It’s raining Messerschmitts in Kent

Welcome to this latest edition of our Workbench blog and all the news, updates and modelling exclusives from the fascinating world of Airfix.

We have something a little bit special for Workbench readers this weekend, as we not only have our first double blog posting edition of the year, but also our first re-visit to a 2024 new tooling subject, something which underlines the fact that it’s advancing nicely towards its initial release. In this first blog post, we welcome the impending arrival of the latest release from our 1/72nd scale Messerschmitt Bf 109E tooling, a popular kit which is re-joining the range in the guise of an aircraft which served during the height of the Battle of Britain, a scheme which has links to the region around where our Head Office is located.

We will be following this with a separately posted blog where an aircraft of much greater physical stature will be the subject of our attentions, a new tooling project which marks our latest scale tribute to one of America’s mighty four-engined heavy bomber of the Second World War, the distinctive and historic Consolidated B-24 Liberator. A new kit which judging by the reaction since it’s announcement at range launch will be an incredibly popular addition to the range, we will be taking a look at test shot frames and scheme/decal options this time, including input from the kit’s talented designer Chris Joy, as it negotiates this crucial stage of its development. Although each blog will be posted separately, link access for the other will be included with each respective post, however, as always, our main blog hub is the place to go to access these and every other Workbench blog ever posted.

We have a Workbench Dogfight Double blog posting awaiting your inspection for this first weekend in March.

The most heavily produced fighter aircraft in history

An aviation classic, the Messerschmitt Bf 109 pointed to the future of fighter technology, at a time when most air forces were equipped with biplane types.

Whilst the rest of the world was still trying to forget the horrors of the Great War and avoid thinking about the threat of another conflict in Europe, Germany was already thinking clearly about preparing their armed forces for war with a series of new and technologically advanced weapons of war. During the early 1930s, the technical department of the Reich Aviation Ministry conducted a series of studies into the future of air combat, with their conclusions resulting in requirements for the development four very specific types of military aircraft, which included a new single seat fighter.

This new aircraft was to possess exceptional performance, far in advance of anything currently flying, fast, light and heavily armed and powered by the latest engine technology – this was a short-range interceptor designed to dominate the skies. Although it was reputed that they were initially not invited to submit proposals, the Bayerische Flugzeugwerke Company did join the competition sometime later and what they proposed would go on to become arguably the most famous fighting aeroplane of the Second World War, an aircraft which would dictate the very future of world fighter technology, the Messerschmitt Bf 109.

Adopting a similar design philosophy to their existing Messerschmitt Bf 108 Taifun sports/touring aircraft which made its first flight in 1934 and was introduced the following year, the new fighter utilised lightweight construction principles and was always intended to be suitable for mass production. The design incorporated the use of large and robust brackets at the firewall bulkhead, serving as anchor points for the lower engine mounts and main undercarriage pivot points. Whilst this did allow the wings to be removed with a minimum of fuss for whatever reason, it did give the fighter its characteristic narrow track undercarriage, something which always made ground handling somewhat challenging.

As the prototype aircraft neared the date of its first flight, the project was in danger of suffering serious delay, as the new Junkers Jumo powerplants were still some way off being available and a radical solution had to be found. That solution proved to be a deal struck with Rolls Royce in the UK, whereby four Kestrel VI engines were secured in exchange for a Heinkel He 70 Blitz, which was to serve as an engine testbed aircraft. Powered by the Rolls Royce engine, the prototype Bf 109 made its first flight in May 1935, but it would be a further twelve months before the Junkers Jumo powered prototype took to the air.

Previously released Airfix Bf 109E box artwork showing a 9./JG54 Messerschmitt engaged with RAF Hurricanes in what appears to be a late evening sortie.

The Germans used the summer Olympics of 1936 to unveil their capable new fighter to the watching world and whilst everyone marvelled at the achievements of the world’s most capable athletes, military officials across Europe stepped up their own regeneration programmes, as the threat level had just increased exponentially. Entering Luftwaffe service in February 1937, the Messerschmitt Bf 109 fighter also equipped the German Expeditionary Air Force which took part in the Spanish Civil War, where the performance of the fighter was later evaluated, and improvements made after allowing service pilots to make their recommendations. In fact, with over 34,000 aircraft eventually produced, the Bf 109 was subjected to almost constant improvement and development throughout its service career.

The first four production variants of the Messerschmitt Bf 109 were all powered by the Junkers Jumo 210 engine, an advanced unit which was Germany's first truly modern engine design, however, front line fighter aircraft are always looking to benefit from ever greater speeds and this search would lead to the first major re-design of the Bf 109 with the introduction of the 'E' or 'Emil' variant, the aircraft which was in widespread service during the Battle of Britain. This mature version of the fighter adopted the more powerful Daimler Benz DB600 series powerplant, a 33-litre direct fuel injected inverted V12 unit which made the Luftwaffe's main fighter even more combat effective – the RAF would have their hands full with this warbird.

The adoption of this new engine did require extensive design modifications to be adopted, not only around the areas of the mounting frame and engine cowling to shoehorn this larger, more powerful powerplant into what was actually a relatively small fighter aircraft, but also to add additional cooling ducting around the inner wing sections, to provide effective cooling for this beast of an engine. In fact, it's interesting to note that the development of both the Messerschmitt Bf 109 and its famous British adversary, the Spitfire, went hand in glove with engine development, ensuring that both could remain at the forefront of world fighter performance and more specifically, competitive with each other.

This restored Messerschmitt Bf 109E is reputed to have been flown during the Battle of Britain by future ace pilot Hans Joachim Marseille and is now in the care of the Biggin Hill Heritage Hangar team.

Earlier variants of the lightweight Bf 109 had to be upgraded once the Germans learned that the new British Hurricane and Spitfire fighters would be equipped with eight machine guns each, forcing the Messerschmitt to take on greater firepower and the resultant increase in weight that brought with it. Forming the backbone of the Luftwaffe’s fighter force, as their Jagdgeschwaders moved to bases in Northern France in advance of the Battle of Britain, their pilots may have been supremely confident, however, things would be very different over the coming weeks and months.

For the first time since the war started, the Luftwaffe’s Messerschmitt’s would be at a disadvantage. The Bf 109’s relatively short range would mean that they would constantly be checking their fuel gauges whilst over Britain and they would be coming up against well-organised, well-trained opposition, equipped with aircraft which were at least equivalent to their own. If they suffered any mechanical or technical issues, or if their aircraft were damaged by enemy action, they were in danger of spending the rest of the war as a prisoner, or worse, and for the first time, the odds weren’t stacked in their favour.

As the Luftwaffe attempted to neutralise the Royal Air Force, even the most optimistic fighter pilots knew they were in for a torrid time over Britain and how many of their comrades would likely not be making it back over the English Channel.

Fate of a Battle of Britain raider

New Messerschmitt box artwork exclusive, showing the incident which led to the capture of Luftwaffe pilot Unteroffizier Hans Georg-Schulte, and an unusual future sortie for his personal Bf 109E-4.

With many of their pilots having already secured aerial victories during previous operations over France, the pilots of Jagdgeschwader 53 ‘Pik-As’ (Ace of Spades) were supremely confident as they headed for a new base at Rennes in advance of the onslaught against Britain. Operating one of the most capable fighter aircraft in service at that time and having perfected their air combat tactics over France, they were swept along on the wave of confidence articulated by Luftwaffe Commander-in-Chief, Herman Göring, who believed the RAF were in disarray and already close to becoming ineffective as a fighting unit. If his pilots were ready and hungry for victory, they could all run up their individual victory tallies before the seaborne invasion of Britain commenced.

As the Luftwaffe concentrated their forces in Northern France for operations against Britain, the pilots of JG 53 moved to their forward operating airfields situated between Cherbourg on the Cotentin Peninsula and Calais, part of a mighty force of nine Jagdgeschwaders allocated to operations against Britain, each one made up of nine Staffels, or Squadrons. Although he was the figurehead of this aerial armada, Göring would actually have a detrimental impact on the morale of JG53 pilots during the coming conflict, as he ordered the unit to remove the famous Ace of Spades emblem they were so fiercely proud of.

The unit was commanded by Major Hans-Jürgen von Cramon-Taubadel, a man who came to Göring’s attention during the Battle of France. Göring was informed that the Major’s wife was ‘not wholly Aryan’ something which apparently enraged him, and he issued immediate orders that the unit remove their beloved unit badge by painting a red stripe around the cowling, wide enough to completely cover the Ace of Spades emblem. This was apparently to serve as a mark of shame for the unit, something many of the pilots didn’t take too kindly to, especially as this was done whilst they were still heavily engaged in the fighting over Britain.

Profile artwork showing this most unusually presented Messerschmitt.

During the Autumn of 1940, von Cramon-Taubadel was replaced as Geschwader Kommodore and Göring allowed the unit to reinstate its emblem, however, the situation had created a rift between the Commander-in-Chief and some JG 53 pilots and many chose to make their own protests. As a consequence of this, many of the unit’s aircraft displayed unusual presentation features during this period, with some being more dramatic than others. One was said to have painted a large question mark on his fighter’s cowling, over the red stripe where the unit emblem used to be, whilst the majority painted out the swastika insignia on both sides of their aircraft’s tails, the latter being a real distinguishing feature of late Battle of Britain JG 53 Messerschmitts.

Even though Göring insisted that his fighters should remain close to his bombers once the Luftwaffe’s attentions had turned to attacking London, there were still opportunities for fighter units to mount their popular Freie Jagd or free hunting missions over southern England, where Bf 109s were allowed to roam the skies in the hope of tempting RAF fighters into combat. These missions were often timed to coincide with large raids sent against London in the hope of splitting the RAF’s defensive response, thus continually draining the effectiveness of Fighter Command as a force.

Full decoration details for this 7./Jagdgeschwader 53 Messerschmitt Bf 109E-4 which made a crash landing near RAF Manston on Friday 6th September 1940.

On one such mission, Unteroffizier Hans Georg-Schulte left his home airfield at Le Touquet during the early evening of 6th September 1940 in Messerschmitt Bf 109E-4 ‘White 5+I’ determined to further increase his personal victory tally. Already an ace pilot with seven victories to his name, he would be flying over Dover and the Kent countryside with four other 7./JG53 Messerschmitt Bf 109s, when they were all intercepted by RAF Spitfires from Nos.41 and 222 Squadrons.

During the savage combat which ensued, Georg-Schulte would shoot down one of the Spitfires, but sustained damage to his own fighter in the process, and unable to make it back across the channel, looked for a suitable place to put his stricken fighter down. It was reported that he attempted to land at nearby RAF Manston, but overshot the runway, coming to rest in a farmer’s field just outside the boundary of the airfield. This is in itself a little confusing, as the aircraft made a wheels up landing in the field, but would have presumably been attempting a normal landing at Manston, otherwise, why wasn’t it put down there, where they had emergency cover?

In any case, the pilot escaped the incident relatively unscathed, but was held by the local police, until military officials arrived to take him prisoner – for Unteroffizier Hans Georg-Schulte, the war was over, and he would spend the rest of the conflict as a POW, however, his Messerschmitt still had an important role to play.

Full Airfix box presentation layout for this latest Bf 109E kit, one which is surely destined to become a firm range favourite in 2024.

The aircraft itself was later recovered from the crash site and other than a buckled port wing root, was found to be in remarkably good order. She would be sent around the country as a war prize, displayed to the public in a drive to raise funds for the war effort. There are several fascinating pictures to be found online which show this very aircraft attracting a large and inquisitive crowd in what is noted as Sheffield. What is of even greater interest to us modellers is the fact that the aircraft can be seen without the red nose band imposed on JG 53 by Göring, but prior to the re-application of its distinctive ‘Pik-As’ emblem.

The Messerschmitt can also be clearly seen with its swastika painted out on the tail and it appears as if Unteroffizier Hans Georg-Schulte elected not to display his personal victory tally on his aircraft, although this may be open to some conjecture, as the fabric covering on the rudder is missing in these pictures.

The impending release of this latest Messerschmitt Bf 109E model kit will allow us all to build a scale representation of the very aircraft featured in the above review and serves as a perfect illustration of how the modelling hobby can help to preserve history in a unique and engaging way. If we were looking for a build project which possessed real historical interest and character, then look no further than this new ‘Pik-As’ Messerschmitt Bf 109E kit, because it has it in spades!

One to look out for in model shops everywhere, this interesting new Messerschmitt is available now.

We are afraid that's all we have for you in this latest edition, but we will be back next Friday with more project development updates and the very latest Airfix kit exclusives. In the meantime, we are always keen to hear your views on all things Airfix and in particular, any thoughts and opinions you may have regarding our Workbench blog. If you would like to drop us a quick line, could we please ask that you use our workbench@airfix.com email for all correspondence. 

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