EDUARD
E
duard has for many years now been providing us with an abundance
of Bf109 kits, and with so many variants, styles and schemes to
go with, who can blame them. Here we have the BF109E-4 variant
brought to us in the “Weekend Edition” offering of this aircraft.
Weekend editions don’t include the luxuries that we are so used to
seeing in Profipack Eduard kits, such as, mask sets, multiple marking options
and Photo-etch.
There is very little surprise with this kit as it has for a long time now has been
the go-to for 1:48 109E-4. We keep seeing Eduard releasing 109 kits, this is
because for a long time now, these have been one of, if not the best offering of
any 109 in this scale. Crisp, exquisitely moulded grey plastic that we come to see
with Eduard is once again present in this kit, with as many recessed rivets that you
could possibly count and ultra-fi ne, sharp panel lines. This has become Eduard’s
modus operandi.
The Cockpit is well equipped with fi nely moulded instrument panel, control stick,
trim wheels and sidewall details including throttle lever and oxygen bottle. With
this being a weekend edition, we see the inclusion of seat harnesses represented
in the form of decals. Another lovely inclusion in this kit is the option to have the
DB 605 engine on show or to have it all closed. I would highly recommend reading
through the instructions fi rst as it does show that you don’t build the engine if you
don’t want to have it on show until after you will have built the engine, but that
is the only criticism that I can give the instructions. Once the main airframe is
together, there is very little left to do in this build. Separate fl aps, slats and ailerons
fi nish off the airframe and you have the choice to have them retracted or not,
choice is always a lovely thing to have.
I know that it is said that all 109Es look the same but that could not be further
from the truth, there is a plethora of paint and marking options that can result in
you building hundreds of 109 kits and each one looking different. This kit has two
marking options including:
● (A) W.Nr. 1559, Flown by Hptm. Wilhelm Balthasar, CO of 7./JG 27,
Carquebut, France, July 1940
● (B) W.Nr. 5901, Flown by Oblt. Walter Fiel, CO of 8./JG 53, Le Touquet-
Etaples, France, September 1940MESSERSCHMITT BF 109E-4 WEEKEND EDITION
Eduard/Materials: IM/Kit No. EDK84153/Availability: All Good Model Shops/Price: £18.
1:
VERDICT
I can’t really write this review as a
fi rst impression, as I have built many
of these Eduard 109E kits, but what I
can do is make three main points on
this kit... Firstly, these kits are amazing
value for money, being available for
around £15 which is incredible for the
quality of the kit that you get in the box.
Secondly, this kit astonishing in terms of
detail, moulding and engineering, going
together with a minimum of effort and
is very beginner friendly. And fi nally, I
think that this kit is the 109 to buy; for
a long time now Eduard has dominated
the market with their 109 releases and
there is a reason for that: the kit is simply
marvellous and in my opinion, as close
to a prefect as you can get in this scale.
(Ivan Jensen Taylor)Issue 169 - http://www.modelairplaneinternational.com 15