Subject: Re: HLJ - Trumpeter 1/32 Messerschmitt Bf-109F-4
From: "Submissions for ARC" <[email-masked]>
To: "Dave Johnson" <[email-masked]>
Date: Sun, 26 Sep 2010 15:19:46 -0700

Hi,
I just wanted to let you know your article went on ARC today.  Thanks again for sending it in.

Steve Bamford
Aircraft Resource Center
http://www.aircraftresourcecenter.com

Live like there is no tomorrow;
Love like you've never been hurt.
Work like you don't need the money.
Dance like nobody's watching.
Sing like nobody's listening.
Live like it's Heaven on Earth.

  ----- Original Message ----- 
  From: Dave Johnson 
  To: [email-masked] 
  Sent: Monday, September 13, 2010 3:29 AM
  Subject: HLJ - Trumpeter 1/32 Messerschmitt Bf-109F-4

  Trumpeter

  1/32 Messerschmitt Bf-109F-4

  Product #02292 (http://www.hlj.com/product/TRP02292) from HobbyLink Japan (http://www.hlj.com/scripts/hljlist.cgi?rel=nav&GenreCode=Air)

  Product Article by Dave Johnson on  September 2010

  History -

  The Messerschmitt BF-109 went through a second major redesign during 1939-40, which gave birth to the F series. The "Friedrich" saw a complete redesign of the wings, the cooling system and fuselage aerodynamics, and was powered by the 1,175 PS DB 601N (F-1, F-2) or the 1,350 PS DB 601E (F-3, F-4). Considered by many as the high watermark of the Bf 109 development, the F series abandoned the wing cannon and concentrated all armament in the forward fuselage: a pair of machine guns above and a single 15 or 20mm cannon behind the engine, the latter firing between the cylinder banks and through the propeller hub and spinner. This configuration was used by all subsequent variants. A handful of Bf 109Fs were used operationally during the last stages of the Battle of Britain in 1940, but only became widespread in service in the first half of 1941, replacing the 109E.

   Kit -

  Trumpeters 109F-4 kit consces of 7 sprues moulded in light grey plastic, 3 sprues of clear plastic, 2 photo etch frets, 3 vinyl tyres and 2 decal sheets. With a total of 242 plastic parts. 

  The kits intructions are the usual standard from Trumpeter, printed in black on a white booket with easy to follow computer rendered picutres. The decal and paint guide are printed on a two side gloss paper, showing all three colour sheme options and unit markings and sencil locations.

  Trumpeter has done a nice job of tooling and moulding the parts, as there is no signs of flash or sink  marks anywhere. Level of mould detail this kit has,have to be one of the best that I have seen Trumpeter offer. The kits rivet lines are not too over done, like on some past releases. The engraved panel lines are fine and very crisp. There are a few ejector pin locations that are in awkward areas in the cowl and engine areas, these will need taking care of, if the modeler wishes to display the engine areas open. Access panels appear to be in there correct positions, however it seems that the access panel aft of the cocpkit on the port is missing. There are also airscoops on the engine cowls/covers that appear on the G-2 version and should not be on the F-4. This also makes sence with the access panel missing aft of the cockpit as this was not included in the G-2 versions. There will be some details that will need to be removed and added to it correct.

  The engine is comprizes of 50 parts which includes the cannon compoents. Engine detail is very basic and is like what you get in the 24th scale offering from Trumpeter. Some extra work put into detailing the engine would end up in some fantastic results.  Exhaust stubs have been moulded as individual parts and are beautifully hollowed out, with a fansy side molding tooling. There should be no reason for the exhuast stubs to be replaced with any aftermarket products.

  Cockpit detail straight out the box is very good and nicely done. Trumpeter has given modelers the opition with a plastic seat tub or in photo etch. Seatbelts harness are also included both on the photo etch fret as well as the rudder pedals. One thing that caught my that I thought was strange was the cockpit side walls. Trumpeter has moulded the detail onto one of the fuselage halfs and the other side is an insert into the other fuselage wall. Only reason that I can see is that Trumpeter will be using this tooling for another vareint release in the future. The canopy has been nicely designed with extra parts that you would expect to get in a aftermarket upgrade product.

  Love them or hate them, as per normal with Trumpeter kits the tires are mould in vinyl. There is no flash on the tires and require very little effort to clean them up. If you are after that weighted down look, you will need to replace them with an aftermarket item.

  Supplied on two sheets are the decals. One sheet carries the individual unit markings that are offered in the kit and the national markings. The other sheet has the sencils that are required for the one airframe. The decals are in perfect register and the colours are crisp and appear in there authentic RLM colours.

  The 3 markings offered are the following -

  Wk. Nr 5749 of III/JG2 'Richtofen', Summer 1942, flown by Hauptmann Hans 'Assi' Hahn

  III/JG3 'Udet', Spring 1942, flown by Hauptmann Kurt Brandle

  Geschwaderkommodore JG53, May 1942, flown by Oberstleutnant Gunther Freiherr von Maltzahn.

   As mention before, the kit features a few things that are not on a F-4 varient. But more like a G-2. After studing the sprues a bit more, I noticed that sprue tags on the back state "Bf 109G". So the kit is more a G-2 than a F-4. The kit looks to very buildable, but requires a small amount of work to make it a F-4. This should not scare off any modeler as the kit offers a lot of detail straight from the box. 

  I would like to thank HobbyLink Japan (www.hlj.com) for the review sample.