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A Nose Full of Teeth: The Bf110 Haifisch Zerstorer

a build story by Shekar K Rao
5
Comments

This model was built as part of the Battle of Britain Campaign.  I had been wanting to make a Luftwaffe aircraft for quite some time, and when this came along, I thought it was a perfect opportunity to build one of the kits that has been in my stash for quite some time.  I also wanted to make a plane that was different, and given my penchant for toothy nose art, I settled upon the Bf-110 Zerstorer from Italeri. Little did I know that it would reduce me to a near wreck by the time I completed it, since I had to go out of my way, near death, to get it completed in time-base and all!

The Kit and Some History

I first started out looking for some reviews and references for this kit on the Net since I have a limited set of reference books on WWII Planes. I came across an In-Box review of this kit at the SMARK site, where I discovered that the camouflage and decals as given in the kit were contrary to existing historical data. Ultimately, I decided on making a Bf110 of 6 Staffel ZG76, which is available on the box as art. The markings of the plane were decided upon as M8+CP. The picture on the right was picked off the Net, showing box art of a 1/48 scale Zerstorer chewing off the tail of a Hurricane.

Overall, the fit of the kit is a very good one and most of the parts do go together without any problems. It has raised panel lines, which may not make it very popular among the modeling crowd. However, there are some missing parts in the sprues, which are listed in the instruction sheet. The decals, although of good quality, do have some problems. The M8 and CP are bundled together, and thus need to be cut apart for placement on the fuselage. Also, there is film even embedded within the letters, and needs to be cut out carefully at the time of application.

The canopy presented its own fair share of problems, being in 5 different parts. These consist of a forward piece, two side windows, one to cover the gap between the sides, and a longish rear section. The number of small fiddly bits and bobs is also less, giving less headaches at time of assembly.

About the Author

About bytepilot
FROM: KARNATAKA, INDIA / भारत


Comments

bytepilot
Hi TinCan, Thanks for putting up my article. BTW, the callsign I use at Armorama is bytepilot(just to confirm if you haven't got it already!) Cheers, BP(alias Shekar Rao)/
JUL 29, 2003 - 03:49 PM
capnjock
Cool plane. Good recovery on the canopy. Happy modeling and a beer too! capnjock
JUL 29, 2003 - 03:59 PM
shonen_red
Wow! Looks like the real thing!
JUL 29, 2003 - 10:59 PM
Holdfast
:-) Nice one BP, the recovery from the canopy was an inspiration to all on the campaign. Again well done and a nice article. Mal
JUL 30, 2003 - 07:19 AM
tazz
wow cool plane,,, iam going to build the same kit really soon i hope, the fuji kit has the shark theeth. thats the kit iam geting
JUL 30, 2003 - 08:30 AM
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Copyright ©2021 by Shekar K Rao. Images also by copyright holder unless otherwise noted. The views and opinions expressed herein are solely the views and opinions of the authors and/or contributors to this Web site and do not necessarily represent the views and/or opinions of AeroScale, KitMaker Network, or Silver Star Enterrpises. Images also by copyright holder unless otherwise noted. Opinions expressed are those of the author(s) and not necessarily those of AeroScale. All rights reserved. Originally published on: 2003-07-30 00:00:00. Unique Reads: 8516