1:48 Messerschmitt Bf 109E-4

The summer of 1940 over the Channel

The E-4 form came out of the preceding version through changes to the wing armament and the canopy and became the main type of the German fighter units at the time of the Battle of Britain. This very sheet keeps to the few months of 1940 when the outcome of the fighting was being decided, and offers the aircraft of men whose names appeared in the reports of the day almost daily.

Who is on the sheet

• the machine with the white 13 of Oberleutnant Walter Oesau of the 3rd Staffel of JG 51, August 1940
• the aircraft with the arrow of Oberleutnant Franz von Werra of the staff of II./JG 3, the Samer airfield, August 1940
• the machine with the yellow 2 of Oberleutnant Helmut Wick of III./JG 2, August 1940
• the same pilot two months later as commander of the I. Gruppe, an aircraft with commander's markings, October 1940

Of the four, von Werra is a figure for a book of his own: after being shot down over England he went through several prisoner camps, escaped from a transport in Canada and came back across the border to Europe. Wick's pair of subjects in turn shows how fast men rose in rank that year and how the markings of an aircraft changed with promotion.

Applying the print

It is advisable to divide the large fuselage markings only after soaking, otherwise the film breaks as it is carried over the rounded spine. The decals also carry small warning placards, which stand out on a model only after a matte overcoat.