Manufacturer:Eduard, Obrnice 170, 43521 Obrnice, Czech Republic,
www.eduard.cz
Kit: No. 8052 Scale: 1/48
Price: $24.98
Comments: Injection-molded, 106 parts with Express Masks and decals
Pros: Excellent surface detail, great fit, accurate presentation, handy optional parts
Cons: Details shown on the box are not included in the kit; brittle plastic
The Bf 108 “Taifun” was designed in Germany in 1934 by BFW (Bayerische Flugzeugwerke, known later as Messerschmitt A.G.) as a four-seat, communications, liaison, ambulance, and utility aircraft. The first six aircraft were built for the 1934 Challenge de Tourisme Internationale. Messerschmitt built 885 Bf 108s between 1934 and 1945 while 359 more were license-built by Nord in France during and after WWII. The plane’s maximum speed was 196 mph and its range (loaded) was 870 miles.
Eduard’s Taifun is beautifully done. It has delicate and consistent engraved panel lines and a high level of interior and exterior detail. The cockpit has nearly everything that can be seen in 1/48 scale and features optional instrument panels, optional long-range fuel tanks, and all the flight controls. The inverted V-8 Argus engine (hidden inside the closed cowl, darn it) is a neat little kit in itself. The molded parts are thinner than I’ve seen before from any manufacturer.
The instructions have a brief history of the aircraft, assembly diagrams, part maps, and recommended RLM paints made by five manufacturers. The seven-step assembly drawings are clear, and an errata sheet is included due to mislabeled engine parts. A neat feature of Eduard’s drawings is that all mating surfaces to receive glue are colored blue in the diagrams. Several drawings show the color and marking profiles and how to use the enclosed Express Masks for the wheels, canopy, and the rear fuselage color band. Eduard’s decals are well printed and provide markings for two aircraft.
The Trop version of this kit uses the rudder half that includes the mass balance weight (part No. B9). It also uses the long-range fuel tanks (C1, C30, A17 and A21) that occupy the fourth seat space on the right side of the rear passenger compartment.
Although the kit’s molding is generally well done, my sample’s horizontal stabilizers and tail wheel suffered from mismatched mold halves, requiring cleanup. I never could get the tail wheel perfectly round. Other small parts needed to have mold-parting lines removed, too.
Whenever I can, I like to paint the major components while they are still on the sprues, then carefully clip them off and assemble them. I retouch all the seams after they’re set. This system worked fine on this model because the parts fit well. Building the engine was straightforward, but placing it and the engine bearers (A8 and A9) onto the firewall, was ticklish. I broke both of the skinny little engine mount braces in several places just trying to square the engine with the firewall.
The cockpit must be placed firmly onto the inside of the bottom wing surface. The fit here (between, over, and alongside the wheel wells) was so snug that it was accomplished only with the help of a liberal dose of liquid cement.
In step 4, I had to slightly enlarge the openings in the fuselage for the mounting tabs on the horizontal stabilizers. I’m sure the slightly brittle plastic should share the blame with me for breaking both main gear struts at the mountings in the wing.
In the cockpit, I had the option of using printed paper instruments behind a clear panel or using a decal on a solid panel. I chose the former. The panel’s rear edges are beveled to fit the cockpit coaming – the panel is not set back underneath the coaming.
The propeller shaft wasn’t long enough to attach to the propeller keeper, so I extended it about 3Ú32″ with a section of stretched sprue. I used one of those handy vinyl keepers left over from a Tamiya kit.
I airbrushed out-of-production AeroMaster and Floquil enamels for the camouflage, but you can find all the colors you need from Testor Model Master, Gunze Sangyo, Humbrol, and others. After a clear gloss coat, the model was ready for decaling.
The decals were printed perfectly, and although thin, they easily came off the decal paper. They did want to stick where they landed, though. A bit of saliva under the decal helped keep them loose for final positioning.
The final touches included adding seat belt decals and a few fine details from my spares box. The box art shows small grab handles around the outside of the cockpit, and I used some HO model railroad grab handles for them. For the venturi, I cut two tapered sections of stretched sprue and glued the narrow ends together. No wingtip navigation lights were provided, so I made them by stretching clear sprue, then holding a section near the side of a candle flame and allowed the heat to mushroom the plastic to form a lens. After drilling small holes in the wing tips, I inserted the little ‘shrooms and painted them with clear red and green.
Eduard’s Express Masks worked OK on the canopy, but paint leaked underneath where the sections overlap. The masks came off easily with no adhesive residue.
The finished model sits right and looks right. Only the complexity of the color scheme and the snug fit of some parts makes this kit one for modelers with intermediate skills and experience.
You might be able to tell that I had a ball building this model. It now sits in my display case right next to my Hobbycraft Canada Bf 109C. The similarity between the wing plans and the empennages of these two aircraft is striking.