Eduard continues to expand its Bf 109E line, this time with a Weekend Edition of their E-7/Trop. The kit comes in 5 sprues (one clear), a “superfabric” seatbelt and two marking options. Recently Eduard has started to offer two markings options in their Weekend editions and I appreciate that.

Construction starts, as usual, with the cockpit. A simple affair to assemble it delivers a realistic representation of the “front office” of the 109 E-7. Decals are provided for the instrument panel or you can paint and drybrush it. Please note that I built this model using a photoetch fret (reviewed elsewhere in the IPMS/USA website), so the seatbelt shown in the image does not represent the “superfabric” one.

Shortly after assembling the cockpit you have to make a big choice: display the engine or have the cowling buttoned up? I personally like the lines of the airplane undisturbed, so I choose to keep the engine out. Still you are directed to assemble some interior frame and gun shelf, mainly to provide some strength to the fuselage assembly. Fit is excellent all around.

Instructions are a bit confusing at this point, as they tell you to check page 11 for details on how to assemble the “closed nose”. Page 11 shows a marking option so I’ve believe they refer to Page 9. But even Page 9 is not 100% clear and you’ll need to get back to page 4, for some details on the engine exhaust assembly (Remember the “Choose your own adventure books?”).

Closing the fuselage is a bit of a tricky moment. You are supposed to align the cockpit, machine gun shelf, the tail wheel and the engine (if you are installing it). It is possible to do it, but I ended up with the instrument panel a tad higher than it was needed and it had an interference with the clear part. Easy to solve by judicious sanding.

Assembly of the wings was a breeze. Excellent fit there too. You are provided with dropped flaps and individual slats, which enhances the overall stance of the model. Assembly of the wings to the fuselage was perfect. No need for filler and barely any need for glue!

Assembly of the forward fuselage followed. There are different parts here depending on how much you are showing of the engine and machine gun shelf. To my surprise (I apologize to Eduard for my lack of faith) everything fit great. Each panel sits perfectly where it’s supposed to be.

Then I worked the landing gear, where some very smart engineering was in place. The tires are a single piece –making painting a breeze. The attachment points being among the most miniscule I’ve ever seen, making cleaning up of the parts very easy. The wheel hubs are molded independently and provide excellent detail and depth. Again, fit was excellent. The fit was so good that I actually did not need any glue.

Perhaps the only real low point –from the assembly point of view- are the engine exhausts. You are provided with 12 individual exhausts. They are beautifully formed and molded (do not sand the weld line on them!) but installing them is challenging and frustrating. I wish that instead of 6 individual exhausts a single piece with the 6 exhausts had been provided.

I was moving so fast through construction that I almost forgot to take “in progress” pictures. That is how good this kit is.

Painting was accomplished with Model Master Enamels and after two thin coats of Future I was ready for decaling. The Eduard-printed decal sheet is excellent. As good as any aftermarket one. Thin, opaque and in perfect register. They needed no setting solution and hugged all the surface detail and panel lines like they were painted on.

A pastel chalk wash was applied to the panel lines to bring up detail and some limited weathering was accomplished using pastels.

Instructions and engine exhaust aside –the only low points, this model is excellent: great fit and excellent detail. The engine exhaust assembly step is the only challenge.

Highly recommended.

I would like to thank Eduard and IPMS/USA for the review sample.