Messerschmitt Bf.110C - M8+DP 6./ZG76 1940 - 1/72
Comments
Evan B... AuthorThanks guys. I also have the Adlertag set from Eduard in the stash. I'm hoping to eventually have three Bf.110s in each of the three common early war camouflage schemes.
Neil PatrickVery good looking model. I always regret buying weekend editions rather than Profipack, because of the absence of etch and masks. Do you buy a set of masks? Either way the canopy looks first class!
OlivierYou make a good lawyer for this ill loved machine. And your model is very convincing.
Evan B... AuthorThanks again all. Neil, the Kagero booklet "Messerschmitt Bf 110 Vol 1" included a nice set of masks. In the absence of eduard masks with this kit, I used those.
Album info
The Messerschmitt Bf. 110 was quite possibly the most useful of all the underrated aircraft of WWII.
Almost universally panned by postwar aviation historians due to its failure in its intended role as a "heavy fighter", it still managed to become one of the most important and versatile aircraft fielded by the Luftwaffe. It would go on to become one of the most successful night fighters of all time, among other roles. Even from the outset of the war, it's capabilities as a ground attack and close-air-support platform became supremely evident. While maybe not as recognized as the Stuka, it's support of the Blitzkrieg in the first years of the war were essential to those campaigns' success. Fast compared to the true bombers, it was able to react to emergencies and exploitations almost immediately and bring heavy machine guns and light bombs to bear.
Messerschmitt Bf.110 M8+DP was assigned to 6./ZG76 which applied a distinctive sharks mouth to all of its aircraft early in the war. It was possibly the first unit to standardize such a motif, predating the flying tigers by several years. This particular aircraft participated in the invasions of Poland, Norway, and France. ZG76, while ostensibly an air superiority unit, was tasked with close air support duties through those campaigns. It was on one of these missions in the north of France where M8+DP made a crash landing due to unknown circumstances and was written off and cannibalised for parts.
I've been working on this model off and on for a few months and finally finished it up. It is Eduard's 1/72 scale Bf.110D "weekend edition" Kit backdated to a Bf.110C. It has a fully detailed cockpit thanks to an Eduard photo etched set, and the markings for M8+DP were sourced from the spare decal bin and generic number/letter sheets. I still have to add the radio antenna, and do a few touch ups here and there, but it's done enough to clear the space on the workbench, finally.
