1:32 Bf 109 G-2 / G-4 - In & Out (for Revell Kits)

A cockpit open on both sides

As soon as a modeler slides the canopy back, the reverse of the frames becomes visible too. On German fighters that was painted in the dark gray-green interior shade, while the outside carried the camouflage of the upper surfaces, and at the dimensions of a 1:32 model that difference is impossible to miss. That is precisely why this variant is cut on two separate sheets, one for the view from outside, the other from inside.

The subjects are the G-2 and G-4 machines of 1942 and 1943. Unlike the earlier G-1, the G-2 was built without a pressurized cabin, and some of the G-4 machines then served in a reconnaissance conversion with photographic equipment in the rear part of the fuselage. Both versions still had the older type of canopy with prominent stiffeners and a sideways-hinged center section, so once it is open you can look really deep into the cockpit.

The cut matches the glazing of the large Revell model. Besides the cockpit, these sheets usually also hold discs for the tires, which save drawing the rim freehand. The frames of the early canopy are substantially wider than on the late machines, so the masked area is relatively large and any overspray would be apparent at first glance.

Recommended order of work: the inner side first, then gluing the cockpit parts together, and the outer camouflage at the end. The finished paint thus never gets under the tweezers and does not have to be repaired.

It is worth leaving the remaining pieces of film on their original backing until the model leaves the spray booth. If paint that has run under an edge turns up, a replacement shape tends to be at hand and the repair takes a few minutes instead of sanding the whole piece of glass back.