Scratch building only seems more daunting....at first. One page of your plans will be all of the parts (ribs,formers etc.), cut out the paper templates, trace them onto your balsa (the plans will tell you what balsa to use....1/16th, 3/32, 1/8th Lite Ply etc.) For most of the balsa...except thicker parts like wing and elevator tips (I use a scroll saw on these and the Ply parts), all you need is a hobby knife and a box of #11 blades. It takes more time, because your cutting the parts, but it's no more difficult than a kit build, only requires patience. When I first started kit building I was talking to the owner of the local shop I always go to, who is an avid scratch builder. He suggested I get into scratch building. My first thought was, "I could never do that". It was the lack of .60 size German planes that pushed me to my first scratch build (still in progress, just need to finish the fuse up) and I've enjoyed it thoroughly, I wouldn't hesitate to scratch build another plane I could only find the plans for. A .60 size scratch build really doesn't take all that long and when you told your uncle you hand cut every single piece in the plane it'd probably mean that much more, to the point that he may never fly it .

On the "84 ME109 I decided to have a short kit cut because it is my absolute favorite plane ever produced and after just finishing one scratch build, didn't want to dive right into another. I still have a Top Flite P-47 to finish and Top Flite P-40 to build as well and scratch building a Giant Scale from scratch will only delay those from going on the board. Being my first Giant Scale, I want it to be absolutely immaculate. It will probably be the first plane I go nuts on detailing.

On a side note, Precision Cut Kits (PrecisionCutKits.com) does cut the Dave Platt ME109 with a 79.5in wingspan in several kit variations including a Short Kit and a Full Kit, but by all accounts the Platt ME109 is a very easy plane to build even from scratch, and scratch building it is what may be recommended to you as the kit price is a little high for the easy build that it is. Dave Platt also has his own website where you can buy his plans, just type Dave Platt into your preferred search engine. You can find a lot of plane kits at PrecisionCutKits.com but keep in mind the majority of them are giant scale. I like to go there on occasion just to look around and "ooh and ahh" at all the planes I don't have.

There are a lot of Axis planes available, you just have to look for them outside the usual avenues. Any plane can be cut into a kit for you, all you need is the plan. Good Luck! let us all know how it go's, post a build log for us in the kit building forum and feel free to ask anyone here for help. There are a lot of guys around here that are absolute saviors when it comes to needing help. This board and a large majority of it's members are absolutely invaluable when you get stuck.