Messerschmitt Bf 110
A Complete Guide to
the Luftwaffe’s Famous Zerstorer

by Richard A. Franks

Valiant Wings Publishing
Airframe and Miniature No. 17

Reviewed by Graham Carter

A mighty 256 pages of semi-gloss high quality paper are enclosed in a card case-bound cover with a nice rendition of Bf110E-3 LN+BR of 13(Z)/JG5 in battle with a Pe-2 in April 1942 specially commissioned from Jerry Boucher on the front. The paper enables excellent reproduction of images both in colour and B&W and drawings. It follows the familiar format for this series of books from Valiant Wings.

The volume is divided into nine sections, divided into five Airframe Chapters, four Miniature Chapters, plus three Appendices. This begins with a thirty-five page Preface/Introduction giving a history of the development and operational use of the Bf110 and by the Luftwaffe, as well as other Axis nations.  A brief treatment is also given to the captured ones in Britain, USSR and the USA, all illustrated with a selection of useful photos, ending with an outline of the survivors in complete and composite form.

Chapters 1 to 4 cover the Evolution of the type from Prototype, Production and Projected Variants in forty-odd pages. These are broken into the A-B series, then C-D, E-F and G-H series with each sub-type described and illustrated with side view drawings and a few photos. I certainly did not realise that there were so many variants. Chapter 5 covers the evolution of camouflage and markings with the changes shown by photos and colour side views from Richard Caruana. A full page of stencil location sis included. 

A change from the usual order in these books is that Chapter 6 evaluates some of the available kits. This is obviously not exhaustive as explained on page 104 with a link to a downloadable pdf file  to cover some of the older kits - great idea Valiant!  Kits in each of the major scales from the likes of Airfix, Eduard, HobbyBoss, Italeri, Dragon/Cyber-Hobby, Monogram, Revell, and Dragon are covered in a few columns of text and photos looking at each kit’s major components in an objective manner. A useful review for sure. 

This followed by a chapter of ‘Building Selection’ in which Libor Jekl weaves his magic on the 1/72 Eduard Bf 110G-4 and other variants from that manufacturer, then Steve A Evans produces the Revell Bf 110G-2/R3 in 1/48 and then goes whole hog on Revell’s 1/32 Bf110C-2/C-7. Each of the expert modellers include ample photo coverage to inspire the modeller in any scale. 

The next Chapter covers a vast number of variants in isometric renderings with annotations for specific features by Wojciech Sankowski, and Juraj Jankovic. There are essentially focussing on the variations between each variant and form a very useful and interesting summary of the development of this aircraft from 1936 through to late 1943 and ending with treatment of the projected H-series. 

Next comes the In Detail section which covers a Technical Description in sixty-seven pages full of excellent, well-notated images from contemporary manuals and photos, augmented with shots of restored museum examples. These are all reproduced at  good size and are very useful for the modeller. The nine elements of the aircraft treated are the Fuselage ( including the cockpits); Engines, Cowlings and prop;  Oil, Fuel and Coolant systems; Wings; Tail; Undercarriage; Armament; Electrical Equipment and Miscellaneous equipment. As always these images and notes will give the interested modeller or technical aficionado hours of reading fun and information.

The text is rounded off with four appendices:

• three pages of kits available in all the major scales from 1/144 to 1/32,

• four pages of accessories in resin, PE, and masks,

• four pages of decals, and

• a two page bibliography of official documents, publications, and periodicals.

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The book is rounded off by a fold-out eight-page set of very useful 1/48 scale plans covering all the main variants in four views by Richard Caruana .

Valiant Wings have again produced an excellent book for the Luftwaffe modeller and one that will appeal to those working on any of the scale kits that are available, and it comes highly recommended. There is plenty of inspiration to super-detail one’s model and to answer questions about aircraft features and different variants. These volumes really are the go-to references for modellers these days.

Thanks to Valiant Wings Publishing for the sample.

Review Copyright © 2021 by Graham Carter
This Page Created on 26 May, 2021
Last updated 15 November, 2021

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