Background: Before the outbreak of the Second World War, the German navy (Kriegsmarine)became fascinated with the notion of aircraft carrier use. The Germans started the construction of Graf Zeppelin carrier for the navy. They decided to use Messerschmitt Bf 109T fighters and Ju 87dive bombers with the carriers. The suffix 'T' standsfor ‘Träger’(a carrier) in German. An order for building 70 T-1 fighters (with added tail-hook, catapult fittings, and increased wingspan) was placed with the manufacturers, but after 7 T-1s were built, the carrier project was canceled and the remaining 63 of the 70 T-1s were built asT-2s without the carrier equipment. The performance of the T-2 was closely comparable to the E-4/N which had shorter takeoff and landing capabilities. The T-2 fighters were deployed in Norway. Bf 109T-2s remained in operation until 1944 with some fighter planes used in training units in Germany. The standard armament of the Bf 109T consisted of two 7.92mm MG 17s above the engine and two 20mm MG FF/M cannons in the wings.

The Kit

The AZ model kit of the Messerschmitt Bf-109T-2 depicts the aircraft used in Norway by JG77 unit, later renamed as JG11. The three painting schemes in the box represent this unit from Lister, Norway from 1941 and 1944.

The box contains three gray plastic sprues and a clear sprue with the canopy, aiming sight, and the front armor windshield. There are 57 parts in the box, including three clear plastic ones. There is a 4-page black and white instruction sheet, a set of decals and a sheet of technical stencils included. The plastic parts have quite good quality and details. There are 19 steps in the construction of the kit. The instruction sheet provides a very brief history of the Messerschmitt Bf-109 but with no mention of the T-2 variant. The color reference lists the German RLM colors with equivalent Humbrol paint numbers. Nine parts are excluded from the assembly and are grayed out in the instructions. I could not find part number 16 in the instruction sheet so I left it out. There is an option to install a fuel drop tank or a bomb. I decided to use the fuel drop tank in my build. There is a set of two sets of wheels too with instructions allowing for either one to be used. Because the T-2 version had longer wings, AZ model provides a separate set of longer top wing halves.

Construction

The construction starts with the cockpit and it is very nicely represented by details on both sides of the inside of the fuselage halves. The seat and the instrument panel are also nicely molded. The instruction sheet describes what colors should be used for the cockpit details on the fuselage halves; unfortunately, the drawings do not match the actual items on the plastic parts. I used my reference books for the Bf-109 to paint the inside of the cockpit. The seat belts are represented as decals. I wanted to give them some volume so I applied them first to aluminum foil and then glued them to the pilot’s seat. Check your references on how the seatbelts are attached to the seat as it is not clear where to attach the top harness to the seat’s backrest. The instrument panel has decals for it and it looks good when applied. I had some trouble installing the assembled cockpit ‘cage’ with the pilot seat and the instrument panel inside the fuselage to ensure it is installed horizontally. Also, the air intake under the engine was tricky to install horizontally. The fuselage halves have only one locating pin at the front so care must be used when gluing the parts together. I drilled out the exhaust pipes using a small drill bit. I also drilled out the machine gun and cannon barrels per instructions. These are tiny parts, so please be careful doing it.

The propeller assembly goes together well and you get a choice of two types of spinners for installation. However, if you follow the instructions, you will end up with gluing the propeller assembly to the fuselage. I like having the propeller blades spinning, so I modified the inside of the fuselage by adding a wall to the area where the engine was and placed a poly cap inside to hold the propeller assembly in place.

The longer wing halves are installed to the standard length of the bottom wing section. I only slightly evened out the edges on the bottom wing section (part #5) with a file, but it was enough to create a gap between the wings and the fuselage connection. Next time I would do more dry fitting of the parts to prevent that from happening. I added a thin Evergreen sheet to eliminate the gap. I had to file down structures inside the wings in the place where the front of the wing roots connect to the fuselage to eliminate gaps between the upper and lower wing halves. Also, the bottom wing section was too low against the bottom of the fuselage and I had to use some putty to mitigate the difference.

There is no locating pin to install the air intake on the left side of the engine cowling so I used a drawing in a reference book to position it properly. The landing gear and wheels installation was easy due to the dedicated inserts molded inside the wings. The wheels are very nicely renditioned too.

The reinforced glass in front of the windshield comes as a plastic piece that has to be added to the canopy’s front. The shape did not match the front of the canopy section very well, and I had to file it to align it with the canopy’s frame. I used Future instead of clear plastic glue to attach it to the front of the canopy.

The antenna mast does not have a prong to insert it into the canopy, nor does the canopy have a hole for it. I glued the antennae on top of the canopy, but that was a very weak connection and it broke off twice while I was handling and painting the canopy frame. I used superglue to strengthen the bond of the two parts. The canopy is not extremely transparent, so I used a plastic polishing compound to improve it. It only helped slightly. This might be the least quality-like part in the kit. On the other hand, the fit of the canopy to the fuselage was very good.

Painting

I primed the assembled model with Tamiya gray primer. I used Mr. Color paints instead of Humbrol to paint the camouflage. I chose the first paint scheme for a machine flown by Herbert-Christmann. It is a challenging camouflage as it has small zigzag patterns painted on the top of the standard camouflage. I used my best airbrush to achieve the tiny spray patterns of RML 76 light blue. The decals do not provide the yellow band for the fuselage, so I painted it with Tamiya yellow. The decals provide the red flames for both sides of the fuselage front, but because it would be almost impossible to apply them over the exhausts and the air intake of the left side, I opted for painting the flames instead using Tamiya acrylic red paint. I cut the decals out and used them as a template to cut and apply a masking tape instead. The result was very good and I recommend doing it that way. The crosses on the wings and the fuselage were white and to avoid silvering of the translucent section of the crosses, I cut them out and applied the four cross corners individually. It was a tedious activity but worth it. The decals are thin but they held well and did not break. The decals had a significant amount of the carrier film around them, so I trimmed every decal before application. Some of the technical stencils are very tiny, so care must be taken during application. The red stripes on the top of the wings were very thin, long, and therefore brittle and one of them fell apart during application. Fortunately, the kit’s decals have two sets of them so I was able to install them in the end without further damage. Please note that the decals would slide off the paper backing almost immediately after they were submerged in water, so do not keep them in the water longer than 3-5 seconds.

Summary

Despite some of the challenges described above during the construction, the kit builds into a very nice representation of this unique aircraft. I did not have the long-wing version of the Bf-109 in my collection of the Messerschmitt 109s, so I was thrilled with the opportunity to build this model. This is not my first AZ model built in 1/72 scale and I like the modest number of parts combined with the detailed molded plastic parts offered by this company. All the dimensions match my references and the overall symmetry is correct after the assembly. I would recommend this kit to experienced modelers. Nevertheless, the final result is well worth the effort. I am looking forward to seeing and building more Bf-109 versions from AZ model.

My sincere thanks go to AZ Model for generously providing this kit to review and IPMS/USA for allowing me to review it.