Eduard 1/48 Bf110E ProfiPACK
By Jacob Russell
The Plane
The Messerschmitt Bf110 E and F variants were put into full production in mid 1941. The Bf110E began coming off the assembly line in the spring of that year. It featured improved internal armor and beefier undercarriage to carry bigger bomb loads. The fighter/bomber version could carry 4 ETC 50 racks under its outboard wings or a pair of drop tanks in addition to a center line bomb rack.
The Model
The kit comes in Eduard's usual stout cardboard box with evocative artwork of a Bf110E downing a Polikarpov I-16 somewhere over the Eastern Front...
There are a lot of parts in the box: 340 plastic parts on 9 sprues, 2 of which are clear. 51 of the parts go unused. There is almost no flash to be found on any of the parts. The surface detail of the wings and fuselage is excellent. Panel lines are even and of a uniform depth, and there is restrained rivet detail on the fuselage as well. The ailerons have a convincing fabric appearance, without an exaggerated sag. There are numerous tiny parts which will be easy to separate from the sprues, due to the size and location of each part's attachment points. I would recommend removing these small parts from the sprue with the sprue inside the bag, so if a part goes flying, and it will, it won't get far...
The twin nacelles for the Daimler Benz DB601 engines have a convincing shape and they are well molded. You have the choice of tail wheels, a single piece tail wheel or a multi piece one. The latter comes in handy if the subject you're building has a whitewall tire, which was a feature on many Luftwaffe aircraft. Apropos of tires, the main wheels don't look right: the wheels are too big, giving it a bit of an odd appearance.
Because this is the ProfiPACK boxing, you also get a set of canopy masks, plus 2 photo etch frets. The mask set thoughtfully includes masks for the main wheels and the tail wheel. Included on the photo etch frets are enhancements such as a pre-painted instrument panel and 2 sets of seat harnesses, rudder pedals, intake screens, etc. The main cockpit is comprised of many small, extremely well detailed components. It is convincingly busy and it will look outstanding with careful dry brushing, detail painting and an oil wash. The gunner's compartment is equally busy and highly detailed like the main cockpit. The radios and guns are well executed, so take your time painting these items. I think the final effect will be quite convincing. You also have the choice of an open or closed main gun bay. This is yet another area to consider a "kit within a kit," in terms of the dividends gained through taking your time assembling and painting it.
There are 2 sets of clear parts, one of which is for a completely closed cockpit. I would only use this if I were less than confident in my cockpit painting skills. The other clear parts give you the choice of which panels you'd like to depict open.
The decal sheets, one of which is stencils for the airframe, are in register, legible, bright and well printed. The main sheet includes markings for 5 aircraft:
"S9+NN", 5./ZG "Wespen", Lt. Herbert Kutscha, Russia, 1942. This plane is painted in typical mid-War colors of RLM 74/75/76, with a heavy white wash of winter distemper paint over the entire upper surfaces. The spinners are RLM 70 Dark Green with an RLM 04 Yellow fuselage band and lower wingtips. It also has the colorful "Wespe" (Wasp) nose art.
"G9+JM", 4./NJG 1, St. Trond, France, February 1942. The entire aircraft was painted flat black and the upper surfaces were over painted an unknown dark green. The spinners were RLM 70 and there was an RLM 04 fuselage band. This plane also carried the Haifisch ("Shark") nose art.
"LN+LR", 1.(Z)/JG 77, Lt. Felix-Maria Brandis, Malmi, Finland, 1942. RLM 74/75/76, with RLM 04 lower wingtips and white/RLM 70 spinners.
W. Nr.4035, Sonderkommando Junck, Iraq, Mosul Air Base, May 1941. RLM74/75/76 with the German national insignias over painted with RLM 02 Grey and replaced with Iraqi insignias. The cowls were RLM04 Yellow, the nose was white and it carried the "Haifisch" nose art.
"S9+HP", 5./ZG "Wespen", Russia, 1942. This plane is painted exactly the same as the first decal option.
The kit instructions are also up to Eduard's usual standards. They include a parts map and clear, precise illustrations and a logical build sequence. Color call outs are for GSI Creos (Gunze) Aqueous and Mr. Color lacquer paints.
Conclusion
This is a darned good kit. It stacks up well against the Dragon kit, and it is accurate and well detailed. I would replace the main wheels with aftermarket wheels from True Details or Aires. The inclusion of 5 paint schemes, plus a mask set and photo-etched parts make it a sound value. The open gun bay and canopy options certainly lend themselves to diorama possibilities.
I recommend this kit and I would like to thank Eduard for providing the review sample.
References
Messerschmitt Bf110 Zerstorer in action, Aircraft No. 30, by Jerry L. Campbell, Squadron/Signal Publications, 1977