Short History

The Bf 109E-4 was an upgrade from the earlier E-1 and the E-3. Units in the Western Europe Theater requested more firepower, so developers added two MG-FF/M cannons in the wings. The new guns were able to fire explosive rounds, along with two large caliber MG 17 machine guns; this gave the aircraft a significantly increased amount of firepower.

The Kit

When I opened the box, each of the 6 spurs totaling 165 parts and 1 transparency with 9 parts were individually wrapped along with 2 decal sheets. This is the basic 1/32 kit, so no mask or PE. But you can find Aftermarket Accessories (PE and resin) for the kit with a little searching on the internet.

Each spur was clean with very little flash. The first thing I noticed was the control surfaces; the simulated fabric areas look nice. The kit has lots of details; the engraved areas are cleanly made. I don’t see any ejection/sink marks that interfere with visible surfaces.

The DB601 engine is nicely detailed, there are 50 parts that make up the bulkhead and engine bay areas. Eduard was kind to those who don’t want to display or build the engine and have included parts to allow the installation of the exhausts without having to build the whole engine. Not sure why you would spend the money for this kit and not build the engine.

The cockpit is made up of 16 parts, the sidewalls have 12 parts. The parts in this area are clearly molded. Not resin quality but nice for molded parts.

The cockpit wind screens have the rivets along the frames like the real thing.

Eduard only provided one decal option in this weekend kit, that of Lt. Josef Eberle of 9/JG 54 based in the Netherlands 1940. The decals look very thin and printed with perfect register.

Over all the kit is nicely packaged and molded, the details are sharp and clean, the parts fit together and alignments are straight. For a weekend kit, it has a lot to offer and well worth the price.

I would like to thank Eduard and IPMS/USA for the opportunity to conduct this review.