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In-Box Review
172
Bf 110C-6
Bf 110C-6
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by: Andy Brazier [ BETHEYN ]

History
The Messerschmitt Bf 110, often (erroneously) called Me 110, was a twin-engine heavy fighter (Zerstörer—German for "Destroyer") developed in Nazi Germany in the 1930s and used by the Luftwaffe and others during World War II. Hermann Göring was a proponent of the Bf 110.
The Bf 110 served with considerable success in the early campaigns, the Polish, Norwegian and Battle of France. The Bf 110's lack of agility in the air was its primary weakness. This flaw was exposed during the Battle of Britain, when some Bf 110-equipped units were withdrawn from the battle after very heavy losses and redeployed as night fighters, a role to which the aircraft was well suited. The Bf 110 enjoyed a successful period following the Battle of Britain as an air superiority fighter and strike aircraft in other theatres.
During the Balkans Campaign, North African Campaign and on the Eastern Front, it rendered valuable ground support to the German Army as a potent fighter-bomber (Jagdbomber or Jabo). Later in the war, it was developed into a formidable night fighter, becoming the major night-fighting aircraft of the Luftwaffe. Most of the German night fighter aces flew the Bf 110 at some point during their combat careers, and the top night fighter ace of all time, Major Heinz-Wolfgang Schnaufer, flew it exclusively and claimed 121 victories in 164 combat missions

Bf 110 C-6
Experimental Zerstörer, additional single 30 mm (1.18 in) MK 101 cannon in underfuselage mount, DB 601P engines
Info from Wiki

In the box
The box is packed with eight plastic parts, resin parts, a Photo Etch sheet, a set of Kabuki masks, two decal sheets and the instructions, so things are packed pretty tight..
The seven grey sprues are packed in two bags of twos and one bag of three, with the clear sprue packed separately. The resin parts are in their own re-sealable bag, with the P.E sheet in a cardboard backed clear bag.

The plastic parts of the kit are what you find in the three previous versions reviewed, which you can find here, here, and here. so there is little point going over most of the same ground that has already been covered by the previous reviews..

One of the first things you notice is the amount of parts in this kit, but that is a slight false impression as 66 of the 171 parts are not used. Ejector pin marks by the look of it are out of the way and won't be seen once the model is built. Exterior detail, the kit is very good with fine engraved panel lines, extremely subtle rivet marks and access hatches. Control surfaces have a tight fabric detail. The nose section of the aircraft is all separate parts.This has been done so no hacking and sanding the nose for the inclusion of the Brassin nose guns which can be bought separately.
There are two fuselages supplied, one longer than the other, and depending on which one of the two marking options you decide dictates which fuselage is to be used.

There is not much detail for the wheel wells but the wheel indentation is well done. The undercarriage legs are made up of 5 parts each and have a nice bit of detail on them and look to be very robust. The wheels have a tread pattern engraved on them, and have a little detail on the hubs.
The canopy is made up of several parts, with the option of displaying the pilots hatch open, Constructing the canopy does look like the hardest part of the build. The parts are clear and blemish free. Several of the parts on the sprue are not used as they are for different variants.
Kabuki masks are supplied for the canopy which has a staggering amount of glass frames. Masks are also supplied for painting of the hubs on the wheels.

the P.E parts
One pre coloured fret is supplied which is mainly for the cockpit.
The set comprises seat harnesses, a two part instrument panel, side console panel, plus various dials, throttle sticks, rudder pedals, sights for the rear facing machine gun, and a couple of exterior parts, one of which is the underside direction ariel, which has to be bent into a circle, or you could just use the plastic part instead.
This P.E set is slightly different from the previous sets as it has a backing plate for the 30mm ammunition drum.
All the P.E parts are optional, so you can omit them if you desire , and in the case of the instrument panel a decal is supplied if you don't wish to use the P.E part.

The resin parts
Five resin parts are supplied, which are cast in a light grey. Detail is pretty good, but each part is cast to a large casting block, so a razor saw will be needed to remove the parts.
Two of the parts are for the interior, which is the ammunition tray and an ammunition drum for the external 30mm cannon.
The external cannon case is resin along with the protruding gun barrel. A resin blast gun trough which fits in front of the underside cannon is also supplied.

Decals and instructions
The instruction booklet is in a glossy format with black on white line drawings.
Gluing surfaces are coloured blue, with any parts that need surgery coloured in red. The resin parts are clearly marked with the Brassin sign. P.E parts are also easy to see on the instruction sheet.
A couple of panels have to be removed during the build for including the resin parts, but this should be pretty easy as they follow the kits panel lines.
The build sequence is easy to follow, with the cockpit the first few stages. The engine and wing assembly comes next followed by gluing the fuselage halves together and mounting the wings. Undercarriage assembly and adding all the external parts finishes the build.
Internal colours are given along the way for the Gunze Aqueous and Mr Color range of paints.
A very handy diagram for adding the Kabuki masks to each glass panel is supplied midway through the build and is invaluable as the Bf 110 has a greenhouse canopy.
Full colour profiles are included for the two schemes that can be modelled. A separate stencil guide is also supplied.

Two sheets of decals are supplied, one holds the numerous stencils with the larger sheet the unit markings. The Swastikas for the tail are made up of two parts, so care will be needed lining them up.
carrier film is minimal and colour registration is good. having used Eduard decals before, I have never had any problems with the application.
The kit has two decal scheme options:
Erpr.Gr.210, flown by E. Beudel / H. Diemer, Calais-Marck Air Base, France, Summer, 1940.
RLM 70/71 upper and side splinter camouflage over RLM 65 under sides.
NJG1, Venlo Air Base, the Netherlands, February, 1942. Overall black finish.

Please remember, when contacting retailers or manufacturers, to mention that you saw their products highlighted here - on AEROSCALE.
SUMMARY
Highs: Great detail, and looks to be easy to build.
Lows: None really
Verdict: The best 1/72nd Bf 110 kit on the market.
Percentage Rating
90%
  Scale: 1:72
  Mfg. ID: 2115
  Suggested Retail: £26.50
  Related Link: Bf 110C-6
  PUBLISHED: Sep 14, 2014
  NATIONALITY: Germany
NETWORK-WIDE AVERAGE RATINGS
  THIS REVIEWER: 84.81%
  MAKER/PUBLISHER: 88.59%

Our Thanks to Eduard!
This item was provided by them for the purpose of having it reviewed on this KitMaker Network site. If you would like your kit, book, or product reviewed, please contact us.

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About Andy Brazier (betheyn)
FROM: ENGLAND - SOUTH EAST, UNITED KINGDOM

I started modelling in the 70's with my Dad building Airfix aircraft kits. The memory of my Dad and I building and painting a Avro Lancaster on the kitchen table will always be with me. I then found a friend who enjoyed building models, and between us I think we built the entire range of 1/72 Airfi...

Copyright ©2021 text by Andy Brazier [ BETHEYN ]. Images also by copyright holder unless otherwise noted. Opinions expressed are those of the author(s) and not necessarily those of AeroScale. All rights reserved.



   
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