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Having built the Eduard MiG-21PFM and the Spitfire Mk.IXs I had high hopes for the new Eduard Bf-109G, my favorite airplane. The MiGs and Spitfires are some of the finest fitting and most accurate kits on the market. They are about as perfect as you can get a kit. So each kit should get better right? Well not always.
The underwing gondolas were designed for the Bf-109 to replace some of the firepower lost when the F/G models were designed. The problem with the pods was that they adversely affected the handling of the aircraft. Still the addition of two 20mm cannons was desirable especially when dealing with enemy bombers.
The Eduard kit comes with two gondolas in the kit. They look nice but they are 2mm too long and don’t fit on the wing of the model. Well I’m glad to tell you that this is not the case with the Brassin ones. They fit the wing of the model perfectly.
The need to blow apart the formations of the American bombers led to the development of rocket carrying aircraft. The biggest rocket widely used was the WGr.21. This was fitted to the Bf-109 as early as the G-2.
During the 1970’s Russia started the development of modern carrier borne fighter aircraft. The Sukhoi design team started with their basic Su-27 Flanker and added such carrier items as tail-hook, folding wings and structural improvements plus a set of forward canard wings to produce their proposed Su-33.
This book covers model kit development during the 1950s and 1960s as well as the collectability of these kits and the current value of some. It gives the reader what to look for and to look out for when delving into the world of kit collecting.
By default all model builders become kit collectors in some shape or fashion. Many of us buy more than we will build to ensure that we have that kit or marking set on hand. Or to be certain with some of the short run or resin kits that we don’t miss out on a subject. But for many they seek to build a collection of kits never to be built but amassed like others do with comic books, autographs. Militaria and the like!
