1:32 Messerschmitt Bf 109G-2/G-4 Canopy/Wheel Paint Masks for Revell (03829)

The Gustav in the G-2 and G-4 variants

The Messerschmitt Bf 109 G entered service in 1942 with the Daimler-Benz DB 605 engine, whose higher power and capacity pushed the aircraft to the limit of what the airframe would take. The G-2 subversion flew without a pressurized cockpit and became the first truly mass-produced form of the Gustav. The G-4 that followed differed from it outwardly mainly in stronger radio equipment and in larger main landing gear wheels, on account of which conspicuous bulges had to be added on the upper surface of the wing.

Pilots flew these machines from northern Norway to North Africa, and several of the most successful fighter pilots of the war scored most of their victories on them. The liveries ranged from the hard contrasts of desert schemes to fine gray mottling over the Mediterranean, which is one of the reasons modelers keep returning to the type.

The boundary between frame and glass has to be sharp, otherwise it catches the eye before anything else on a finished model. Shapes die-cut in advance hold it exactly where it comes out on the drawing and do not follow the tremor of a hand guiding a knife. Discs for the wheels are enclosed separately, thanks to which the center and the tire are painted apart from each other.

The sheet is cut for the model that Revell makes in this size. The folding side part of the canopy is masked separately on this type, because it is painted from both sides and often stays swung open during the build.

German machines of this period tended to carry complex mottled patterns on the sides of the fuselage, which are done freehand or through a raised stencil. All the more important that at least the straight edges around the glazing stay geometrically clean and do not spoil the overall impression.