Messerschmitt BF-109G2 Trop “Black 1”

What can i say about this plane? I don’t own every single offering BBi has ever made in the arena of 1:18 scale toys, but hanging on my ceiling next to the modern F-16 and F-18, the Pacific Birds, I believe I can firmly say that this is one of the best aircraft BBi has ever put to market. 21st Century has done the ME-109 to death, and to boot the mold is extremely dated as compared to the aircraft offerings as of late, With that the first instinct of hobbyists may be to turn away from this offering. I can only say that you might be making a mistake you will regret long after this bird has flown away.

After I got the model assembled the only thing I wanted to do was fly this aircraft around the house making gun and engines sounds. The plane is so smooth and aggressive, it just begs to be played with. The surface is just covered in so many details, it is hard to take in all at one. When playing around with the aircraft you got to spin the propeller and it is difficult to move. It doesn’t spin as freely as the props on 21st Century’s birds. This really isn’t a good or bad thing, it just caught me off guard at first.

Unlike the 21st Century aircraft I own, this BBi aircraft comes with a small amount of thread so that the external radio antenna can be hung just like it’s real life counterpart. There are also some small plastic cylinders that can be attached to the rope. To install, I tied mine off , added the small cylinders, cut off the excess, and dabbed a small amount of super glue on everything to keep things from sliding and coming undone.The only drawback to this is that the antenna securing the wire to the cockpit area is very rubbery and tends to bow over time. This is a place I would have wanted to see a bit sturdier plastic.

The plane comes with all the standard features, such as moving flaps that can lock into place for flight, an opening, fully detailed cockpit, and the aforementioned, retractable landing gear. Also included was a small, detachable hard point and an external fuel tank. The hard point connects with four small pins to the central fuselage, right behind the engine. The tank and the hard point a both nicely weathered.

The piece has a few holes on the bottoms of both wing’s that aren’t used on this version. I didn’t notice them until i did the review, but after some closer inspection i realized that the tank fit perfectly into the five holes. If i had two tanks it would have dual external fuel tanks. But, there were also to other larger holes right beside each of the fuel tank holes. Though I’m not 100% sure if they used 20mm cannons, I would imagine something like this or an external payload of bombs would occupy these holes.

This is BBi’s first German aircraft, let alone first BF-109. It impressed me to no end that they would think ahead like this. The minute I thought about the prospect of more planes i was more giddy about 1:18 scale toys than i have been in a long while. In most cases repaints are generally unexciting. Just new paint on the same old plane, but the BF-109G2 Trop is so different that I would gleefully welcome another version. I sincerely hope this isn’t the last 109 we’ll see out of BBi.