AeroPlast 1/72 Messerschmitt Bf-109B Reviewed by Will Perry

Overview

In general, the history of the Me-109 is familiar turf for most modelers, yet the early Jumo engined birds still retain a mystery or two. Older researchers (e.g., Heinz Nowarra, William Green) scrambled the history of the B, C, and D, partly due to German propaganda from the '30s. Modern researchers seem to have sorted it out (the Messerschmitt Bf 109 in Action by John R. Beaman, Jr. is a good and readily available reference). Here's a quick summary:

• B model - carbureted Jumo 210D engine, 2 MG 17 machine guns in nose

• C model - injected Jumo 210 G engine, 2 MG 17’s added to wings

• D model - should have had a Daimler 600 engine, but He 111s got them all, so it's back to the old 210D engine, retained the 4 MG 17 armament.

These early 109's introduced the growing Luftwaffe to modern monoplane fighters, and they came to dominate the skies above the Spanish Civil War. The Spanish Civil War history of the various models quickly bogs down in details and controversies. Gratefully, these controversies are thoroughly summarized on the excellent Aircraft of the Spanish Civil War website.

The paint schemes of the Spanish 109's are another can of wurmen. The only thing that you can be sure of is that the references will disagree. Looking over many photos and references, it seems that these birds were painted in light, medium or dark schemes:

• Light - the pale gray used on many pre-war German A/C or light gray-green (RLM 63 or 02), sometimes over RLM 65

• Medium - perhaps darker shades of 63/02 over 65, or the pre-war "bomber" colors (RLM 61/62/63 over 65). Plus various field-developed combinations

• Dark - Good old RLM 70/71 over 65

An excellent article on the subject can be found in Scale Aircraft Modelling Vol. 14, No. 1.

The Kit

Although the Me-109 must be one of the most modeled subjects of all time, the Jumo-engined models have only been tackled once before in 1/72 - the nice Heller kit from the late '70s. This AeroPlast kit retails for $7, harkening back to the days when kits were pocket-change fun. The end-opening box is much too big for such a small kit, but it does provide a generous canvas for some very nice box art.

Two light grey sprues containing 62 parts, though many are redundant - bomb, racks, drop tank and other assorted parts for kit versions yet to come. Both wooden and metal props are provided, as well as all three exhaust types that were used on the Jumo 109's. The major parts have a pebbly surface texture that demands some quality sanding time. There are plenty of tiny detail parts, but the molding is soft and the details are often indistinct. Panel lines are engraved but a bit wide and weak - it looks like some will need rescribing after all the sanding it'll take to smooth up the rough surfaces. The fabric covering of the control surfaces is crudely depicted- more sanding. Seven parts are dedicated to cockpit detail and there's some detail molded into the fuselage walls - it should look sufficiently busy for this scale. The one-piece canopy is reasonably clear and reasonably thin, but it looks a bit flat on top - Squadron has an inexpensive vacuform replacement that would serve well here.

The kit parts were compared to A. Granger's 1978 109E drawings and to rescaled side-views from the In Action book. The wings look fine, though the kit's fuselage has noticeable problems:

• The nose is a mm or so long, and about a mm too high at the front of the canopy.

• The canopy is too far forward by a couple of mm.

• The rear fuselage is about the right thickness in the area of the tail, but it gets too fat as it moves forward. Right behind the canopy, it's about a mm too tall.

Though these may seem like small discrepancies, they add up to an Me 109 that looks a bit porky. The thick moldings of the fuselage are a good thing here - a little tinkering and some sanding will help with the shape issues. The AeroPlast kit was also compared with the old Heller kit. The Heller kit has raised panel lines, much crisper detail, and its shape agrees well with drawings and photos (just needs a little beefing up under the chin). The kit's main parts were cleaned up and assembled. Like many Eastern European kits, careful cleanup and test fitting were required to get decent parts fit. No major surprises appeared, though the three part wings could be tricky - it took some juggling to get decent wing root joints.

The decal set offers four options:

• Legion Condor, VJ/88 - 6.1 - 02/65 scheme, flown by Lt. Hannes Trautloft, 1936 (several sources say this was the Bf 109 V3 orV4). Compared to available photos, the "6-1" looks much too large. Photos of these early planes look like they're painted in one overall color.

• Legion Condor, J/88- 6.56 - 02/65 scheme, flown by Hptm. Gotthard Handrick, 1938 (most sources call this plane a D, but check out those photos on the Aircraft of the Spanish Civil War website.)

• II/JG 132, 70/71/65 scheme

• Unit unidentified, 70/71/65 scheme, black "4" on a white square (race or rally number?)

The decals are thin, with good density, but the straight edges aren't quite straight. On my example, the white outline on Trautloft's green heart suffers from poor registration, so an aftermarket replacement (or some careful brush painting) is called for. Alternative markings may be found on Blue Rider's Sheet BR221.

The AeroPlast kit is also boxed as the C or D model, and it's available at Squadron.com, or hobby shops that trade with Military Model Distributors.

Conclusion

This is certainly an interesting subject, and it's the only game in town for Heller-less modelers. The $7 price tag is refreshing, and the box art is terrific. The kit itself will take some patience and skill to turn it into a fine model, but those familiar with Eastern European kits will be in familiar terrain. All in all, it's a creditable first product for this new company

Useful References

Messerschmitt Bf 109 in Action - Part 1 , John R. Beaman, Jr., Squadron/Signal, 1980

Jagdwaffe, Vol. 1, Section 2 - The Spanish Civil War , Eric Mombeck, Classic Publications, 1999

The Legion Condor, Karl Ries & Hans Ring, Schiffer, 1992

Condor - The Luftwaffe in Spain 1936 - 1939, Patrick Laureau, Hikoki Publications, 2000.