IPMS Kit Review: Hasegawa 1/72 Messerschmitt Bf-109G-6 Finnish Air Force

Hasegawa

1/72 Messerschmitt Bf-109G-6 Finnish Air Force

Kit Number: 00916

Reviewed by Brian R. Baker, IPMS# 43146

MSRP: $24.95
Website: www.dragonmodelsusa.com

History

It is a given that anyone reading this review will have a pretty good grasp of the record of the Messerschmitt Bf-109G and its impact on the course of World War II. The fact that, after some foot-dragging, the Germans finally, in late 1942, decided to supply Bf-109Gs to the Finns, who were probably the most successful combatants against the Soviet Air Force during World War II. What they accomplished using obsolete fighter type such as the Fokker D.XXI, Morane MS-450, Fiat G.50, and Brewster 339 "Buffalo" against much more modern Soviet aircraft is the stuff of which legends are made. With the Messerschmitt, Finnish pilots scored multiple victories against Russian pilots, often when heavily outnumbered. The record stands at 663 Soviet aircraft destroyed by Bf-109G pilots, while the Finns lost 27 aircraft in the process. When the Finns were finally pressured into an armistice with the Russians in 1944, they changed their markings (the Finnish blue swastika predated the Nazi one, and had no relationship to the German symbol any more than the Native American use of the symbol in this country did) and continued operating the Bf-109G-6 until the last ones were phased out in 1954. Several were preserved in Finnish museums and these have been restored to pristine condition.

Sources of Information

One excellent source of information on these aircraft is the Osprey Aircraft of the Aces, No. 23, Finnish Aces of World War II. The In Action series and the Walk-Around series by Squadron are also good. There have been quite a few articles about these aircraft published in various periodicals, so there is no shortage of material on the subject. And then there is the Internet...

The Kit

This kit is a re-pop of the latest Hasegawa BF-109G kit, which is probably, along with the Fine Molds kit, one of the best 1/72 scale kits available of the Gustav. Hasegawa has developed the tendency to reissue standard kits with different decals and sometimes different detail parts --and this kit is no exception. In the mid-seventies, as I recall, Hasegawa first issued a relatively-accurate Bf-109G, and the molds were totally redone in the early nineties after John Beaman’s research finally provided us with accurate outlines for this airplane. This research also led to the Heller Bf-109K series -- another highly-accurate kit. A Hasegawa Bf-109G-14 appeared around 1993 and a Bf-109G-6 later in 1994. Sporadic issues have appeared since then, with different markings and sometimes different tail sections and canopies to reflect the variations in the design. This kit depicts the standard Bf-109G-6, but with decals for three Finnish aircraft. One is the wartime Bf-109G-6, MT-451, flown by SSgt Lyly in July, 1944. The others are postwar aircraft, one a racer, MT-402, flown in 1949 with very colorful markings on one side. The other, MT-452, flown in a postwar night fighter flight attached to HLeLv 31, based at Utti, Finland, in June, 1948. Decals are provided for all three aircraft, but service and maintenance markings, such as "lift here" and "fuel 87 octane" stencils are provided for only one aircraft. The decals are of very high quality, although they are glossy, and the untrimmed edges are visible even with copious amounts of Glosscote and Dullcote.

Assembly

Assembly is straightforward, with no surprises or problems. Fit and alignment are excellent, and the wings and control surfaces are very thin, and very realistic. The cockpit interior is rather basic, with an instrument panel that requires a decal, a seat, a floor, and a control stick. The canopy is thin enough that most of this detail can be seen through the glass. There is no sidewall detail, and I don’t wonder why I recently read of a resin upgrade kit for the cockpit interior of this kit, as it certainly would help. It also would have been nice to have the cockpit canopy in two pieces so that you had the opened and closed option. A decal is provided for the instrument panel, but it is not complete. I added some more instrument decals from another kit, actually an old Hasegawa Bf-109G, and it ended up looking acceptable, although of dubious accuracy.

Fit overall was excellent, and only a little filler was required, mainly on the fuselage underside behind the wing root, and along the seam lines top and bottom. The tail plane provided was for the G-6 and earlier variants. As I recall, the G-14 kit had the taller wooden unit, but only one rudder is provided in this kit. There is no wheel well detail to speak of, but panel lines are petite and accurate. One problem is the prop, which consists of a hub, three individual blades, and a spinner cap. These all have to be painted before assembly and the blades have to be glued in and lined up properly. This takes a certain amount of eyeballing, and it would probably have been better to just mold the entire prop in one piece. The completed prop and spinner assembly merely sticks into the engine cowling with no method of attachment.

The decal sheet is very well done with one exception. The wartime swastika markings are backed with a color closer to RLM 02 grau than the white that it probably should be. Granted, a few airplanes might have had the markings subdued in this manner, but the vast majority of photographs I’ve seen of Finnish Bf-109G’s show a white background. This was one reason I did a postwar bird, as the small roundels are white and blue, and these are shown in many photos. The instructions are complete, and show the locations of all of the maintenance markings that go on the airplane. We have come to expect these markings on kits of Luftwaffe aircraft, and this kit has a good set, even to the markings being printed in Finnish. They can actually be read under a magnifying glass -- a testament to their quality.

Although a little pricy even by modern standards, this is a good kit and worth getting if you want a model of a Finnish Bf-109G. There aren’t many aftermarket decals for Finnish "109s", especially postwar types, so this may be the only show in town. It is a quick build, with no problems that an average modeler can’t handle.

Highly recommended. Thanks to IPMS/USA and Dragon Models USA for the review sample.

Information, images, and all other items placed electronically on this site
are the intellectual property of IPMS/USA ®.