Eduard Messerschmitt Bf.110F Profipak 1:48

[Mike]

Messerschmitt Bf.110F Profipak

1:48 Eduard

 

 

A German Heavy Fighter, Destroyer or in native German Zerstörer, the Bf.110 was conceived before WWII in the mid-30s, but due to successive upgrades it limped on to the end of the war, despite being largely outclassed by wartime developments by the Allies, which sometimes resulted in horrific losses.  By the time the F variant came into being, much had changed and the airframe was reaching its limits.  It benefitted from a number of airframe improvements passed down from previous variants, plus a more powerful pair of DB601F engines and armour that improved the types survivability somewhat.

 

Its duties ranged from long-range reconnaissance or bombing to heavy fighter and finally a task that the F and G variants excelled at, the Nightfighter role.  After the slow and cumbersome E variant it was hailed as possibly the best 110 produced, because of its performance and handling characteristics by comparison to the older model.  Over 500 were built before the G variant superseded it with more power and improved aerodynamics.  A further H model was planned at the end of the war, but this was never built and most of the records of its specification were lost in the confusion as defeat of the Reich loomed.

 

 

The Kit

Eduard's initial Bf.110C was released a staggering 10 years ago now, but still holds up well to inspection, although many have expressed some reservations regarding fit of the engine nacelles, but from memory simple care and attention to fit will help immensely during construction.  Successive boxings have seen D, E and G variants, but until now there has only been one boxing of the F, which was a Nightfighter in Weekend boxing.  This Profipak has new parts, and includes the niceties that we have come to expect from the more up-market Profipak boxings.  The boxart shows the famous Wespe scheme that is included in the decals, and inside the heavily laden box are a surprising ten sprues in a blue-grey styrene, two of clear, two sheets of Photo-Etch (PE), a sheet of pre-cut masks, a large decal sheet and (would you believe?) a resin Dachshund, or sausage dog as they're sometimes called.  That's not a case of someone at Eduard losing the plot, but a little extra connected to one of the decal options as you'll see later.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

There are probably a lot of you with the basics of this kit in their stashes in other boxings, but to those that haven't yet experienced the Eduard Bf.110, it was quite a treat when it arrived, consigning the old and inaccurate Revell kit to the back of the stash in one fell swoop.  Construction starts with the cockpit, which is long and highly visible under the greenhouse, so it by necessity well-detailed.  A mixture of pre-painted and bare brass PE is mated with finely moulded styrene parts to create the detailed instrument panel (with plastic & decal option also included), side consoles, PE rudder pedals, seatbelts for all and throttle quadrant levers.  The radio gear is also given PE fronts, and the belly-mounted gun pack with its big magazines fits in front of the wireless bulkhead, with the barrels under the pilot's compartment.  The sidewalls are detailed with small parts and along with the rear bulkhead they form a "tub" that slips between the fuselage, with only the pilot's section of the inner fuselage requiring paint.  Inserts in the floor and across the top of the cockpit aperture are fitted as the fuselage halves are mated, then the optional single or Zwilling machine gun mount for the rear are added to the rear, while the nose cone with its gun pack are fitted to the front.  If you decide to mount the nose guns with the bay open, you can do so, as all the gun breaches and interior detail is supplied, as well as some neat internal struts for the bay cover.

 

Moving to the wings, these are provided as top and bottom halves, and oddly enough, there's one on each side!  First you will need to decide whether to open up the flashed-over holes in the underwing, then the nacelles are built up from two halves with a separate oil-cooler bath and two small bulkheads to form the gear bay.  They are attached to the lower wing, and have two sidewall parts added to complete the formation of the bay.  The radiator is a separate assembly outboard of the nacelle, with PE mesh grilles front and back.  The wings are added to the fuselage using the usual slot and tab system, with separate ailerons but captive rudders and elevators on the H-tail.

 

 

 

With the airframe ostensibly complete, the landing gear parts are assembled, starting with the two main struts, which fit in the roof of the bays, with retraction jacks and a two-part wheel with radial tread fitted to the bottom axel stub.  Two bay doors are fixed to the lip of the bay, one on each side, with a single piece tail wheel and two-part fixed yoke at the rear.  Antennae, intake grilles, landing lights and mass-balances are added around the airframe, followed by a choice of exhaust stubs for night fighter and day use, depending on your chosen decal option.  The large greenhouse canopy varies in fitment depending on your decal choice too, with a wide variety of choices, even down to the instruments that are fitted within the main part.  Check carefully before you commit yourself, as there really are quite a few parts to go at.  Prop choice isn't an issue, with only one used for all markings options, made up of a spinner back and front with the one-piece prop sandwiched between.  The choice of weapons is for the day fighters/bombers and consists of a pair of small bombs and their racks under each wing and/or a bomb "sled" under the fuselage.  For the night fighter variants a set of PE whiskers are included for the antennae, which fit to the framework on the nose.

 

 

Markings

There are five decal options available on the decal sheets, with stencils and national markings on the same sheet.

 

• Bf 110F-2 flown by Oblt. G. Tonne, CO of II./ZG 1, Belgorod, Soviet Union, June 1942
• Bf 110F-2 flown by Ofw. T. Weissenberger, 6.(Z)/JG 5, Kirkenes, Norway, June 1942 - this is the chap with the thing about Dachshunds!
• Bf 110F-2 W. Nr. 5080, flown by W. Frost, 13.(Z)/JG 5, Kemijärvi, Finland, Winter 1942/ 1943
• Bf 110F-4 flown by Ofw. R. Kollak, 7./NJG 4, Juvincourt, France, June 1943
• Bf 110F-4 flown by Oblt. M. Bauer, CO of 11./NJG 6, Zilistea, Romania, June 1944

 

 

 

Decals are by Cartograf, which is a guarantee of good registration, sharpness and colour density, with a thin gloss carrier film cut close to the printed areas.  A separate page to the rear of the instructions gives locations for the stencils on an all-grey drawing to remove all the clutter from the process, which is a technique that all companies should employ.

 

 

Conclusion

This is a pretty comprehensive boxing of the pilots' favourite 110, with ample choice of markings and periods during which is was prevalent for most palettes.  There's even a scheme for the mottle-phobic such as Julien, who we'll call Mr.X to protect his identity.

 

Highly recommended.

 

 

Review sample courtesy of

[Basosz]

That dachshund is just about the funniest thing I've ever seen  

[Mike]

I'm not a big fan of Dachshunds, so d'ya wannit?

[corsaircorp]

57 minutes ago, Basosz said:

That dachshund is just about the funniest thing I've ever seen  

The Dachsund was originally with the Wolfgang Falck Bf 110.

And it was Falck's pet dog. There must be a lot of Teckel to be dispersed at Eduard

Thank for the nice review Mike, Can also cough for this one

Sincerely.

CC

[Basosz]

1 hour ago, Mike said:

I'm not a big fan of Dachshunds, so d'ya wannit?

Sure

I'm certain I can find a place for it!

[Mike]

PM me your address then