This is a new decal
sheet from Cutting
Edge Modelworks. The sheet includes markings for 5 versions of the
Bf-109 E/F in 1/48 scale. The
BF-109 first flew in Sept 1935. The plane evolved from that Rolls Royce
powered prototype to become the main Luftwaffe fighter for the first half of the
war and continued to fly for all of WW2. The Bf-109 was a very competitive
fighter and fought in all Luftwaffe theatres with good success.....sometimes
stunning success. The plane had it's strengths and weaknesses......as with
all fighters. One of it's main strengths has always been it's fuel
injected inverted V-12 engine....which is an engineering masterpiece. It's
biggest weakness would in my opinion be it's narrow track main landing
gear. This made landings and take-off from primitive landing stripes to be
quite risky....especially for new pilots. The E and F versions were
flown in the early parts of WW2 and were phased out by the improved versions
later in the war. The fact the 109 served in the North African desert and
Russian winters is a testament to the machine as well as the ground crews and
pilots.
This decal sheet deals with 5
North African 109's. The five aircraft have varied paint schemes and
markings.
The first plane is
a Bf-109 F-2/Z Tropical with II./JG 27 out of North Africa in late
1941. This plane has RLM 79 brown on top of it's wings and fuselage
and RLM 78 blue on the underside. The theatre band on the rear of
the fuselage is white. Engine chin cowl is RLM 04 yellow. The
prop spinner is green and white. For markings this plane is
"white 11" with a cartoon character of a British bug with
aircraft fuselage under the canopy and a crest on the engine cowl.
This particular plane did not have the bolt on armour for the windscreen.
The second plane
is a Bf-109 E-4
Tropical with JG 27 out of Libya in 1941. This plane has RLM 70 and
RLM 71 greens on the on top of it's wings and fuselage and RLM 02 and RLM
65 on the fuselage sides with RLM 70 Tiger stripes on the side of the
fuselage. The underside is RLM 65 blue. The theatre band on
the rear of the fuselage is white. Engine cowl is RLM 70 and the
engine chin cowl is RLM 65 blue. The prop spinner is RLM 70
green. For markings this plane is "Black 3" with
squadron artwork on the engine cowl.
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