BBI Hartmann Bf109G Scheduled for October 2011

[tmanthegreat]

Just got this from a Badcat Newsletter this afternoon:

HONG KONG (BCAT) Production has been scheduled for the 1:18 Hartmann Me-109G! This is the one we've all been waiting for!! Due in October, the Black Devil of the Ukraine returns to the skies. Like the S1 release, this aircraft will come with a pilot and sports retractible landing gear, sliding canopy, a detailed cockpit, 2x MG151 gun pods.



Me-109G Hartmann 1:18 Blue Box 003771
PREORDER OCTOBER 2011

$79.99

Its the one we've been waiting for

[tko211]

Arg... No black tulip nose? I have 2 other 21c 109g's that look so very close to this particular scheme. Oh well. At least people are making 1:18 right?

[Airacobra]

I'm in.

[gburch]

I'm pretty darned happy about this.

[Jnewboy]

WTF? Thats no G, thats an F with cannons stuck on the wings. Is this a joke?

Why go to the trouble to make a Hartman and screw it up like that? I hope thats not the actual final product. No tulip, no rank bands on the wings or fuselage, Hartman never flew one with 20mm cannons one the wings and the F model never had them on it at all, ..... Hello?

BBI is great! they have great detail and for the 109 they did a great service by pluging the missing hole in the line by making the F model, but....

The first F model was africa corp but they could have easily made it Hans-Joachim Marseille's 109F and it would have been 10 times better.

Now this...
If they dont want to change the mold and they want to make another F model, why not find one that is really unique and beautiful. There were allot flying around Russia.

[gliderdwm]

Great news 1:18 and BBI are back and active. Unfortunately as jnewboy mentions many things not good about this release. I think most people want an accurate Hartmann repaint and preferably tulip nose version.

[aferguson]

the first one was a G2, like this one. There is no 1/18 me-109F, although the G2 was very similar in appearance. But nobody would want to manufacture a 109F as it would be too limited in future potential, as the G quickly superceded it.

I think it was a big mistake not to do a black tulip version. This one looks quite ordinary but at least it is a second repaint from bbi coming this year. That's something...and maybe there is still time to change it. Were any of Hartmann's planes an early G with a tulip?

[pickelhaube]

I agree with everybody.

Got's ta' have da tulip.

[Panther F]

Heck, I don't even have a 109 yet ... so yeah, I'm in too!


-Jeff

[tmanthegreat]

The BBI scheme is more-or-less is accurate from what I can tell. The tulip-nose is arguably the most famous version, but it seems the design appeared mostly on Bf-109G-6 and later aircraft flown by Hartmann. He did fly a Bf-109G-2 sometime in the 1942 timeframe and it did not have the tulip design on it. I want to say that Franklin Mint and/or Carousel Diecast made a 1:48 scale model of Hartmann's earlier plane, pictured here:



The BBI version of the Bf-109 is a G-2 model, so it looks like they went with the best scheme for Hartmann that they could while maintaining accuracy. A black tulip design on the G-2 airframe would be inaccurate.

I'm down for this one myself. The BBI Bf-109 tooling is superior to the 21c version in every way and the Hartmann scheme simply looks much more interesting than the monotone North African tan of the S1 version

[tko211]

It's accurate. BBi at least got it right. My point, and it's only an opinion was that I would have rather had the black tulip version. Oh well, I can always buy one and paint it.

[Jnewboy]

Ok, yes there was no 1/18 "F" made but making a "G-2" is basically the same plane. The early G's were virtually an F with a better engine and a pressurized cockpit. Since we as model collectors don't get to see either item its an F by all intents and purposes. Though the cowling opens on the BBi 109 and you can see the DB 605 engine, its identical in size and shape to the F's engine, the Luftwaffe made the F's engine more efficient by raising the compression for the G. Most people think the bumps on the cowlings on latter G's are due to a larger engine or larger superchargers but that's incorrect as it was due to the larger armaments introduced in the G-5.

Im happy that they are making these. I hope they make allot of them so I can buy them in bulk on eBay for repaints...

( the tulip first appeared in the G-6, and Hartman never flew one with the wing cannons )

[Black_Dragon_One]

is this with the open engine cover?

[aferguson]

can it be known for sure that Hartmann never flew with the underwing cannons? They were an add on package at squadron level and could be put on or taken off very quickly. Since it was a common add on at the time, i think it probably he flew with them, at least on occassion. Many pilots didn't like them, since they reduced the 109's performance sharply...did he himself state that he never flew with them on?

I thought there were a few more changes between the F and G2. If not and this is visually the same, we may well see a Marselle version one day. It's not uncommon for manufacturers to make less desirable versions of their planes first and then come out with higher demand versions of the same plane at a later date, in the hopes of incrasing overall sales figures. So a few years down the road...

[MCalamari]

I think this is great news! A new 1:18 109!

-M

[Dauntless]

I really like my BBI desert Bf109, so I'm down for this one for sure. There were discussions earlier about some wanting a Euro grey version, so here we are.

Given the prices for the original one now, I don't think it's a good idea to wait too long to get one.

I like the paint scheme, it's more like earlier Bf109E's from the Battle of Britain. Only so many paint schemes for the F like G2, so this is a good choice.

I still want a tulip nose & tits on the cowl version though someday.

[Jnewboy]

can it be known for sure that Hartmann never flew with the underwing cannons? They were an add on package at squadron level and could be put on or taken off very quickly. Since it was a common add on at the time, i think it probably he flew with them, at least on occassion. Many pilots didn't like them, since they reduced the 109's performance sharply...did he himself state that he never flew with them on?

I thought there were a few more changes between the F and G2. If not and this is visually the same, we may well see a Marselle version one day. It's not uncommon for manufacturers to make less desirable versions of their planes first and then come out with higher demand versions of the same plane at a later date, in the hopes of incrasing overall sales figures. So a few years down the road...

Im 100% sure. He may have flown with them on one time and then told them to take them off but thats it. (maybe thats this plane)

The Germans called that configuration the "flying bathtub" because it cut the handling (roll rate) almost in half. They were great if you were going after a B-17 but Hartman didnt need that kind of fire power as he got in so close before he pulled the trigger.

[PAK38]

This could be kinda fun going back and forth on the differences between the F's and G's so here goes...

My sources state that the 109F series had rounded wheel wells whereas the 109G series reverted to the squared off wheel wells of the 109E series. Doors were to have been added on the open section of the retraced landing gear, but were never done. My BBI G-2 has the squared off wheel wells whereas my 1:32 21st Century (I miss them.) 109F-2/F-4 has the rounded wells.

My sources also mention that there were some small scoops on either side of the cowling used for cooling the oil on the G model, not the F, but my 21st Century 1:18 G-6, BBI G-2, and 21st Century F-2/F-4 have the same scoops. I'm really not sure what the sources are referring to anyway on this score.

And, again, for what it's worth, the sources also state that the gondola cannon were available for the F series, but were rarely used.

[Jesse James]

And this thread is why companies don't really want to bother with 1:18. (j/k)

Seriously though I think it looks neat... I'm not into planes enough to buy, but I like how the paintjob looks on it, and it'd certainly be a cool German plane to have on the ceiling to represent for the axis.

[aferguson]

i think for that for those of us that have a (several) 21c 109's, this plane is not too exciting as it's just subltey different from those. If i didn't have any 109's, i'd be very happy about this release.

I wish they'd equipped it with underwing 21cm rocket pods, instead of the cannons. I know it wouldn't have anything to do with Hartmann, but they'd be cool and different from the gondola guns and i'd buy one just because of it. Perhaps one day they will make them.

[Jackson]

from lookin thru alot of my ref./ profile books it looks like the bird they are trying to reproduce is his Russian Front- May 1943 G-2 7./JG 52 WHITE 2 with the factory codes KJ GJ...the J partially covered by the white 2 and the GJ partially covered by the white IV Gruppe marking and the yellow fuselage band... the bird should also have the Unit Crest 1./JG52 depicting a black gloved hand holding an aircraft on the portside cowling in front of air intake also with 13 white bar killbars on rudder...profile also showing underwing cannons as well...TJJ

[hworth18]

This is great news! I may just have to break down and buy the Hartmann 109 when it comes out even though I swore off buying any more 1/18 planes.

And Jnewboy, there is no way you can say for sure that Hartmann's 109 did not have wing cannons and it is funny that you say that because of all my Hartmann profiles, his G-2 is the only one depicted with the cannons installed.

[Jnewboy]

This is great news! I may just have to break down and buy the Hartmann 109 when it comes out even though I swore off buying any more 1/18 planes.

And Jnewboy, there is no way you can say for sure that Hartmann's 109 did not have wing cannons and it is funny that you say that because of all my Hartmann profiles, his G-2 is the only one depicted with the cannons installed.

Like I said maybe this is the plane he tried them out on. They were by no means a permanent fixture. I remember him noting that he hated them in his memoir.

I did find this in my art archives.

It shows it with the cannons on.
See I like to be wrong, its always good to learn something new.

[Jackson]

Hey Jnewboy- I tend to agree that more often than not Hartman would have removed wing cannons due to the fact that he liked to get in real close before even lettin loose with his nose guns....alot of time within a hundred meters before lettin loose his guns in which stated in doing this he was taken a big chance of of gettin nailed by the bits and pieces of the bird he was chewing up from such close range but most assuredly he would get his kill.... TJJ

[aferguson]

the wing cannons were really intended for use against heavy bombers so it is likely Hartmann would rarely use them but probably tried them on at least one occassion. This model would probably most appropriately be displayed without them.