Messerschmitt Bf 110 E

Eduard Weekend Edition, 1/72 scale

Reviewed by Graham Carter

This significant aeroplane needs no introduction but suffice to say that it was produced in a bewildering number of variants that have kept historians, technophiles and modellers in deep discussion for decades. In the ‘One True Scale’ there have been an understandably large number of kits from the likes of Monogram, Matchbox, Airfix, HobbyBoss and the series from Eduard.

The Eduard kits have proved to be the most accurate and detailed of all the kits since their release about ten years ago, although they do have some minor issues that reflect the problems of sorting out details from one variant from another, and the fact that many variations were field jobs. As always, check your references before committing to building, or just go with the flow.

This kit is not the first edition of the 110 E as a Weekend Edition #7419 was released in 2013, which I have for comparison, costing me $19.95 back then.

The new kit comes in the much bigger box used by Eduard these days, but the plastic contents are identical to the early release, with different decal choices and instructions for the painting.

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Thumbnail panels:

The instruction book is the same as the earlier release except that they are now A4 instead of A5, and contain painting instructions in colour.

The strong large box comes with a great illustration of one of the decal choices, Oblt. Hans-Joachim Jabs and Oblt.Erich Weisllflog’s WNr 3866 bombing a small vessel in the Aegean in 1941. Although labelled as a Bf 110 E, the kit also includes the parts for the D including two full fuselage halves with the boat tail and deployment cable.

The parts are in the familiar mid-grey slightly shiny plastic and are beautifully moulded with no sign of flash or seams, and come in protective clear resealable sleeves, with the clear parts and decals in separate sleeves for protection.

The moulded surface detail is subtle and looks great, as do the myriad of tiny parts that make up the interior and undercarriage. Sprue gates are narrow and in unobtrusive places but some care will be needed to be taken with some of the finer parts.

Being a composite 110D/E set of parts, there are a number not used in this 'E' version including an upper nose, larger fins, a number of underwing and fuselage fuel tanks (including the huge Dackelbauch) and smaller wheels.

Two fuselages are provided with the longer ‘boat tail’ version for the 110D also on the sprues.

The kit provides parts specifically for the E variant such as the upper nose with a heater inlet fairing, larger wheels (although the hub detail is a bit shallow compared to photos I have looked at - resin replacements may be more suitable), appropriate armoured canopy front, and smaller fins. The aircraft comes with a set of bombs and their pylons for under the wings and fuselage.

Being a Weekend Edition, there are no masks or PE parts but there are so many finely moulded parts and decals that these are not really missed. And this is where this newer kit scores over the older one - there is a large sheet of decals for the stencils, instrument panels and seat belts that was not provided with the first kit. These will help to make the interior and exterior look quite splendid. 

Markings

The decals, unusually for a Weekend Edition, offer four choices, the first of which I believe is for a D variant and not an E but I stand to be corrected as I am no expert (but did consult a couple of my references).

They are:

• WNr 3866, M8+IP, flown by Oblt. Hans-Joachim Jabs and Oblt. Erich Weisllflog, Co of 6/JG 76 in Greece , May-June 1941 in 02/70 over 65 with yellow nacelles and tail and rudders, a white nose and shark mouth,

• WNr 4114, LN+FR, of Lt Felix-Maria Brandis and Fw. Albert Harnack from 1(Z)/JG 77, in Finland September 1941, in the same scheme but only yellow under the wing tips and no shark

• WNr 4397, 3U+EM, of Oblt. Eduard Tratt and Uffz. Friedrich Gillert , Co fo 4/ZG 26, in the Soviet Union in February 1942, in 74/75 over 76 with a lot of mottling on the fuselage and yellow lower wing-tips an fuselage band, and

• S9+NN, of Lt. Herbert Kutscha and Fw. Martin Heinz from 5/ZG 1 in the Soviet Union in 1942 in the same scheme as 3 but with lighter mottling over hewing tops and fuselage and a large ‘Wespe’ on the nose.

Decals are beautifully printed with great density and register and minimal carrier film, just take care and use your favoured setting liquid to get the wespe to conform to the nose.

Swastikas come in both cut and full variants - the latter being snipped off for sale in countries where the symbol is forbidden.

This is a lovely kit as usual from this prolific Czech company and one that will be welcomed by all Luftwaffe modellers. It makes a welcome return and comes highly recommended.

Thanks to Eduard for the sample

Review Text & Images Copyright © 2022 by Graham Carter
Images Copyright © 2022 by Brett Green
Page Created 11 October, 2022
Last updated 11 October, 2022

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