Very interesting looking kits, Erik. @airbum
The camouflage scheme on these 109's is nice but also a challenge.

Yep, and I guess that's why I kept on hearing "complaints" all these years about the Academy offering, my friend @airbum.
Thanks for the info!

Pedro (@holzhamer), indeed I can - as I noted "The trees look rather familiar" and it would appear that it is the "same story, different day" trees that has been used. I will get some further pictures added later - just need to paly with some 1:1 planes first (at work right now), but all the AMG, Dora, Modelsvit and A&A seems to be the same basic trees with some twists, but of corurse for this one you need longer wings, and the wings have been modified to the correct length. Full description and pictures to follow.

Erik, @airbum
This new kit looks promising ! You have peaked my interests with this one. In my 109 stash,

I have one of the old MPM kits. It has some cool looking box art...

It's a rather basic short run kit, and it doesn't have a high parts count. There is a lot of flash present on the parts. I think I will be spending as much time cleaning up the parts as I will building the model... 🙂

It makes up for these deficiencies with some very nice resin bits, and a very nice set of decals. The vacuum formed canopies have turned yellow with time. I'll most likely use a left over canopy from a Hasegawa or Tamiya kit.

I just pulled it down to take a few pictures for you so you could compare. They have definitely come a long way !

If you're wondering why I don't have the 3 new tool 1/48 scale Tamiya 109G's in this picture, it's because they have made their way to the "build" stack. This should make our friend Pedro happy. @holzhamer

I have built most of the 109 Gustav's and they're in the display case.

Academy trees

Now, lets have a look at the Academy kit

To start with, the wingtips need surgery, and for that a nice pair of resin tips are offered.

There is also the extended intake – so far so good

But that is about all there is to say. The base kit is simply not up to any standards, the wing is with all sorts of hatches and stuff, and you have to fill a lot

The bulges are not even marked on the wing, so you have to self-align those.

The fuselage – well basically same story

And one look at the undercarriage doors tells you all – they are rounded and should be relatively flat.

Well, to end on a positive note -

The instrument panel is nicely detailed, and someone with the proper brush skills can make that one into a really nice panel.

all in all – if you are offered one cheap – leave it! In my humble opinion it is not worth anything, and you are better off by starting with a basic Tamiya kit and scratchbuild your way to a Träger version. But by all means – make up your own mind, and with the skills we see from some of you happy modelers, everything is possible!

Thanks for notifying, Erik @airbum
I'm still looking for a good 109D/E to add to my stash.
I do like challenges while modelling, but once in a while an easy build is good to relax a bit.
Not like my current build, HiPM Petlyakov Pe2, which is sort of a nightmare like the Academy kit you described above.

Thanks Erik @airbum, I will keep my eyes open to tackle one of these Tamiya kits.
Christmas is getting closer, so that should be a great moment to get one.

John (@JohnB) - I hope there will be a Tamiya 109 under the tree for you!
Louis (@lgardner), I hope your Dora arrived safe.

A&A Models’ Bf.109T

It’s been too long since I took a look at the 109 Werke

Last time it was Academy’s 109T, this time lets have a look at the A&A offering. Hardly surprising the trees are more or less the same as the other offerings from the molds. (remember – the Modelsvit, Dora Wings and AMG trees I looked at earlier). The major difference is the wings;

The T had longer wings to enable it to operate from the short deck of a carrier, and A6A simply added to the molds. Looking OK.

They also added the airbrakes – and some lines that I can only interpret as a folding mechanism.

That is nothing short of WRONG! The Graf Zeppelin was designed to have room for them without wingfolding, and in my humble opinion this was never an option in the real world.

Actually the wingfold is left out in the instructions!

The molds were originally for early versions, and to make a Toni (Emil) wing the radiators had to be added.

And with this initial look I will leave it for now as it is long enough.

next up perhaps a look at the fuselage and other stuff