Of the 33,000 plus Bf-109s built during WWII, the vast majority of them were of the G variant. This plane had lost much of the excellent handling of the E and F versions, but had gained a great deal in the way of power, armament and armor over the previous versions.  There was no theater of operations that the Luftwaffe flew that the G was not present. It was also offered to other Axis partners in Europe and after the war, was reengined and used by the Czech, Israeli, and Spanish Air Forces. The Spanish versions were not taken out of service until the mid-late 1960s!

As with all of the newer Academy kits, this appears to be very well done. This one seems to be based on the newer Hasegawa molds. The kit itself is well molded with good detailing; what one expects in today's models. The tail is separate to allow for the taller wooden tail to be used as in the G-14 kit. There are also several optional pieces. One is a sand filter for the supercharger intake, another is a slightly modified right cowling cannon bulge. You also get the option of a centerline rack and two different drop tanks. Should you wish to build a 'gunboat', the underwing 20mm cannons are available. The canopy is a three piece construction so you can display it open, should you wish. If I had any misgivings, it would be that the prop is not 'paddle-bladed' enough having one rather straight side. Also the wheel bulges on the upper wings seem to be too skinny, but it could just be my perception.

Instructions are quite good giving color callouts in RLM numbers where applicable. There are three aircraft included on the decal sheet. All of them are in mid-war colors of RLM 74/75/76 though the upper surface patterns for the three are all different. The box art plane is from JG 53 in June of 43. There is also Barkhorn's plane from JG 52 and a white tailed JG 27 109 based in Greece in 1944. The decals look good and those I have used in the past from Academy have worked well. No swastikas, though. Those you'll have to find elsewhere.

It looks like a very nice little kit and one that I'd like to build. Let's see if I can find the time to do so!

Review kit courtesy of me and my wallet!

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