1:24 Messerschmitt Bf-109G-2

The Messerschmitt Bf 109 in Finnish colors

The G-2 was the first broadly produced form of the so-called Gustav and brought a more powerful engine as well as a pressurized cockpit in the high altitude variant. These machines reached Finland in the spring of 1943 and replaced aircraft there that could no longer keep up with the pace of the Eastern Front. Finnish pilots achieved a victory ratio with them that ranks among the best of the whole war, which is why their machines hold a lasting attraction for modelers.

Options on the sheet

The set offers a machine in the colors of a Finnish fighter flight with a prominent serial number on the fuselage, and in two forms at that, corresponding to different periods of its service. Alongside that it holds the markings of an aircraft in factory ferry condition, that is in the form in which the machine left production and flew to its unit. That combination is unusual: it lets you build the same type once as a combat machine with national markings and once as a fresh aircraft without unit insignia.

Masks as part of the package

Besides the decals you will find painting masks in the package for the glazing of the canopy and for the propeller spinner. On sheets of this kind that is above standard, and in practice it means saving the most tedious part of the build: the canopy frames do not have to be cut from tape or outlined with a brush. The spiral on the propeller spinner is then exactly the motif that cannot be done symmetrically by hand, and a mask solves it in a few minutes. Everything is prepared for 1:24 scale.

Recommended procedure

Fit the masks before painting the whole airframe, and apply the decals only after a coat of gloss. The reverse order usually ends in matte patches around the edges of the carrier film.