1:72 Messerschmitt Bf 108 Taifun

From a private aircraft to an army errand runner

The elegant four-seat Taifun appeared at sport meetings and in the hands of well-off owners in the 1930s, but with the war it switched to a different job. The Luftwaffe carried mail, officers and small items of material in it between airfields, and a cabin for four made it a comfortable courier machine. It is precisely between these two worlds that the three subjects on this sheet move.

Three fates of one type

The first machine is the aircraft with the registration D-IMTT, which the designer Willy Messerschmitt used personally. The second variant, D-IHDD, carries the supplementary markings of an air meeting held in 1937 on the Isle of Man, that is one of the prestigious sporting events of the day. The third is a military machine with the code S3 and the letters YA, which at the turn of 1944 and 1945 belonged to a Luftwaffe transport group.

Two entirely different models from one piece of plastic

The choice of subject decides the whole look of the finished work here far more than with combat types, where the schemes repeat.

The civil and the military form differ not only in markings but in the overall impression. For the registrations on the wing, measure out the position in advance from a drawing, because the eye easily picks up every deviation from the axis. With the military variant, on the other hand, reckon with the code letters lying across the side of the fuselage and the wing root, so settle them in one working batch, while the clear coat is equally cured on both areas. Dip the decals in lukewarm water for a few seconds only and let them release on a paper support.