Leo Etgen

Hi Steve If I am not mistaken only the initial release for the US market included the photo-etched set in the box. Nevertheless, as these kits are quite popular there is a considerable number of aftermarket decal, resin and photo-etched sets available. EagleCals has available the following decal sheet with all four known Doras of the unit: http://www.eagle-editions.com/decal14.htm and EagleParts makes a number of resin detail sets for this kit: http://www.eagle-editions.com/ep-4index.htm. There are also various Eduard photo-etched sets available such as for the cockpit (32099) and flaps (3210

Hello DAKfreak There is a photograph of the rear fuselage of Bf 109 K-4 "White 17" (W.Nr. 330 320) on page 254 of the Bodenplatte book by Manhro and Pütz. It appears that the aircraft did not have the green and white RV bands applied at least at the time the photograph was taken. I hope this helps. Horrido! Leo

Hello Jürgen Many thanks for your comments. You certainly appear to know your stuff about the Bf 109 so I am glad that you found agreement with my statements as it means that I am not that far off. I agree with your remarks concerning that depending on the version the designations of a particular kit could change. Examples being the Bf 109 F-4/R1 which had the provision to mount 20-mm cannon gondolas similar to Rüstsatz VI for the Bf 109 G-6 or the fact that for the Bf 109 K-4 the 20-mm cannon gondolas were designated Rüstsatz IV. I should also point out that since Rustsätze were temporar

Hi guys Interesting discussion regarding the confusing and often contradictory information surrounding the designations Rustsätze, Rüstzustände and Umrüst-Bausätze. For what I have been able to make out Rustsätze were field conversion kits for which all Bf 109 G-series machines were prepared to be equipped with depending upon the nature of the mission to be performed. Examples being the R III drop tank and R VI 20-mm cannon gondolas. Rüstzustände were used to define the equipment condition of structurally modified aircraft for specific missions. Examples being R2 Rb 50/30 camera and t

Hi guys It seems as if Trumpeter will soon release their 1/32 scale version of the Bf 109 G-6. It will be interesting to see how this effort compares to the standby Hasegawa 1/32 scale offering. It certainly appears to be more detailed but how will it compare accuracy-wise? Unfortunately with Trumpeter one can never tell until you have it in hand but hopefully it will be a worthy option to the Hasegawa kit which is nice but requires quite a lot of aftermarket parts to bring it to a top of the line level. http://www.trumpeter-china.com/a/en/produc.../0406/1882.html Horrido! Leo

Hi guys The Messerschmitt Bf 109 by Lynn Ritger states the following regarding the Bf 109 K-4: "Landing gear position indicators, consisting of small poles projecting from the inboard upper wing surface, were fitted for the first time." I would assume these functioned in a similar fashion to those on the Fw 190 as I described in my previous post. Horrido! Leo

Hi F4DPhantomII To be honest I have to admit that I have never read of any external undercarriage indicators on the Bf 109 similar to what the Fw 190 was fitted with although my knowledge of the Bf 109 is not particularly extensive. If indeed it is the case that these did exist then I assume that they would have operated in a similar fashion to those on the Fw 190 in which the indicator extended until the bottom white painted portion was exposed thus confirming that the gear was safely extended and locked into position. Hopefully someone with greater knowledge can add to this. Horrido! Leo

Hi DAKfreak Freytag certainly did fly that day as he led the combined forces of I. and III./JG 77 on their attack on Antwerp-Duerne. Due to the extremely heavy losses these units suffered in operations in December 1944 only 18 aircraft of each unit participated. The mission was a complete failure with possibly only about 15 to 30 JG 77 aircraft actually finding their assigned target and making ineffectual attacks that destroyed about 14 Allied aircraft and damaged nine. JG 77 lost 11 pilots and aircraft and two damaged, including the 67 victory ace Leutnant Heinrich Hackler of 11./JG 77. Frey

Hi Mikester According to the loss lists for the units that participated in Operation Bodenplatte, Bf 109 G-10 fighters did take part and suffer losses. Units that lost Bf 109 G-10 subtypes include I./JG 3, I./JG 4, III./JG 6, IV./JG 27 and II./JG 77. Horrido! Leo

Hi DAKFreak If you are really interested in Operation Bodenplatte you should consider the Manrho/Pulz book on the subject which contains numerous photographs of both pilots and aircraft that flew on that day. The vast majority of the Luftwaffe pilots that flew were very poorly trained novices although various experienced aces did fly of which a large number were unfortunately lost. Pilots that flew the mission and of whose aircraft there exists information include Hohenberg of Stab/JG 2 (Fw 190 D-9 "Black <II" W.Nr. 210 194), Wagner of 5./JG 4 (Fw 190 A-8/R8 "White 11" W.Nr. 681 497), Kogl

Hello DAKfreak Bodenplatte was quite an operation involving a large number of units and aircraft; would you be able to narrow down which specific units or types you are interested in? Horrido! Leo

Hi guys It appears that not much is known of his involvement in the JG 77 Bodenplatte mission. He was serving as Gruppenkommandeur of II./JG 77 at the time but following the wounding of Major Johannes Weise (133 victories, RK-EL) on 25 December 1944 was appointed acting Geschwaderkommodore of JG 77. It is known that he led I. and III./JG 77 on its attack on Antwerp-Deurne and claimed his 102nd and last victory on this day but no details are known. Hopefully someone else can add more to your question. Horrido! Leo

Interesting discussion regarding Trumpeter and the quality of their releases. I definitely agree that overall the quality of their products so far has been inconsistent. My advice would be to wait until a kit has been out and thoroughly discussed before committing to purchasing it. The best web site that I have found where one can get a fair and objective assessment of whether or not a particular Trumpeter kit is worth getting or not is LSP which to a large extent is free from the "Trumpetrash" mentality often prevalent elsewhere. I think that Trumpeter should take a page from Dragon which has

Hi Expat Tomcat I was not referring to your post when I mentioned the part about the rhetoric that often accompanies any discussion of Trumpeter. I am well aware that before one commits to purchasing one of their kits it is best to research online at the various forums and review sites to know what you are getting. Some of their kits are very good, others are so-so and others frankly are very bad. What I was referring to was that certain times it seems as if the individual kits are not judged on their merits but often there is a mind set that if it is from Trumpeter it automatically is garbag

I have an example of the early G-6 and am thinking of selling it if and when Dragon would ever release a 1/32 scale Bf 109 G-6 simply because of space constraints. Nevertheless, for what I have read this kit is actually quite nice. It is unfortunate that when ever a Trumpeter kit is discussed it seems as if often times the relative merit of the individual kit is lost in the heated rhetoric concerning the company itself. My personal opinion is that aside of the engine and machine guns, as well as the shape of the rudder of the early G-6 (I have no idea regarding the late G-6) it is not bad at a

Hi Snowy From the parts breakdown one would assume that at the very least a C version would be eventually released. The primary changes from the C to the D were the boat tail and the larger tail wheel but the E introduced a number of differences such as the air scoops in the nose and starboard fuselage, different pitot tube, slightly revised rudders and larger main wheels. I would think that eventually Dragon will release this version as well since they already have done so in 1/32 scale although so far only as a night-fighter. Horrido! Leo

Hello blunce The best online build review that I have seen of this kit is here: http://www.militarymodelling.com/forums/po...gs.asp?th=40585. Very nice and informative and it should give you a good idea what to expect from this model. Horrido! Leo

Hi guys Here is another review of the new model. From the looks of it it appears that this is the best 1/32 scale Bf 109 E-4 available. http://www.largescaleplanes.com/reviews/cy...09e/dml109e.php Horrido! Leo

Hi guys There is an interesting review of the newly released Dragon 1/32 scale Bf 109 E-4 at http://www.aeroscale.co.uk/modules.php?op=...ent&id=5911. It is quite nice to see the close-up shots of the detail parts as well as read that Dragon has already announced that they plan on fixing the few minor glitches that found their way to the final release. Overall it appears to be quite nice and that they have put some effort into the product. Horrido! Leo

Hi guys I would like to get the Eagle Parts Fw 190 A-1 through A-6 Main tire and wheel set for the 1/32nd scale Hasegawa Fw 190 A kit (EP#53-32) but have no idea of any online retailer where I can get this other than ordering direct from Eagle Editions. Although Roll Models carries Eagle Parts this particular item is not carried for some odd reason and Sprue Brothers does not appear to carry Eagle Parts at all so the two retailers where I buy most of my stuff online are of no help. Ideally, I would like to obtain this at the same time as I hope to get (if it results a good model) the new Drag

Hi guys It appears that the erroneous early canopy has been corrected and separate slats have been included based on statements by Jerry Crandall which of course is very good news. Dragon has recently posted a build blog which features various photographs of the built up components which is quite a nice idea. http://www.dragon-models.com/html/3204buildblog.htm Horrido! Leo

Hi guys In case several of you have not seen it here are Jerry Crandall's comments regarding the discussion concerning the inaccurate canopy: Hi Guys, All this discussion is a little premature. Here's what I can tell you. Yes, they asked for my input on this kit, which I gave. They are aware of their incorrect interpretation of the early rounded canopy and we pointed out the need to have separate wing slats. There were other issues they have already corrected and I have been led to believe they will correct the canopy. It's not my company, all I can do is point out errors and whether or not

Hi guys After looking at several photographs of fighters fitted with the early style canopy it does appear that the edges of the built up example featured at the Tokyo Hobby Show are not sufficiently rounded enough as compared to the real thing. Due to that there are only two photographs released so far that I know of and these were taken somewhat at a distance it is rather difficult to state anything with certainty. I just hope that they did not make the same mistake that Eduard did and copy the erroneous tail wheel that the Hendon example has fitted which appears to be that of a P-51 fig

Hi guys Concerning the adjustable pitch of the propellers at least that way no one will be able to nitpick that they got the angle of the prop pitch wrong... I saw on LSP Forums that some fellow was claiming that there appears to be something a bit off regarding the canopy. I am not so sure but looking at these two images it does appear that the windscreen and canopy of the example on display are meant to represent the type normally fitted to the E-1 and E-3 yet the edges are not curved but rather sharp as per the windscreen and canopy usually associated with the E-4 and E-7. Dragon 1/32

Hi guys It appears that Dragon will release sometime in the future a 1/32 scale counterpart to the 1/48 scale Bf 109 E-4 which had already been announced. Considering how nice the 1/32 and 1/48 scale Bf 110 kits by this company are I am definitely interested in this one. According to Rowan Baylis of Aeroscale the kit is in the final tooling stage so hopefully it will be available soon. It will be interesting to see how the Dragon offering will fare at the hands of the Bf 109 modeling meat grinder. Horrido! Leo