Rising Decals

1/72 and 1/48 Swiss Emils decal sheet

 

Review by Sinuhe Hahn on Apr 27 2009

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Swiss Me 109’s, especially those with a full set of neutrality stripes, are amongst the most colourful variants of Willy Messerschmitt’s diminutive futuristic fighter.  Unfortunately decals for these aircraft are few and far between, and if any are available, the Swiss cross markings are invariably incorrect. As such it is no wonder that the out-of-production Cutting Edge set is now demanding steep collectors prices on Ebay.

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Following a request by Roland Hoefling of http://www.Fliegerbuecher.ch, Rising Decals have been persuaded to re-release their decal sets for Swiss Emils in both 1/72 and 1/48 scale. Although this sheet is not as comprehensive as that of Cutting Edge, it does offer five attractive variants, two of which (J-311 and J-371) cover machines with white noses and full neutrality stripes. Decals are also provided for J-345 with an attractive shark mouth, J-318 with nose-art for Fl.Kp 9’s “witch flying on a broom”, as well as “L’Seducteur” of the same fighter group. In addition stencils are provided for the leading edge slats, VDM logo’s and white stripes on the Escher-Wyss propeller units and octane markings.  The instructions provided are exemplary, being in full colour, and care taken to point out minor issues such as stencil locations etc.

Unfortunately the 1/72 scale sheet provides markings for a spurious shark-mouth Bf 109G-6 “J-713”, for which no reliable documentation exists, thereby perpetuating this myth in modeling circles.  On the plus side, Rising Decals appears to have the correct dimensions for the Swiss cross markings, something which even evaded Cutting Edge.  A minor quibble is that very slight bleeding of the black dye is seen on the 1/48 scale sheet. This should, however, not detract from the overall quality of this product. As this is a limited re-release, those interested in some unusual and colourful 109’s should not hesitate too long before placing their order.  Both sheets are available directly from http://www.Fliegerbuecher.ch.

Sinuhe Hahn

Photos and text © by Sinuhe Hahn