The panelling construction is quite interesting. The Russians thought the Me109 was an amazing aircraft the way she was put together.
I don't know much about the US aircraft or other countries, but all panels on the Me109 "interlocked"...meaning they overlapped each other by around 2-3 cm.
You wouldn't know it even looking up close as they all "look" like they are rivetted right next to each other. This causes what looks like a gap between each panel. The gaps range from 1mm to 2.5mm in size.
The hatches, covers, access or radio etc. have around the same spacing, if not tighter.
Below is a close-up of the bottom seam of a G2 (section 2). You will see it is uneven. Widest space is 2.5mm. You can also see how the first skin (just behind the cockpit) overlaps.
Mike
