Internet Modeler : First Look : Aviation RSS News Feed

Meng 1/48 Messerschmitt Me 410B-2/U4

By Greg Goheen

The Kit

Meng’s Me 410 came to me as a great surprise, as I mostly suspected it was simply a rebox of the Revell Pro Modeler kit.  However, nothing could be further from the truth as upon inspecting the parts that had normally given modelers grief in the past I found this was actually a new mold and extremely well done at that.

Included are eight sprues of lightly molded gray plastic trees, two sprues of clear parts, a small stamping of photo-etched parts, one sheet of decals and a very impressive booklet of instructions.

The A sprue of plastic contains the fuselage halves that are not only crisply engraved panels but delicate riveting as well not often found in 1/48^th scale kits by most manufacturers.

The B sprue of plastic contains the upper halves of the wing assembly, again with finely engraved panels and impressive riveting details, as well as the horizontal stabilizers.

The C sprue contains the lower wing assemblies and elevators.  Modelers will clearly note that the wheel bays are not molded into place and upon reviewing the instruction booklet these will be assembled and glued into place while offering a much more detailed look.

Our D sprue contains many of the components for the cockpit, including the floor, side consoles and rear gunner/radio operators equipment, of which the detailing of such is so great with the latter that modelers may think they are looking at a finely cast resin piece for the array of radio equipment.

The E sprue contains varies components including the radiators, side MG swivel covers and the mounts for the engines that are actually included in this kit!

Two F sprues are identical, in which modelers will not only find the well done wheel halves with lettered sidewall markings (Phoenix Harburg), VDM propellers and other duplicated parts necessary for the build but the well done DB 603A engines!  (Of note, the instructions call these out as DB 603G’s, which were never fitted into the Me 410B series)  Quite often manufacturers who even include these in their kits do so both poorly and cheaply, usually including just one engine for a dual engine aircraft so the modeler can showcase one while having to leave the other closed.  No such luck here, in which now one has the opportunity to showcase both engines. It appeared that the arm mounts for these were a bit plain and may need to be detailed further with the usually found circular openings through the arm.

The final gray sprue, G, contains parts for the BK5 cannon assembly.  And yes, unlike the previous offering from Revell, the modeler is treated a well detailed assembly consisting of eight parts plus the lower shroud cover.

The K & L sprue tree containing the clear parts truly separates this offering from that of Revell’s in which anyone familiar with the Revell kit will surely share horror stories of mating the one piece canopy to the fuselage assembly. This was always one of the largest shortcomings of the Revell offering in that no matter how precise one was dropping the cockpit assembly into place and gluing the fuselage halves together, there was inevitably a gap when attaching the canopy assembly. (Ask me how I know as I’ve done three of the Pro Modeler kits in the past and all have presented this problem. Meng apparently became aware of this prior to engineering the canopy as now the modeler has a four piece canopy to work with that should allow a bit more flexibility should any fit problems arise in this area.

A quick look over the instructions reveals some quality highlights worth sharing the prospective modeler, in which the lower portion of the cockpit floor contains the weapons bay.  Again, instead of merely having openings in the nose for the forward firing guns, Meng actually includes them….(2) MG 17 machine guns and (2) MG 151/20 cannons as well as ammunition feeds for each.  This, in conjunction with the BK5 cannon previously mentioned almost begs the modeler to open the panels to showcase this area and its immense detailing.  Likewise, the multi-part engine assemblies will have modelers eagerly super-detailing these even more with various plumbing to dazzle even further.  Ailerons, flaps, elevators and the rudder can all be positioned as well, making this a huge plus for modelers like myself never quite content when these are molded in place by other manufacturers.  It even appears that Meng has addressed the often problematic supercharger intakes by making them the correct shape and size.

Paint and Decals

Decals are well done and in perfect register, as they are provided by Cartograf. Markings are for two aircraft, one by ZG 26 (erroneously listed as ZG 6 on the instructions guide) and one with Russian Markings apparently captured and tested between 1945 & 1946.  Interestingly, the paint color guide is for two manufactures only..Gunze Mr. Hobby and Gunze Mr. Color. While those not accustomed to this manufacturer (although my personal choice) will nitpick this as a problem, the instruction guide also denotes the actual RLM color to be used throughout the assembly process and does so most accurately too.

Conclusion

Meng might be the new kid on the block when it comes to manufacturers but they surely have hit this offering out of the park. Moldings to make even Tamiya envious, an instruction booklet that leaves no questions to chance and precision engineering make this a must have for anyone interesting in aircraft modeling. Pricing seems to fluctuate greatly for this kit, whereas online shop are currently selling for around $70 while new/factory sealed kits can be found on Ebay for around $50. Well worth the money at either end of the spectrum and shows it pays to shop around. My complaint? Actually none pertaining to this kit but rather at the aftermarket guys for still not providing modelers a means of backdating a Me 410 to it’s predecessor the Me 210. Maybe now someone will actually take note of this outstanding kit and do so! My sincere thanks to Stevens International for the review sample.