Hasegawa 1/48 Bf-109G-6 'Nachtjaeger'

Originally conceived as an interceptor, later models were developed to fulfill multiple tasks, serving as bomber escort, fighter-bomber, day-, night-, all-weather fighter, ground-attack aircraft, and as reconnaissance aircraft. It was supplied to and operated by several states during World War II, and served with several countries for many years after the war. The Bf 109 was the most produced fighter aircraft in history, with a total of 33,984 airframes produced from 1936 up to April 1945.

The Bf 109 was flown by the three top-scoring German fighter aces of World War II, who claimed 928 victories among them while flying with Jagdgeschwader 52, mainly on the Eastern Front, as well as by Hans-Joachim Marseille, the highest scoring German ace in the North African Campaign. It was also flown by several other aces from Germany's allies, notably Finn Ilmari Juutilainen, the highest scoring non-German ace on the type with 58 victories flying the Bf 109G, and pilots from Italy, Romania, Croatia, Bulgaria and Hungary. Through constant development, the Bf 109 remained competitive with the latest Allied fighter aircraft until the end of the war.

I always like a bargain and often will pick up a kit even if I don't really need it (where have I heard that before). This one was found at one of the various shows and being a good deal (even though it had been barely started), it went into my goodie bag.

The Hasegawa 1/48 Bf-109 series is still widely regarded, despite other 109F/Gs being released by other companies. The kit is well engineered and has detail enough to satisfy most modelers. It has a fairly complete cockpit, lacking only a harness of some sort to make it look really good. There is raised instrument panel detail over which one can place the included decal. Sidewall detail is also rather nice, though to be honest, resin cockpit replacements up the detail to the next level and are recommended for those who want the additional detail.

Some of the other features of the kit are separate flaps that can be posed lowered and the wing radiator coolant flaps that are separate and can be posed in several different positions. When you have a 'one fuselage fits all' way of doing kits, you'll not be surprised that you have to fill in a few holes and engraved detail. You'll also need to take the F wings, open up the wheel wells, and scribe in a panel line. No big deal for those of us who have built quite a few of these and easy enough. The kit also includes several drop tanks. The cockpit transparency can be displayed open or closed as one wishes.

The instructions are typical Hasegawa with Gunze paint references. The two markings options are for the box art plane from I./JG 302 which is in standard RLM 74/75/76 with large areas of temporary white over the upper surfaces. It has a yellow rudder and the underside of the right wing is black, a normal recognition feature for night fighters. The second is more of a night intruder  from JG 300. This is also in standard scheme, but with all of the undersurfaces in matte black. Unusual for later war planes is the large unit badge on the nose. Decals are old school where the whites are off-white so I'd recommend aftermarket decals for the insignia.

I have built a considerable number of Hasegawa 1/48 Bf-109s, but so diverse are the limited edition boxings of this plane that I've never built the same boxing twice. This one is a bit different from the norm and will make a nice presentation on your shelves.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Messerschmitt_Bf_109_variants#Bf_109G

2013 

Thanks to your editor for grabbing this kit on salehttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Messerschmitt_Bf_109_variants#Bf_109G.