Wings of the Black Cross
Supplement to Special No. 3

Messerschmitt Bf 109

Eagle Editions

Reviewed by Graham Carter

I reviewed the Wings of the Black Cross Special Number Three  on April 27th 2021 and this edition is a Supplement to that booklet. This is an A4 36-page album in a stapled glossy card cover. The contents are on semi-gloss paper and reproduction is excellent with no image impinging on the stapled centres. The rear cover has a great colour image of a crashed 109F-2. The book starts with an Introduction that explains, following the release of the first booklet in 2021, that there was much more photo-information that could not be fitted in that volume. So this is essentially an additional set of photos drawn from the collections of his sources with erudite notes about the personnel and colours while acknowledging the risks of B&W image interpretation and variant recognition while encouraging corrections from the reader. There is no section about the aircraft, just straight into the photo collection.

The bulk of this volume consists of 26 pages of well-reproduced images in B&W, with a notation of any particular features and the camouflage and marking carried. These seem to be well thought-out and will be of enormous use to the modeller and historian alike. Photos are two ( occasionally three) to a page so are of a very good size for study, and are very clearly reproduced. Many of the photos show aircraft in service in  number of theatres on air-fields with personnel and equipment so lend themselves to vignette or drama ideas.

Variants start with a couple of 109Bs, Ds and Es in Spain and later E-4s, some 109Fs, then G-6 and  G-10 variants. Following these are eight excellent colour profiles based on the photographs in what appears to be 1/32 scale by James Bentley. The booklet includes three pages listing all of the decal sheets produced by Eagle Cal with specific details of each aircraft represented on each sheet. This would be very handy for the modeller looking for a particular aircraft. I believe that most/all of these are 1/48. Given that the original book dates to 2021 then this list could be a bit dated and many newer sheets are probably now available in a variety of scales and from other manufacturers.

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If you obtained the original edition of this series then I think this is a valuable addition to the library on the ubiquitous Bf109 as it introduces a lot of new images of a number of variants, especially the D and early E models in Spain, and backs these up with well-considered colour and marking notes. Highly recommended.

This is a valuable addition to the library on the ubiquitous Bf 109 as it introduces a lot of new images of a variety of variants and backs these up with well-considered colour and marking notes.

Highly recommended.

Thanks to Eagle Editions for the sample.

Review Text and Images Copyright © 2024 by Graham Carter
This Page Created on 13 June, 2024
Last updated 13 June, 2024

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