Photograph Copyright © Collin Riley 2005-2014
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| Messerschmitt
Bf 109F-4, III./JG 54, Russian Front, Winter 1944 |
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Well-made model
by an established manufacturer of small-scale multi-engine airliners
and military transports.
The model has a moveable rudder and ailerons, which, unfortunately,
is a minus for me, since I like my models "solid" with as
little gimmickry as possible. However, the moveable parts are very
well excecuted, are tight enough to stay in place, and are not prone
to falling off (as they do from models produced by another company--a
problem which we won't drag out again).
This Friedrich has a rather loud camouflage scheme that was murder
to photograph (I tried
several background colors, but fell back on the tried-and-true
brown).
The prop is made of metal, and therefore heavy, so it barely turns
under the hairdryer (but that's a good thing because it makes it a
lot easier to get those motion-blur shots).
The paint is well applied, and even though its texture is flat, there
are very few scuff marks (the bane of flat-surface models produced
by another company--bow wow).
The landing gear is easy to take off and put on, fits well, and stays
where it is supposed to (other model-makers take note!).
Overall, a very pleasing model to own, and hopefully I can afford
to get the other Friedrichs as they come out over the next few months. |
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| Fictitious
factoid: The pilot is actually a toy gnome from a collection
of unsold doll houses found in an abandoned Chinese factory-warehouse.
Since the Chinese believe in that old American adage "waste not,
want not", they decided to use the gnomes as pilot figures in
the current line of GeminiAces 1/72 models. That is all well and good,
except that the gnomes turned out to be 1/63 scale! |
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| Type |
Land-based fighter-bomber |
| GeminiAces item |
GALFT3001
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| Distribution |
2,000 |
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