Eduard 1/48 Bf-109E-1

The E-1 was (interestingly, together with the E-3), the first production Emil series version. It kept the 7.92 mm MG 17s above the engine and two more in the wings, with many later modified to the E-3 armament standard.

 
A small batch of E-1s were finished as E-1Bs, becoming the first operational Bf 109 Jagdbombers (usually abbreviated to Jabo), carrying either one 250 or four 50 kg bombs. The type was also fitted with the Reflexvisier "Revi" gunsight and the FuG 7 Funkgerät 7 short range radio set. A total of 1,183 E-1s were built, 110 of them were E-1/Bs.

Eduard came in 2012 with their very nice new tool Emil series, reissuing them ever since in various editions (Profipack, Overtrees, Weekend, Royal Class), 23 times in total so far, efficiently covering the E series sub-types, with two of the reboxings done by Plastic Planet Models and AK Interactive respectively.

The company’s  Weekend editions typically feature the complete kit sprues (but no extras, like PE, resin or masks) and usually (but not always) carry only one decal option. Priced at a good fraction of the beefed-up higher line versions and devoid of the PE and resin (that a number of us might not be extremely fond of), it is no surprise that Eduard Weekend edition kits are very popular. The subject kit is the 2020 E-1 edition and was a present from my good Dutch friend and fellow modeler John Vd Biggelaar. It is the second Weekend edition of the subtype, the first one being the 2012 one, previewed by our Editor here.

The kit comes in a sturdy, good quality, top-opening box, featuring a very attractive box art of JG77 CO’s aircraft, as it stood in Germany in August 1939. Upon opening the box, I was greeted with 152 dark gray styrene parts, arranged in four sprues. One sprue holds the fuselage halves, nose and some other bits, another sprue holds the main wing halves, while the remaining two (bigger) sprues hold everything else.

Since the sprues are common with other versions, only around 75% of supplied parts will be used for your model, the rest may happily enrich your always useful “leftover parts dungeon”. Molding is first class, nice and crisp everywhere, with the already 10 years old molds not showing even the tiniest sign of wear. Exterior detailing is excellent, with the panel lines finely and realistically engraved.

Cockpit is very well detailed, containing the majority of stuff typically found in these machines. The instrument panel features nice raised detail with two instrument decals optionally attached. The seat belts are also represented by nice looking decals, which can be used to busy-up the plain looking seat if you are not too put off by their two-dimensional looks.

You can exhibit your model with open cowlings and, for this, a full, good looking engine and equally good looking nose guns are provided. In case you decide to go with closed panels, you should either attach the engine or glue from the insides some sort of “supports”, in order to be able to affix the nice looking, but individually molded exhausts onto them.

The quite distinctive radiator/oil cooler faces are flat, so it might not be a bad idea to beef up these areas with some sort of “mesh” pieces. The flaps, slats, ailerons and rudder are separately provided for extra realism. The elevators are one piece with the stabilizers, but, as our Editor pointed in his review, can be easily separated.

Landing gear is very well done, the bays look realistic and the separate inner and outer rim faces and tires will make painting the wheels a breeze. The one piece prop with the separate spinner is nicely rendered, as well.

Transparencies are excellently molded and crystal clear. Instructions are equally attractive, coming in the form of a 12-page color booklet made from high quality paper, containing a parts diagram, a color reference table, with the construction very nicely spread in 45 simple and concise steps, including full color callouts where applicable. Handy front and side views are included, in order to have everything aligned (especially the distinctively angled landing gear).

Two very nice schemes are provided and it looks like Eduard is very welcomely departing from the only one decal option usually found in their past Weekend Edition kits. First is 1./JG 77 Black <<+, W.Nr.3250, Hptm. Johannes Janke’s machine, as it stood in Juliusburg in August 1939, prior to the invasion of Poland. It featured RLM70/RLM71 tops, completely covering the fuselage sides and RLM65 at the bottom. Second is 9./JG 26 Schlageter Yellow 6+I, W.Nr.3462, Lt. Wolfgang Ludewig,s example, as it stood in Essen-Mühlheim in May 1940, during the Battle of the Netherlands, featuring the “typical” RLM02/RLM71 over RLM65 camo, with the RLM65 extending to the fuselage sides. Colors are given in Gunze and Mission Models codes but also in generic form. 

Decals are thin, very nicely printed and are expected to work beautifully. Swastikas are provided as one piece but also in split mode (for some markets, the solid ones are cut away from the sheet, as was the case in my kit, where you may see the piece removed). Finally, full stenciling is provided at a separate sheet, a really nice touch.

This is by all means an excellent kit for this iconic Emil version. General shapes of parts look totally accurate, detail is all around great, molding is nice and crisp, transparencies are outstanding and decals are superb, as are the instructions.

Offered at a very good price, the specific kit is a great bargain if you want to build an accurate E-1 series, with the straightforward (though not totally basic) construction deeming it suitable even for beginners.

Not falling too far behind the packed with goodies but more complicated (due to PE) and certainly more expensive Profipack version, this Weekend issue is a kit definitely worth tackling.

Happy Modeling!