1:48 Bf109G-2

The Gustav, the most numerous of the whole family

With the G version, in 1942 the Messerschmitt received a new DB 605 engine and with it the performance that gave it back its lost superiority at altitude. Among the first batches stood the G-2, that is the variant without a pressurized cockpit, which went to frontline units in the east, in the Mediterranean and over North Africa. The armament consisted of an engine-mounted cannon firing through the propeller hub, supplemented by a pair of machine guns above the engine. It was the letter G that became the most widespread form of the machine, and the soldiers called it nothing but the Gustav.

What the real aircraft looked like

Compared with the older versions, the Gustav can be recognized by the raised fairings over the machine gun breeches in front of the cockpit and by the bulkier nose. The machines in Africa also carried a dust filter on the intake and a light desert camouflage, which turns the same type into a completely different model to build. For a modeler it is one of the most rewarding aircraft, because there is an inexhaustible supply of period photographs and markings of individual pilots. A comparison with the later batches is interesting too, as those added underwing gun gondolas and a taller vertical tail.

Building in 1:48 scale

A span of a little over nine meters means a model about twenty centimeters long in this scale, so it fits into a display case and still carries detail in the cockpit. The kit comes as parts on sprues; the assembly and the spraying are up to you. It is worth preparing masks for the clear parts, because the framed cockpit canopy is one of the most conspicuous parts of the model on this type. Anyone who builds several machines of this family soon discovers how little the external outline changes between versions and how a small detail decides the correct identification.