Eduard 1/48 Bf 109E-7/Trop Weekend Kit First Look

By Michael Benolkin

First Look

The Bf 109E was the first model to be powered by the Daimler Benz DB601A rated at just under 1,100 horsepower. The E-1 was armed with two 7.92mm MG17s in the nose and two MG17s in the wings. The E-3 followed with two MG17s in the nose and two 20mm MG FF cannons in the wings. Some E-3s were powered with the DB601Aa rated at just under 1,160 horsepower. The E-4 incorporated a number of improvements with many E-3s upgraded to the E-4 configuration. The E-4 was armed with two MG17s in the nose and two MG FF/M cannons in the wings.

The Bf 109E-7 was the next iteration that incorporated changes learned from combat experience during the Battle of Britain. The most notable change was the addiion of a centerline suspension system that was plumbed to use an external fuel tank to enhance the Bf 109's short legs or to alternatively carry a bomb on the centerline. The tropicalized version is recognizable with the long filter box located on the port-side cowling to keep sand and dust out of the engine's carburetor.

In this release, Eduard has reissued their beautiful 1/48 Bf 109E-7 kit in the Weekend Edition. This kit was released five years ago to some controversy online regarding some shape issues but if you look at the sprues from that original release and this kit, you'll notice that Eduard has re-tooled this kit. The kit is molded in gray styrene and presented on four parts trees, plus one tree of clear parts and a set of Eduard's new fabric pilot restraints. The molded-on detailing is well done with no signs of flash or apparent ejector pin marks in areas that would be visible after assembly.

Among the features and options in this kit:

• Detailed cockpit
• Fabric pilot restraints
• Postiobable canopy
• Nice DB601 engine
• Detailed gun deck over engine
• Positionable cowling
• Positionable gun deck cover
• Positionable ailerons
• Positionable rudder
• Positionable elevators
• Positionable flaps
• Positionable leading edge slats
• Optional centerline drop tank

I didn't have an appreciation for how the 'front office' was really supposed to look after assembly until I saw the still-awesome tutorial on the Bf 109G-6 done by Floyd Werner in the Master Class Video series. While the Gustav has detail differences in the cockpit and around the airframe, the basics come clear with insight like that provided by Floyd.

Markings are provided for four aircraft:

• Bf 109E-7, White 1, Commander JG 27, Libya, 1941
• Bf 109E-7, Black 8, 2./JG 27, Libya, 1941

Since all both examples are desert rats out of JG 27, the markings are all simple and the eye appeal will be with the desert camouflage. A set of maintenance stencils are included to enhance the visual detail.

As usual, Eduard has a beauty here and kudos to the design team for revising their tooling to correct the detail bugs that were present in the earlier releases.

My sincere thanks to Eduard for this review sample!