In Box Review of MPC-General Mills 1/24th Scale
German Messerschmitt BF-109E
Kit no. 2-3501
By Ray Mehlberger
Out of production
Copyright 1973
By Ray Mehlberger
Out of production
Copyright 1973
HISTORY:
In late 1938, the Bf 109E entered production. To improve on the performance afforded by the 441–515 kW (600–700 PS) Jumo 210, the larger, longer Daimler-Benz DB 601A engine was used, yielding an extra 223 kW (300 PS) at the cost of an additional 181 kg (400 lb).
A much bigger cooling area was needed to disperse the extra heat generated by the DB 601 and this led to the first major redesign of the basic airframe. Enlarging the existing nose mounted radiator sufficiently to cool the engine would have created extra weight and drag, negating some of the performance gains afforded by the increased power.
So it was decided to move the main radiators to beneath the wings' undersurfaces' immediately outboard of the juncture between the wing root and wing panel, just forward of the trailing edges' inner ends, leaving the oil cooler under the nose in a small, streamlined duct.
The new radiator position also had the effect of counterbalancing the extra weight and length of the DB 601, which drove a heavier three-bladed Vereinigte Deutsche Metallwerke (VDM)-made propeller.
To incorporate the new radiators, the wings were almost completely redesigned and reinforced, with several inboard ribs behind the spar being cut down to make room for the radiator ducting.
Because the radiators were now mounted near the trailing edge of the wing, coinciding with the increased speed of the airflow accelerating around the wing's camber.
The overall cooling installation was more efficient than that of the Jumo engined 109s, albeit at the cost of extra ducting and piping, which could be vulnerable to battle damage.
In addition, the lowered undercarriage could throw up mud and debris on wet airfields, potentially clogging the radiators.
To test the new 1,100 PS (1,085 hp, 809 kW) DB 601A engine, two more prototypes (V14 and V15) were built, each differing in their armament.
While the V14 was armed with two 7.92 mm (.312 in) MG 17s above the engine and one 20 mm MG FF in each wing, the V15 was just fitted with the two MG 17s mounted above the engine.
After test fights, the V14 was considered more promising and a pre-production batch of 10 E-0 was ordered. Batches of both E-1 and E-3 variants were shipped to Spain for evaluation, and first saw combat during the final phases of the Spanish Civil War.
SPECIFICATIONS:
Crew: 1
Length: 8.95 m (29 ft 4 in)
Wingspan: 9.925 m (32 ft 7 in)
Height: 2.6 m (8 ft 6 in)
Wing area: 16.05 m2 (172.8 sq ft)
Airfoil: NACA 2R1 14.2; tip: NACA 2R1 11.35[82]
Empty weight: 2,247 kg (4,954 lb)
Gross weight: 3,148 kg (6,940 lb)
Max takeoff weight: 3,400 kg (7,496 lb)
Powerplant: 1 × Daimler-Benz DB 605A-1 V-12 inverted liquid-cooled piston engine 1,475 PS (1,455 hp; 1,085 kW)
Propellers: 3-bladed VDM 9-12087, 3 m (9 ft 10 in) diameter light-alloy constant-speed propeller
In late 1938, the Bf 109E entered production. To improve on the performance afforded by the 441–515 kW (600–700 PS) Jumo 210, the larger, longer Daimler-Benz DB 601A engine was used, yielding an extra 223 kW (300 PS) at the cost of an additional 181 kg (400 lb).
A much bigger cooling area was needed to disperse the extra heat generated by the DB 601 and this led to the first major redesign of the basic airframe. Enlarging the existing nose mounted radiator sufficiently to cool the engine would have created extra weight and drag, negating some of the performance gains afforded by the increased power.
So it was decided to move the main radiators to beneath the wings' undersurfaces' immediately outboard of the juncture between the wing root and wing panel, just forward of the trailing edges' inner ends, leaving the oil cooler under the nose in a small, streamlined duct.
The new radiator position also had the effect of counterbalancing the extra weight and length of the DB 601, which drove a heavier three-bladed Vereinigte Deutsche Metallwerke (VDM)-made propeller.
To incorporate the new radiators, the wings were almost completely redesigned and reinforced, with several inboard ribs behind the spar being cut down to make room for the radiator ducting.
Because the radiators were now mounted near the trailing edge of the wing, coinciding with the increased speed of the airflow accelerating around the wing's camber.
The overall cooling installation was more efficient than that of the Jumo engined 109s, albeit at the cost of extra ducting and piping, which could be vulnerable to battle damage.
In addition, the lowered undercarriage could throw up mud and debris on wet airfields, potentially clogging the radiators.
To test the new 1,100 PS (1,085 hp, 809 kW) DB 601A engine, two more prototypes (V14 and V15) were built, each differing in their armament.
While the V14 was armed with two 7.92 mm (.312 in) MG 17s above the engine and one 20 mm MG FF in each wing, the V15 was just fitted with the two MG 17s mounted above the engine.
After test fights, the V14 was considered more promising and a pre-production batch of 10 E-0 was ordered. Batches of both E-1 and E-3 variants were shipped to Spain for evaluation, and first saw combat during the final phases of the Spanish Civil War.
SPECIFICATIONS:
Crew: 1
Length: 8.95 m (29 ft 4 in)
Wingspan: 9.925 m (32 ft 7 in)
Height: 2.6 m (8 ft 6 in)
Wing area: 16.05 m2 (172.8 sq ft)
Airfoil: NACA 2R1 14.2; tip: NACA 2R1 11.35[82]
Empty weight: 2,247 kg (4,954 lb)
Gross weight: 3,148 kg (6,940 lb)
Max takeoff weight: 3,400 kg (7,496 lb)
Powerplant: 1 × Daimler-Benz DB 605A-1 V-12 inverted liquid-cooled piston engine 1,475 PS (1,455 hp; 1,085 kW)
Propellers: 3-bladed VDM 9-12087, 3 m (9 ft 10 in) diameter light-alloy constant-speed propeller
THE KIT:
MPC-GENERAL MILLS was based in Mount Clemens, MI in the 70's.
The kit comes in a very large blousy shrink-wrapped tray and lid type box, that is a whopping 8 1/2" too long.
The box art shows a pair of Bf-109 E's flying in formation.
Both aircraft are in a mottle of 2 shades of green over a sky blue undercarriage. Both have bright yellow noses, The 109 front has 34 white vertical victory mark hash marks on the top of the rudder flap over its solid yellow bottom. The fuselage code is a double chevron outlined in white. It has a white shield with a red "R" on it outlined in black below the cockpit. On the side of the nose there is a red triangle with a white sword and the word "HORIDO" on it (it is an old greeting and hunting call from the hunter language).
The second 109 is in the same color scheme and markings and has a yellow fuselage band and 11 white victory hash marks on its rudder.
The bottom of a British Spitfire going down in flames is shown.
Both side panels begin with features of the kit: 16" wingspan, alternate canopies, detailed Daimler-Benz engine, complete cockpit interior, retractable landing gear, double set of markings for the Messerschmitt Bf-109E.
This is followed by 4 color walk-around illustrations of parts of the aircraft: the detailed engine, a complete Daimler-Benz DB 501, 12-cylinder, inverted V engine, original developed with approximately 1150 hp.
The cockpit interior complete with all controls and instruments, pilot seat and even armor plating, gauges are molded in clear.
Alternate canopies, a choice of 2 different ones, round and square topped, both flip open to display superb cockpit interior.The pilot figure.
Under these illustrations is MPC (Model Products Co.) - General Mills street address in Mount Clemens, MI. Kit was made and litho in the USA.
A one-paragraph history of the Bf-109E appears here also.
MPC-GENERAL MILLS was based in Mount Clemens, MI in the 70's.
The kit comes in a very large blousy shrink-wrapped tray and lid type box, that is a whopping 8 1/2" too long.
The box art shows a pair of Bf-109 E's flying in formation.
Both aircraft are in a mottle of 2 shades of green over a sky blue undercarriage. Both have bright yellow noses, The 109 front has 34 white vertical victory mark hash marks on the top of the rudder flap over its solid yellow bottom. The fuselage code is a double chevron outlined in white. It has a white shield with a red "R" on it outlined in black below the cockpit. On the side of the nose there is a red triangle with a white sword and the word "HORIDO" on it (it is an old greeting and hunting call from the hunter language).
The second 109 is in the same color scheme and markings and has a yellow fuselage band and 11 white victory hash marks on its rudder.
The bottom of a British Spitfire going down in flames is shown.
Both side panels begin with features of the kit: 16" wingspan, alternate canopies, detailed Daimler-Benz engine, complete cockpit interior, retractable landing gear, double set of markings for the Messerschmitt Bf-109E.
This is followed by 4 color walk-around illustrations of parts of the aircraft: the detailed engine, a complete Daimler-Benz DB 501, 12-cylinder, inverted V engine, original developed with approximately 1150 hp.
The cockpit interior complete with all controls and instruments, pilot seat and even armor plating, gauges are molded in clear.
Alternate canopies, a choice of 2 different ones, round and square topped, both flip open to display superb cockpit interior.The pilot figure.
Under these illustrations is MPC (Model Products Co.) - General Mills street address in Mount Clemens, MI. Kit was made and litho in the USA.
A one-paragraph history of the Bf-109E appears here also.
WHAT'S IN THE BOX:
This kit holds 4 chalk-white parts trees, loose chalk-white cowling top and wings and a clear tree, black vinyl tires, in one large clear cello bag, the large decal sheet and the instructions.
The instructions consist of a staple-bound booklet of 16 pages in 8 1/2" x 10 3/4" page format.
Page one has a large black and white repeat of the cover art on it.
Page 2 is blank.
Page 3 has PLEASE READ THIS FIRST instructions, over the history of the Bf-109E on it.
Page 4 through to page 13 gives a grand total of 11 assembly steps.
Page 14 is the marking and painting guide. It shows side top and bottom views of 2 schemes.
1. A Bf-109E in the box art scheme already described above. It was with JG 2 "Richthofen" Geschwader.
2. A Bf.109E that has a mottle of black green and dark green over light blue fuselage sides and undercarriage. It has a yellow vertical bar fuselage code before the German cross and a yellow 10 after the cross, outlined in black. There is a logo of a tan patch with a black winged-griffon on it below the cockpit with a white shield before it with a black letter "S" on it. It was with JG 26 "Schlageter".
Page 15 has black and white cover arts of Profile Series books on it. For: the British Hurricane Mk. I, the German Junkers Ju-87B Stuka, the U.S. P-47D Thunderbolt, the U.S. OS2U-3 Kingfisher, the German Focke Wulf FW-190D and the U.S. F4U-1 Corsair.
Page 16 repeats MPC-General Mill's street address in Mount Clemens, MI.
Trees are not alphabetized or illustrated in the instructions. They do, however, have part number tabs next to the parts on them.
The first chalk-white tree holds: the cockpit floor, dashboard, seat, machine guns,
fuselage nose side panels, fire wall, small air intakes, engine side parts, joystick and levers etc. (37 parts)
This kit holds 4 chalk-white parts trees, loose chalk-white cowling top and wings and a clear tree, black vinyl tires, in one large clear cello bag, the large decal sheet and the instructions.
The instructions consist of a staple-bound booklet of 16 pages in 8 1/2" x 10 3/4" page format.
Page one has a large black and white repeat of the cover art on it.
Page 2 is blank.
Page 3 has PLEASE READ THIS FIRST instructions, over the history of the Bf-109E on it.
Page 4 through to page 13 gives a grand total of 11 assembly steps.
Page 14 is the marking and painting guide. It shows side top and bottom views of 2 schemes.
1. A Bf-109E in the box art scheme already described above. It was with JG 2 "Richthofen" Geschwader.
2. A Bf.109E that has a mottle of black green and dark green over light blue fuselage sides and undercarriage. It has a yellow vertical bar fuselage code before the German cross and a yellow 10 after the cross, outlined in black. There is a logo of a tan patch with a black winged-griffon on it below the cockpit with a white shield before it with a black letter "S" on it. It was with JG 26 "Schlageter".
Page 15 has black and white cover arts of Profile Series books on it. For: the British Hurricane Mk. I, the German Junkers Ju-87B Stuka, the U.S. P-47D Thunderbolt, the U.S. OS2U-3 Kingfisher, the German Focke Wulf FW-190D and the U.S. F4U-1 Corsair.
Page 16 repeats MPC-General Mill's street address in Mount Clemens, MI.
Trees are not alphabetized or illustrated in the instructions. They do, however, have part number tabs next to the parts on them.
The first chalk-white tree holds: the cockpit floor, dashboard, seat, machine guns,
fuselage nose side panels, fire wall, small air intakes, engine side parts, joystick and levers etc. (37 parts)
The second chalk-white tree holds: more engine parts, the propeller, pilot's arms, large air intake, elevator support arms, backrest, cockpit side panel etc. (16 parts)
The third chalk-white tree holds: engine bearer arms, wing flaps, rudder flap, wheel hubs, spinner, etc. (53 parts)
The fourth chalk-white tree holds: elevators, wheel doors, landing gear legs, etc (19 parts)
The loose chalk-white parts are next.
They are: the cowling top panel, the fuselage halves (2 parts) and the wing halves (4 parts).
They are: the cowling top panel, the fuselage halves (2 parts) and the wing halves (4 parts).
The clear tree holds the 2 alternate cockpit-transparaces and the dashboard (8 parts)
The black vinyl largest tree holds the 2 main wheels and a small one holds the tail wheel.
The large decal sheet completes the kit's contents.
Several parts have broken off the chalk-white trees. I can only name a few things: the front and back halves of the body of the pilot, engine parts and its support beams, large under-wing air intake, elevator support arm, dashboard canvas backing part, cockpit floor.
Great detail and size of model.
Highly recommended.
Highly recommended.