By chance I was bored half way a certain build when I decided to pull my 10% made Zvezda 109 G out of the box.
I recall I stopped after getting the cockpit half made and the engine built but unpainted, just can’t recall why I stopped there though.
Anyway around that time fellow iModeller Louis Gardner was spicing things here with some reviews and dual builds of the same plane by different brands, when the word got around the new Tamiya G-6.
The fact that some people have not seen both the Zvezda mould and/or wer poorly aware of Eduard’s one, incite me to begin my third 109 G from this Czech maker and try to do a more or less side by side construction of the 2 kits.
For me the goal is to get 2 less boxes in the stash and 2 new Gustav on the shelf, but I will try to narrate the pros and cons Found along the build process.
For the record, I already built the 109 F from Zevda (well 98% of it to be more accurate), and it was the worst 1/48 Messerschmitt build experience in my life, but to be fair some of this was my own fault. Nonetheless I found the kit overengineered for little gain in what most modelers seek to build.
The exact opposite was my 2 previous building experiences from Eduard.
So does this mean I am biased? You bet I am, but previous experiences aren’t always replicated when one tackles the same kit again right?!
So here’s where I am now with the 2 kits:

Zvezda:

Terrific detail for the cockpit (best OOB to me by far) and great detail on the engine, sharp and authentic. No idea if it’s exactly the shape of the DB engine the G-6 version used, since it seems the same as in the F-2/4 box. Still it’s very neat, and comes without any A.M. price. I am trying to detail it a bit.
No need for fillers at all when it come to joining the fuselage sides and cockpit, all clips smoothly, using nothing but extra thin liquid glue.
The wings, on the other hand are not so great. First of all the tip of the wings is to be inserted. I did this when I first started the kit and remember glueing each tip to one of the sides on the wing first. Only then I glued the remaining lower or upper half of the wing, to ensure a smooth straight wing...no such luck. No idea why but one of the tiles is slightly tilted upwards and can’t fix it without major repair, which I ain’t keen to do.
Then the wings had an almost zero dihedral (something which I don’t recall having in their F version). To fix this I sanded the fuselage wing roots to allow the wing slightly forced to bent upward and get that familiar dihedral on the Messerschmitt family. That did it, but some work now needs to be done to get all joints smooth again. No big problem.
Next there’s a proeminente gap on the windscreen plastic part where the IP is glued to. Again, don’t recall this gap on their earlier F version. Let’s see in the future if this is a result of the plastic or one of my bloopers.
Another quite visible gap in in the lower wing/fuselage joint line. Needs some plastic insert to foil it but otherwise it is in the precise contour on that area.

7 attached images. Click to enlarge.

Great start, Pedro! That engine sure looks nice. I look forward to more!

Very Nice ! You grabbed my attention... I'll be watching for sure.

Now if I can get my hands on a new tool Eduard 109 G6, I may consider doing the same thing by comparing that kit build along with the Tamiya kit I reviewed.

Unfortunately, over the last few days, I have not completed much with the He-111's...

I'll be looking forward to your next update.

Another thing I appreciate a lot about the Eduard moulds is the fact that the MGs beulges are not molded in the fuselage and, as such, present a great opportunity for trouble free camouflages that have special motifs painted in these areas

I have added a quickboost undercarriage bay correction set since the kit has no holes where they should be, and this is a very visible part if we look at the U/C bay.
The part fits like a glove to the rest of the plastic parts that c9mpose that area. Only some minor pinpoint liquid putty is applied.

As for Zvezda kit, it’s also going nicely, now addressing the areas that needed some filler to hide gaps.
I will try to paint the entire airframe without the engine on, therefore sparing myself a very tedious masking task. My work detailing the engine will continue simultaneously with the painting of the airframe

Thanks for stopping by!

4 attached images. Click to enlarge.

This is some very nice work. I like your attention to details. You even painted the exhaust soot color inside the exhaust ports of the DB engine, and the two red colored portions on the trim wheels... I haven't seen that done before.
Looks great !

Quick update

Almost getting both kits at the same point of construction, meaning, all main areas that will be painted assembled are getting done.

Few issues noted:

Zvezda: a step was created when the wing/fuselage joint was glued. This was due to poor contact area between them. Easy correction with a measured to size evergreen plastic bit. A few swipes of sanding stick and it should conform to surface.

Ailerons, from Vector (the kit one are ok, just missed the lower detail of the piece), are to be installed.

Eduard: all going good

3 attached images. Click to enlarge.

Finally got some bench time and started to paint both Gustavs.

The Eduard kit has a less than perfect approach about the exhaust, since one has to glue them before closing the fuselage halves.

Obviously this makes it harder to get the parts painted after, so I chose to paint them before glued, and the proceed to mask them with maskol.

If one chooses the brassin exhausts (and pay an extra 9 euros for this accesory) then the problem is solved because they can be glued at the final stages of the build. Another part that all Messerschmitt rivet counters should be aware is the lower wing fuselage junction line. I will show a photo of this on a later update. Apart from these minor issues, the rest of the kit is design to be fools proof and is indeed a pleasure to assemble.

Now the Zevda kit... One aspect I did not mention earlier is that the panel lines are rather soft scribed, so go easy with the paint mixture or the detail becomes hidden under thick paint layers. Oh, and be sure to follow the instructions build steps. As I said earlier, I was careless here and found the kit very unforgiving if you need to insert parts later than they are suppose to, so be warned! Still it’s a fine kit undoubtably.

As you can see in the photos, I am at the point where you can’t tell if the end result will be pleasing or a complete mess. More update soon. Thanks for stoping by

5 attached images. Click to enlarge.

Had some time to progress these 2 beauties, and Eduard 109 is making some fast advance. Should have him finished soon, just some minor paint corrections, washes and then complete all bits to go.

2 attached images. Click to enlarge.