1:48 Messerschmitt Bf109E HAHN

The rooster on the nose as the pilot's signature

Hans Hahn, whom nobody in the JG 2 Richthofen fighter wing called anything but Assi, had a rooster painted on the nose of his Messerschmitt. The German word Hahn means a rooster literally, so it was a play on his own surname and at the same time one of the most easily recognized personal markings in the whole Luftwaffe. Over the English Channel and over France, Hahn worked his way up among the most successful pilots of the unit, and later commanded a group on the Eastern Front. In February 1943 he had to make a forced landing behind the Soviet lines and did not get home until after seven years of captivity.

The version they called Emil

The Bf 109E was the variant with which the German fighter force entered the Battle of Britain. The inverted V12 Daimler-Benz DB 601 engine had direct fuel injection, and therefore, unlike its carburetor-fed rivals, it did not lose power under negative g – the pilot could go into a dive without the extra maneuver that was otherwise needed. The striking power came from two 20 mm cannons in the wing and a pair of machine guns above the engine.

What awaits you in the build

The real Emil had a span of just under ten meters, so after scaling down the finished model comes out at roughly twenty-one centimeters. That is a size which still fits an ordinary display case and yet will carry a properly worked-out cockpit. The heart of the whole build, though, is the artwork on the nose: the rooster and the remaining markings are transferred as decals and decide whether you know the model at first glance. Polish the base under them with a gloss varnish, therefore, and spray the light areas white beforehand, so that the color of the artwork does not go gray.