1:48 Messerschmitt Bf-109 E-1/3/7 Exterior Detail Set (for Airfix 05122 kit)

Exterior details for the Emil

While the interior equipment of the same line deals with the cockpit, this part is devoted to the surface of the airframe. The Bf 109 E had a mass of small features on the fuselage and on the wing which are hard to paint in 1:48 scale: filler caps, frames around lettering, warning labels by the weapons and covers for service openings. Printed items with relief replace them in color, so once applied they do not look like a flat print.

The Emil was the most widespread German fighter of 1940 and its appearance tended to be varied, from yellow-oversprayed engine cowlings to unit markings. It is precisely the small technical labels on the surface that set a carefully finished model apart from a quick build out of the box.

German aircraft of that period carried a surprising number of service labels on their surface, which are usually left out in an ordinary build. But it is they that give a finished model its scale and look more convincing than the best-shaded paint or picked-out panel lines.

Application procedure. Finish the painting including the gloss intermediate coat, because a raised print holds badly on a matte surface and microscopic bubbles stay under the edges. Transfer the item, draw the residual water off with a paper tissue and leave it alone for several hours. Apply the final matte varnish right at the end and in thin coats.

Intended for 1:48 and for the dimensions of the Airfix kit. The set is the counterpart to the cockpit equipment from the same line, and both can be used on one model at the same time, each at a different stage of the build, though.