Background

The BF-110 G-4 night fighter (also referred to as the ME-110 after its designer, Willy Messerschmitt) is one of the more-recognizable airframes to come out of WW II with its prominent nose radar arrays and distinctive dark gray on light gray camo scheme. Its most famous pilot, Heinz-Wolfgang Schnaufer, had 121 kills over 164 missions, nearly all of them heavy bombers. Devotees of the BF-110 G-4 Night fighter are I’m sure hoping that Dragon Models will extend its 1/32nd series from its current C & D variants, since the ancient Revell of Germany kits (reviewed here) are woefully under-detailed and frequently incorrect in things like the rear fins, cockpit, props and spinners. To compensate, Jerry Rutman created a detailing kit some years ago in resin and some limited PE meant to correct these problems, though not the too-thin engine nacelles (he told me in a conversation when I ordered this kit how he just never got around to that).

The Kit

Modelers have several iterations of this upgrade they can purchase separately, including a.) wheels; b.) cockpit; c.) props, spinners & vertical tail surfaces; d.) detail set combining a & b together. I purchased all the available detailing. Ordering is by phone or email and Rutman accepts only checks. The kits take several weeks to arrive while the funds clear, and Rutman only makes the items up as orders come in. The plain brown box included 34 separate pieces plus 13 sprues of various sizes with a further 66 parts, all cast in a creamy resin that looks like sculpted butter. A sheet of 30 PE metal parts includes 3 sets of control pedals. The instruction sheets and lack of a box gives the whole thing an amateur look, but don’t be fooled by appearances.

Various manufacturers have taken a stab at offering the BF-110, and few have gotten it right. Upgrades of all sorts exist, but in the case of the 1/32nd scale offerings, Eduard is the only one that approaches completeness with both interior and exterior sets. I have found the Czech firm to have mixed results in its upgrades in the past, with some parts wrong and others simply not part of the original, as if the designers decided to put something there to justify the cost. With 32019 (G-4 interior) for the RoG kit it’s the same: good avionics (though some fanciful boxes not found in the real thing), excellent pedals, but incorrect details like the cockpit MG ammunition container. Rutman wins all the marbles for correctly representing an authentic G-4, at least the only surviving example (the one at the RAF Museum covered extensively in the Osprey Publication Messerschmitt BF110G Walk Around.

Conclusion

Rutman admits upfront the castings are a bit “fuzzy” at this point with quite a bit of “flash” and other annoyances, but nothing that won’t clean up with the right amount of work. Your only other options are scratch-building these components or converting the other upgrade components (e.g., Scale Aircraft Conversions 32025 white metal landing struts).