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Jay Mitchell
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Messerschmitt 110

October 16, 2020 · in Aviation · · 22 · 2.2K

Originally this 1/48 Fujimi Bf- 110 was to have the mouth marking on the nose, but the decal wouldn't lay down on the compound curved nose properly, so I went to plan B. I found some photographs in a book that showed a similarly painted aircraft with the spade marking on the nose, so I robbed those from a Bf-109 kit and used them. Apparently that was a popular marking and used on a variety of aircraft during the war.

Masking and painting the clear canopy was a slow and difficult task. The lines for the framing were faint , and not easy for my aged eyes to discern. For an older kit, it seemed to fit pretty nice without too much drama. Except for the decals, this was a “OOB” project, as it always is with me.

Over all, I'm pretty happy with the way it turned out. The 110 is one of my favorite aircraft.

It looks nice parked next to my other Luftwaffe fighters on their shelf airfield .

Reader reactions:
6  Awesome

6 additional images. Click to enlarge.


22 responses

  1. Great looking 110, Jay (@ssgt). I have also reached an age where intricate canopies are my nemesis. You obviously have a skilled hand at masking difficult canopies.

    • Thanks for the compliment, George, I appreciate it. I only do a little bit of masking and painting each day on the canopy, trying to be as careful as I can, and it still turns out looking rough. I've learned not to stress too much over it though.

  2. Nice work, Jay. I’m in the vision impaired/canopy deficient club. I hand painted the canopy on one of those 35 years ago. I have another in the stash today that will require using bare mat all foil to mask.

  3. Hello Jay, @ssgt
    Your Zerstorer looks very nice, canopy lines and all. I have a few of these kits in the stash, and it's been way too long since I have built a Bf-110. I especially like the photo where you have it posed with the Revel 1/32 Stuka box top, and the Molders "Freiderich" Bf-109. That one also brought back a lot of memories...and you also reminded me why I no longer build 1/72 scale kits. Ye olde eyeballs of mine are tired and worn out...

    Well done my friend, you can bet I pressed the "liked" button too.

  4. Thank you, Louis... old kits seem to attract my attention more then the newer releases. Although recently I built my first Trumpeter kit, a MiG-3 , and was greatly impressed with it.

  5. A fine build indeed! Nice group shot.

  6. I love the Bf-110, and have built the Fujimi kit, that builds nicely. I have built the Monogram kit and also have the Eduard kit. You did a great job with this, and it is a great early war bird. Thanks also for the high quality pictures the real bird. Always love seeing them, and the inflight picture is really striking!

    • Thanks Walt ! I thought that inflight photo was pretty great.. I was sorry my decalmanship wasn’t good enough to get that mouth decal on properly. I’m glad I had another option for a nose marking.

  7. Nice work on this. That old kit doesn't look half bad.

    If you are still interested in doing a "Haifische Gruppe" 110, the secret to getting the decal to lay down over the nose is to make several slices in the decal from the centerline out, then apply the decal and position it, moving it around, to get it positioned, don't worry about it not being flush, then flood it with decal solvent. It will "melt" down onto the nose just fine.

  8. A really great result, Jay @ssgt, canopy painting included!
    That's a beautiful Bf-110!
    Great in flight pics, too.
    I also have a soft spot on older kits (though I truly admire the new super releases...).
    Well done!

    • Hi Spiros, I appreciate your kind words.
      Although my natural inclination is to stick with the older kits from my youth, I have dabbled recently with some more recent releases from the likes of Airfix, Zvezda, and Trumpeter. They are awesome !

  9. This is a great looking 110, Jay.
    One of my favorite German warbirds.
    Personally like the Zerstörergeschwader 1 markings.
    Although slow and difficult, the work on the canopy is truly nice.

    • Thanks John!, I think the 110 is my favorite Luftwaffe fighter. I wish more had been preserved after the war for museums.
      I’d like to try building a more modern release kit , maybe the canopy framing is made so it’s easier to mask off.

  10. Great build and the photos are awesome. Thanks.

  11. Nicely done Jay, that old kit turned out quite well. I like it.

  12. A nice clean build - one of my favorite Luftwaffe aircraft. I also like working the old kits - brings back a bit of nostalgia, and definitely ratchets up the modeling skills!

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