Revell Messerschmitt Bf 109 F-2/4. Introduction

This is the first of a series of articles covering the building of the Messerschmitt BF-109 F-2/4 1:48 scale model from Revell. You can get a full view of all the articles covering this project checking the series index.

In this first article, an introductory information about the airplane and its contemporary competitors is exposed.

The airplane

The Messerschmitt BF-109 can be considered as the workhorse of the german Luftwaffe's Jagdwaffe (Fighter Force). With 30.573 units built during the WW2, it's the most built air fighter produced in the history, with an overall amount of 33.984 units built until 1945.

BF 109 E (Emil) variant. Note the differences
with the F series as the smaller propeller spinner, air intake,
tail (horizontal stabs supports, non-retractile wheel,
wing cannons and wing squared tips (among others)

Basically, the BF-109 was a single engined, single-seat monoplane fighter powered by a liquid-cooled, inverted V12, Junkers (pre-war) or Daimler-Benz (variant E onwards) engine and armored with  two synchronized 13mm MG-131 machine guns in the cowling plus different combinations of cannons and machine guns mounted in several parts of the airplane depending on the series, being the most common a 20mm MG-151/20 gun firing through the propeller shaft (known as Motorkanone mount). In its K-4 sub-variant, it reached a maximum speed of 710 km/h at 7,500 m., though the most common F variant models ranged between 615 and 659 km/h at rated altitude.

In 1936 the BF-109 was chosen by the Reichsluftfahrtministerium (Reich Aviation Ministry) as the winning short range interceptor from the trials in which its V2 prototype participated together with the Arado Ar 80 V3, the Focke-Wulf Fw 159 V3 and the Heinkel He 112 prototypes, mainly due to the revolutionary features that it incorporated, as the all-metal monocoque construction, a closed canopy and  a retractable landing gear. By the end of that year, three BF 109-A series prototypes took part in the Spanish Civil War in order to be evaluated in real combat conditions. In 1937 the production of the BF 109-B series started, being continued with different variants (series B to series K) until the end of the 2nd. World War in 1945.

The F "Friedrich" variant

Of all these series, the variant F, commonly named Friedrich, is considered the best in terms of balance between power and performance. Being developed during 1939-1940 and then produced until mid 1942, it is considered the second major redesign after the E variant and included these major changes:

• The previous E variant engine was replaced by a more powerful Daimler-Benz DB 601N (1159 HP) in the sub-series F1 and F2 and Daimler-Benz DB 601E (1332 HP) in the sub-series F3 and F4.

• The two cannons mounted inside the wings were replaced by a single 15 or 20 mm Motorkanone-mount cannon behind the engine, firing between the cylinder banks and through the propeller hub.

• The aerodynamic efficiency was improved, being the major changes performed in the wings (the squared tips of the E series were replaced by new rounded tips), the tail, the cowling (a new half-elliptical shaped spinner replaced the smaller, conical spinner previously used, a new smaller propeller was used), and the cooling system.

Four sub-variants of the Friedrich variant were built, being the most built the series F-2 and F-4 with these features:

Bf 109 F-4 in its tropicalized (/Trop) version. Note the
presence of the dust filter on the air intake.

• The F-2 was powered by a Daimler-Benz DB 601N (1159 HP) and armoured first with a 15mm Mauser MG 151 cannon as motorkanone and then replaced by a 20mm Mauser MG 151/20 cannon.

• The F-4 sub-variant was based on a more powerful Daimler-Benz DB601E (1332 HP) engine moving a propeller with broader blades than those found in the F-2 sub-variant. All F-4 models incorporated the 20mm Mauser MG 151/20 cannon as motorkanone. This sub-variant was built in the tropicalized version too.

The competitors

Rivers of (electronic) ink have flown discussing about what was the best airplane in the category of the BF-109, o even if one was better than the other in a given moment of the conflict. It is not the intention of this article taking part on that  discussion, so only the competitors are being named with aseptic references to comparison data.

Supermarine Spitfire Mk V

The RAF contender was the Supermarine Spitfire in all its variants. In many ways, it is the best reflection of the BF 109 on the other conflict side, since in broad terms their performance was similar and it was active during all the conflict with -as the BF 109- many different variants.

The USAAF contender was the North American P51 Mustang. This airplane was designed in 1940 and entered into the european conflict in 1943, so in terms of timing its features and presence is not so parallelized to the BF 109 as the Supermarine Spitfire.

Finally, the german Reichsluftfahrtministerium (Reich Aviation Ministry) did not relax after the adoption of the BF-109, and in late 1930s requested the design of a new single engine, single seat air fighter. In 1941 the Focke-Wulf FW 190 entered into operation, forming together with the BF 109 the backbone of the Luftwaffe's Jagdwaffe (Fighter Force) during the most of the conflict.

---

Next article: Unboxing