1:24 Bf-109E3

The angular Emil of nineteen forty

The Emil was the Messerschmitt that met Spitfires and Hurricanes over the English Channel in the summer of 1940. The E-3 version carried two machine guns above the engine and two cannons in the wing, it had squarely cut wingtips and radiators recessed into the leading edge. The Daimler-Benz 601 engine with direct fuel injection allowed abrupt transitions into negative g, which the machines with carburetors of the time could not manage.

The Emil's cockpit has a look that was never repeated on the later versions: sharply cut flat panes joined by heavy strips, a side section hinged to the right and a fixed rear part with a vertical division. Nothing is rounded, every transition is a straight line, and that is both good news and bad. A stencil fits exactly, but any deviation from a straight line is immediately legible.

A procedure that has proved itself

First the inner shapes are fitted and the cockpit shade is sprayed, the part is left to dry and only then do the outer parts come in turn together with the camouflage. Straight strips will take only a thin coat, because a heavy layer creates a ridge on the edge that will not disappear once the film is off. The four masks of national insignia serve for spraying the crosses; through a stencil even the light outline can be done, which on a decal tends to be the weakest place.

Angular glazing has one more advantage: if one strip does not come off well, it can be remasked on its own without touching the neighboring areas, because all the borders are straight and meet each other at right angles. This is an accessory for a kit bought separately; parts of the model are not in the package.