Eduard BF-110G-4 Weekend Edition 1/48

[jjp_nl]

I bought this kit last year while on vacation in the Czech Republic. I noticed there was this rather nice MPM store in Prague which just so happened to be right next to the subway system I used daily to get from the camping place into the city. Needless to say I had to take a look over there, and among other things I took home with me was this Eduard G-4 weekend edition.

Up until now I’ve looked in the box a great many times and thought about what I wanted to do with it, but the rather incredible amount of plastic and build reports showing that it the Eduard BF-110 series of kits are a tricky bunch (in areas anyway) paired with my limited experience at building kit at the time (I was only just getting back into modelling when I bought it) I kept it safely hidden in my stash up until now.

After a rather sorry experience with the 1/48 CyberHobby kit (due to my own mistakes I might add) I felt like giving a 1/48 BF-110 scale another go, simply because I like the looks of the thing, and especially the sinister looks of the night fighters. So, with some more modelling experience gained over the past year, finally the Eduard BF-110G-4 was pulled from the stash.

I haven’t decided yet on a particular a/c I want to make out of it, but a few interesting subjects have crossed my mind sofar (all more or less well known Experten from the night fighting business). However, each aircraft I looked into as potential candidate has features that aren’t covered by the Eduard G-4 kit (not even the ProfiPack as far as I can tell). There’s still a lot of ‘looking into it’ needed to see if it is possible to make the changes needed. The various things (depending on the subject) the I need to look into are:



- use of FuG212 radar (not covered by the Eduard kit) in addition to SN2
- use of FuG218 Neptun radar (not covered by the Eduard kit)
- use of the old and trusty MG-17 machine guns in the nose rather then 2x MK108 (I'm not even sure how this might have looked at all).
- position of oblique firing weapons. Certain subjects I’ve looked into are said to have had these weapons placed way more to the front near the pilot, but Eduard allows them to be place out back only
- at least one subject I’ve looked into and possibly a second too has a teardrop shaped clear fairing on the hood directly above the pilots seat. This I believe has to do with the gunsight used to aim the Schrage Musik weapons.

I know this project could very well have fitted into the Aces GB, but I fear this is gonna turn out to be a long-term effort, so I'll pass on that GB.

So, where to begin with this huge pile of plastic? I read just about every partial or full build report I could find on the Eduard BF-110 series of kits. Among the things that stood out in these build reports as being points that needs special care…the nacelle to wing assembly. In other words, rather then start out with building up the extremely well detailed and nice looking cockpit of this kit…I decided that getting one of the critical points out of the way would be good way to start this build.

Pic.1: The wings went together just fine! I drilled out a few mounting holes for external fuel tanks and the FuG101 Radio Alti Meter antennae.
Pic.2: Nacelles glued together. Fit is pretty decent, although the joins will need a little further trimming/sanding/polishing to get completely right.
Pics.3&4: Then it's on to dryfitting and seeing how the fit of the nacelles to the wings is. While indeed it isn't perfect (I must admit it wasn't half as bad as I imagined it would be based on build reports I've read) I managed to improve the fit quite a bit too by careful trimming of the mating surfaces a bit at a time. This is how they sit right now, but exercising a minimum of pressure by means of clamps or something will all but eliminate the steps still visibile and will leave me with only a rather small and easy to fill gap around the join to take care of. All in all not a bad start for what (at least to my mind) was/is a critical area of the kit.

[Airframes]

Good start Jelmer.

[Crimea_River]

Yup. Those joints on the nacelles are about as I remember them. And I see you put those air bottles in before gluing the wing halves together, something I neglected to do!

[jjp_nl]

[....]And I see you put those air bottles in before gluing the wing halves together, something I neglected to do!

True, but I admit to very nearly forgetting to do so (not promising for when I build up the office :O)

I intend to work the joins around around the nacelles until they're all filled up, sanded and polished into a nice smooth surface (get them completely out of the way) before I take on the next step of the build.

[BombTaxi]

Looks like a good start! I will be watching closely, this is one of several kits on my radar (as it were) at the moment

[jjp_nl]

Some more work on the nacelles has been done. I glued the nacelles in place and after the glue had sufficiently set and cured I applied an initial smear of filler to the upper seams. Some sanding will reveal if this will be enough to make it into a smooth surface (I doubt it) but as far as fit goes I maintain that overall it isn't half as bad as I expected it to be.

[Wayne Little]

Nice!

[Crimea_River]

Expect the worst. Then any result other than that is cause for joy!

[jjp_nl]

Yet another small job on the go on my BF-110. While the upper part of the nacelles came out not half bad as far as steps and gaps are concerned the lower rear end (where the actual wheel well area meest the faired over piece of the flaps) did have some more serious alignment and gap issues. Given the amount of details present, this to me is the 'preferred' area I guess...as far as this kit goes. Not a whole lot of panel lines present in this area, so not much to 'repair' either (after filling and sanding that is)

Given the size of the steps and gaps I took some MilliPut epoxy putty rather then regular putty to put on these areas. For these larger surgical operations I most certainly prefer this over regular putty. I think the only panel lines I need to restore are the ones around the lower back end of the nacelles that mark the devision between the actual wheel well area and faired over part of the flaps.



As far as subjects are concerned I for the moment have settled on (one of) Martin Drewes a/c (G9+WD). Yet another subject with ties to Fliegerhorst Leeuwarden. For a while G9+WD apparently was his day time mount, but when his night time mount (G9+MD) was lost in combat he had no choice but to start using G9+WD as night fighter again.

A few things that are still unclear to me about this a/c:

- What radar could this a/c have had? G9+WD was re-equipped and used (again) as night nighter as of late July '44 I believe. Profiles I've found suggest a center FuG212 antenna was present on G9+WD, but wouldn't the FuG212 device have been obsolete by mid '44 and improved versions of SN2 also becoming available? So in other words, could G9+WD only have had SN2 radar? If I do it somewhat later then July '44 it must have had SN2 alone for sure? Given the circumstances under which G9+WD was reinstated as Drewes' night time mount, and his reputation as a succesful night fighter, I'm thinking G9+WD must have been equipped with the latest available radar gear and such, so the couldn't the latest development in the SN2 series have been installed.

- Apparently various soures have stated that the Schrage Musik on his a/c was positioned way more in the front of the cockpit rather then way out back near the Bordschutze. However, one thing I fail to understand is how this could have been? The Bordfunker area of a typical BF-110G-4 was packed with rather cumbersome radio and radar equipment, and to be honest, it's beyond me how a pair of oblique firing weapons could have fitted right behind the pilots seats into this area. A few pic's exist of Drewes' in front of G9+WD but they seem to have been 'conveniently' cropped, and as such no details on the cockpit area and Schrage Musik setup can be seen (nice view on the tail markings and general layout of the camo pattern though, seems like RLM76 with a fairly muted and subtle RLM75 mottle to it))


- The last thing I need to consider is the fact that Drewes' apparently had the two MK-108 guns removed and replaced by the trusty MG-17 because it seems he was under the impression that the powerfull MK-108 cannon were in fact too powerful at close range nocturnal combat because it's shells would likely blast large pieces off of a target that might cause damage to his own plane. I'm not quite sure how this might have looked. Were MG-17 installed in the typical G-4 bulged nose section with extra holes in it? Or was it more like a 'E' or 'F' style nose section with squared intake in the middle and 4 MG's in it? (If the last is so, I could try and use the 'E' style nose section that comes with the 'E' weekend Edition, the C/D nose section also comes with the E kit, so using the E nose for something else wouldn't be too bad) Going by a few profiles I've found the latter is suggested to have been the case, but again...it's profiles, so I'm not quite sure if it's to go by these and use the 'E' style nose.

[plheure2]

You bring up some very interesting questions. I'll be following this build with a great deal of interest. Best of luck!

[Crimea_River]

Jelmer, that gap at the back of the nacelles needs to be there - it's not a panel line. The fairing on the flap was designed so as to move into the nacelle when the flaps were deployed. I did find that the gap was a bit large on my Eduard model and I did havew to fill it a bit but it should, on the finished model, be clearly a gap if you want it to be accurate. Depending on the strength of the Milliput you put on, you may be able to saw cut it.

As to the radar config, I'm sure you've done a google search and that you've seen all the profiles and available pics, all of which seem to show the center post FuG212 rig. Unfortunatley I have no better info that I can offer.

[jjp_nl]

Thanks for pointing that out!, I'll (albeit gently) will attempt to open it up after some reshaping then. The need to work on that area is there (although I admit to very nearly having it made into a smooth surface if you hadn't pointed it out) as it would have been a messy look if left as it was (pity I forgot to take a pic of it) One side was closed all together and the other had a huge gap.

A Razor saw of sorts should be able to take care of it in an orderly manner

EDIT:
Come to think of it...making sure there is an even gap (by means of a razor saw) will prolly make it more easy in the (compared to an endless sanding/filling job to make sure everything is absolutely flush and smooth :P

[Crimea_River]

Here's a pic from my 110C thread from a while back showing how I fixed the gap. I glued in a piece of plastic sheet of the appropriate thickness then shaped it to the contour of the nacelle

[jjp_nl]

Thanks Andy! I'll need to do that as well. I've managed to saw them open but the gap is a bit wide now, so a thin plastic sheet could take care of that.

[Crimea_River]

You're welcome Jelmer. BTW, there's a new Martin Drewes biography out in German: NeunundzwanzigSechs Verlag Look under "Sand und Feuer" on the left hand side.