Ive always liked the lithe looks of the E model 109, and have always wanted to build one in “classic” Battle of France/Britain colours.  I have several 109s in the stash but picked out the Dragon one to do.  I also decided this would be a good kit to practise riveting on.  I used some plans I found in the Aero detail volume on the 109E firstly marking all rivet lines with a pencil and then using a Rosie The Riveter tool to emboss them on the kit parts.  It went quicker than I thought.  Otherwise the kit is OOB.  My copy had two left hand wheel well liners in it.  All attempts to get a replacement one from the so called support service “Dragon care” went unanswered.  Thanks for your useless after sales care Dragon!
The only difficulty I encountered with the kit was the well known problem of getting the engine cowl to sit over the guns.  I ended up just using the barrels glued to a bulkhead I fitted into the interior of the cowl.  Still not happy with the fit.  I thinned the rear edge as the real cowl is not a seamless fit with the gun cowl, certainly not as pronounced as the gap on my model though.  The kit PE was used for the seatbelts.  The kit PE hinges were fiddly to construct but look and function well when done.
Montex masks were used to portray Lt Walter Schneider’s machine from May 1940, not the most photographed aircraft but I managed to find a pic which tallied with the Montex masks.

Messerschmitt Bf-109E-3 Luftwaffe. France 1940

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