Scale Plastic & Rail

1:72 Bf 110E nose guns from Eduard

1:72 Bf 110E nose guns
Eduard 'Brassin'
Catalogue # 672002
Available from Eduard for 11,25€

We very recently reviewed Eduard's brand new 1:72 tooling of the Messerschmitt Bf 110E, and now we have the pleasure of bringing to you the first of our two reviews today for their 'Brassin' upgrade sets for this new model kit.

I did mention within the review that there would be a whole new resin nose available for this kit, and here it is! This simple resin nose replacement set is packaged into a Brassin clear blister-pack, with two layers of protective foam stopping those delicate parts from doing the conga before they reach you. The instruction sheets are folded and form the packaging illustration for this set.

Containing TWELVE pieces of light and medium grey resin, and one small photo etch fret, carefully and safely tucked behind a cardboard protector in the upper package, this set completely replaces the kit parts, and provides an incredibly detailed gun bay which will look amazing in only 1:72 scale. No surgery needs to be performed on the host kit, and because of that, the instructions simply depict the assembly of the resin parts, and one image showing it plug into the host kit.

The nose itself is provided in upper and lower halves with subtle but well-defined panel lining on the exterior, and constructional internal detail provided in the upper lid. The lower internal nose part has the brackets etc for fitting the resin camera-gun in situ. Before you can do this though, you will need to drill out the camera-gun aperture in the nose, using a 1.3mm drill. At first, it's not apparent where this hole goes exactly, but the position is there, so be careful when it comes to making that first pilot hole. The nose parts are connected to their respective casting blocks by a thin resin membrane.

Although the instructions don't suggest so, I would also use a micro drill-bit to open the gun apertures themselves in the upper nose cowl.

There are four guns to locate within the nose, and each one of them is different, relating to their actual location in relation to each other. Please don't get these mixed up! The guns themselves are cast in medium grey resin and are beautifully detailed for something to very fine. They are attached to the casting blocks my means of both a thin resin membrane and also a thin wall, connecting under the breech.  Each gun has its feed chute cast in place.

The interior of the gun bay is cast as a single part, in light grey resin. The MG location recesses are clearly seen, as is some other excellent detail such as compressed air bottles, plumbing and other ancillary MG equipment. There is a large casting block to the rear of this part which will need to be carefully sawn off and ground down to the clear part demarcation line. This rear section also sits within the opening at the front of the model kit so even if you remove slightly too much material, or even not quite enough, it should still plug in with no issue.

Just to add even more detail, Eduard have also given us FOUR ammunition bins which, on the real aircraft, slid into four vertical channels within the lower nose section. The bins really do look great,  and you can either choose to use them in a diorama, sat by themselves, or you can open up the resin doors on the nose section and have one/all of them being installed, as there are also photo etch doors to represent those you just removed from the resin.

The last resin part is the aforementioned camera-gun.

All resin parts are cleanly and flawlessly cast, and removal from their block should prove to be easy. A single etch metal fret contains the ammo bin cowl doors, should you want to use them. Etching is excellent and all doors are numbered for clarity.

The instructions come on a single A5 sheet with clear line drawing and some use of colour to depict part location and where holes need to be drilled. No colour reference is given for any internals, so it's a case of 'seek, and ye might find'.

So what do we think?
This is a simple and relatively inexpensive upgrade for your sparkly new Bf 110E which is not only easy to assemble, offering some beautiful detail, but it's also straightforward to fit to the host kit, with no surgery needed. A bit of a no-brainer to be honest, and a no-brainer that I certainly think will add a lot to your finished model.

Very highly recommended

Our sincere thanks to Eduard for the review sample used here. To purchase this directly, click THIS link.

James H.

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