1/48 Messerscmitt Bf 109Z Mk II

by Scott Brown

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Silly Week 2006

 

It is late 1944 and the allies have bombed Germany's jet engine production capabilities into oblivion. There is no chance of resurecting it in the near future. The Luftwaffe's last hope of regaining air superiority falls to the 109Z. The prototype (which in reality was destroyed by bombing before it flew) was spared from bombing and in testing proved to be a far superior fighter than anything else in the air. It did, however have a few shortcomings, one of which was the use of four main undercarriage legs as a result of the mating of two standard 109's.

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This arrangement proved costly to produce, difficult to maintain and cumbersome. Messerschmitt engineers decided to use the main undercarriage legs that were designed for the 262 - which was now out of production due to a total lack of jet engines. The wing centre section and fuselage underbelly was redesigned to accomodate the new undercarriage design.

The aircraft were armed with three wing mounted cannon as well as cannon firing through the two propellor hubs and two machine guns mounted above the engine, and firing through the propellor, of the piloted fuselage. Quite devastating firepower among the streams of allied bombers.

This particular aircraft is shown being readied for dispatch to Libya, where it will fly as a stablemate with the well known Black 6 which is now preserved in the Imperial War Museum in England.

Scott

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Photos and text © by Scott Brown