MMP Books Messerschmitt Bf-109E

MMP books has been doing major upgrades of some of its earlier books and this is one of them. The size of the book and the number of pages and illustrations has also greatly increased.

The book starts with a history of the aircraft from the initial prototypes of the Daimler-Benz powered aircraft until the end of the 109E's production run in 1941. All the variants from the E-0 to the E-9 are covered. This includes factory modifications and the addition of equipment such as the tropical mod. Export variants are also included as these were not exactly the same as those produced for the Luftwaffe. For instance, Swiss 109Es were requested without armament or radios so that the Swiss could install their own. As you would expect, the type was exported to a number of Axis nations and some were even sent to the Soviet Union before Barbarossa and to Japan.

There is also a section on specific use of these planes by foreign nations. All of this is accompanied by some great photos, detailed engineering drawings as well as full color profiles and drawings. A neat chart is a listing of Werke Numbers along with the variant and where they were built.

In addition to the great historical and variant section, there is an extensive details section. Thanks to the use of period drawings as well as great color photos of extant airframes, we are provided the sort of detail that both modelers and enthusiasts are seeking. There is even a technical drawing of the fasteners that are used throughout the airframe.

In all, this makes for one of the most comprehensive looks at the early DB powered 109 yet available. It is a book that every Bf-109 enthusiast must have on their shelves and one that I can highly recommend.

April 2017

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Many thanks to Mushroom Model Publications for providing the review copy. You can get this one direct from this link. It can also be found at Casemate in the US and Platypus in Australia.

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