Monogram ME-109G-10

Kit

Kit Manufacturer

Scale

Price

Options

Out of Box (OOB) or Modified

Rating (1-10 10=best)

ME-109G

Monogram

1:48

$9

8

The ME-109 has to rank among the world's most important fighter aircraft of World War II. It first saw action prior to WWII in the Spanish Civil War, serving with the Legion Condor. It stayed in service throughout WWII, proving to be the mount of choice for many of Germany's highest scoring aces such as Hans Marsielle. After the war, production continued in Czechoslovakia (the S.99 and S.199,) serving with not just the Czech air force but with Israel, and also evolving in Spain to be powered with the same engine that powered it's classic adversary, the Spitfire - the Merlin engine (this variant being known as the Buchon.)

The ME-109G10 was produced near the end of the war, as one of the results of the effort to cut down the confusing number of variants of this machine. It was armed with two 12.7mm MG's and one cannon firing through the propeller hub.

The kit is considered one of the classics of the 1:48 aircraft model world. Even after many years of production, it is considered one of the most accurate renditions of the 109 in existance, competing favourably with newer kits from Hasegawa and Tamiya.

Overview. The kit itself comes on a few dark green sprues. Flash is nonexistant. Detailing is nicely done on all the parts, though the interior of the aircraft could be replaced with a resin set as detail there is somewhat sparse. This is the only weak point in this kit.

Building the kit. The kit pretty much falls together. You can easily build it in subassemblies and bring it together all at once. The wings fit together without a seam. The cockpit, as mentioned, isn't detailed very much, but could be replaced with a resin cockpit. If you go with the kit cockpit, there are only about 4-5 pieces total. The detail molded into the sides is rather vague, but with detail painting, comes out decently. The fuselage fits together well, but on my example, the radiator/oil cooler intake under the 'chin' would not align (some slight warping.) A little putty takes care of this. No filler was needed on the fuselage seam, or the problem area with many aircraft - the wing/fuselage joint. The landing gear legs (added after painting) locate positively, and the wheels (one piece and not "flattened") look fine.

This is a good kit for people who want to work on superdetailing. It's cheap, for starters, so if you haven't gone into 'superdetailing' yet, you don't have to worry about ruining a $25-$40 kit. Thin the fuselage walls, cut out the access hatches, add an engine - it'll be good practice.

This is also a great kit for those who haven't had a chance to build up those modelling skills, or who just want something to knock out over a weekend. The limited number of parts are easy to deal with, and the fit leaves very little to be desired. If you're one of those modellers who is more into the color schemes used - it's cheap enough to buy many of these kits and display a wide range of national markings and color schemes.

Painting, decals, and weathering.I started painting this with Model Master Acryl paints, but the sample I had was just not covering well. Thin coats seemed to still want to run. I sanded these off once dry, and switched to Aeromaster acrylics which seem to give a better coat and very nice "eggshell" finish. They also handle masking much better.

The side mottling is always "fun" with WWII German aircraft. With this model, I didn't feel comfortable with getting the airbrush in close by the wings or tail - there just wasn't room to work properly. Using a mask held over the surface didn't give quite the finish I wanted, though it was faster to work on one side. I thinned some of the paint and using a small, older brush, carefully added the mottle to the side. I think it turned out OK, and gave a good bit of control.

Decals - The kit decal sheet is rather small. Basic markings (national markings, the RVD band, and such) are included, but no swastikas - those I added from an Aeromaster sheet. The decals were well printed and settled down well to the surface. No stencilling was included outside of one fuel triangle and the fuselage frame numbering. Other detail decals will have to come from another source, but I didn't bother.

I went rather light on the weathering - no "paint chips," dents, etc. The only thing I added were some exhaust stains using a stiff brush and ground pastels, pulled back along the fuselage sides. Not much is needed, especially with the lighter (RLM 65) fuselage sides.

All in all, this is an easy to build, low cost kit with a lot of possibility for experimentation, or just a fun, quick build. Reccommended.