Messerschmitt Bf 110E Profipack - 1:72 Eduard

[Paul A H]

Messerschmitt Bf 110E Profipack

1:72 Eduard

Designed to a German Air Ministry specification for a long-range, twin-engined monoplane, the Bf 110 was Messerschmitt’s vision of the heavy fighter, or zerstörer. The prototype Bf 110 flew for the first time in 1936 and, having seen off competing designs from Arado, Focke-Wulf and Henschel, was in service with Luftwaffe units by time the Second World War broke out in 1939. Fitted with the same fuel injected Daimler Benz DB601 engines as the Bf 109E fighter, the Bf 110 was a powerful aircraft and was heavily armed in comparison with its contemporaries. The Bf 110E was one of the later variants. Designed primarily as a fighter bomber, it was fitted with a bomb rack under the fuselage.

Despite early successes in Poland and Scandanavia, the inadequacy of the Bf 110 as an out-and-out fighter was exposed mercilessly by the RAF during the Battle of Britain, resulting in heavy losses for the Luftwaffe. The Achilles heel of the design was its lack of manoeuvrability, something that was not improved to any degree in later versions. For this reason, the Bf 110 found itself relegated to the role of fighter bomber and, later in the war, night fighter. The aircraft was particularly successful in this last role, mainly due to its stability and heavy armament.

Each new kit from Eduard is usually greeted with a great deal of excitement, and it’s easy to see why. Their 1:72 Hellcat, released around this time last year, featured exquisite detail and superb engineering. Simply put, it was a real tour-de-force of the plastic kit manufacturer’s art. Now Eduard have followed up with a brand-new Messerschmitt Bf 110E. The kit arrives packed into a glossy, top-opening box adorned with a superbly executed image of a Bf 110E of Nachtjagdgeschwader 1 flying top cover for a Scharnhorst class battle cruiser – so far so good!

Inside the sturdy box are seven sprues of parts moulded in the familiar light olive plastic favoured by Eduard, and a single sprue moulded in clear plastic. Altogether there are 171 plastic parts which, bearing in mind that this is a 1:72 scale kit, should give you an indication of the level of detail Eduard are offering. As this is a ‘profipack’ edition, the plastic parts are accompanies by a small fret of pre-painted photo etched parts and a set of die-cut paint masks, which will come in handy for that large, complex canopy. The instruction book is a glossy, stapled A5 affair and it includes full-colour painting diagrams. All together, the overall impression is of a really premium quality package.

Looking at the plastic parts in more detail, it’s clear that the quality of the mouldings is second to none. Everything is clean and crisp and there is no trace of flash and no sink marks. Such finesse of moulding makes very fine details possible – and details there are aplenty. Parts such as the cockpit sidewalls and radio sets are comparable to high-end resin items. The surface detail on the outside of the airframe is comprised of recessed panel lines and delicately engraved rivet and fastener detail, and it looks superb.

The cockpit is almost a mini kit in itself. It is made up of what seems like dozens of plastic and photo etched parts. The cockpit floor serves as the basis for construction, and to this are added the three seats, spare magazines, radio sets, instrument panel, rudder pedals, control column and throttles. As this is a profipack edition, photo etch parts are provided to help things along, and as well as seat harnesses, there are replacement details for the instrument panel, rudders, radio sets and throttles. To save you filing the raised detail off of the plastic instrument panel, a blank version is provided for use with the photo etched parts – a nice touch from Eduard. A beautifully moulded MG 15 is provided, complete with photo etched enhancements. The sidewall detail is also beautifully represented.

Moving on from the cockpit, the wings are moulded as a single lower span and separate port and starboard upper spans. The ailerons are provided as separate parts, although the landing flaps are not. The engine cowlings are each moulded in two vertical halves with separate chin intakes. Once the wings have been assembled, the fuselage just drops into place. The nose, which houses the four MG 17 machine guns, is moulded separately. The gun barrels themselves are beautiful, but if you really want to go to town and depict the gun bay without the cowling in place, then you can pick up the beautiful resin set which Eduard have released simultaneously with this kit. Two pairs of fuselage halves are included. One is slightly longer than the other in order to accommodate the life raft, so you’ll need to pick the version appropriate to the marking options at a fairly early stage. Unlike the wings, the control surfaces on the tail planes are moulded in place.

Once the basic airframe is together, it’s time to deal with the extra details. The canopy is moulded in five parts, and is designed to be posed in either open or closed positions. Quite frankly it would have been a travesty if this hadn’t been the case, given all that superb detail in the cockpit! An optional clear part is included for the armoured windscreen too. As mentioned previously, this is a ‘profipack’ edition, so a full set of canopy masks has been included. This will turn what, for me at least, is usually a time consuming chore into a quick and easy job. I’ve used Eduard’s pre-cut masks a number of times now and have always found them to be excellent.

Turning the model over, the underwing radiators are each made up of three parts and, as with the rest of the kit, they are beautifully detailed. The main undercarriage legs are each made up of no fewer than five parts, and optional photo etched scissor links have been thrown in for good measure. The main gear wheels are moulded in two halves. Optional tyres with a tread pattern have been included, but they are not used for this version of the Bf 110. The airscrews and hubs look very good, as do the engine exhausts. I can’t imagine that resin items will add much to the party here. There are a number of small parts included to cover all the final details, including the aileron balance weights and various aerials and antennae. An optional photo etched part is provided for the DF loop

As this is the Bf 110E, the principal fighter bomber version of Messerschmitt’s famous aircraft, a fair amount of ordnance is included. There are bomb racks for under the fuselage and wings, as well as a selection of bombs. A range of auxiliary fuel tanks have also been included, but are marked as ‘not for use’ in the instructions. Overall, Eduard have provided well over forty parts in this kit that are not actually used in the construction of any of the options catered for on the decal sheet, so it’s pretty obvious that a number of additional versions will be appearing in due course. Indeed, Eduard have already released another decal sheet, available separately, that makes use of some of these extra parts. We’ll bring you are review of this sheet soon.

Eduard are usually pretty generous with the decal options in their profipacks, and this is no exception. Choices are provided for the following five aircraft:

• G9+JM of 4./NJG 1, St Trond, France, February 1942. This is the aircraft depicted on the box.
  
• S9+NN of 5./ZG “Wespen”, flown by Lt. Herbert Kutscha, Russia, 1942. This aircraft is finished in a mottled winter camouflage.
  
• LN+LR of 1.(Z)JG 77, flown by Lt. Felix-Maria Brandis, Malmi, Finland, 1942. This aircraft is finished in RLM 74/RLM 75 camouflage.
  
• S9+HP of 6./ZG 1, South Russia, Summer 1942.
  
• W. Nr 4035, Sonderkommando Junck, Iraq, Mosul Air Base, May 1941. This aircraft is finished in RLM 71/RLM 02.
  

Each option is illustrated with a four-view profile as well as a detailed illustration of the nose artwork. A reasonably comprehensive history of each aircraft depicted is also provided. The decals look crisp, thin and glossy and the colours used are nice and bold.

Conclusion

If there were Olympic medals awarded for the design and manufacture of plastic kits, then I’m pretty sure Eduard would be leading the medal table with this superb model. There can be no doubt that this is now the definitive Messerschmitt Bf 110 in 1:72 scale, and by quite some distance too. Hopefully it marks the start of a long series of kits of the type from the Czech manufacturer.

The level of detail Eduard have packed in is superb and the engineering looks excellent. The amount of optional parts in the box, combined with the addition of photo etch parts and masks, makes this kit as close to a complete package as it’s possible to get and superb value for money as well. Highly recommended.

Review sample courtesy of

[FalkeEins]

nice review, great pics, thanks. Still haven't got around to ordering one yet, but a certain Luftwaffe modelling nut tells me he's got ten (10!) already.....