This is my build from the 1/72 Academy Messerschmitt Bf109 E-3/4 Kit 2133. The kit is pretty good for it's age, with good cockpit detail and control surface texture, but as with so many of Academy's cheaper kits, the decals are poorly printed. I steered away slightly from the kit options and using spare decals, created an approximation of the Bf109 E-3 flown by Gunther Lutzow in France, 1940.
I had to remove ejector marks visible in the wheel wells, and as there was no well structure, I used plastic card strips to create wheel well detail. The port nose air filter was moulded incorrectly and required reshaping so that the fins face into the airflow. The tail plane struts were just terrible and were easily the worst parts of the kit. I fabricated new ones from plastic card and sanded them to shape. requiring extensive tidying up of the tail plane underside. And as one last warning to anyone who might build this kit, the propeller blades are reversed if you follow the instructions. The spindle hole is on the wrong face of the propeller hub, so when you sandwich it between the spinner halves, it is incorrect. I noticed it only after finishing and had to correct the propeller and rebuild the spinner. Elementary error but easy to make when you are nearly over the line so to speak.
Adversaries together:
I had to remove ejector marks visible in the wheel wells, and as there was no well structure, I used plastic card strips to create wheel well detail. The port nose air filter was moulded incorrectly and required reshaping so that the fins face into the airflow. The tail plane struts were just terrible and were easily the worst parts of the kit. I fabricated new ones from plastic card and sanded them to shape. requiring extensive tidying up of the tail plane underside. And as one last warning to anyone who might build this kit, the propeller blades are reversed if you follow the instructions. The spindle hole is on the wrong face of the propeller hub, so when you sandwich it between the spinner halves, it is incorrect. I noticed it only after finishing and had to correct the propeller and rebuild the spinner. Elementary error but easy to make when you are nearly over the line so to speak.
Adversaries together:
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