1:48 Bf 110G-4/R3

A heavy machine transferred to the night

The Bf 110 was originally intended as a long-range escort, but in daylight combat it did not hold up. It found its role after dark, where lower agility mattered less than the lack of load capacity for radar and heavy armament did. The G-4 version received DB 605 engines, a lengthened fuselage and, in the R3 fit, four cannon in the nose in place of machine guns. A pair of upward-firing barrels built in behind the cockpit was added too, which made it possible to fire into the belly of a bomber from below.

Markings that were not meant to be seen

The night units abandoned contrasting finishes. The undersides were matte black, the sides light gray with sprayed mottles, and the insignia were reduced or became only a thin outline with no fill. Numerals and letters were written in an inconspicuous gray so that a searchlight would not pull them out of the dark. On the nose there were usually unit badges, most often a stylized bird or a lightning bolt, and successes were recorded on the fin in thin bars. Anyone building this version needs masking with a crisp edge precisely because the area of the insignia is small and every imprecision shows on it.

The glazing there is most of

The long cockpit has dozens of panes and, with them, glazing above the rear gunner. By hand that means hours of cutting strips. Pre-cut stencils shrink that time, and the inner part of the set also manages the frames from the other face, which on a cockpit as glazed as this shows at first glance. The rear part of the canopy is usually modeled slid back so that the radio operator's seat and his instruments are visible, and it is exactly there that the inner pieces pay off most.