1:72 Messerschmitt Bf 109E-4

Five Emils from the fighting over the Channel

The Messerschmitt Bf 109E-4 was the main German fighter of the summer of 1940. Its fuel-injected engine let it push over into a dive without cutting out, the pair of wing cannons gave it respectable firepower and the pilot was protected by an armor plate behind the seat. Its weakness was range, which over southern England was barely enough for twenty minutes of combat.

Who the sheet covers

The best known is the machine of Adolf Galland from the time when he led JG 26 and operated from Audembert in France in the autumn of 1940. Beside it there is the Emil of Gerhard Schöpfel of the 9th Staffel of the same unit, from the eighteenth of August 1940, and then aircraft of I./JG 3 and III./JG 2 from French bases. The line-up is closed by a staff machine of III./JG 1 from June 1941.

What you can build from it

• Markings for five aircraft of the E-4 version in the small scale
• Camouflage schemes from the range between May 1940 and June 1941
• Among the options is the aircraft of a fighter unit commander
• Personal Staffel emblems and staff markings for a whole group of models

What the Emil looked like in 1940

Machines of that time carried a pair of dark green and gray-green fields on the upper surfaces, a light blue underside, and finely sprayed mottling over the fuselage sides. The transition between the side and the underside is best imitated with an airbrush at a low pressure, and that before the markings and the wash go onto the model.

You are buying a sheet of markings, not a finished aircraft. Obtain the plastic parts and the paints according to the option you choose.