Messerschmitt Bf 109E-3 'ProfiPACK'
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Kit Review
This is a reissue of the kit first released in 2012
In the box you will find one clear and four sprues of dark grey-coloured plastic, along with a fret of pre-painted photo-etched and die-cut, self-adhesive masks (no resin). Construction remains unchanged, so you have the option of the complete cowl and cowl guns with the cowls off, or the cowl can be attached, but that does mean missing off a number of parts and grinding down the front edge of the engine. From personal experience the latter option is a bit tedious and bulkheads for the exhausts stacks and a mounting pin for the propeller would have been a lot better, as you end up doing almost as much work for the engine to be covered as it takes to have it exposed. Overall though the detail is most impressive, making this E-series kit the choice for the type in 1/48th at present.
The kit offers five decal options:
• 'Yellow 15', flown by Uffz. K. Wolff, 3./JG52, Pihen/Calais, France, August 1940
• 'Yellow 1', flown by Oblt J. Priller, 6./JG51, France, autumn 1940
• 'Black <-', flown by Obstlt H-H Witt, JG26, Dortmund, Germany, April 1940
• 'White 7', 1./JG2, Bassenheim, Germany, May 1940
• 'Yellow 3', 3./JG51, Mannheim-Sandhofen, winter 1939-40
All colours are identified throughout via Gunze-Sangyo Mr Aqueous Color or Mr Color ranges.
The decal sheet is printed by Eduard and has excellent colour and register. As usual the swastikas are split in two on the main sheet but complete in the bottom right-hand corner, as these latter items will be removed by the importer into those countries that ban the Nazi symbol. There is also a separate sheet offering a full set of airframe stencils, with wing walkways in either red or black.
Conclusion
This is an excellent kit, maybe with a few too many parts for those wanting to build it buttoned-up, but high parts counts seem to be the way with many modern toolings. That said, the level of detail is excellent and it is therefore highly recommended to all Luftwaffe modellers because it is THE choice for the type in 1/48th scale currently. Our thanks to Eduard (www.eduard.com) for the review sample, UK modellers can obtain an example from Hannants here.
NOTE - Those of you wanting to utilise more than one of the decal options in this kit can obtain a set of sprues in the 'overtrees' range (#8273X) directly from Eduard here.
This is a reissue of the kit first released in 2012
In the box you will find one clear and four sprues of dark grey-coloured plastic, along with a fret of pre-painted photo-etched and die-cut, self-adhesive masks (no resin). Construction remains unchanged, so you have the option of the complete cowl and cowl guns with the cowls off, or the cowl can be attached, but that does mean missing off a number of parts and grinding down the front edge of the engine. From personal experience the latter option is a bit tedious and bulkheads for the exhausts stacks and a mounting pin for the propeller would have been a lot better, as you end up doing almost as much work for the engine to be covered as it takes to have it exposed. Overall though the detail is most impressive, making this E-series kit the choice for the type in 1/48th at present.
The kit offers five decal options:
• 'Yellow 15', flown by Uffz. K. Wolff, 3./JG52, Pihen/Calais, France, August 1940
• 'Yellow 1', flown by Oblt J. Priller, 6./JG51, France, autumn 1940
• 'Black <-', flown by Obstlt H-H Witt, JG26, Dortmund, Germany, April 1940
• 'White 7', 1./JG2, Bassenheim, Germany, May 1940
• 'Yellow 3', 3./JG51, Mannheim-Sandhofen, winter 1939-40
All colours are identified throughout via Gunze-Sangyo Mr Aqueous Color or Mr Color ranges.
The decal sheet is printed by Eduard and has excellent colour and register. As usual the swastikas are split in two on the main sheet but complete in the bottom right-hand corner, as these latter items will be removed by the importer into those countries that ban the Nazi symbol. There is also a separate sheet offering a full set of airframe stencils, with wing walkways in either red or black.
Conclusion
This is an excellent kit, maybe with a few too many parts for those wanting to build it buttoned-up, but high parts counts seem to be the way with many modern toolings. That said, the level of detail is excellent and it is therefore highly recommended to all Luftwaffe modellers because it is THE choice for the type in 1/48th scale currently. Our thanks to Eduard (www.eduard.com) for the review sample, UK modellers can obtain an example from Hannants here.
NOTE - Those of you wanting to utilise more than one of the decal options in this kit can obtain a set of sprues in the 'overtrees' range (#8273X) directly from Eduard here.
