Adlergriff

Inside the box you will find two clear and four dark grey-coloured sprues along with two frets of pre-painted photo-etched, five resin components and a set of self-adhesive, die-cut canopy & wheel masks. The kit offers the option of E-1 and E-3 or E-4, so one set of sprues deals with the former, whilst the other the latter, plus there are two 'common' sprues for things like the propeller, undercarriage, interior etc. The interior for any option is made up of a floor, bulkheads, seat and control column in plastic, with the rudder pedals, seat belts and the instrument panel done in pre-painted, photo-etched. The Revi gunsight is supplied in clear plastic and you have the option of a decal over raised details for a plastic version of the main instrument panel if you so choose. Because the kit/s come with the option for an engine, the upper cowl guns also come in two different forms, one for with the cowls closed, the other with it open. The engine itself is a multi-part unit that is quite effective, although even in this small scale a little extra detailing with wire etc. would not go amiss. All the forward cowls are separate, include the aft ones with the supercharger intake on the port side. The wings come with or without the mid-span MG-FF cannon bulges, but you only have one of each type, so from the box you can build the E-1 and either the E-3 or E-4, you can't make both of the latter. The linings for the wheel wells are etched, although the actual bulkheads are moulded in situ with the lower wing half. The lower cowling region is also part of the lower wing half, so the bulkheads front and rear are a separate insert with the matrices as etched and the exhaust flap is another separate part. The ailerons and landing flaps are separate, the former with subtle raised structural elements to represent the fabric covering of the real thing, whilst the latter has the bulge aft of the radiator exhaust as a separate part to reduce the risk of shrinkage on the upper surface. Whilst having offered the matrices for the chin oil cooler as etched, oddly the same has not been offered for the two coolant radiators under the wings; the exhaust flap is moulded open for each, but replaced with etched in this release. The two clears sprues offer the canopy, either in the curved E-1 or the square E-3/E-4 versions and each is in three parts so that they can be posed open. The leading edge slats are separate and the propeller is a three-piece sub-assembly with good overall shape, but each had at least one tip with flash in our example. The final stage is the fitment of the undercarriage, which has the brake lines partially moulded in situ, so these have to be removed and replaced with the photo-etched version, although even in this scale wire would be a better alternative, as the etched is too 'flat'. The main wheels are in plastic on the sprues, but these are not used as resin replaces are included and they have thread pattern (which the plastic parts lack) and excellent depth and detail to the hubs (the plastic parts are not bad, but the resin is finer). Final little details include the aerial mast, aileron mass balance weights, the L-shaped pitot and the excellent resin standing pilot figure. As always, painting masks are included for the main wheel hubs and each panel of the canopy, but there is no mask for the taiwheel hub, which is a shame, as that is one of the trickiest things to mask in this small scale.

Colour Options
The kit offers the following decal options: 
• Bf 109E-3, W/Nr.5102, flown by Lt Herbert Kunze, Stab I./JG77, Döberitz, Germany, June 1940
• Bf 109E-4, W/Nr.5274, 'White 15', flown by Lt Werner Machold, 1./JG2, Marigny, France, June 1940
• Bf 109E-1, W/Nr.3413, 'Black 5', flown by Lt Hans Krug, 5./JG26, Marquise, France, July 1940
• Bf 109E-4, W/Nr.3709, 'White 1', flown by Oblt Josef Fözö, 4./JG51, Desvres, France, July 1940
• Bf 109E-3, flown by Maj. Adolf Galland, III./JG26, Caffiers, France, August 1940
• Bf 109E-3, flown by Maj. Adolf Galland, III./JG26, Caffiers, France, late August 1940
• Bf 109E-4, W/Nr.1480, flown by Oblt Franz von Werra, Gruppenadjutant of II./JG3, Wierra-au-Bois, France, September 1940
• Bf 109E-1, W/Nr.3771, 'Yellow 12', flown by Fw. Ernst Arnold, 3./JG27, Peuplingues, France, August 1940
• Bf 109E-1, W/Nr.3417, 'White 2', flown by Gefr. Erich Mummert, 4./JG52, Peuplingues, France, September 1940
• Bf 109E-4, W/Nr.5375, flown by Hptm. Wilhelm Meyerweissflog, Stab JG53, Etaples, France, September 1940
• Bf 109E-4, W/Nr.3709, 'White 1', flown by Oblt Josef Fözö, 4./JG51, Desvres, France , second half of September 1940
• Bf 109E-4, W/Nr.5153, 'Yellow 5', flown by Oblt Egon Troha, 9./JG3, Desvres, France, October 1940
• Bf 109E-4, W/Nr.4869, flown by Lr Bernhard Malischewski, Stab II./JG54, Campagne-les-guines, France, October 1940
The decal sheets, which are printed by Eduard, are excellent and have perfect register and colour density. The swastikas are placed along the top edge of the main sheet so that they can be clipped off in those countries where the symbol is banned, with split versions on the main sheet. There are also two separate sheets containing a complete set of airframe stencils on each.

Conclusion
This is an excellent new kit, sure we already have E-series 109s in this scale, but they are all either quite old (even the Tamiya one now) or 'bulky' in overall shape. This new one from Special Hobby/Eduard is certainly a step up in overall finesse and detail and this limited edition is definitely one that all 109 fans will want to own/build, as well as appealing to all those that modeller the Battle of Britain theme.

Our thanks to Eduard (www.eduard.com) for the review sample, UK modellers can obtain this kit from Hannants here.