1/72 Heller Bf-109E

by Jorge H Campos

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I got this kit very cheap on E-bay, after examination I found it accurate, with crispy molding and very nice fit, so I figured "why don't I give it a try?"

The first thing was to confirm the paint scheme, as I liked the tiny pin-up and badges on the decal sheet. It was not referenced, but it belongs to the JG5 Commander Gunther Scholz, 24 victories, who survived the war. Instructions show an E4 on greens and white, but references say it is an E7 on grays and yellow. This plane was based in Norway and is said to be named "Frivoles Madchen", and fought over the artic sea, the “Eismeer”, as this fighter group was named, spring 1942.
Theseat was changed for a reshaped ICM Bf-109 seat and the interior was scratch-built. Corrections were done on the wheel well shape and wing aileron tabs

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The canopy didn't sit correctly until after some sanding. Hypodermic cannon barrels were added. Frontal armored glass was taken from the ICM kit, too (but added as the final piece).
As the kit does not include the drop tank and support shell, I picked these from an Airfix kit.
The entire plane was painted with Gunze aqueous, no gloss coat was applied prior to decaling, except for Gunze's flat clear for sealing.  I used kit’s personal markings, crosses and stencils came from Aeromaster and ABT, chevron marks from Microscale. Weathered with chalks but no sealed was applied, chipping with gunze's silver. Badges and the scantly dressed young girl retouched for a more vivid colors
JG5's Bf-109s carried this particular scheme on the spinners, easy to make with a very thin Tamiya strip and some gunze's liquid masking. I chose to glue the canopy open to show the interior, but it sits perfectly closed, too.

I found this kit very enjoyable to built, a little adjusting on canopy but that’s all. Some people would like to recess the panel lines, but I like how it looks the good old manner

Happy Modeling

Jorge 

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Photos and text © by Jorge H Campos