1:32 Bf 109E-3

The Emil over the Channel in 1940

The E-3 version brought 20 mm MG FF cannons into the wings and became the main weapon of the fighter formations during the campaign into France. Over England it then flew in an order that did not favor the pilots much: the escort fighters had to hold the speed of the bombers and over the target barely twenty minutes of fuel was left to them. That is precisely why in the summer of 1940 a lot of machines returned with empty tanks only as far as the coastal fields.

The marking then took the form everyone associates with the Emil: engine cowlings, fins and wingtips painted over in yellow. It was not decoration but quick recognition in the confusion of a mass fight. The formations in the Pas de Calais added unit emblems to that, the cockerels of JG 2 or the shields with letters of JG 26, and the chevrons ahead of the cross on the fuselage gave away whether the machine belonged to a group commander or to a line pilot.

The package contains masks for both sides of the canopy, two masks for the national insignia and four metal parts for the weapons: muzzles for the MG 17 machine guns above the engine and barrels for the MG FF cannons in the wing. The set is cut for the Trumpeter kit.

On the cannons in the wing: their barrels tend to be molded together with the panel. Cut them off only after the wing is assembled, otherwise you will ruin the hole for the metal while sanding the leading edge.

Anyone building a machine from the summer of 1940 will appreciate that the masks cover the inner side of the glazing as well. The frame of the Emil's cockpit is seen through from most angles, and a painted interior showing from under the clear part gives a shortcut away at first glance.