EDITORIAL

Good day, Dear Friends

Among the 84 new items being released for June,

the 72nd Limited Edition kit dubbed “Wunderschöne

neue Maschinen” stands out. This “Wonderful New

Machines” kit centres around the Messerschmitt

Bf 109F, which, when introduced into the arsenal of

the Luftwaffe at the beginning of 1941, brought an

increase in the performance and quality of German

fighters committed to aerial combat. It could not have

come at a better time, when, after the end of the Battle

of Britain, the RAF went on the offensive and took the

fight to over German-occupied Western Europe. The

Luftwaffe, as of June 22, 1941, was weakened in the

West by the transfer of a large number of its units to

the east to support the ill-fated attack on the Soviet

Union. It had faced British pressure for a long time

with success, causing the RAF significant losses.

Fighter units were also successful on the Eastern

Front, in this case enormously so, thanks to the

inferior qualities of the Soviet fighting machine. We

know today that a future collapse was hidden in all

those initial successes, but that does not change the

fact that the Bf 109, in many different developmental

versions, would have a profound impact on aerial

combat and would become an undisputed legend of

world aviation.

The new Bf 109 F and its new

design features

Our development of these new kits took over three

years. This may seem like an unreasonably long

gestation period, given the fact that we have the

1:48th scale kits under our belt. However, this fact

carries much less weight than one would expect.

This is because there are so many changes in the

design process from those larger kits, mainly

because technology has changed so much since the

48th scale versions were released some ten year

ago. These changes are recognized as being for

the better, because they have opened up so many

possibilities in terms of design solutions. For the

Bf 109 F/G/K series, we focused on overall

simplification of the kit, reducing the number of

parts used and strengthening the sprue gates.

Some solutions are interesting and even unique. For

example, the main landing gear assembly, where the

main landing gear legs are molded together with the

oleo scissors and include seating elements that allow

the connection to the landing gear covers without

the need to search out optimal, symmetrical spatial

relationships. And most importantly, it has a dedicated

anchoring element that anchors the leg in the wing

so that the tongue slides into a corresponding groove

in the wing, behind the wheel well. Three walls of

this groove are part of the cockpit floor, and after the

wing is glued to the fuselage, the feature is closed

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INFO Eduard

off by a fourth wall, formed by the lower surface of

the wing. At the end of the construction, it is enough

to insert the landing gear legs into the groove

which, at the same time, gives the landing gear legs

a precise position in relation to the wing. So there is

no need to monitor and adjust the geometry of the

landing gear in any complicated way. It is the same

with the tail wheel, which is also installed by way of

insertion using a similar tongue and groove system.

The design of the tail surfaces is also an innovative

feature. The fin and rudder is molded as a whole with

a tongue that widens as it extends away from the

part. This then fits into a groove of the same shape

that is molded in both halves of the fuselage. Then

when the tongue is inserted into the fuselage halves

and the assembly is sealed off, the physical shape

of the seating elements sort of pulls and pinches

the fin toward the fuselage, perfectly seating it with

the correct geometry. But be aware that the fin must

be glued to one half of the fuselage and closed with

its corresponding other half, and can’t be inserted

into the assembled fuselage per se, because that

won’t allow the positioning system to take over and

line everything up correctly. To glue this assembly

together, it is a good idea to use classic solvent

glue, which keeps the glued joint active for some

time. This will allow the rudder to be retracted into

the hull. There are certainly alternative options for

gluing this assembly, but in any case, it’s good to

know about this feature, which is unusual but I’m

not sure any reviewer will even notice it. You then

insert the single piece elevator into the cut-out in the

rudder assembly. This is a tight fit by design. The fact

that the two parts have practically no play means

that they settle into each other in a precisely defined

and correct position. And it is also one of the subassemblies of the model where there is practically

no need to use glue, as it holds together on its own

very nicely. The whole thing is sealed off with the

rudder and voila! – you’re done. To the contrary, the

cockpit assembly is inserted into the assembled

fuselage, sliding in from below and you don't have

to worry that it won’t fit. It fits precisely. I just don’t

recommend pressing too much on the sides of the

fuselage when gluing in the cockpit, the glue will

soften the material and the fuselage will narrow in

that area and could create a gap between it and the

wing. This happened to me while test gluing one of

the two models I built. It is best to glue in the cockpit

and cover the joint with a quick flashing type glue

and leave it alone without any pressure. It will settle

in by itself. You will find other similar details and

assemblies on the model, for example the oil cooler

does not need to be glued into the fuselage, and the

wing dynamics allow for a very good fit as well.

The new Bf 109 as an easy build

Specific issues come up with the Bf 109F series

due to the evolution of many small but nagging

variations throughout its development. The F mods

went through a rather complex development and

the pace of innovation was frantic. And so it wasn’t

too simple, they were produced in five factories

with their own little trademark elements sprinkled

liberally on individual aircraft. As a result, we have

two different wingtips to cover different position

light arrangements, fuselages with or without rear

reinforcements under the tail, two types of seat and

two shapes of the main landing gear well, round or

square. An aircraft that even boasted one round and

one square well made it to our marking options. This

may prove to be a challenge for less experienced

modellers and we won’t get into how you should

execute the arrangement, suffice to say that the

experienced ones will tackle this without the need

to bombard us with desperate emails over this spicy

little point of interest. The design of the kit takes

these distinguishing features into account. Most of

the small parts are on the U-sprue which is common

for all upcoming versions including all Bf 109 G and

Bf 109 K releases. Your first glance at the kit may give

you the impression that it is a complicated … dare

I say “fiddly” … affair. But in reality, the opposite

is true. This kit is relatively simple in terms of

construction and is especially very user friendly

and inviting to the modeller! I’ve already built two of

these little gems, so I can state this with complete

sincerity. Among other things, this is manifested

by the fact that some small parts, such as the

position lights for the F-4, the sight, the antennae

or the aileron balance horns are duplicated on the

sprues. Yeah – you know how it is, and so do we. You

pick up a small part with your nifty little tweezers,

press just a little too hard, and the thing gets

sucked up by the vacuum cleaner at some future

point without you ever seeing the damn thing again.

June 2023