1/72 Airfix Bf 110 C-5 (old tool)

Gallery Article by Ole A. Hoel on May 28 2015

 

      

This is the old version of Airfix' Bf 110. The kit has been around since 1959 and is understandably rather crude. There is no interior other than the two standard Airfix WW-II fly boys who each gets a bird perch to sit on. In the days before the Eduard kits, this was my only chance for a Bf 110 (Italeri offered only their G-version for ages). Since the overall shape is OK, I felt that something could be done with the Airfix fossil. The zoom etch from Eduard supplied instruments and rudder pedals, and I scratched an interior from plasticard and a pilot seat from the spare parts bin.  The wheels are totally plain without any detail (later I have replaced them with a pair from a new tool Airfix kit), but I managed to at least detail the undercarriage legs a bit. The propellers were ugly, but by twirling thin metal thread around the base of each blade, the looks were a little improved, while the dome-shaped spinner got a hole drilled in the middle. The protruding nose machine guns are Aeroclub items, as is the rear one with a gun sight from the zoom set. The zoom set also supplied flap actuators, DF-antenna and various other microscopic bits and pieces. The canopy was horrible and two feet thick. Luckily I had a spare Italeri canopy from my G-version (which in its turn got a spare from the Eduard kit).

 

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The paint job was done by my very nice Aztec airbrush, and the kit markings were used. They were nice for Airfix. The C-5 pictured was a photo-reconaissance aircraft that crash-landed in England in the summer of 1940 and used for evaluation purposes by the RAE (that's the reason for the red patches; covering bullet holes in the tail plane).

All in all, it turned out OK, although it would surely not win any prices. That is not why I build! But I enjoy taking an old kit and make it into something I can like to look at.

Enjoy the photos.

Ole A. Hoel

Photos and text © by Ole A. Hoel