Build guide: Messerschmitt Bf 109 E-7 in 48th scale from Wingsy Kits

Today, Alister Curnow gives us his in-depth step-by-step build guide of Wingsy Kits Bf 109 E-7 in 1/48th scale. See how to replicate his great results in his review...

Build guide: Messerschmitt Bf 109 E-7

From Wingsy Kits

Kit No: D5-11

1/48th scale

Model length: 183 mm / Wingspan: 206 mm

Plastic parts: 147

Photo-etched parts: 55

4 different decal options.

Vinyl masks for painting clear parts.

Price: $40

Product Link on the Wingsy Kits Website

Wingsy Kits have added the colour schemes included in the boxing of their latest Bf-109E-7 kit in 48th scale. We will look at the E-7 in real life, then the new info we have below...

The Subject: Messerschmitt Bf 109 E-7

The Messerschmitt Bf 109E-7 was a further development of the very successful fighter line developed by Bayerische Flugzeugwerke under the leadership of Wilhelm Messerschmitt and Robert Lusser, which went into production at the end of 1938. To improve on the performance afforded by the 441-515 kW (600-700 PS) Jumo 210, the larger, longer Daimler-Benz DB 601A engine was used, yielding an extra 223 kW (300 PS) at the cost of an additional 181 kg (400 Ib).

One of the aircraft marking choices featured in this kit: Messerschmitt Bf 109E7B Stab SchG1 Chevron bar Triangle Alfred Druschel Kharkov 1943

A much bigger cooling area was needed to disperse the extra heat generated by the DB 601, and this led to the first major redesign of the basic airframe. Enlarging the existing nose-mounted radiator sufficiently to cool the engine would have created extra weight and drag, negating some of the performance gains afforded by the increased power, so it was decided to move the main radiators to the undersurface of the wings immediately outboard of the junction of the wing root and wing panel, just forward of the trailing edges’ inner ends, leaving the oil cooler under the nose in a small, streamlined duct. The new radiator position also had the effect of counterbalancing the extra weight and length of the DB 601, which drove a heavier three-bladed Vereinigte Deutsche Metallwerke (VDM)-made propeller.

Another marking choice from this boxing is Messerschmitt Bf 109E-7 U1 of 8.ZG1 . S9+KS Belgorod. Oblast, Russia. July, 1942.

Because the radiators were mounted near the trailing edge of the wing, coinciding with the increased speed of the airflow accelerating around the wing chamber, cooling was more effective than that of the Jumo-engined 109s, albeit at the cost of extra ducting and piping, which was vulnerable to damage. The experience of the Luftwaffe in the western campaign of 1940, and especially in the first weeks of the Battle of Britain, pointed out the great shortcomings of the then existing Bf 109s, namely their short range and inability to carry any bombs.

Another aircraft marking choice featured in this kit: "White 10" from Mariupol in Ukraine in 1942

Further development led to a new version based on the E-4. The main modifications to the E-7 were a change in the fuel system and the installation of an external fuel tank rack for a new external 300 litre tank. Another important characteristic of the E-7 was the ability to carry bombs. The Bf 109 E-7 entered service in September 1940 and played a significant role in the last weeks of the Battle of Britain, and continued in subsequent military campaigns.

...Another of the marking choices from this boxing, Green 21 flown by Josip Helebrant from JG 52 (Kroat) from Crimea in 1942

The kit:
It's safe to assume that the majority of model aircraft enthusiasts worldwide already boast a BF-109 in their collection, either proudly displayed on their shelves or patiently awaiting its turn to take flight. Count me among them. With a couple of 109s from different brands already in my queue, Wingsy emerges amongst these giants of the hobby as a lesser-known contender, ready to take on this subject with their own rendition of the iconic BF-109E-7.

Wingsy's offering hints at another leap forward in the journey toward further refinement of this great aircraft, satisfying our ever-increasing desire for more accuracy, more details, and an immaculate fit.

A look inside the box, and choosing the build

From the moment the box was opened, the meticulous engineering of the plastic parts exudes this promise. Every detail, every rivet, meticulously recessed, paints a portrait of precision from Wingsy, designed and produced for discerning modelers.

The inclusion of numerous photo-etch parts further elevates the kit's attention to detail, complementing the already impressive array of plastic details.

Decals, resplendent with historical accuracy, offer a choice of four aircraft from the Eastern fronts in 1942, each rendered for one of two distinct paint schemes. For my build, I chose to model the aircraft from ZG-1, adorned with the distinctive wasp icon on the nose.

By 1942, the E7 model was no longer the Luftwaffe's premier air superiority fighter, a role now held by the BF-109F versions. Consequently, BF-109Es assigned to ZG-1 were utilized in a fighter-bomber role. 

The kit generously includes three different air-to-ground weapon options, as well as a drop tank, reflecting this shift in use at the front line. While resin or 3D-printed parts are not included, aftermarket options will beckon to those craving additional intricacy. For this review, I'll be using a Quinta Studio set of 3D decals to further enhance my finished model.

The four colour choices in the kit. I chose the "Wespen"  marked E-7

Cockpit Construction
Starting with the interior of the fuselage and the cockpit, the first thing that struck me was the small size of the BF-109’s cockpit. Yet, the details provided by Wingsy are impressive, both in plastic and photo-etch. My initial task was to remove the cockpit parts from the sprue tree. For some of these, I began by painting them TS30 Silver Leaf from the Tamiya spray can. This base layer of silver paint, known for its durability, would serve as the foundation for the weathering effects I planned to apply later.

I followed up with Vallejo 71.055 RLM66 Black Grey, lightened with Vallejo 71.259 Grey Violet to break up the uniform colour in the cockpit. This technique adds depth and visual interest to the otherwise monotonous grey, and the 71.259 starts the dusty, dirty look I’ll be going for.

The rudder pedals, intricate with three photo-etched parts, had the foot straps painted in a brown leather colour to contrast the grey. I accidentally fitted one of the PE to these incorrectly before noticing later, when it was too late to underdo the error. It is unlikely to be seen with the fuselage assembled. The base and pilot seat were then weathered using a sharpened toothpick to gently scratch the Vallejo paint, revealing the metallic base layer beneath. This method effectively simulates wear and tear, creating a realistic look at this scale.

Once the base parts were painted, I applied the Quinta Studio 3D decals. These decals offer a more professional finish than I typically achieve with photo-etch, saving me time and frustration. The final stage of weathering involved applying a highly thinned coat of Tamiya Dark Brown panel liner, carefully brushed onto the cockpit parts to create a dusty, worn appearance.

However, I encountered a minor issue with the seat mounting. The instructions weren't clear to me about the angle at which the seat should be installed, leading me to recommend waiting until step 11 (or later) to mount the seat. This way, it can be correctly aligned between the floor and the rear cockpit wall.

My completed cockpit parts ready to assemble:

Fuselage Assembly
With the cockpit complete, I moved on to the fuselage halves. The exterior detailing is exceptional, and the parts fit together virtually seamlessly. Wingsy thoughtfully includes a portion of the Daimler Benz engine to be mounted inside the hollow fuselage, visible through the engine cowl vents—an excellent feature. 

After dry-fitting the parts to ensure proper alignment, I glued the engine to one side wall and then added the top framing edge of the cockpit interior, which fitted perfectly.

The fuselage halves were joined without needing any additional interior painting, allowing me to proceed quickly. 

The top piece on the nose of the fuselage was then added. This piece is cleverly designed to avoid creating a seam line by following the natural panel lines of the engine covers.

One last look at the cockpit detail was done for the camera before fitting this into the fuselage.

...and complete, ready to install

The cockpit subassembly fits incredibly well into position, it could probably have been left in place without needing to glue this in place (I did anyway!). But the fit here was perfect.

Wings and Undercarriage
The wings were next. Before joining the wing halves, I built and installed the landing gear bays, which fit perfectly. 

Once dried, I painted the gear bays with a base coat of Mr. Color C309, followed by highlights of RLM02 (Vallejo 71044) for the landing gear and internal parts. Weathering would come later to ensure a consistent finish after the rest of the model was painted, so the gear bays were filled before starting the overall painting.

The wing halves aligned and fit together flawlessly, with the ailerons, leading edge slats, and wingtips also fitting perfectly.

The wing assembly attached to the fuselage almost seamlessly, with most joins following panel lines. 

I used a small amount of super glue filler at the tail end of the join, but the majority of the joins followed the panel lines, making clean-up a breeze.

The lower wing radiators were installed, although I left the tops off for later painting and weathering. The tail elevators, which also fit well, were saved for the end of the build to facilitate painting and were just dry fitted for the most of the photos to follow.

The wing ailerons and leading edge slats fitted perfectly, but unfortunately, the landing flaps didn’t fit as seamlessly. After some online research yielded no answers regarding this issue, I decided to trim the internal edges of the plastic to achieve a better fit. This fix, while not ideal, worked well enough.

Final look before painting
Photo-etch was applied for the edges of the exhausts on the engine cowl, and the intake on the side of the engine was fitted.

The canopy parts are beautifully clear, and a supplied canopy painting mask is always appreciated with any aircraft kit.

Unfortunately, I did encounter some difficulties with the supplied masks. The cuts weren't very precise, and the masks couldn’t be pulled from the sheet for use. I had to use a scalpel or scissors to remove them from the sheet. Also the material is quite stiff, and does not conform well to curved surfaces. As a result, I ended up using the supplied masks as templates to cut my own from masking tape, which will be obvious orange tape on the canopy later in the build.

 

Additionally, the canopy’s three parts didn’t fit together perfectly on the model, leaving me unable to build the model with the canopy closed. I don’t know if this was somehow my error or the kit. The canopy mask for the main opening canopy glass is too short of the glass by about the amount my canopy was too long for the gap it was supposed to fit. So instead of using the canopy glass as a mask for painting, I have fitted a block of polystyrene here as pictured.

Painting the Model
The painting process began with an all-over black primer, using Mr. Hobby 1500 Surfacer. My chosen paint scheme called for RLM04 Yellow on the underside of the engine cowl. Given the nose’s shape, I decided to paint this section first and mask it for the remainder of the painting process. I used Tamiya X-17 gloss pink as a base coat—a trick I had read about from a friend for achieving a vibrant yellow finish.

The pink provided an excellent foundation for the AK Real Color RLM04, resulting in a smooth, even coat.

With the yellow masked I then applied RLM76 from Mr. Color in a patchy finish, highlighting centres of panels between panel lines and rivets, all over the whole aircraft.

The underside and sides of the fuselage need to be RLM76 overall, so these surfaces have then had RLM76 built up slowly to fill in the majority of the pre-shading I had completed. The fuselage could then be masked off for the rest of the camo pattern. As I’m working closely with the airbrush, not a lot of masking was required.

This was followed by RLM75 from AK Real Color, in a reverse method to the RLM76, now I was focusing on the panel lines and building the colour inward gently from there to the centres of panels to create a faded, weathered look.

Poster tack was rolled out to try and create uniform sized tubes, to mask the joins between colours on the wings. I didn’t really want sharp lines that tape would have resulted in, even if the lines were quite straight on the real aircraft. So, I chose this method with the idea I could come back with tape later if I didn’t like how it looked when the RLM74 was applied.

For the fuselage mottle, I used my Badger Renegade airbrush with a 0.2mm needle, applying RLM75 and RLM74 in a mostly random pattern. After multiple airbrush colour changes and adjustments, I achieved a look I was satisfied with.

Finally, I masked and sprayed the remaining RLM04 Yellow sections, using the same pink base technique as the nose received.

Decals
Wingsy’s decals are well-printed, with vibrant colours, as mentioned earlier in the introduction. They include spares of several smaller decals—a thoughtful addition. The swastikas are provided in two parts, allowing for flexibility in assembly. Before applying the decals, I lightly wet sanded any rough patches on the paintwork with 5000-grit sandpaper, ensuring a smooth surface, so a gloss varnish was not applied before decals. As these were my first use of Wingsy decals, I tested some of the spares firstly on a spare model. I have applied the decals to the 109 with MicroSet and MicroSol. While the decals adhered very well, some of the thicker ones, like the German crosses and the wasp, required additional effort to settle into panel lines and rivets. Something stronger than MicroSol might be my recommendation to future builders of this kit.

After the decals had fully set, I applied an overall coat of Vallejo Satin varnish, thinned with Tamiya X-20A thinner.

Weathering
Once the varnish had dried, I chose a Ammo MiG Engine Grime wash for the panel lines, and applied it over all of the paintwork. I wanted a dirty looking wash, and I thought that would go nicely with the looking I was wanting.

After letting the wash mostly dry, I removed the excess with a cloth very lightly moistened with white spirits. This wash added definition to the panel lines and a subtle layer of grime throughout the paintwork, particularly noticeable on the underside in RLM76.

Final Touches
While waiting for the enamel wash to set, I worked on the landing gear, gear bay doors, and propeller. The propeller blades and nose cone were first painted with Tamiya spray can silver. I then painted the nose cone red, inspired by a ZG-1 aircraft profile I found online. The propeller blades were finished in dark green/black using AK Real Color RLM70, and then lightly sanded to reveal the silver base layer, simulating wear and tear.

The landing gear. The wheels didn’t fit very well on the landing gear legs, so I used a micro drill bit to achieve a better fit. The landing gear legs did not fit very well into the wing mounts, they were just sloppy and didn't have a position that fitted securely in place. This was odd when the tail wheel fits so beautifully that I've put it in place without glue (it cannot however be posed in a turned position, without modification by the builder). I have used Revell Contacta thicker glue to secure them in place.

 As this glue set fairly slowly, I've used the markings on green cutting mat to align the gear in the correct positions, comparing them with some reference drawings online. I've seen many a 109 with incorrectly aligned landing gear, so I really took my time lining these up as best I could. After 30 minutes or so, the glue set and the landing gear was secure. Before removing the canopy mask, I gave the model an all over flat varnish coat, using Mr Color GX113.

With the model nearly complete, I added some final weathering effects, such as exhaust staining with Tamiya NATO Black, applied via airbrush. I then used some Tamiya black panel line wash around the engine cowling and exhaust stains. Extra stains, streaks and drip spots were applied on the underside, and a dirty wash with some dark earth pigment mixed in was added inside the gear bays and on the wheels.

I experimented with various techniques for the wing roots, such using a silver pencil for paint chipping, and watercolour pencils to create realistic wear in the walked on areas. After removing the canopy masks, I polished these, and fitted the last remaining seatbelt decals from Quinta. Attaching the aerial mast, I made an aerial wire with stretched sprue and attached this with super glue. With the pitot tube under the wing finally painted and fitted, the model was now ready for display.

Conclusion
Building this model of the Messerschmitt Bf 109 was a thoroughly enjoyable experience, thanks to the quality and detail the kit provides. The parts fit together well overall, and the attention to detail kept the process engaging from start to finish. Although there were a few challenges, these were manageable with a bit of patience and care.

The completed kite in a wide angled walk around...

The final model captures the essence of the Bf 109, and it’s a piece I’m pleased to display. For anyone interested in military aviation or historical models, this kit offers a satisfying and worthwhile build. Overall, I highly recommend it for those who appreciate well-crafted and detailed model kits.

The kit in a closer look..

Alister Curnow

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