Recently I was given the opportunity by IPMS USA to review Aires Messerschmitt Bf 109G Flaps for the 1/48 Eduard 109G series of kits. One of the first things to notice with this product is the excellent presentation and packaging of the product.

The contents of the package contains 1 right and 1 left flap for the Eduard Bf109G series of kits. The flaps are easy to remove from the resin base by simply scoring the flap with your hobby knife and sanding the area smooth with some fine sandpaper or a nail file.

There are some small differences between the resin flaps and the flaps that come in the Eduard Bf 109G kit. The rivet detail on the Aires flap is a lot less pronounced and finer in detail than the kit part, and the fit is tighter to the wing right out of the package while the flaps that come in the kit need a little bit of sanding to get a similar fit and feel that you would want for the final representation of your model.

Zoukei-Mura first showed this kit at the 2015 IPMS Nationals and again this year in Columbia. Well, the kit has finally arrived and its beautiful. Many might have been a little skeptical with the other kits but it’s a Phantom and one of the most iconic planes made so a new kit is always welcome. In this part, we’ll look at what’s in the box and then get some parts built and painted starting with the cockpit.

History

The M1113 is one of the most famous armored personal carriers in the history of military vehicles. It entered service in the beginning of the 1960’s and was the most widely used armored vehicle of the U.S. Army and the U.S. Marine Corps in the Vietnam War. Capable of Carrying a fully equipped infantry squad, it proved its mobility, reliability and efficiency in the very difficult operational environment of Vietnam characterized by swamps and jungles. The “armored cavalry assault vehicle” or “ACAV” version was developed very soon to improve the fighting effectiveness of the M1113. The new features implemented on ACAV version were a circular turret armor for the commander’s M2 12.7mm machine gun and two additional 7.62mm M60 machine guns, protected by shields, and fitted on either side of the top cargo hatch.