Words & Pictures by Jason Champion
This is my Eduard 1/32 Messerschmitt bf 109 D using the Alley Cat Conversion. This conversion consists of a one piece resin nose section, replacement resin flaps, blanks to fill in the area where the radiators need to be removed, a two bladed variable pitch propeller, nose cone and hub, exhaust stubs, the underwing oil cooler and a nice set of decals including the set I’ve used here for 6-68 from J/88 used with the Condor Legion in Spain 1938.
In addition to the resin conversion I used Kora Decals for the Prop blades, not totally accurate as they should be the early oval VDM logo (I have now removed the Hmilton Standard logos which are present in the pictures), I also added an Eduard etch set and Quickboost gunsight. The conversion was made from the Eduard 1/32 Bf 109 E1.
The conversion is straightforward to do and merges into the leading edge of the wing, it utilises the bulkhead at the end of the cockpit and lines up rather well. It is possible to use the E3 version too but that requires the removal of the gun bulges which adds another complicated layer.
This was an extremely enjoyable subject to model, the conversion was challenging but rewarding. The finished model gives a unique and attractive display piece and has been the spark of many talking points at shows. If you are interested in having a go at one of these conversions, order it up and jump straight in, that’s what I did!
I have linked my full video build for this one below if you’d like a more detailed look at the build.
Military Aircraft In Scale 