Introduction

I think I have come to a full circle with the Trumpeter Bf 109, from the smallest (1/144) to the largest (1/24). But when the first plastic kit (Aurora) in its bright Candy Apple Red with the plans from the Wylam book came out back in the fifties, it sure did look like a 109 to us. and for those who have not seen an Aurora 109, Wylam had two books of aircraft drawings. Some were very nice and worth having. But the Bf 109 was not one of the good ones. The fuselage was very long or the wing was short but now it sure looks funny. We did not have Internet Modeler and Hyperscale to say "No, that is not right and the fuselage is too long". We just built it. And had fun painting it with model airplane dope, (No Poly Scale paints and no FS color chips for RLM colors back then.) It was green and green with blue on the bottom. And we used balsa wood glue to put them together.

When Airfix came out with the Bf 109 E in 1/24 scale I got some and built one. It was and still is a good kit. At the time I was thinking of making one into an F but that would be too much work. I just hoped that Airfix would do a Bf 109F and a G. They did a Fw 190 and a P 51D then a JU 87B, but the 1/24 scale did not go over and that was the last of them. But I hoped that some day we would see a 1/24 scale F or a G.

When Trumpeter announced last year that they would have some 24scale 109s I was delighted. Not knowing what to expect from them because they were a new company, I kept my fingers crossed that we would get a good 109.

What's in the Box?

You have 272 parts on 9 trees of gray plastic. And one clear tree of the fuselage, this is for those that would like to make a model so you can see the inside of the aircraft. I got two trees with the canopies and they are the same, just in case you mess one up, I guess. Some photo etched parts for the hinges are included as well as one film of the instrument panels, and some rubber tires. There are some nice decals from AeroMaster, with some good color instructions.

In looking at the kit I can see some things that I think Trumpeter could do better. One big thing is seat belts. With a kit this size, I would think that they could put in some vinyl seat belts. They have an extra cowling bump for the G5 with the compressor fairing. They say to cut out the one that is on the engine cowling and use this one. It looks like that will take some very fine cutting to get it to match up.

I would think it would be easier to have that as an add-on part for the cowling. The other thing that would be nice is to have a piece of plastic that you could glue the exhaust stacks to and then glue it to the inside of the fuselage and not have to put the engine in the kit. But that can be an easy fix.

On tree G they have a tall tail rudder, but the fuselage is for a short tail. It would take a little work to convert it to a tall tail, but it could be done. I know that I will find some more when I start on the kit, but for now those are the only things I can see. In the catalog they have a blank picture after the G-6 so I hope that we will see a late G and a K. And it would be nice to see a 24 scale Fw 190D-9. Then you can build an extra room onto your house just to display them.

From the first look it sure looks nice and it is a Bf 109. I used the drawings from "Last of the Eagles" by John Beaman and the kit was all within the lines of the drawings, so I can live with that. There are some panel lines that need adding, and some that need removing. Another easy fix.

So is the kit worth it? That is up to you. If you want a big 109, then yes it is.