I am currently assembling the ME-109 .25 ARF. I'm planning to use my old OS .40FP that probably has the power output of a .25 at this stage in its life (it's the first engine I owned/abused). Like you, I bought the ARF because I was looking for an inexpensive .25 sized airplane and this was the only one I could find.

Before buying, I found reviews around the web and they are pretty accurate. The ARF is basically of decent quality, but it definitely has some deficiencies and requires a builder who can deviate from plans when necessary.

The kit is packed pretty well in the box. The covering has a lot of sagging areas, but they can be tightened up with a heat gun.

I inspected the visible bulkhead and former joints in the fuse and they seem okay. Not great, but okay. I added some epoxy to a few areas. This may be overkill, but I figured it was better to be safe than sorry.

I decided to glass the wing root, so I added this to the wing assembly process. They have a ply wing bolt plate that does not fit the dihedral of the wing, so it has to be modified by either carving or breaking it in two. I opted for the latter and carved so that it sat more-or-less parallel to the bolt heads. The tail section goes together fairly well, but the stab saddle area wasn't perfectly flush. After some thought, I said what the heck and epoxied the fin assembly anyway. It's pretty close and I don't expect any trouble from it.

Upon reaching this step in the manual, I found that a page was printed backwards! I use a mirror to read it. This is a bit annoying, but tolerable.

Modeltech put quite a bit of metal in the tail section. I wonder if it wouldn't be tailheavy with a 0.25 engine. I'm using a 0.40, so I expect the plane to balance okay. The stab struts are metal and they aren't as light as they could be. I had to re-drill the holes in them because they did not fit as shipped. They also use a heavy steel tailwheel mounting bracket that screws to the bottom of the fuse at the rudder hinge line.

This is as far as I've gotten. I have to hinge the elevator and fin. The plane will be mostly complete at that point. One common criticism that I found to be true is that their fuel tank arrangement is rather dubious. They supply a hard 4-oz tank and tell you to insert it through a bulkhead to fit behind the firewall. However, it doesn't fit! I happen to have a 6-oz flex tank left over from my re-kitted Uproar (RIP) that I will use. It fits without problem.

I'm also planning to mount my engine upright instead of inverted because my engine needs special care.

As of now, I would recommend the kit to a builder who has prior experience and a sense for when to deviate from the plans.

Good luck with yours...

Mark