I am considering a Bf 109 build as one those exported to Japan.

My understanding is 5 off the E7 variant were shipped sans guns to Japan.

I can only seem to find an E7 Trop in 1:48, do I use this and tool about with it or do I look for an E4 and tool about with that. Or does someone do an E7 without the Trop mods?

Depending on the kit, it's very likely that it'll have the necessary supercharger intake for the standard E-7 already included (although it may be marked 'not for use'). Aside from the paint job, that was the only external difference between the two. I've just confirmed that the Tamiya plastic includes both intake types.

Hi Carl,

This might be of some use to you,

Back in 2011 (I think) airfix released a double kit for their "club airfix" members,this included 2 of the planes you wanted, one in German markings, the other in Japanese.

The first place to try is eBay, after that just ask around,

James.

Turns out I was slightly wrong.



James.

Thanks for the info and suggestions. Given a choice and not considering availability or cost do I choose the;

Airfix?
Tamyia?
or the Eduard?

1:48 kit?

Of the three the Airfix kit will most likely be the least expensive, the Tamiya the simplest to build and the Eduard the most fiddly and hard to build.

Links to reviews:
Tamiya E-3 (E-7 is identical except for the canopy and decal options)
Eduard E-7
Airfix (builds any E series)
Of the three, my recommendation is the Airfix kit.

The Airfix UK/Japan box has been ordered, just need to find time to get to the fun bit, maybe next Southern Winter.

Howdy, just a heads up, Hasegawa is releasing a 1/48 Bf-109E-7 in Japanese army markings...

I can vouch for the Airfix kit. I have one of the club kits in mys stash. I really need to get round to building it.

On the Me 262 the slats are always out on the ground due hwo they are set up and they show up this way in the pics very clearly. I suspect they project further off the wing on than on the Bf 109.

On the Bf 109 slats, should they be in or out when on the ground? Some pics show them out & some are clearly in and some I cannot tell. And my references do not mention either way. Were the slats on the 109 set up differently to the 262?

This pic shows the slats nicely locked closed on the ground


And this one appears to show the slats in the open postion on the ground.

The Bf 109's slats are spring loaded just as the 262's are but on the 109 they may be pushed closed and will stay closed by friction, or possibly pure bloody-mindedness. Possibly it's because of the ground angle of the tail wheel undercarriage compared to the more level attitude of the 262 with its nose wheel gear?

I think that one of the items on the pre-flight inspection is to push on the slats and see that they come out the way they ought to. As you note, they may be seen both opened and closed, but I think it was more common from them to be open on the ground.

This might help as well as the pics:







I might be wrong, but I think I've read somewhere it was E-3 rather than E-4/7