwaffe theatres with
good success.....sometimes stunning success. The plane had it's strengths
and weaknesses......as with all fighters. One of it's main strengths has
always been it's fuel injected inverted V-12 engine....which is an engineering
masterpiece. The E and F versions were flown in the early parts of WW2 and
were phased out by the improved versions later in the war. The fact the
109 served in the North African desert and Russian winters is a testament to the
machine as well as the ground crews and pilots.
The first plane is
a Bf-109E-4/B flown by Ofw. Reinhold Schmetzer of 8./JG 77 on July 20
1941. The paint scheme is a field applied dark green scheme in
either RLM 70 or RLM 71 or a combination of both. This plane has an
top rear engine cowl panel that was froma different air craft, so
this panel is blue. Code numbers on the fuselage are red
"5" with a white
outline. This number is presented in 2 layers so the white outline decals lines up perfectly with
the red number decal. The spinner is Dark
green with a red ridge around the cannon opening. Artwork includes a
black Wolf's head on a white crest on the engine cowling. This plane
has a yellow fuselage band with a red outline. This plane has a
centreline bomb rack.
The second plane is
a Bf-109F-4 from 7./JG 54 in Dec 1941. The paint scheme is a white
wash winter scheme applied over the standard RLM 74/75 scheme. The
canopy is in the RLM 74/75 scheme. Some of the white wash has worn
off on the yellow engine cowling. Code numbers on the fuselage are
yellow "6" with a black outline. The spinner is black.
Artwork includes a large red devils head on the engine cowling. This
plane has a yellow fuselage band. This plane has has it's main gear
covers removed.
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