Model Forum / General / Models / October 2003

This kit is from Revell Germany abd is of the Messerschmitt Bf109 G-10
variant (1944) kit number 04532.
Cost: $AU19.95  [$US13.80, GBP7.80] from Metropolitan Models & Hobbies Box
Hill VIC Australia

Box: The box is a tube type (end opening) of Revell's usual thin cardboard.

Kit: The kit comes bagged in a heat-sealed polyethylene bag and at first
glance looks clean and crisply molded.

Instructions: An annoying bundle of folded pages (unstapled) on greyish
recycled paper, with the usual three full pages wasted on warnings in many
languages that could have easily been presented as symbols, saving all that
paper. The colours were listed in 6 point print and frustratingly required
1) Revell paints and 2) heaps of %$(&*$#ing about mixing them to required
shades. Why can't Revell make RLM colours - They're Krauts, they should
still have the original paint chips!! Two paint schemes were presented. I
chose the simpler to save frustration on paint mixing.

Decals: High quality, but very congested on sheet. They appear to have gone
for accuracy, supplying some that were for warnings that were about 1mm by
3mm - and may never have been stencilled on the real thing that late in the
war! Accuracy in representation only goes so far, however, as this is an EU
sanitised kit with NO SWASTIKAS!! Don't tell me the krauts ran out of them
in 1944....

Kit assembly: Once I started assembly, my disappointment was kindled by a
few things. First, the kit had "Copyright Revell Inc 1990 Made in USA"
moulded on the inside of the upper wing half (OK...) and on the upper tail
wing surface as well!!! (Aaagh). After sanding that off, I had to sand the
other one to even them out.

There was some attempt to mould detail inside the cockpit walls such as
throtles, trim wheel etc, but they were a bit pathetically 2-dimensional.
The dasboard was laid out with faint instrument etchings but there was no
decal for it and the instructions simply said to paint all the dials black.
I used my imagination a bit and painted the warning lights red, gear lights
red and green and that sort of thing.

The two halves mated together well but there were gaps that needed filling.
There was also some sanding required to line up edges of body halves and
wing halves.The panel line etchings didn't line up on the underside. There
were holes under the tail wings for the supports used on earlier 109's which
weren't used in this variant. The molded machine-guns on the engine cowling
were pathetic and unclear. The vent underneath didin't align properly with
the other side. The tail wheel was molded on to one half and represented as
if it had an old sack wrapped around the strut, unlike the long, elegant
strut of the real thing.

The wings assembled well, but didn't fit well into the body without
considerable shaping and removal of plastic from joins.

There were many ejector pin marks, but not on the smooth surface. They were
plentiful on all the small, detailed components though.

The canopy came in 2 parts for open or closed mounting. I tried closed
mounting (to keep the dust out and it wasn't a well-detailed cockpit anyway)
but found there was a 2mm gap between the halves! Rather than waste effort,
I glued it open.

I haven't bothered with the drop-tank. I might decal it later and add it on,
but the etched panel lines don't match across the joins and the shape wasn't
quite symmetrical, so maybe not.

Does anyone have two 1:48 scale tailfin swastikas they can spare?

In overview, this is not a particularly well-made kit and in this scale that
is unforgiveable. I used to be a 1:72 modeller and thought it would be nice
to try the larger svcale, One thing I've learned is that when you increase
the size, you also increase the size of the mistakes, making them glaringly
obvious. In 1:48 and above, if you want to build an accurate, clear,
detailed and well-fitting kit, it's really worth spending much more and
buying a good brand. This is not a kit to spend money on upgrades for. It is
the kind of kit you give to a 12 year-old to see if he can handle glue and
tweezers.

My mistake was to think that it was a bargain at $19.95. I spent almost that
again mixing paints and shaping putty. Next time I will buy a Tamiya model,
and use Testors pre-mixed RLM colours.

My next kit is an Academy 1:72 Hawker Hurricane IIc - it looks very good. I
think that Academy (who I havent tried before) may turn out to be like
Samsung or LG - another Korean success story. Good! We need some competition
in the marketplace to keep the prices down.
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Norman Lever
Melbourne, Australia
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