Eduard 1/48 Bf 110E

[Andy T]

This kit popped up recently in Andy's poll and reminded me how much I wanted to build it. Something about that big canopy. Then John posted up a discounted one due to a (very slightly) damaged box, so I took it as a sign



Sprue shots first:







Being the profipack there's also some lovely (if tiny!) painted photo etch, along with a nice looking decal sheet and canopy masks. A few clear parts had come away from the sprue but there's no visible damage:



I've made a bit of a start but will leave that for tomorrow. It's my first ever Eduard kit and already I can see it's no Tamiya!

I don't mean that in a bad way, it's just very different and not the throw-together kind of kits I've been building lately. I might have to do some real modelling for a change and deal with some very small parts



I also understand I'll be running into some fitment issues further down the line so I might have to dig out the filler.

There are a few colour schemes suggested but right now I'm fancying the one on the front of the box.

 

[Mickc1440]

The 110 is a great looking aircraft

 

[Jim R]

I have made a couple of these Eduard Profipack kits and I reckon they are pretty good. As you say they do not build up as simply as Tamiya but the detail is good and the fit OK. This is a great choice and I'll enjoy watching you do some "real modelling" .

 

[The Smythe Meister]

This kit popped up recently in Andy's poll and reminded me how much I wanted to build it. Something about that big canopy. Then John posted up a discounted one due to a (very slightly) damaged box, so I took it as a sign

View attachment 495131

Sprue shots first:

View attachment 495132

View attachment 495133

View attachment 495134

Being the profipack there's also some lovely (if tiny!) painted photo etch, along with a nice looking decal sheet and canopy masks. A few clear parts had come away from the sprue but there's no visible damage:

View attachment 495135

I've made a bit of a start but will leave that for tomorrow. It's my first ever Eduard kit and already I can see it's no Tamiya!

I don't mean that in a bad way, it's just very different and not the throw-together kind of kits I've been building lately. I might have to do some real modelling for a change and deal with some very small parts

View attachment 495136

I also understand I'll be running into some fitment issues further down the line so I might have to dig out the filler.

There are a few colour schemes suggested but right now I'm fancying the one on the front of the box.

Excellent, I'll be following this one mate...
.. looking forward to doing mine in a few months time
I wasn't aware of fit issues,so I'll look out for the pitfalls that you encounter

 

[Jakko]

Small parts? Where? I don’t see any …

 

[Andy T]

The 110 is a great looking aircraft

Agreed Mick, I'm hoping to do it justice.

I have made a couple of these Eduard Profipack kits and I reckon they are pretty good. As you say they do not build up as simply as Tamiya but the detail is good and the fit OK. This is a great choice and I'll enjoy watching you do some "real modelling" .

Cheers Jim. Seems really nice so far although I think I'll be doing a lot more dry fitting than normal.

Excellent, I'll be following this one mate...
.. looking forward to doing mine in a few months time
I wasn't aware of fit issues,so I'll look out for the pitfalls that you encounter

Good to have you along Andy. It's probably down to you that I'm doing it, so if it all goes pear shaped I'll know who to blame

I've watched a couple of builds while waiting for the kit to arrive and there was plenty of filler action! Wing root and engine nacelles mostly.

Small parts? Where? I don’t see any …

I lost one part on the first step of the instructions so I've already started scratching. Doesn't bode well

 

[adt70hk]

I have this very kit in the stash, also from John. So will follow with interest!

 

[Andy T]

Welcome aboard Andrew.

I think the largest "stash" I've ever had was 4 kits lol, I tend to buy & build on a whim.

I've got more part-finished diorama than that

 

[Andy T]

A lot of this will be bread & butter to many of you guys but for someone at my level it's been very fiddly so far, so I'm going to make a big deal out of it

Cockpit went together well but the individual control levers were a wrestle. I also lost one part after it went supersonic from my tweezers, so scratched something similar. Some form of canister with a hose coming out of it.



Then I folded up a couple of small boxes for the IP and side wall, to have painted etch pieces added later.

Not great but the best I could manage.







The ammo drums needed some etch adding too. Some are a bit wonky but I amazed myself by actually managing to fit them all!



These were then fitted into the gunners area. I had to grind one down for the side wall to fit correctly. It might be my fault but the opposite side has a relief moulded in to provide clearance.





Then on to some paint. According to the instructions the cockpit is RLM66, gunners area RLM02 so I went with that as research is far too boring, I'd rather be making models.

Dark version of RLM66 went on all over first as a shadow coat. This was highlighted up front with a lighter version, before being masked off to add the other colour further back.







Then I started on the detail painting.




Now that the basic colours are down I can attempt some of the fancy painted etch. With several individual gauges complete with mounting brackets that need bending, it's going to be a challenge for someone not comfortable with PE, but it should add a lot of detail if I can pull it off.

The kit does provide plastic parts & decals as an alternative to most of them, so that's a fallback plan.

 

[The Smythe Meister]

A lot of this will be bread & butter to many of you guys but for someone at my level it's been very fiddly so far, so I'm going to make a big deal out of it

Cockpit went together well but the individual control levers were a wrestle. I also lost one part after it went supersonic from my tweezers, so scratched something similar. Some form of canister with a hose coming out of it.

View attachment 495194

Then I folded up a couple of small boxes for the IP and side wall, to have painted etch pieces added later.

Not great but the best I could manage.

View attachment 495195

View attachment 495196

View attachment 495197

The ammo drums needed some etch adding too. Some are a bit wonky but I amazed myself by actually managing to fit them all!

View attachment 495198

These were then fitted into the gunners area. I had to grind one down for the side wall to fit correctly. It might be my fault but the opposite side has a relief moulded in to provide clearance.

View attachment 495199

View attachment 495200

Then on to some paint. According to the instructions the cockpit is RLM66, gunners area RLM02 so I went with that as research is far too boring, I'd rather be making models.

Dark version of RLM66 went on all over first as a shadow coat. This was highlighted up front with a lighter version, before being masked off to add the other colour further back.

View attachment 495201

View attachment 495202

View attachment 495203

Then I started on the detail painting.

View attachment 495204


Now that the basic colours are down I can attempt some of the fancy painted etch. With several individual gauges complete with mounting brackets that need bending, it's going to be a challenge for someone not comfortable with PE, but it should add a lot of detail if I can pull it off.

The kit does provide plastic parts & decals as an alternative to most of them, so that's a fallback plan.

Blimey Andy,
You've certainly made a great fist of this,dispite all of the problems!!
I have to admit mind, I'm surprised about the kit's issues. . makes me not so keen to take one on!!
Following closely mate... Good luck!!

 

[Andy T]

I think most of the issues so far are caused by my lack of experience so don't let it put you off Andy

 

[Jim R]

That is looking smart Andy. Great work on the itty-bitty PE.

I can attempt some of the fancy painted etch

I've used that a couple of times and it's very effective. Just be careful if you need to bend the belts into a realistic position. The colour can crack and flake off. I had to touch up the ones I used.

 

[Andy T]

Thanks Jim. More etch to come, I sure need the practice

And thanks for the heads up. In that case I may try warming the parts before bending to see if it helps the coating be more flexible.
It works with car panels so worth a try!

 

[Mickc1440]

That's looking very nice Andy

 

[adt70hk]

A lot of this will be bread & butter to many of you guys but for someone at my level it's been very fiddly so far, so I'm going to make a big deal out of it

Cockpit went together well but the individual control levers were a wrestle. I also lost one part after it went supersonic from my tweezers, so scratched something similar. Some form of canister with a hose coming out of it.

View attachment 495194

Then I folded up a couple of small boxes for the IP and side wall, to have painted etch pieces added later.

Not great but the best I could manage.

View attachment 495195

View attachment 495196

View attachment 495197

The ammo drums needed some etch adding too. Some are a bit wonky but I amazed myself by actually managing to fit them all!

View attachment 495198

These were then fitted into the gunners area. I had to grind one down for the side wall to fit correctly. It might be my fault but the opposite side has a relief moulded in to provide clearance.

View attachment 495199

View attachment 495200

Then on to some paint. According to the instructions the cockpit is RLM66, gunners area RLM02 so I went with that as research is far too boring, I'd rather be making models.

Dark version of RLM66 went on all over first as a shadow coat. This was highlighted up front with a lighter version, before being masked off to add the other colour further back.

View attachment 495201

View attachment 495202

View attachment 495203

Then I started on the detail painting.

View attachment 495204


Now that the basic colours are down I can attempt some of the fancy painted etch. With several individual gauges complete with mounting brackets that need bending, it's going to be a challenge for someone not comfortable with PE, but it should add a lot of detail if I can pull it off.

The kit does provide plastic parts & decals as an alternative to most of them, so that's a fallback plan.

That's coming on very nicely indeed!! I know what you mean about the PE. I'm having the same issues with my Yak.

Keep up the good work!!

ATB.

Andrew

 

[Andy T]

Thanks Mick & Andrew.

I normally prefer easy builds so I can get straight on with the painting and decorating, but it's good to try something different now & again.

 

[Andy T]

A bit of an up & down session this afternoon.

Part 58 is some kind of magazine. For the rear MG I'm guessing. On the sprue there's a bit of mould misalignment and a good dollop of flash:



This made cleaning them up nicely way beyond my capabilities, so by the time I added the etch piece they were looking comically bad. It's not like they're highly visible in the top of the rear cockpit or anything...



But thankfully the IP went better. In total 6 pieces of etch are folded and/or layered onto the plastic part to make this. I'm still struggling to get good shots with my phone camera, it just won't do decent macro like my old Huawei, so this is the best of several attempts :

 

[Allen Dewire]

Ok Andy, I'm still trying to ketchup with the other 15 builds you've been doing and here you go starting another one...And a really cool wing thingy one too!!! I'm having trouble doing etch in 1/35, for my Kübelwagen and you're knocking it out like nothing, in 1/48!!! Respect Sir!!! That IP also came out really, really nice.....

Prost
Allen

 

[Jakko]

Part 58 is some kind of magazine. For the rear MG I'm guessing.

Yep, they’re “saddle” magazines (double drums, one on each side of the gun):

If you play this video, it starts where he shows the magazine. This is a gun adapted for ground use, but that just means it has a butt stock, bipod, etc. The functional bits are exactly the same as in the aircraft gun.

As for taking sharp photos of small things, if you want to upload them to a forum like here, you can take the photo from a bit further away so it’s in focus, then crop it in the camera app or photo viewer app on your phone (or tablet) before uploading it. This works fine because the forum will resize the photos to 1200 pixels along the long side anyway.

 

[JR]

Hells Bells mate I couldn't even see it that well with my one good eye. Starting to look great .