1:32 Me – 109 K-4

The end of a development line

The K-4 version was to unify production that had fragmented into dozens of sub-versions. The DB 605D engine received a larger supercharger and injection of a water mixture, the cowling above it bulged for the bigger machine gun magazines and the vertical tail grew so that the machine would hold its course at full power. The K-4 entered combat from the autumn of 1944, when experienced pilots and fuel were already lacking, so the performance on paper and the actual results diverged. Production machines carried two 13 mm machine guns above the engine and a 30 mm cannon in the propeller axis.

Composition of the package

The glazing is masked by two films, one for the outer and the other for the reverse side. Beside them you will find two national insignia and two turned metal muzzles for the machine gun barrels above the engine.

Metal and paint

Brass behaves differently from plastic and a finish will not hold on it without preparation. Either degrease the part and spray a thin coat of primer intended for metals, or leave it as bare metal. The second route is defensible on gun muzzles: the steel surface of a barrel on the real machine was dark and slightly glossy, so it is enough to darken the metal with a blackening solution and rub it over with dry graphite. What you must on no account do is apply acrylic straight from the bottle to bare metal; once dry the layer peels off in one piece at the first touch.

Where the parts belong

The muzzles of both weapons emerge from shallow troughs in the upper cowling, just behind the firewall. Drill the holes only after the fuselage halves are glued and sanded, because this is where the most sanding is done and a fine metal shank would not survive it without bending. Fit them as the very last step of the build, ideally after the whole model has been painted and clear-coated.