Jump to content

Airfix 1/24th Bf 109E


Recommended Posts

I just acquired a pair of the old 1/24th scale Airfix Bf 109E (one started and one unstarted) and am having some trouble locating info on it i.e. options, versions that can be built from the box, inaccuracies and so forth. I have found a few very nice builds though. Anyone out there have any info/thoughts/opinions on the kit? I got them to go with my same scale Airfix Hurricane. :thumbsup:

Thanks for any help!

Lee

Link to post
Share on other sites

I just acquired a pair of the old 1/24th scale Airfix Bf 109E (one started and one unstarted) and am having some trouble locating info on it i.e. options, versions that can be built from the box, inaccuracies and so forth. I have found a few very nice builds though. Anyone out there have any info/thoughts/opinions on the kit? I got them to go with my same scale Airfix Hurricane. :thumbsup:

Lee,

The companion book ("Messerschmitt Bf 109 Versions B-E, Classic Aircraft No.2, Their history and how to model them", ISBN 0-85059-106-6) has some good specifics. They're a bit basic really, the Airfix 48th is nicer in purely mercenary terms. Any other good 109 book e.g. the Ritman Modellers' Datafile will of course assist as well.

Equally they're marvelous great canvasses for detailing, top dogs of their era and for modellers of a certain age* have a unique magic. Fred out of Fotocut did etch for them, Airscale a gorgeous instrument panel decal and Mike Grant (used to?) do a seriously Gucci set of stencils.

HTH, Patrick

* Those of us who remember them costing the stratospheric sum of £12, i.e. 3 months' pocket money...

Link to post
Share on other sites

You've acquired kits that were tooled up forty odd years ago, there's no way that you can realistically compare them with more recent kits, but I have seen some very nice builds from them over the the years. Search the gallery on the ARC front page and you will find some gems.

peebeep

Link to post
Share on other sites

One of the main problems with the kit is that the cowl and gun covers will have to be adjusted to fit correctly. The gun covers are particularly ill fitting, they may need to be thinned.Getting everything to fit under that cowling can be a real challenge. Numerous dry- fittings may be required before you actually get to glue it all together.

I have heard that the angle on the rear part of the canopy is wrong. Whether or not you want to rework that problem is up to you though.

One other thing, the mounting tabs for the landing gear could probably be cut and replaced with a piece of tube or solid round steel stock. The example I had, both tabs on one gear and one on the other broke off. The tail wheel oleo is weak and if you're going to do anything other than set it on a shelf once, then a stronger leg may be required.

All the Airfix kits are notorious for dihedral and wing warping problems so just be aware.

Jerry Rutman has had AM resin parts available in the past for that kit but I don't know if they're still available. He's phased out some conversions as production kits became available. Other parts such as gun barrels and wheels are available from sources you can access on ARC. The there are the Airscale guages that I have heard are wonderful.

With a little work and some dry-fitting this Emil kit can be made into a respectable model. These kits are old, they're toy like in some aspects. The molding not up to modern standards, they lack the modern standards of detail, but with a bit of scratchbuilding it can be made into an outstanding model

Edited by Expat Tomcat
Link to post
Share on other sites

You definitely need to decide what you are going to do: Show it all off, or button it all up.

If you're going to button it up, you will need to chop off certain parts of the engine and the MG17s on the gun deck to get the panels to all fit. You will want to maybe do something with those exhaust pipes as well (there are no pipes! Just flat zig-zag panels of plastic!).

Also the gear are those old-style attempts to allow them to retract. I had to cut off those pegs and strongly glue them in place with some pro-bond.

If you want to use the pilot figure (not the best) you have to build the cockpit around him because he will not fit in after you have closed the sides together.

Overall your choices are Bf 109E-4 or Bf 109E-3. The only difference is the canopy being rounded or squared. Some E-4s received round canopies if field-repair, and some E-3s were upgraded to E-4 specs in the field but retained their canopy. Armor may or may not be present behind the pilot head depending on where and when it was flown. Check your references on that one.

The problem I found is the clear pieces are not equal. If you take the front windscreens off the sprue and stand them nose to nose, one will sit shorter than the other! The squared canopy has the better fit, which was a real pain for me as I was doing the rounded one. If you want to avoid a major fit hassle, work on an E-4 with a squared canopy.

Overall they are lacking in most details. The details they have are over done (Massive trenches for panels, huge screws and bolts), the rubber tires are B-A-D "awful" and the overall kit is a bit of an effort.

The plus is that if you want to go nuts detailing it you have TONS of room due to its massive size. Things you might cringe at in 1/72 are now much easier and more forgiving. Or if you just want to build it stock you can have a big display model (and big can still be impressive, even if you haven't super-detailed it or anything).

If you get it for cheap it's not bad. I wouldn't spend much on one new, though. Not worth it with new molds and new standards these days.

Link to post
Share on other sites

Check out my web folder for my Airfix 109E:

http://www.nakatomitower.com/models/airfix109/

Just a directory with a couple dozen photos. The ones with "done" are final pics, the rest are in-progress pics. I took a page from Mark Mallinson's Bf109E with regards to how I made walls for the gear wells. He had images describing how he blocked his off here:

http://www.aircraftresourcecenter.com/Fea1/101-200/Fea153_Bf-109E-3_Mallinson/00.shtm

Even if you do nothing else, no other detailing, this one step will add a bit to the model IMO. It was a serious oversight even for the time it was molded!

Edited by Mark M.
Link to post
Share on other sites

It may take a bit of re-engineering but if you plan to display the model all buttoned up, you could avoid some of the fit problems with the cowling by eliminating installation of the engine. I think the oil cooler and gear box for the propeller could be installed to hold the prop in place without the engine block actually being there. The fit issues with the gun cover doors forward of the cockpit could be helped alot by thinning the covers or scratch building new ones from thinner stock or aluminum. To get all that buttoned up and the covers on without them sticking up is going to require everything to be just right underneath.

Mark is spot on about the canopy issues, you might want to check out the rear canopy deck issue and decide if it makes enough of a difference to you to correct. The angle of the rear canopy and deck piece is wrong, comparison to the Trumpeter kits will bear this out. There was a WIP build over on LSP regarding this correction you might want to check out, it shows exactly how to deal with it.

Link to post
Share on other sites

You'll want to include the basic frame of the engine even if you don't do much other than paint it black. You can see inside the oil cooler and the little cooling slits and so forth. There is actually a gap in the real craft where the cowling meets the gun deck. This wasn't a molding error, the real thing has a bit of a gap here. It allows air from the forward cooling vents to escape is my guess.

So all these little things can show there's a big empty space inside. Best to just build the engine and paint it all black.

Link to post
Share on other sites

Wow, some terrific advice and help, guys! Thanks again, Mark for sharing your hard work with me to improve my kits. Looks like the started one is missing a few parts so I'll need to track 'em down.

Later,

Lee

Link to post
Share on other sites

Join the conversation

You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.

Guest
Reply to this topic...

×   Pasted as rich text.   Paste as plain text instead

  Only 75 emoji are allowed.

×   Your link has been automatically embedded.   Display as a link instead

×   Your previous content has been restored.   Clear editor

×   You cannot paste images directly. Upload or insert images from URL.

×
×
  • Create New...