With the Airfix kit (1/48 Walrus) I want to build still a ways off I thought I'd rifle through the stash and see what else I could find. And find something I did! The Eduard 1/48 scale Bf110E "weekend edition" and what a kit, the level of detail would better suit a 1/32nd scale kit.

I read in another review online somewhere that this kit is the gold standard for Bf110E's and I can believe it. And that it'd take more than a weekend to do the kit justice and I agree. With this level of detail the amount to paint alone will spill it over to at least a week of solid work.

So after several solid hours of work snipping cleaning and gluing as well as figuring out how to build and paint it here are the sub assemblies that I've constructed so far. Going to work on the wheel wells too before I break out the RLM02.

Chris,
Nice start! looking forward to seeing this go together. Would love to know about fit.

Cheers,

Gaz

Fit so far hasn't been to bad Gaz but I've noticed that with the engine nacelles there are a few inserts and I've had a little trouble aligning them all. But no big gaps so far just a couple of wipes with a sanding stick and the joins can be blended in. There's a small loss of rivet detail but nothing to drastic. The inserts seem to be split along panel lines so that makes blending it easier. Still working in sub assemblies I've yet to get the fuselage and wings assembled prior to joining them together but currently I don't foresee issues with the joins.

The detail makes for some very fine and fragile parts that require finesse to get them out of the sprues in one piece. But nothing to troublesome as yet. I have noticed the canon ports aren't tubes they're just openings which is incorrect. There should be blast tube running the length of the cockpit which Eduard have chosen to omit which is strange given the level of detail they've put into this kit. I've just split some plastic tube and backed the ports so they aren't see through.

Nice fix on those cannon tubes, Chris. Definitely an important fix.

Chris,

Good work so far
I've semi-built the C version of that kit, based on the royal edition, and found it very good construction wise. The most problematic areas are the nose fit (I also open it) and engine nanceles fit. Also, There is a small lump on top the nanceles that Eduard missed out but easily fixed with a bit of milliput.
Besides this the cockpit itself is fiddly alright but can be built to high standards with minimum effort IMO.

Gonna follow your built eagerly

Cheers
Pedro

Thanks Gaz it's a simple yet effective fix for the problem. I've struck a wrinkle with the wings though. The right wing had a birds mouth joint at the tab that goes into the fuselage, by that I mean that the two halves of the tab didn't meet flush horizontally. To solve this I clamped the two halves together with a pair of pliers and held the jaws closed by the use of a modellers 'G" clamp. (See pic) The left wing lower half was warped but pulled into line with the upper wing when glued together. I'll be able to check the actual shape of the wing when I attach the ailerons.

Pedro welcome amigos pleased to have you following along. Eduard missed something on the engines? I was aware that they'd missed the hump with the G model engines I wasn't aware that there was something similar in the E series, I'll look into that. Yes I agree the cockpit is very complex to build with a number of complex joins. I've not struck a problem so far and it's gone together particularly well. It did require some thought on how I was going to construct and paint it.

I chose to assemble the bulkheads of the rear half of the cockpit and align everything by putting the side walls in place and holding it together with a rubber band while the glue set. This was so I could easily paint the details then assemble it after I applied a wash, which I've since done. I then placed it and glued it to the left hand fuselage side and used the right side to align everything while the glue dried. I needed a rubber band at the front of the fuselage so I could hold the pilots station correctly in place while it dried. It wanted to droop to the right otherwise.

I chose the left side as it was half a cockpit wall and the support for the MG17 magazine racks attaches directly to it. I can now put the racks for the MG17 mags in and paint them before attaching the magazines themselves.

The amount of detail provided is still blowing my mind and the fact it's all relatively scale thin has added a level of caution in the construction. The build has proved a challenging construction with the level of detail requiring some considered thought as to how I was going to accomplish it but nothing that provided any major hurdles. I'm thrilled with how it's turning out so far. Here are a few pics to illustrate what I've done so far.

Chris,
Some awesome detail work there! I always like open gun bays but rarely model anything open. Guess I'm lazy, I just don't want to work around it.

Gaz

Gary! I'm like you when it comes to open hatches (I wasn't Verlindens best customer back in the days ) but when it's included in the box, then I'm on!

Chris! I'm not sure you should believe everything you've read in the reviews regarding the Eduard 110, I have heard that it is more fiddly than ill-fitting and built with (the utmost) care it will go together well ! And with no lack of details...

Speaking about Eduard's 110:s: I've built the 1/72-version (sorry if I bore you, I know I've been pushing this one before ) and it is still, hands down, the best kit I've ever built. It even beats the Eduard 1/72 Spit I'm doing right now with some margin. WHY ON EARTH would anyone pick the 110 for their Magnum Opus as a model manufacturer? I realise that there are die-hard 110-fans out there but you must be relatively few compared to fans of many other, both more famous and successful aircraft. So someone at Eduard probably has a VERY soft spot for this slender twin that was largely forgotten by the other kit manufacturers. That said, there is a 1/72 G-4 queuing up at the build table here in Sweden...



Magnus

Great start Chris, coming along very nicely. I will be following closely, I have the Royal Class box sitting in this stash and calling to me.

Cheers, D

Gaz I'll be leaving the front gun bay open so we can see the details provided by Eduard as it looks to good to cover up. The nose needed filing around the mating edge to ensure a perfect fit but it was a simply accomplished task. That again went together well once filed.

Magnus I appreciate you dropping by it's always an honour to have you here. I agree with your summation of the kit Magnus not bad fitting just a need to be cautious when fitting all that detail together. As I've stated earlier the only real issue I've had was with the wings everything else has gone together well but care and attention were needed in the assembly.

Damian nicceeeee! The Royal boxing's always have such great contents even more so than the Profipack. Break it out Damian go on you know you want to and I'd love to see what's inside!

The shell ejection ports are separate panels that needed a little judicious filing to get them to fit together without the need for some putty at a later stage and I'm hopeful a simple sanding will blend it all nicely.

I've assembled the wings, tail planes and got the interior of the fuselage completed now to glue in the last bits before moving onto painting the camo. It's looking not too shabby and the level of detail is fantastic.

I was left with gaps at the bottom of the wing joins which from what I've read is usual nothing huge just annoying. I've filled it with strip styrene and will finish it off with super glue and a little putty. I've figured out where the problem was and I believe that with the next build I'll try it and see what comes of it.

The engine nacelles proved to be not to much of a problem a little judicious clamping on the right wing got the join more or less perfect I just need to fill and smooth the gaps. The nacelles fitted reasonably well as did the radiators no real problems there.

Chris,
Seems to be going together well. There is some great upper wing detail. I'd really hate to have to sand anywhere near that stuff.

Gaz

Chris, I'm with you with all those annoying gaps to fill. I've heared, Edu's 110 is not an add-glue-and-shake-kit. The G-2 weeekend edition is also waiting somewhere in my stash. I let it wait .... But from what I see here, you're on the right track.
Right now, I stand in front of more or less the same problems as you, as I try to get the Do 215 Nightfighter from ICM together. Same here - gaps over gaps. Nothing really fits. It's not funny ....

Torsten

Gaz I agree about the upper wings which is why I went for a gap at the bottom of them, should look great under a wash.

Torsten I feel you buddy stunning detail mediocre fit but no sink marks and it looks just fantastic with a little care and effort. I think the positives outweigh the negatives so far. I look forward to seeing your Do215 is it in 1/48?

Yes Chris, it's 1/48 and will become the all black machine flown by Paul Gildner.