05 The Messerschmitt Bf-109 (Early versions) Second Edition - Complete Guide

Messerschmitt Bf 109, the early versions — Airframe and Miniature 5, second edition

This is a book, not a kit. This title is volume number 5 of the flagship Airframe and Miniature series of the British publisher Valiant Wings Publishing. The volumes in the series are divided into a part on the airframe (development, variants, technical description, detail photographs and camouflage) and a modeling part (available kits, built models, surveys of accessories, masks and decals). The author is Richard A. Franks. It takes in the early versions from the V1 prototype to the E-9, including the carrier-based T series.

The Bf 109 was revolutionary at the time it appeared: a cantilever low-wing monoplane with retractable landing gear, an enclosed cockpit and lift-increasing flaps on a small wing. The first V1 prototype flew in 1935 still with a British Rolls-Royce Kestrel engine; the B, C and D versions were given the Junkers Jumo 210, and the E version, called the Emil, the inverted twelve-cylinder Daimler-Benz DB 601. It was with the Emil that the Luftwaffe flew the Battle of Britain. The T series was a carrier conversion for the unfinished aircraft carrier Graf Zeppelin, with a greater span and an arrestor hook.

What the book contains

• The development of the type, production variants and a technical description
• Detailed walkaround photographs and technical drawings
• Camouflage and markings including color profiles
• The modeling part: available kits, built models, a survey of accessories, masks and decals
• A set of drawings of the aircraft; check their scale on the box

Who it is for

For modelers of the early Bf 109 from the prototypes to the Emil and the carrier-based T. Watch out for the pair of volumes: the late versions from the F to the K are dealt with by a separate volume number 11 in the same series, while this title belongs to the early versions.

Check the extent, the arrangement and the language version on the box.