With the introduction of the F-4, the "Friedrick" series finally reached its development apogee-what it was intended to be from the beginning. It was powered by the powerful DB 601 E engine mounting the MG 151/20MM cannon. The pair of cowl mounted MG 17s together with the MG 151 firing through the propeller hub meant a great deal of centrally located fire power, which even a novice pilot could often wield effectively. Pilot protection was increased with the addition of a 6MM armor plate behind and above the pilot's head.

Since the F-series airframe had been designed around the DB 601 E powerplant there were few distinguishing differences between the F-4 and its predecessors. The larger supercharger intake of the F-2Z series became standard as did the external armored windscreen which was often retro-fitted to earlier models. The F-4 became the most numerous of all F types and soldiered on until 1943. It was used by virtually every Luftwaffe unit and many Aces were made on the Eastern Front in the F-4. In spite of its relatively short life when compared to the E and the later G series, the F was considered by many to be the best Bf 109 of all, and the F-4 to be the best of the F series.

In order to increase the versatility of the fighter in the field, a series of bolt-en conversion kits were designed that would quickly and easily change the performance of the F-4 to meet local demands. Under the designation Rustsatze (field conversion sets), the following were available for the F-4:

R-1 MG 151/20MM cannon under each wing
R·5 300 liter drop tank under the fuselage
R·6 ETC 250 bomb rack

Known W.Nr. indicate that the Regia Aeronautica received at least 15 F-4s but photographs are rare. The plane shown here was photographed at Sciacca in May 1943. 363a Sq. belonged to the famed 150o Gruppo Autonomo. The pilot in the cockpit is Italian Ace Lieutenant Antonio Camaioni. Ref.[2]

The Hasegawa 1/32 Messerschmitt Bf-109F-4 is known to most in this scale. A well-designed, simple-to-build model. I built this model basically out of the box. The only changes are: riveting of all surfaces with Rosie the Riveter tool, pilot's seat from Quickboost and landing gear wheels from Aires. I spent most of the time airbrushing the kit. The whole kit was primed by Mr.Finishing Surfacer 1500 Black for the black basing technique. On such prepared surfaces I sprayed standard Luftwaffe desert camouflage RLM 79 / RLM 78. From that moment, consultations with Vince and Stefano began. I decided to build a Bf-109F-4 from 363 Squadriglia 150o Gruppo Autonomo at the Sciacca airfield in Sicily in June - July 1943. In the book "Ali Straniere in Italia No1 Messerschmitt Bf-109" there are 4 photos of (probably) this aircraft - none of them provide 100% sufficient reference to recreate the camouflage of this aircraft. The result of the discussion on the forum was as follows: the standard Luftwaffe desert camouflage was sprayed with gray spots / squiggles - at least that's what the analysis of the only available color photo showed. We decided that the camouflage was almost certainly of German origin, applied in field conditions. There are a lot of photos of Bf-109F and Bf-109G-2 in such non-regulation squiggles. The logical choice was therefore to use RLM 75. In various internet profiles of Friedrich from 353o Gruppo Grigio Azzurro Chiaro is usually suggested - but it does not match the photo, it's too light, too grey. Besides, we thought it's rather unlikely that at that time so much effort would be wasted on "fancy" painting of a machine used mainly for training. I've airbrushed the camouflage freehand using a Harder&Steenbeck Infinity airbrush with a 0.15 nozzle at very low pressure using MRP paint RLM 75. It turned out to be very easy - to my surprise. Another problem concerned German crosses - or rather traces of them. And again - most sources suggest overpainting the crosses with GAC1 - that's what I did at first, but .... Stefano said that looking at the photos - it's hard to see traces of such overpainting. Probably the German markings were scratched / washed off by Italian mechanics. Well - I did the same with my kit. I sanded off the gray paint with 2000 water sandpaper and corrected my work with RLM 79. Next using sponge and vinyl masks I applied delicate traces of white paint in the places where the German crosses were before. The result is quite satisfactory to me. All stencils are HGW wet transfers - and they worked just great. The rest of the markings are painted with an airbrush. Panel lines have been accented with Tamiya Panel Line dark brown. Finally, all kit has been airbrushed with a delicate mist of Light Dust Ammo Mig filter. And here it is - an old war-weary Messerschmitt Bf-109F-4 - as pictured with Lieutenant Antonio Camaioni at the controls. I hope you like it. Click here for the correspondng Forum discussion.

Painting the Model: Lets get started. The kit riveted and a base of black applied:

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And some marbling:

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