Wingsy Kits' 1/48 scale
Messerschmitt Bf 109 E-1

by Brett Green

Messerschmitt Bf 109 E-1

Here is my latest completion - Wingsy Kits’ 1/48 scale Messerschmitt Bf 109 E-1, finished in the markings of Rudolf Rothenfelder, Yellow 8 (some sources say Brown 8 ), 9./JG 2, France, August 1940.

The decals are from Everest Model, Item No. D4801.

Wingsy’s Emil was a pleasure to build. Fit is excellent, detail is great, it is dimensionally accurate and I like the intricate surface textures. In places on the fuselage it almost looks like a wavy oil-canning effect.

I deviated from the instructions in a number of areas.

The kit pilot’s seat is chunky with thick sides, unlike the thin pressed metal of the real thing.

I replaced this with a resin Ultracast seat that also had the benefit of cast-on harness straps.

The propeller blades look too broad to my eye, particularly approaching the tip. They look more like the bread knife profile of the later VDM 9 propeller blades used on the Bf 109 F and G rather than the slender and slightly pointier blades of the Bf 109 E. The difference between the Wingsy blades and the Airfix propeller is very stark indeed, but I actually think the Airfix blades are too skinny.

In the end, I replaced the kit parts with an SBS Model resin propeller assembly, which I think is a pretty good representation of the real thing. This set is designed for the Tamiya kit but it fitted the nose of the Wingsy Emil perfectly. SBS's hub detail is gorgeous too.

I wasn’t crazy about the photo-etched parts in some places, especially the upper and lower exhaust deflectors and the radiator flaps. I replaced the deflectors with strips of 0.2mm Tamiya “Pla-Paper” plastic sheet. The photo-etched harness straps look too wide and long as well.

I also replaced the kit’s four-piece multimedia pilot’s head armour with a leftover plastic part from an Eduard Bf 109.

It would be nice to have the option of plastic parts as an option to all the kit’s photo-etched bits.

In summary though, this is a great kit and I look forward to seeing more of the Emil family from Wingsy Kits in the future.

I’ll be writing this up in detail - plus reference - for Issue 121 of Military Illustrated Modeller magazine.

Thanks to Wingsy Kits for the sample.

Model, Images and Text Copyright © 2021 by Brett Green
Page Created 19 July, 2021
Last Updated 20 July, 2021

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