Messerschmitt Bf 109G-6 by Tamiya

1/72 scale
Kit No. 60790-1700
Cost: $22.00
Decals: Two versions, both Luftwaffe: JG 51 and JG 54
Comments: Engraved panel lines, detailed cockpit, multi-part canopy

History

First flown in November 1935, the Messerschmitt Bf 109 would become the most numerous and most recognizable fighter of the Second World War. First blooded during the Spanish Civil War, it served the Luftwaffe from the early days of the Blitzkrieg, tried unsuccessfully to conquer Britain, opposed the Allies in North Africa and the Mediterranean, and fought above the steppes of Russia in the ill-fated Operation Barbarossa. It would also defend Germany against an ever more aggressive Allied bomber offensive that left Hitler’s Reich in ruins, remaining in service until the very end of the war.

It is one of history’s great ironies that this symbol of Nazi Germany’s aerial sword would have its first prototype and final production versions powered by British engines produced by Rolls Royce; the Kestrel powered the early prototypes, and the Merlin would be installed in the license-built Messerschmitts manufactured by Spain well into the 1950’s — many of which were featured in the 1969 film, Battle of Britain.

The aircraft that made the name of Messerschmitt famous was the result of a specification issued by the Luftwaffe Technical Office in the Spring of 1934, for a single-seat monoplane interceptor-fighter. The biplane fighter that dominated the skies of 1934 was faster, stronger and more refined than the Fokkers and Sopwith Camels of World War I, but its basic design had remained unchanged, and its days were numbered.

Development contracts for competitive prototypes were awarded to four German firms: Arado, Focke-Wulf, Heinkel, and the Bayerische Flugzeuge Werke A.G. (BFW, or Bavarian Aircraft Works) of Augsburg, Bavaria, of which 36-year old Willi Messerschmitt was both Chief Designer and a shareholder (he would go on to acquire a controlling share and rename the firm after himself in 1938). Arado and Heinkel had produced the Arado Ar 68 and Heinkel He 51, the bi-plane fighters that equipped the few elite fighter squadrons of the new Luftwaffe. Focke-Wulf was producing the Fw 56 single-seat advanced trainer, a parasol-wing monoplane fighter. Messerschmitt alone lacked experience in the design of high performance military aircraft.

Initially, BFW was not invited into the competition due to the peacetime hostility between Erhard Milch, Hermann Goering’s deputy in the RLM (Reichluftfahrtministerium, or Aviation Ministry) and Willi Messerschmitt. Fortunately for Messerschmitt, Rudolf Hess — Deputy Fuhrer and Reichminister without portfolio — intervened. Hess was a private customer of Messerschmitt, who was also supported by Major Wimmer, head of the Technical Department of the RLM, and so the company was able to participate in the end. Both Hess and Wimmer knew that Messerschmitt already had a completed design, the four-seat Bf 108 touring aircraft that with some modifications could be re-designed as a fighter.

The new fighter debuted at the 4th International Flying Meeting in Zurich-Dubendorf in July 1937, where it won four racing victories. One of the pilots was the renowned Ernst Udet, who after Manfred von Richtofen was the second most successful fighter ace of World War I with 62 victories. The most spectacular event of the Meet, the Climb and Dive Competition, was won by an Oberst Franke when the 109’s powerful Daimler Benz engine pulled him up to 9,840 feet and back down to 1,060 feet in 2 minutes, 5.2 seconds. The entire aviation world sat up and took notice, and the Swiss began negotiating for a small number of Bf 109’s whenever they should become available for export. The Bf 109 would also set a world speed record of 380 mph (611 km/hour) on November 11, 1937.

At the time the Bf 109B’s were stealing the show in Zurich, they had already been combat tested in the Spanish Civil War. Three of the early prototypes were sent to Spain for service testing in December 1936, followed by a larger group of Bf 109B’s in March 1937, replacing the Condor Legion’s Heinkel He 51’s. In Spain the Germans made the most of the lessons to be learned from deploying the Bf 109 under actual combat conditions, realizing the great importance of two-way radios and the abandonment of large formations in favor to two-aircraft flights (the Rotte). These tactics gave the Luftwaffe a decided advantage in the early stages of World War II. Werner Molders would emerge as the leading Condor Legion ace, flying the four-gun Bf 109C-1.

This Bf 109G-6 parked in a makeshift revetment carries the emblem of JG 53, the distinctive black spade on its nose. One of the more famous Bf 109 units, Jagdgeschwader 53 distinguished itself in Italy and later in Russia.

The Bf 109G-6

The Bf 109G-6, the subject of this kit, was a reflection of Germany’s changing fortunes by 1943. The Bf 109F and early G versions, which represented the peak of the fighter’s development from the viewpoint of the men who flew it, carried the armament that had been planned for the Bf 109B: two rifle caliber machine guns in the nose and a single 20mm cannon firing through the propeller hub. The power in these aircraft had more than doubled from the earlier versions, and the top speed had been increased by nearly 100 mph, but the internal fuel capacity had remained nearly constant at 110 U.S. gallons, with a great reduction in flight duration as more powerful engines and armor had been added to successive models.

By 1943, the Allied bombing offensive against Germany had become a round-the-clock affair, and the bombers could take a considerable amount of punishment, so the armament of the defending fighters had to be increased again and again. The demands of a war that had stretched from Finland to North Africa to Russia made it necessary to build the by then aging fighter in ever greater numbers. Early on in the development of the Bf 109G, the rifle caliber machine guns in the nose were replaced with 13mm MG 131 machine guns (equal to .50 caliber). With the larger guns in place, there was simply no room to house the bulkier gun breeches and ammo feed chutes in the the contours of the slender fuselage — hence the pair of large bulged fairings at the rear of the cowling that became the distinctive mark of the G series. While this design feature detracted from the pilot’s visibility and the plane’s overall performance, it was the first of many compromises that would be forced on the Bf 109G as it was compelled to carry more armament and equipment, for which it had never been designed.

The first Bf 109 to feature the bulges was the G-1/Tropical, a specialized version of the G-1 intended for use in North Africa. They appeared again on the G-5, which had increased performance with the installation of a Daimler Benz 605D engine using a water-methanol injection system. This water-ethanol mixture carried in a 31-gallon tank behind the cockpit, boosted horsepower from 1,550 to 1,800 hp for a maximum of 10 minutes at a time.

The Bf 109G-6, which was built in greater numbers than any of the G-series, was powered by different versions of the Daimler Benz 605 ranging from 1,475 to 1,800 hp. The 20mm cannon firing through the propeller hub was replaced with a 30mm Mk 108 cannon, and a 20mm cannon was mounted in a fairing under each wing, which was first tried on the Bf 109F-4/R1. Gross weight was up to 7,500 lbs. and top speed was 373 mph. It was in this configuration — or armed with 21cm rockets in lieu of the 20mm underwing gun pods — that the first G-6’s to see action on the Western Front were sent up against Allied bombers coming over from England.

In time the G-6 gave way to the better-armed Focke Wulf Fw 190, but as the G-6 continued to have superior performance at altitude, it was assigned to fly top cover for the Fw 190’s as they concentrated on the bombers. While it was a match for the American P-38 Lightning, the appearance of the Merlin-engined P-51 Mustang put the G-6 on the defensive, a turning point that would ultimately lead to Allied air superiority.

Some Bf 109G-6’s had an entirely new tail unit built of wood to preserve strategic materials. It had a higher, slimmer fin and rudder, designed to help cure its tendency to swing on take-off, and featured a new cockpit canopy that became known as the Galland hood, after Major General Adolf Galland, commander of the Luftwaffe fighter forces. Many Bf 109G’s were delivered with the tail wheel locked down, to simplify production and maintenance (and also, probably, to help stop the perennial problem of the type’s take-off swing).

Of all the fighting powers, Germany alone produced fighter pilots with victories of 100 or more, many them achieving such tallies while flying the Messerschmitt Bf 109. Once pilots mastered the 109’s eccentricities (the take-off swing, the rather spindly landing gear that could lead to crashes upon touch-down once a mission was over and the pilot supposedly safe at base) many of them were loyal to the end.

Perhaps the greatest testament to this aircraft is the fact that some Luftwaffe pilots preferred it long after new and more capable fighter aircraft became available. The second ranking Luftwaffe ace, Oberst Gerhard Barkhorn with 301 victories, all of them scored while flying the Bf 109, commanded a crack fighter unit at the end of the war, JG 6 equipped with the Focke-Wulf Fw 190D-9 — all except for the commanding officer and his wingman. They flew a pair of BF 109K-14’s, the last of the wartime 109’s. Asked in a November 1964 interview if he felt the 109 was a better plane than the Fw 190, Barkhorn replied, “No, I wouldn’t say this, but I could fly it better.”

The Kit

Tamiya’s Messerschmitt Bf 109G-6 comes on only three sprues — one of which is for the clear plastic parts — and offers amazing detail in surprisingly few pieces. At first glance, the painstakingly engraved panel lines and recessed rivet detail are breathtaking in such a small scale — fully assembled, the kit can be no longer than 5 1/4 inches (13.3 cm). It is injection molded in grey and consists of just 56 parts, four of them clear parts for the canopy and pilot’s rear armor, along with a choice of two gunsights. The predictably diminutive cockpit is nonetheless richly detailed, featuring raised relief on a truly tiny main instrument panel, detailed control yoke, a separate bucket seat whose back is molded as part of the cockpit tub, and separately molded instruments for the cockpit sidewalls. Decals are provided for the seat straps.

The detailed engine cowling consists of four parts (six if you count the separately mounted exhausts) to which a two-piece intake is cemented. These separate cowling parts may tempt some to leave the side panels open, but for the fact that the kit does not include an engine to display (at this point, those with Advanced Modeler’s Syndrome will begin a computer search for aftermarket 1/72 Daimler Benz engines). The tail unit consists of a single part for both rear stabilizers and another for the tail fin and rudder. There are boxed in wheel wells, detailed landing gear with the tyres featuring the 109’s trademark radial tread, and a detailed central pallette to which the belly-mounted drop tank is cemented. Finally there is a separately mounted spinner for the three-bladed propeller, as well as a separate pitot tube.

Markings

The kit provides two versions of decals, the first is for an aircraft of JG 51 based at Radomir, Bulgaria in June 1944. This machine has a spinner painted in a quartered scheme of black and white with a yellow lower cowling, white rudder, white tips on the ventral surfaces of the wings only, and a medium grey band on the rear fuselage that may be Mittelgrau. It is painted in a camouflage scheme of Dark Grey and Black Green over Light Blue, with Tamiya colors called out for all. The JG 51 version also included the eyeball markings for the distinctive G-6 bulge on either side of the rear cowling.

The second version is for a machine of JG 54 as of February 1944, location unknown, bearing the same camouflage scheme as the JG 51 machine, but with a black-and-white spiral on the spinner, a dark blue fuselage band, and a yellow rudder. Curiously there is no reference in the instructions to the corresponding RLM numbers for the paint schemes — apparently Tamiya is convinced that the true 109 aficionados out there will already have this information.

Conclusion

This is a remarkably detailed kit of a late-war Bf 109 that will leave modelers absolutely salivating at the prospect of the detail that awaits them with the 1/48 scale version. The only deficiency with this kit — if it can be called that — is that its small size could make reproducing an accurate camouflage scheme a bit challenging — unless you have a good airbrush and a fair amount of experience. Highly recommended.

References

• Fighter by Ralf Leinberger; Copyright 2008 Parragon Books Limited, United Kingdom.
• The Messerschmitt Bf 109 by James F. Craig; Copyright 1968 Arco Publishing Company, Inc., New York.
• Tamiya Messerschmitt Bf 109G-6 kit instructions.