Messerschmitt 109E

I loved building this airplane. This is a very high quality kit and a great value. The detail is exceptional. Pieces are well molded and require very little effort to fit together and have near prefect surfaces. The full color paining guide is also a great feature although it uses only a Humbrol paint guide. But it is easy to find the corresponding color in other brands. Overall this plane seemed to fall together perfectly. Paining it was fun as well. I would not recommend this to anyone who plans of using a paintbrush. To capture the color schemes of most ME-109's you really need to airbrush them and this one is no exception.

This kit has amazing detail and is incredible value for money. First, there was no over-flash and the parts came off the sprues cleanly with next to no sanding needed for clean fitting edges. Second, the detail in the parts is crisp and clear and obviously came from a superb mold. Third, the cockpit detail, landing bay/gear detail is what I would expect of a much more expensive kit, and very accurate. The instructions are clear and the build was smooth with everything fitting together well. The only annoyance, and it is easily overcome by going to Humbrol's website, is that most the colors needed are listed by number with no reference provided to their name. Once you have the names however, they are easy to identify in Tamiya or Model-Master alternatives if you don't have a Humbrol source handy. I would strongly recommend this kit to anyone looking for accuracy, detail, and value. The finished product will amaze you

This is my second aircraft build since getting back into trying out modeling since over 30 years ago! My first build was an Airfix Spitfire MKIIa, which was a vast improvement upon the kits from the 70's and this model, similarly, was much improved. The panel lines are more recessed to allow for highlighting them, three versions of the aircraft are offered, I chose to model Major Adolf Galland's JG.26 version, undercarriage can be modelled up or down, the canopy and cockpit door can be modeled in the open position, which I did and the fit of parts was very snug which didn't require any filling to hide joints. The glue naturally filled the joints during the bonding process which then left a fine smoothing. The decals, as with the Spitfire kit, are excellent and when applied onto a glossed surface then sealed with a couple of coats of Matt varnish provide a painted on appearance without a hint of silvering. The negatives about this kit are; edge gates are really thick and when trimming small parts from their gates, one has to be careful not to fracture the parts in the process. Also, the internal bosses of the port side fuselage that the location pegs are situated on (for joining to the starboard fuselage)are thick, and thus, they leave heavy sink on the outer visual surface beneath each boss. I had to fill all of these sinks, which were deep, then sand and blend. I'm sure that this was probably a kit that somehow got missed by the eyes of the Quality Control Inspection Engineer during the manufacturing process and that the majority of kits have been processed correctly without the sink? At least I hope that is the case? I know it's a careful balance between packing out the parts on the molding press with enough injection pressure to do so, but at the same time, not causing flash because the clamping pressure is not high enough. Maybe a larger tonnage press with higher clamping force to enable increased injection pressures? Although, the machine time would be costlier effecting the end price of the product! Overall, not a bad kit for the price..it goes together well!