1:32 Bf 109E-3

Why the factory camouflage did not last even a year

The finish of the Bf 109 changed twice in less than two years, and each time the ground below the wings forced it. The first arrangement counted on an aircraft standing on an airfield and being looked for from above, which is why it was dark on top. Over the sea, however, it turned out that a dark machine at a shallow angle looks like a blot on the water and is visible far further than expected. The answer was a lighter scheme with pale blue carried high up the sides of the fuselage, which blurred the outline between the upper and the lower half. Still later, purely gray shades came in for combat at altitude. Anyone who builds several machines of the same type side by side has three completely different models thanks to that.

In the package

The masks for the glazing are supplied for both sides of the parts, three masks for the national insignia complement them, and a metal set with two machine gun muzzles and two cannon barrels from the wing.

A large scale makes demands

In 1:32 nothing can be hidden any more. The frame of the cockpit has a width the eye can measure and an uneven edge is visible from a meter away. That is why in this size masking is done with film and not with tape: the film follows the curve of the glazing and does not lift at the corners. The time saved is a side benefit; the main one is evenness.

A note on paints

Shades from this era differ quite markedly between paint manufacturers, because period color charts have survived only in part. It pays to keep to one range of paints for the whole model and to handle the differences between fields rather by the degree of lightening than by mixing from different sources. The cut of the masks corresponds to the Eduard kit in 1:32 scale; the kit has to be bought separately.