This is my quick 2 week (actually it was really only 10 days that i actually worked on it!) out of box build of Eduards 1/32 Bf109E-1.

I didn't take many in progress pics...no time. Anyway not very much to comment on about building this one, it went together quite simply. In this pic you can see the only place where i used some filler- under the nose air intake. Even that was mainly due to me slightly misaligning the oil cooler assemble inside.



No filler anywhere else, just some slight sanding to smooth out the seams. I camfered the top and bottom spines aft of the cockpit to make a seam where one really existed. After joining the fuselages and they were completely set, i then ran a needle along the seam lines to remove the glue that squeezed out.




All paints Gunze- the only choice of RLM colours for the discerning Luftwaffe modeller! In my opinion. How one of these could turn out with extra detailing by those so inclined is pretty obvious.











And some comment on the price of these Eduard kits for Australian buyers. I've seen these retailed in some Melbourne hobby stores for $160!! Do not pay those prices, as good as the kit is it's not worth that! I don't know if it's the distributor or the retailers doing that, but someone is making a tidy profit at those prices. I ordered mine from Modelimex in Czech Republic with a few Special Hobby kits as well. It arrived in 7 days and when the postage is divided up between the kits i bought, the price i paid for this was about $85. Much better value at around half the retailers price! Of course supporting local hobby stores is a wonderful thing, but not when there is an $80 difference.
Times change and the world is a smaller place than it used to be...and maybe the days of traditional retailers is truly over.

Andrew

Andrew

that is a beautifuls model!! Congratulations on a very nice build.

..but you know me, I cannot leave without a remark have another look at the under carriage. to my eye the angle is too steep. If the a/c it is level in longitudinal axis the u/c should angle forward (and also a bit more outward IMO). ... maybe it is just a matter of the camera distorting things ....


(taken from messerschmitt-bf-109.de, just as a demonstration, copyrights should be rspected)



hope this shows what I mean, yours looks somehow strange,

EDIT: Seeing these pix side by side I cannot fully nail it down, maybe the u/c is too long or distortion or wrong angles ...

all the best

Steffen

I think the angles of the legs are pretty close to being right, i believe it is simply that the legs are in a more extended position. I don't worry about such things because i know what happens to the height of an aircraft when you put in a load of fuel and ammunition and even stick 2 people on it ) like in the pic. That's why i tend to laughed at all the Hyperscale critisms of the Revell Mosquito height- both Revell and Tamiya could be right at the same time- who is to say if the model is loaded or empty? It's a massive difference- it's why we groundies have to be very careful about parking support equipment under aircraft during refueling...i've seen the results! And drawings don't help because the standard is to draw them in the un-loaded state.

An aircrafts ride height is not one standard height by any means. But lowering it would be pretty easy in the kit if you wanted to. And i agree it definately sits higher than i'm used to seeing as well.
If you l,ook between the collar on the U/C legs and the top of the tyre in the real pic and the model pic you'll see the difference in the extension. But i won't say it's wrong unless the kit is outside the possible range of oleo extension.

Andrew

Hi Andrew

I see your point ... I do not fully agree, but I accept that you are fine with it!

As I already wrote it was just a small nit pick and does not belittle your outstanding work! ... even though it is in the wrong scale

cheers

Steffen

I agree about the scale Steffen! 1/48 is the true aircraft scale as far as i'm concerned, but i wanted to try out one of these new Eduard 1/32 kits.

I think the U/C is acceptable, but looking at pics and drawings i now believe that the wing dihedral is actually a bit flat...the Bf109 has a very pronounced dihedral. Fixing that would require some sanding of the wing roots during the build if it's enough to trouble anyone.

Andrew

Andrew , another fine build . Excellent !!! Neet marking choice too .

Beautiful job. This looks like a winner with no need for AM upgrades.

A very nice job Andrew

Great build, Andrew. Your Bf 109 looks great.

Thanks for sharing

Andrew, great build ..flawless for a fast build (one week you say ... total envy!!) I just purchased their E-4 and wanted to know if you stumbled into any road blocks that you would like to share?

Thanks for the comments.

Hermann: To be really honest, for me there was no real stumbling points on this build. But i know that a few people have had a few fit issues. The only small fit problem i made for myself by getting the oil cooler insert slightly misaligned which resulted in a rough join under the forward lower fuselage- not a gap but it took a little bit of filler to smooth things out and about 5 minutes sanding when dry.

However like most other recent Eduard kits it does take a bit of care and careful test fitting to really see how things are meant to go before applying glue. Eduard like using very fine locating pins and very thin parts compared to most manufacturers... it just means taking more care. But this is a much easier model than either Eduards 1/48 Bf110 or Fw190 models for sure.

The E-4 kit has that famous canopy issue, assuming you don't have one with the new improved canopy. Other than that the only noticeable issue in my mind is that i think the dihedral has turned out just a little bit flat. The wing root fit was very tight and i used tape between the wingtips to hold them up under pressure during glueing. I can't see any way of getting more dihedral without doing a bit of slight sanding on the roots...i'm quite sure that i didn't mess anything up there, the fit was perfect.

An excellent model kit overall as far as i'm concerned- but it depends on what price you find it at as to it's overall value. And as for all the kits knockers...well they can stay with the old Hasegawa and Matchbox models. And seek therapy.

I wonder if Merlin ever finished his?

Andrew

??????

Not sure what you mean. Has Eduard "fixed" the canopy issue, and if so, how does one know which version one is buying?

Yes they have made a new canopy. and they say future issues will have it. I'm not sure if there will be any way of telling the difference from the box, they didn't really say.

Andrew

Andrew, thanks for the heads up. The only problem is that I'm saving it for the proposed 109 campaign and it's still some time away!! Now if I could only ignore the beaconing calls coming from the box ..build me, build me, .. must resist