Thursday, May 15, 2014

Tamiya Model Magazine International 06/2014

The kit was a 1:48 Siemens Schuckert D.III and was fairly crude, with thick plastic, soft detail and a fair amount of flash -tell-tale signs of a short-run production model. The disparity in moulding quality between that kit and the subject of this article, the same manufacturer's recently released 1:72 Bf 110E is truly amazing. Packaged in the ProfiPACK' range, the box is crammed with sprues — eight of them, in fact. Although the parts count is high, many of them are options or applicable only to other boxings; clearly, Eduard have maximized their investment in the toolings. Amongst the options offered in this kit are the Dackelbauch conformai fuel tank and a second extended fuselage with the life-raft storage in the tail, as well as various fuel tank and weapons. Also supplied is a beautifully colour-printed photo-etched (PE) fret, a set of masks for the glazing and wheels and a sharply printed decal sheet providing four marking choices. Surface detail on the plastic parts is extremely refined. Panel lines are sharp but not excessively deep, and there's some restrained rivet detail in places. The Bf 110's cockpit is perhaps the most extensive I've seen in a 1:72 injection moulded kit. There's some nice relief detail on the floor which benefits from a wash and some light drvbrushing, and individual ammo drums are supplied for the MG 15 machine gun, itself very finely rendered. The radio array is worth a special mention.

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