Messerschmitt Bf-109A/B
First look at Dora Wings 1/48 Messerschmitt Bf-109A/B Spanish Civil war
Y
ou can never have enough
109’s in 1/48 scale, but to be
honest I am approaching
the point where I think we
have had enough! Over the last
few years a number of major
manufacturers have released a
near endless stream of E, F and
G variants and it is now only the
very early and very late version of
the 109 that are left to be kitted.
AMG produced an all new tool
kit of a Bf109A/B as a limited run
item, but these quickly sold out
and now Dora wings are releasing
the AMG plastic with brass and
resin from their own sources.
The Bf109 A and very similar B
were rushed into service during the
Spanish Civil war in fact most of the
A Models were actually prototypes
with added military equipment.
During their service in Spain the
airframes were continually beingupdated and I think that has made
producing a 100% accurate model
a bit of challenge for Dora Wings.
On opening the box, I was
immediately forced to compare the
kit with Tamiya and Zvezda’s late
marks 109. This new kit includes
an engine as part of the fuselage
mouldings just like the latter and
I will say Dora Wings example
stands up very well with those more
established manufacturers. In
fact, in a number of areas the Dora
kit is actually superior thanks to
the etched brass sheet and resin
parts which supplies detail in the
cockpit and on the fuselage that
is just not possible in injectionmoulded plastic.
Though DW’s
instructions are
quite comprehensive
as far as construction goes as
some parts are called out as
being appropriate to either an A
or B model, but some differences
are overlooked like the shorter
leading-edge flaps of early A models
as many aircraft were modified
continually on the frontline who
is to say with 100% certainty
that DW have not got it spot on.
The decals supply three
schemes the first two in an
overall silver/natural metal finish
while the third and fourth have
a scheme in greys and green
(RLM62/63/65) similar to that seen
in the final days of the Second
World War on late mark G-6s.- Messerschmitt Bf-109A, 6-10,
2.J/88, Unteroffizer Ernst
Mratzek, Spain , March 1937. - Messerschmitt Bf-109A,
6-15, 2.J/88, Spain, 1937. - Messerschmitt Bf-109B-2,
6-27, 1.J/88, Spain 1938 - Messerschmitt Bf-109B-2,
6-36, 1.J/88, Oblt H. Harder,
Spain September 1938
CONCLUSION
In the UK this kit will retail at just over
£25 which as it includes resin, etched
brass and vinyl masks as well as the
plastic makes it very good value for
money. The inclusion of a variable
pitch propeller on the sprues also
means that it is highly likely that
further versions will be released later
this year. Our sample is already on its
way to the USA, so a full build article
can be built by someone who knows
far more about the 109 than me.
Our thanks to Dora Wings for
supplying the review sample which
in the UK will be available from
Hannants by the time you read this.44 • AUGUST 2018 • SCALE AVIATION MODELLER INTERNATIONAL
FIRST LOOK!
040-45-FirstLooks-0818.indd 44 12/07/2018 11:42