Tamiya ventured into the modeling business in 1948 with a scale wooden ship model kit. Since then Tamiya has been striving to offer merchandise that can truly be called First in Quality Around the World. Now Tamiya is offering more than 300 different products both in the fields of precision static models and high performance radio control vehicles. These products are not only sold in Japan but also exported in vast quantities to the United States Europe South East Asia and to many other parts of the world. The standard of excellence achieved by Tamiya is regarded as among the very finest in the world of model hobbies. This finely detailed plastic model kit requires assembly and painting. Item is brand new and in its original factory packaging. Listing images are stock pictures provided by the manufacturer or the distributor. During the first half of the Second World War the Messerschmitt Bf109 E was the main fighter of the German airforce. The E-4 housed a 1 100hp Daimler Benz DB 601Aa engine and was armed with two 7.92mm machine guns on the nose as well as a 20mm cannon on each wing. For some aircraft bullet-proof glass was used to reinforce the front of the canopy. In addition a 20mm canon which ran through a tube in the propeller was supposed to be installed but was unsuccessful. Displaying superb acceleration and diving ability the E-type planes overpowered the RAF s Hawker hurricane and equaled the Spitfire fighters in the Battle of Britain. However with a flight range of only 560km the E-4 planes were limited to just fifteen minutes of combat over British skies. Thus the bombers were not given sufficient support and sustained heavy damage. As a result the Luftwaffe s strategy to bomb England into surrender ended in failure. To deal with this drawback the E-4 planes were equipped with additional 300L fuel tank. These improved fighters called E-7 were first deployed at the end of 1940. After the Battle of Britain the E-4/7 planes were sent to the front lines of Northern Africa. As the Bf109 F-type fighter s production was advanced the E-4/7 was retired from the front lines. However some veteran pilots continued to use the E-4/7 mainly for ground support duty until the summer of 1942.