Messerschmitt Bf109F

FROG F192, Messerschmitt Bf109F, Rovex industries ltd, 1969

NEW to YOU?
A MONTHLY REVIEW OF NEW ITEMS CONDUCTED BY BOB JONES (I.P.M.S.)

Latest addition to the range of FROG 1/72 scale aircraft kits will delight Luftwaffe enthusiasts, being a Messerschmitt Bf.109F. Price (UK) 3/-. Kit includes optional tropical or standard filters. Decals offer alternative markings representing either an aircraft flown by Adolph Galland, of JG.26 in European theatre decor or Hans Joachim Marseilles' 109F Trop of JG.27. Assembly is quite straightforward, although we would recommend reference to photographs to ensure that the undercarriage legs are set at the correct angle and track, as unless this is done the model will not 'sit' correctly. Box art provides a very accurate guide to painting.

Scale Models 1969 OCTOBER

NEW AND IN VIEW NEW AIRCRAFT KITS
FROG. Messerschmitt Bf. 109F. 1/72 scale. Price 3/- (U.K.)

It is perhaps surprising to realise that this is the only kit in 1/72 scale of the 'F' variant of the Messerschmitt fighter, and Frog are to be congratulated on their choice of model.

On opening the box, one is immediately struck by the very fine surface detail, a feature of Frog kits which in the past has been much criticised but which now is approaching near-scale accuracy. Assembly is straightforward, but the joint along the centre of the wing leading edge requires some sanding, as does the wing/fuselage joint just aft of the nose intake. Apart from these slight corrections, the kit is very accurate indeed. It includes both standard and tropical intakes, a bucket seat with armour-plated back, and the most exquisitely-detailed wheels and hubs we have yet seen to this scale. The cockpit canopy is superb, and the fit of this is near-perfect.

The decals, as with all this company's kits, are excellent. Very accurate markings are given for Adolf Galland's aircraft when he served with JG.26 in France in 1941 (94 kills) and Marseille's Bf.109F (Trop) Werk No.5237, at Gazala in 1942 (101 kills). Personal markings are included, along with oil and fuel triangles etc.

The only real criticism is that the aircraft shown in the dramatic box art (as opposed to the profiles) is more like a cross between an MC202 and a Hurricane than a Bf109! Despite this, the kit inside is really delightful.

The IPMS magazine, JANUARY 1969 VOL.6 No.1

Scale Models 1970 FEBRUARY
NEW to YOU?
MONTHLY REVIEW OF NEW PRODUCTS CONDUCTED BY BOB JONES OF I.P.M.S

We are still receiving for review new items obviously designed to fall in with the Battle of Britain film and its attendant publicity.

FROG have introduced some of their kits in two-some boxed sets: These being the Spitfire/Ju 88, Blenheim Mk. l/Bf.lO9F and Hurricane IIC/Ju 87D, each set retailing at 10/6d.

For the extra value over the combined price of the two kits, one receives a most attractive box, the front of which features an excellent action painting featuring the aeroplanes provided. One is given a plastic picture frame into which this box top illustration is placed and two display stands which also fit on to the frame. The models may then be mounted on these and the whole hung on the wall of one's den or office etc. The frame is a sturdy unit moulded in polystyrene with a faked wooden 'grain' and colouring, which from a distance looks like an expensive picture surround. The kits for the aircraft are, of course, identical to those which one may buy separately. Taking into account the value of the kits plus the very high quality of the decals, together with the frame and stand mounts at 10/6d. this is good value for money and provides a new and unique method of display.

Scale Models No.5 1970 FEBRUARY Vol.1 No.5

MODEL ENTHUSIAST
Transparently obvious
This month's colour subject

As long as military aircraft exist, the Messerschmitt Bf 109 fighter will be remembered. Its claims to fame are numerous, quite apart from the fact that it was manufactured in larger quantities than any fighter before or since, and it has always exercised a fascination for the modeller, and this fascination is unquestionably engendered in no small way by the infinite variety of marking and finish that may be applied to models of this famous warplane. Built in immensely greater numbers than any sub-type of the Bf 109 was, of course, the Gustav — the Bf 109G, and our colour page this month, which reveals some of the interesting insignia that this fighter carried in service, comprises a selection of colour profiles reproduced from The Augsburg Eagle — The Story of the Messerschmitt 109 by kind permission of the publishers of this new book, Macdonald & Co (Publishers) Limited. This book contains 24 pages of full-colour illustrations by John Weal which depict examples of the Bf 109 in the finishes and markings applied throughout its long Luftwaffe career as well as those applied by the many other air arms with which this distinguished warplane served.

Among several quite good kits are those to 1/72nd scale by Airfix and to 1/70th scale by Hawk, the latter being the more accurate but appreciably cruder than the former. The principal shortcoming of the Airfix kit is presented by the nose which is both incorrectly shaped and too short, and to put this right it is necessary to insert a section 3/32 in (2,38 mm) wide at the rear of the cowling, which is no simple task. Perhaps the best answer for a Bf 109G model in the 1/72nd range is to convert Frog's very good Bf 109F kit to Gustav standards which is easier than correcting the Airfix kit. Revell issues a generally good kit of the Bf 109G to 1/32nd scale, and those with a penchant for the larger model will undoubtedly choose this, but there is an obvious gap to be filled by a kit of a Gustav to 1/48th scale, and there are rumours that Fujimi intends to produce just such a kit. There are many modellers who will be delighted if these rumours prove to be fact.

Dornier and Grumman from Frog

We have found it necessary to criticise some recent Frog kits-rather harshly; some of this company's kits have fallen far short of the standards established by their predecessors. This decline would now seem to have been arrested by the Dornier Do 17Z and Hellcat now issued as these, happily, revert to the standards of former years. Both are accurate and neatly moulded to 1/72nd scale, and their component parts fit together well, though the Hellcat is the better of the two in this respect as some of the joints of the Do 17Z demand some work from the modeller. Both display a mass of fine straight-line surface detail and have excellent thin, crystal-clear transparencies. The superbly-detailed engines provided with both kits are particularly worthy of mention, though the power plant provided for the Hellcat is in error in one respect: the two rows of cylinders line up incorrectly, those comprising the rear row lining directly behind those of the front row instead of being staggered. Fortunately, this error is simple to correct.

The decal sheet of the Do 17Z is excellent, offering markings for an aircraft of I/KG 3 operating over the UK in 1940 and for an aircraft of Finland's PLeLv 46. The decal sheet accompanying the Hellcat kit, which offers the markings of two British-operated aircraft, one from No 800 Squadron operating in home waters and one from No 1839 Squadron flying from HMS Indomitable in the Jndian Ocean, is definitely weak on colour, and there is an ugly black line separating the red and blue portions of the roundels of the No 800 Squadron aircraft. It may be that this weakness in the colour is deliberate, representing an effort to simulate the weathered effect sported by the markings of many naval aircraft, but if so, the result is not very successful.

Both kits include the usual all-drawing style instruction sheets which serve their purpose adequately. These are certainly excellent products and are to be recommended highly, being the best 1/72nd scale representations of their subjects on the market today, and at their UK prices of 47p for the Do 17Z and 20p for the Hellcat they offer good value. □

W R MATTHEWS
RECENTLY ISSUED KITS

Air Enthusiast 1971-12 vol.01 no.07