High Planes 1/72 Messerschmitt Bf 110G-4

HIGH PLANES 1:72 MESSERSCHMITT BF-110G-4
'INBOX Review'

Reviewer: John Mancini (rec.models.scale)
- A Built up review of this kit exists on this site - see the respective fully built kit review index to locate review
Any photos supplied by the reviewer are copyright and must not be reproduced without written consent

Aircraft History: The two seat Messerschmitt Bf 110 fighter bomber is well documented on sites such as this one so I won't go into great depth for an inbox article. Everything about the aircraft was right, except the aircraft itself as it struggled for supremacy in the skies above Europe, never really being a fighter and never really fulfilling the role of a bomber. The G-4 version, one of the last variants produced for this venerable aircraft was fitted out with radar equipment and allocated a specific role as a night fighter. This was one role the Bf 110 excelled in and the G-4 proved to be an extremely dangerous and successful adversary for the British pilots flying night raids over Germany.

Kit Parts: In a rather flimsy box with a photocopied art top, you are presented with 75 very short run injection mold parts in a pale blue colour on four main sprues. The level of detail is acceptable for a 72nd kit but is best described as restrained and every finely engraved into the kit's surface albeit quite shallow. As a short run kit the sprue lugs are thick and molded integrally with the parts, meaning it will need some care to remove them. The molding is rough in parts, there are some mold imperfections and flash encumbers the edges of many parts. Let's just say it shows all the traits of short run technology and leave it at that!

In addition to the injection molded parts you will find more than 20 small metal parts which make up the finer details of the kit including radar antennae (obviously), tail wheel, landing gear struts and the small probes and aerials that are found on the exterior of the aircraft. There are also four resin parts, each being an exhaust. Rounding out the kit contents is a clear but thin vacform one-piece canopy.

Instructions: Only a double sided single sheet is provided as the instructions. There are two main assembly diagrams which are quite busy and will need some estimations on our part to correctly place many items. Also included are a sprue diagram, history and diagrams to aid in painting and decalling. Painting information is almost non-existent but RLM colours are given for the external schemes.

Versions: Just one aircraft in RLM 74/75/76 mottled splinter camouflage. There's not much to the decal sheet with virtually no stencilling and being predominantly black and white in colour, the register is not difficult to get right. My impressions are that the colour register is not as sharp as it should be. The decals do include a swastika though. Matt and thin appearance sums it up.

Conclusion: Have read a few articles on building High Planes models so I do not anticipate that this kit is going to be a short term project, some serious time will be invested in putting it together. There are plenty of other Bf 110 choices out there, Italeri does a nice G-4 but it is riddled with inaccuracies, most obvious with the canopy - but also falls down in many other areas. This basically is the only reason why I wanted to get hold of the G-4 in a High Planes box. It is reputed to be rather accurate but it is a short run kit and only recommended for accuracy buffs and those with a fair bit of kit building experience behind them.

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