Scale Aviation Modeller International — February 2018

included in the kit, which is always

a welcome addition to any model.

However, the masks didn’t actually

fit the transparencies, and most

of them needed to be trimmed to

size. They also caused some

problems later, as the build

was coming to an end,

as mentioned below.

DECALS

Before applying the decals, I

airbrushed several coats of gloss

enamel varnish over the entire

model. Once thoroughly dry, this

was flatted back, using wet Micro

Mesh polishing cloths to remove

any debris that would mar the

finish. This also eradicates the

steps created when airbrushing

one camouflage colour over

another – the inevitable result

of spraying against hard-

edged masks, no matter how

frugal one is with the paint.

As mentioned earlier, the

decal options in the kit are rather

uninspiring; I chose the most

colourful of the four, displaying the

markings of III/JG132 “Richthofen”.

There are two small decal sheets,

printed on blue backing paper,

which feature the national

markings and stencilling common

to all of the early Bf.109 kits thus far

released by AMG, plus a third sheet,

printed with the individual aircraft

markings featured in this release.

The decals seemed translucent

on the sheet, the texture of the

paper clearly showing through the

yellow sections of the markings.

Once applied, however, the colours

appeared suitably opaque on the

darkly painted upper surfaces.

The decals themselves are matt

in appearance, although they

have gloss carrier film around

their edges, which is something

I don’t remember seeing before.

They proved to be thinly printed,

and settled nicely onto the

model’s surface with a single

application of softening solution.

My reference photographs reveal

that, despite their drab appearance,

early Bf109’s actually had a high-

gloss finish. I decided against such

a high-shine finish on my model,

however, and instead decided upon

a very smooth satin finish that

would hint at the gloss finish of the

actual aircraft. Wanting to avoid any

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