1:48 Bf 109E-4

An angular canopy and more effective ammunition

The E-4 Emil came out of the preceding sub-version through two significant changes. In the wing a type adapted for thin-walled high-explosive ammunition, which for the same weight carried considerably more explosive, replaced the older cannon, and the canopy received a more angular shape with heavier framing and with the option of adding an armor plate behind the pilot's head. It is this canopy that is the most conspicuous visual difference from the older machines, and for the modeler it means more straight frames, that is exactly the work a pre-printed mask saves. Aircraft of this sub-version flew in the hardest weeks of the Battle of Britain.

Chevrons, bars and circles

Besides the crosses, German fighters carried a second layer of marking that said who was sitting in the cockpit. The commander of a wing painted a double chevron on the side of the fuselage, the commander of a group a single chevron complemented by a horizontal bar, and staff machines were recognized by a circle or a triangle ahead of the cross. Line aircraft instead carried a sequence number in the color of the squadron, usually white, red or yellow. The system was intelligible at a glance from the air and from the airfield alike, and to this day it serves modelers as a reliable key to working out which machine is in a photograph.

Building recommendation

Before you fit the masks, assemble and dry-fit the canopy. Apply the paint in several light passes, because a single heavy coat likes to run under the edge of the film. Pull the film toward yourself along the edge of the frame, not straight up. Any remaining adhesive comes off with an alcohol solution on a cotton bud.