Didier Thomas is a very talented builder who recently
brought us the Gloster Meteor IV in 32nd
scale – he is back with the pride of
Edaurd’s new release of the Bf-109 G6 in 1/48th scale. This kit
is in the news with several comments about it of late – we thought the best
thing to do was stop talking and just build it! Let’s have a look at Diddier’s
experience with his ‘109…
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Review Build:
Bf-109 G-6
1/48th scale
Eduard
Profipack # 8268
New tool, Injection moulded kit + P.E. & painting mask
No. of decal options: 5
Instruction sheet download at this link
Available from Eduard directly at
this link
Kit and photos by Didier
Thomas
Text. by Nicolas
Deboeck
Eduard’s Bf-109 G6 in 1/48th scale is probably
one of the most talked about kits of the last few months. That’s because the
brand itself spent a lot of effort announcing it, showing us tons of previews
and saying how good it was going to be. Although there are still quite a few
real 109 G’s are still around, a kit of it will always be subject of controversy
and analysis in the finest of detail.
No matter how good a manufacturer tries to produce a 109
kit, a lot of modellers will have their (own) mind of how it looks backed up
with their own measuring tape and scale ruler ready to check out every little
detail of the kit. That’s okay and a part of human nature, but when things get
heated up with discussions about a model and differences of opinion the one
thing to do is to build the kit and see how it looks when completed. That is
exactly what Didier Thomas did.
One thing that is great about Eduard: the kits come in a
very complete package – some very fine injection moulded parts with a light surface detail and shallow rivets, a huge selection of
nicely printed decals for five different aircraft,some handy canopy masks and delicately produced pre-painted and brass P.E.
parts. All of this turns the kit into a very good value model and an "all in one" package. As it turns out,
some elements of this kit aren’t exactly to scale, something that has been
acknowledged by Eduard. (see the postscript)
The cockpit provided by Eduard is truly amazing for the scale it is made in. It consists
of nicely detailed plastic parts and over 15 p.e.parts. It isn’t the easiest
cockpit to build due to it's size, but you can’t always have it both ways, right?
The fine P.E. feet harnesses are something you just cannot replicate in plastic in this scale
The instrument panel
is built up by means of highly detailed pre-painted P.E..parts.
The painted up cockpit truly is a little gem. Didier only
had one comment: “It’s a pity it’s so small and will be difficult to see when
it’s in the cockpit. I wish all 1/32 scale kits had the level of detail this
1/48 kit has!” Fortunately, we have photos of the cockpit before he closed up
the fuselage.
The coloured and brass PE material really does add to the cockpit
coloured seat harnesses add a lot to the cockpit and are a cinch to install
The tiny layering on the I.P. is also very good - it's almost a luxury compared with what we used to use and a great inclusion to the profipack boxing
Hollowed out exhausts an a fine cockpit - it is looking great so far!
With the cockpit done, the general construction of the kit
went quite smoothly. Didier needed some putty on the wing roots, which was a
little surprising.
Only a slim bead of filler was needed..
When the main construction was done, masking was on the
menu. What a luxury those masks provided in the kit give us! First coat: some metal;
which will help for the chipping later on.
Next step: pre-shading
the major panel lines on the model.
After this, the fun started for Didier, who used many
different shades, each in a very thin layer, closely following the excellent
profiles in the manual. Didier picked a very colourful JG 54 machine, but the
box contains decals for a whole bunch of different aircraft!
The scheme Didier chose for this bird
was W.Nr. 440141, Flown by Oblt. Wilhelm Schilling, CO of 9./JG 54, Ludwigslust
Air Base, February , 1944
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The very first enemy aircraft destroyed by Wilhelm Schilling
was a Hurricane on May 12, 1940 over Brussels. Afterwards, as a member of JG 54
he added 50 confirmed and 13 probable kills, most of them over the Eastern
Front. Schilling made an emergency landing with the aircraft depicted on
February 20, 1944. He was shot down whilst flying against the Allied bombing
campaign known as the "Big Week".
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Ludwigslust Air Base was situated on the north
of Germany and was JG 54´s home at that time. Schillling was awarded the
Rittekreuz on October 10, 1942 for his then 46 victories. Schilling´s aircraft
sports a wide range of various markings. The green heart under the canopy was a
JG 54 badge, the III. Gruppe badge is painted inside the heart. The devil´s
head on the engine cowling identifies a 9. Staffel aircraft. The blue tail band
was painted on JG 54 aircraft that took part in the Third Reich defence.
Firstly the blue
fuselage band and the yellow rudder and lower engine panel.
The wheel wells are
very nicely detailed from the box.
The details were glued on the kit and after a coat of gloss
varnish, Didier started placing the decals; he was amazed by how well they
worked: even the spiral on the spinner – always a tricky one – it gave him gave no trouble
at all!
At this stage, all that was left to do was a mat varnish, gluing
on the details and to stretch the antenna wire. including of course a photo-shoot with the
finished model!
Conclusion:
I am all for kits to be as accurate as possible. Modern day
techniques enable manufacturers to produce kits that are absolutely stunning,
but even then... a perfect kit has never been produced. And it never will. No
“old” kit was called “bad”, simply because modellers were just plain happy it
was available; so no-one complained. Today with internet fora jumping on kits
even before they are released, lots of people want to have their saying. I am
convinced that every manufacturer wants to produce the best possible kit. And
when you take on a 109 G6, it takes a lot of guts because you know people will
be watching every little thing.
When you look at the kit Didier built, you can see it is an
extremely pleasing result. The cockpit is a little gem, the decals are some of
the best seen and overall, and this is a very convincing 109 that can easily
and whole-heartedly be recommended. Sure, it will get some critique, which
will probably bring out the "Hank Moody" style of reply from me, but that’s okay
too! This Eduard kit isn’t the perfect Bf-109 G-6, but boy, they sure came very close!
Great kit, thanks to Eduard for sending it!
Kit and photos by Didier
Thomas
Text. by Nicolas
Deboeck
Available from Eduard directly at this link
P.S. Recently Eduard
announced they will produce an update of the kit that will take care of the
inaccuracies of the initial release. That’s pretty cool from the brand because
it shows that Eduard listens to modellers. And it also means that all 109 aficionados
will not only talk about it, but also build it! Let's hope so!