Cutting Edge Modelworks

1/48 Bf-109E/F "Desert Eagles" decal sheet

Product # CED48216 for $8.99

Product Article by Steve Bamford on Jan 9 2004

 

 

 

This is a new decal sheet from Cutting Edge Modelworks.  The sheet includes markings for 5 versions of the Bf-109 E/F  in 1/48 scale.  

The BF-109 first flew in Sept 1935.  The plane evolved from that Rolls Royce powered prototype to become the main Luftwaffe fighter for the first half of the war and continued to fly for all of WW2.  The Bf-109 was a very competitive fighter and fought in all Luftwaffe theatres with good success.....sometimes stunning success.  The plane had it's strengths and weaknesses......as with all fighters.  One of it's main strengths has always been it's fuel injected inverted V-12 engine....which is an engineering masterpiece.  It's biggest weakness would in my opinion be it's narrow track main landing gear.  This made landings and take-off from primitive landing stripes to be quite risky....especially for new pilots.   The E and F versions were flown in the early parts of WW2 and were phased out by the improved versions later in the war.  The fact the 109 served in the North African desert and Russian winters is a testament to the machine as well as the ground crews and pilots.

This decal sheet deals with 5 North African 109's.  The five aircraft have varied paint schemes and markings.

The first plane is a Bf-109 F-2/Z Tropical with II./JG 27 out of North Africa in late 1941.  This plane has RLM 79 brown on top of it's wings and fuselage and RLM 78 blue on the underside.  The theatre band on the rear of the fuselage is white.  Engine chin cowl is RLM 04 yellow.  The prop spinner is green and white.  For markings this plane is "white 11"  with a cartoon character of a British bug with aircraft fuselage under the canopy and a crest on the engine cowl.  This particular plane did not have the bolt on armour for the windscreen.

The second plane is a Bf-109 E-4 Tropical with JG 27 out of Libya in 1941.  This plane has RLM 70 and RLM 71 greens on the on top of it's wings and fuselage and RLM 02 and RLM 65 on the fuselage sides with RLM 70 Tiger stripes on the side of the fuselage.  The underside is RLM 65 blue.  The theatre band on the rear of the fuselage is white.  Engine cowl is RLM 70 and the engine chin cowl is RLM 65 blue.  The prop spinner is RLM 70 green.  For markings this plane is "Black 3"  with squadron artwork on the engine cowl.

The third plane is a Bf-109 F-4 flown by Oberfeldwebel Otto schultz with Stab II./JG 27 out of Libya in March 1942.  This plane has RLM 79 brown on top of it's wings and fuselage and RLM 78 blue on the underside.  The theatre band on the rear of the fuselage is white.  Engine cowling is RLM 04 yellow.  The prop spinner is green.  For markings this plane is "< ll"  with a cartoon character of a Lion(?) on the side of fuselage under the canopy and a crest on the engine cowl.

The fourth plane is a Bf-109 E-7 Tropical with 1./JG 27 out of Libya in August 1941.  This plane has RLM 79 brown and RLM 80 green on the on top of it's fuselage and RLM 65 on the fuselage sides.  The underside is RLM 65 blue.  The theatre band on the rear of the fuselage is white.  Engine cowlng is RLM 04 yellow.  The prop spinner is white and yellow.  For markings this plane is "White 10"  with squadron artwork on the engine cowl.  The rudder is RLM 04 yellow.

The fifth plane is a Bf-109 F-4 flown by Oberleutant Gerhard Homuth with 63 kills, 3./JG 27 out of Martuba/Libya in 1942.  This plane has RLM 79 brown on top of it's wings and fuselage and RLM 78 blue on the underside.  The theatre band on the rear of the fuselage is white.  Engine chin cowl is RLM 04 yellow.  The prop spinner is white.  For markings this plane is "yellow 1".  the rudder is red oxide primer.

The decals were flawlessly printed and the clear carrier film is trimmed very close to the crisply printed colored areas, which is always good to see. 

A full selection of stencils is provided so you can complete one aircraft.  Colours are solid and will cover very well.  This decal sheet has a good variety of noseart and colour schemes.  

Click on images below to see larger images of the instruction sheets

I love desert scheme 109's so picking which one of these 5 to build would be very difficult.....they are all interesting.

The instructions are clear and an extra 2 pages of text instruction is included with a small bit of info about 4 of the planes as well as B&W drawings indicating stencil placement.

A very nice product and highly recommended.

I would like to thank Cutting Edge Modelworks for providing me with this review sample.

Steve

Photos and text © by Steve Bamford