Background

The G-1, produced from February 1942, was the first production Bf 109 with a pressurized cockpit. The glazing of the canopy and windscreen were double glazed. A few G-1’s flown by I./JG 1 are known to have carried the under wing 20mm MG 151/20 cannon gondolas.

The G-2, which started production in May 1942, lacked the cabin pressurization. Performance-wise it was identical to the G-1. The canopy reverted to single glazed units. The rack and internal fuel lines for carrying a 300L under-fuselage drop-tank were widely used on G-2s, as were the under wing 20mm MG 151/20 cannon gondolas. The final G-2 production batches were equipped as tropical aircraft equipped with a sand-filter attached to the front of the supercharger intake. A total of 167 G-1s were built between February and June 1942, 1,586 G-2s between May 1942 and February 1943, and one further G-2 was built in Győr, Hungary, in 1943.

The Kit
Included in the side opening box is:
-2 x grey plastic sprues.
-2 x clear plastic canopies [SB]
-2 x resin cockpit tubs [SB]
-1 x decal sheet.
-1 x A4 instruction and painting guide.
SB – separately bagged.

The kit was formerly produced and released by Eduard. With this release Mark1 have included resin cockpit tubs for both aircraft. Also the choice of markings looks superior to the original Eduard releases. Mark 1 has picked out four interesting aircraft all of which were flown by aces.

Mark 1 has rather thoughtfully included a one piece cockpit tub with this release. Detail is limited to just a seat and bare instrument panel, but this is more than enough in this scale. You would have a devils job to see any lack of detail through the canopy. The resin cockpits provide a vastly better look to the faired over cockpit of the original Eduard release. Obviously to fit the resin cockpit the excess plastic needs removing. There is a dimple in the resin where the control stick is located though you will need to create your own stick. To be honest its omission is really not important as you won’t be able to see it.

The one piece canopy and windscreen look very good in shape. It is relatively thin and very clear.

The recessed surface detail on all the parts is slightly overdone, but a few coats of paint will help the look. The fuselage halves include some nicely moulded exhaust pipes. Shape wise the fuselage looks very good. The separate blisters for the gun breeches for the latter mark Gustavs are included, but of course these were not fitted on the G 1/2. The kit includes two separate one piece air intakes for the supercharger with or without the dust filter. The spinner and prop is one piece and look nicely shaped. The spinner has a slight impression of the cannon muzzle. The only thing missing is the aerial fitted behind the canopy.

The one piece wings will certainly speed up the build process. The detailed wheel wheels look the part and the radiator housing are moulded onto the wing. Also included on the wing is the fairing for the two part belly drop tank. The gondolas for the under wing 20mm MG 151/20 cannon are separate, though gun barrels look over scale. The horizontal tail surfaces are each one piece.

Markings

As it states on the box cover the aircraft covered are all flown by Aces:
[A] Bf 109G-1/R6, Horst Carnagico, Stab II./JG 5, Luftwaffe, Alakurrti airfield, Northern Russia, April 1943
[B] Bf 109G-2, Black 13, Günther Rall, 8./ JG 52, Luftwaffe, Eastern Front, August 1942
[C] Bf 109G-2/Trop, Yellow 5, Anton Hafner, 4./JG 51, Luftwaffe, Tunisia, November 1942
[D] Bf 109G-2, MT-201/White 1, Eino Luukkanen, 2/LeLv 34, Finnish Air Force, Utti airfield, Finland, summer 1943.
RLM paint references are included.

You can keep it simple with option [A] which is dark grey on the upper surfaces and light blue grey below. For a more challenging paint job there are the mottled options [B] and [D]. There is a desert scheme thrown in for good measure. You will be relieved to read that there are no spirals to be seen on any spinners.

The decals look very well done. From past experience they are easy to use and respond very well to Microsol. Full swastikas are included on the sheet.

The instructions printed on a folded A4 sheet feature black line drawing illustrating the three stage building process. All the written instructions are in English. The painting guide for each aircraft features four side colour illustrations.

Kit fit

I had no problems putting these beauties together over a couple of evenings. Just be a little careful cutting away the plastic for the resin cockpit. You need to remove a little more than the instructions suggest. There are no marks on the inside of the fuselage showing the fixing position of the cockpit tub. Just make sure it does not interfere with the fitting of the canopy. The only annoying part was the tiny air intakes for the supercharger. They kept escaping the clutches of my tweezers. But that was my problem, not the kit. A few dabs of filler will be needed here and there. As you can see from the images I have not cleaned up the seams, but it still looks pretty good when built.

Conclusions

This is a very welcome release by Mark I, particularly if you missed it the first time around from Eduard. Mark I has not been content with a straight release they have improved the kit with the resin cockpit and excellent choice of markings. There are no issue with the shape and the kit goes together really well. This would be a great kit to tackle if you have builders block, they could be easily completed in a weekend. This kit is a bit of a winner all in all. Highly recommended.