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The famous Messerschmitt Bf 109E-3 was the most important Luftwaffe fighter at the start of World War II. Most saw extensive action in the brief, but bitter "Blitzkrieg" of 1940.
This is HobbyCraft's Bf 109 E3 kit HC1569. I built this one out of the box and the construction is straight forward. The fit on the kit is very good except for the canopy, there is a small gap which can be filled. The instructions show two paint schemes, one for a Bf 109 E-3, 1./JG 52, France, 1940 and that of 9./JG 54, Channel Front, 1940, which I chose.
I finished the kit using Gunze acrylics in RLM 02 and RLM 70 over RLM 65. The camouflage is a standard splinter pattern for this era. After painting the camouflage I added the RLM 04 Gelb identification to the cowling and the rudder. The prop and spinner were painted RLM 70. Once the paint was dry, I carefully added pencil lead to all the panel lines and then sealed the paint with Johnson's Shine Magic. Decals were added, and then another coat of the Shine Magic followed by a coat of the Shine Magic mixed with Tamiya Flat base in a 8:1 ratio. I added some minor weathering with silver pen, and airbrushed exhaust streaks as well as machine gun carbon residue from the mg's. Anthony Manzoli
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Photos and text © by Anthony Manzoli
