Hasegawa 1/32 Bf-109G-6

      What can be said about the Messerschmitt Bf-109 that hasn't been said a thousand times before?  Outside of the Yak series of fighters, no other fighter was ever produced in such numbers 33,000 between first prototype in 1935 and final production ten years later.  Of these, the single most-produced sub-type was the Bf-109G-6, known to its pilots as the "Beule," or "bump," for the excrescences that blossomed from the airframe to fair over the breeches of the two 13mm machine guns in the fuselage, and the fairings for the enlarged tires necessary to take the increased weight of the airplane.  The G-6 sub-type was the first attempt to create a new "production standard" airplane to replace the numerous varying sub-types that were in production, and first appeared in the summer of 1943; it would still be in combat at the end of the war. 

     From the G series onward, the design was really played out.  Major increases in power were almost cancelled out by major increases in weight for increased armament, and the G-series 109 had to be flown at full throttle in the landing circuit.  Of the major fighters of the war - the Bf-109, the Spitfire, the Fw-190, the P-47 and the P-51, the Messerschmitt product was the most backward aerodynamically from the outset, as revealed by its use of external mass balances on the ailerons.  As Edgar Schmued, designer of the P-51 and a product of the Messerschmitt company once told me, "After the 109E was put into production, it was clear to me that if one wished to participate in the development of a truly world-class aeroplane, one would have to do it elsewhere than at Messerschmitt."  (We should all be thankful that Schmued was so dismissive of the airplane, since he came to the United States and designed the Messerschmitt-killer, the P-51 Mustang.) 

     In truth, the Bf-109 owes its reputation more to force majeure and the ability of some outstanding pilots than to any intrinsic quality of the airplane itself.  The Fw-190 was an airplane that was better than the Messerschmitt on all qualities other than altitude performance;  for combat above 24,000 feet - which is where the Battle of Germany took place between 1943-45 - the Luftwaffe didn't have anything else it could use.  In fact, more pilots were killed in the 109 from landing and takeoff accidents than were lost in combat, and nearly as many 109s were lost due to its vicious takeoff characteristics and difficult landing technique as were shot down in combat.  Gunter Rall, the number-three ranking Luftwaffe experte once told me that there were only two kinds of Messerschmitt 109 pilots: those who had survived a ground loop and those who hadn't.  The landing gear was weak, the wing had an unfortunate tendency to come off in high-g combat maneuvering, and the design of the cockpit forced the pilot to close the canopy on startup, which severely restricted his view during the two most dangerous parts of a flight in the fighter - takeoff and landing.  The Bf-109 became famous in spite of itself.

      You might gather from the above that I don't like the 109.  Not true!  Admittedly, the airplane doesn't interest me one whit from a design or technical standpoint, but the history its pilots wrote from its cockpit interests me very much.

      There is none of them more famous than Erich Hartmann, the all-time ace of aces of all air forces in all wars in history, with 352 kills.  This score is even more amazing when one considers that he did not arrive at the  front until the summer of 1942 - well past the "glory days" of the Luftwaffe.  Once he got over his "buck fever" - he turned tail and ran when he entered his first combat - Hartmann was a gifted pilot in a target-rich environment.  He was always outnumbered by his Soviet foes.  Flying three and four missions a day every day, he had over 100 victories by the conclusion of the Battle of Kursk in July 1943 - a year after he entered combat - and another 100 by the end of 1943.  Hartmann was also fortunate to be flying against an enemy whose political system did not encourage the individualism that is crucial for a successful fighter pilot; additionally, he became an expert at getting around the armor and knocking down the Il-2 Shturmovik, an airplane so unmaneuverable it couldn't get out of its own way.  However, when he flew against the Western allies in July 1944 over Romania, he demonstrated he could take on the best the USAAF had to offer when he shot down six P-51s of the 4th Fighter Group - one of the elite units of the Eighth Air Force - when they were involved in the first "shuttle missions" from England to Russia.  One of those victims was Ralph "Kid" Hofer, one of the leading aces of the 4th.

      It was no choice at all when it came to build this model that I would choose to do the most famous 109 ace's most famous 109.

     1/32 scale has been largely neglected by the mainstream kit manufacturers over the years.  One of the few to have paid any attention to creating models in this scale was Hasegawa, which created several 30 years ago that were at the cutting edge of the state of the art, and still make up into impressive models with a modicum of effort on the modeler's part.  Still, the last new kit by Hasegawa in this scale before the release of this new Bf-109G-6 was well over 20 years ago.

      It is interesting that the two leading kit manufacturers in the world have chosen to release a major new-mold, new-technology kit in this scale within a matter of months of each other.  Tamiya's 1/32 A6M5b Zero-sen comes with all the bells and whistles there in the box:  a super-detailed cockpit and engine, landing gear in which the oleos actually operate, etc.  The price of nearly $75 reflects this.  Hasegawa has taken the opposite tack with their Bf-109: at $39 it is only marginally more expensive than the company's 1/48 single-engine aircraft kits, and while it makes up into a beautiful model straight out of the box, has no claim to the level of detail that is offered by the Tamiya Zero.

      Both companies know their market.  Most modelers will not be likely to have more than one 1/32 A6M Zero in their collection - let's face it, the color choices are green and grey, or one can turn it upside down and do grey and green, and colorful unit markings are non-existent - so it behooves Tamiya to give the modeler the opportunity to construct a "definitive" model from the outset.  To the contrary, the Bf-109 offers a plethora of possible camouflage schemes and markings, and it is likely that many who build this kit will build more than one; thus a kit that looks basically good at a price that encourages repeat business is going to meet the demand for achieving these possibilities.

      For about the same ultimate price as the Tamiya Zero, the modeler who wants to make a "definitive" Bf-109G-6 from this kit can do so, by purchasing the many, many aftermarket sets that are now and will become available for use with the basic kit.  Not only are the resin manufacturers operating at maximum capacity, but decal manufacturers are too; no two units of the Luftwaffe had similar markings on their airplanes.

      As regards what exactly is in the box, modelers have had access to first-look reviews at many sites and many magazines already.  The experten of the 109 modeling community have already declared the basic kit to be the most accurate model of this airplane ever released.  Opening the box, I was struck by the fact it looked like a box for a 1/48 Hasegawa kit, only bigger.

      Having been provided with the Cutting Edge aftermarket sets for the cockpit of the 109, and the exterior set, along with a selection of decals for the model from Eagle Cals, I decided to build a 109 "with all the bells and whistles," and compare the result with what can be obtained out of the box.  Let's proceed.