This powerful and popular aircraft is a great candidate for
48th scale new tooling – we have a little about the kit and the boxart
in our product preview…
Meng’s new Hornet it 48th scale
1/48th scale
Kit No# LS004
3 schemes in this boxing…
3 schemes in this boxing…
The model:
This latest MENG LS-004 1/48 Me 410 B-2/U2/R4 model is 263mm
long and 340mm wide. There are rich cockpit and bomb bay details as well as two
precise DB603 engines. Movable barbettes in the center of the fuselage can turn
as the real ones. You have the options to build a Me 410 B-2/U2 or Me 410
B-2/U2/R4. Three different paint schemes are provided in the box markings.
The real thing…
The Me 410 Hornisse (Hornet) was an unpleasant surprise for
the British. In Februari 1944 a staffel of II/KG 51 started flying intruder
missions over Great Britian. Britain had been accustomed to quiet nights since
over a year, during which almost no nightly intruder missions were flown by the
Luftwaffe. The Me 410 was heavily armed, fast, and had sufficient range. The
succes of the Me410 was a great relief for Prof. Dr. Willy Messerschmitt, since
Messerschmitt had been forced to resign after the utter failure of the Me 210.
The name Hornisse is actually an unofficial one. The Me 410
was in use by amongst other II/ZG 26 also known as the Hornissengeschwader. This Geschwader had received wide publicity
because of it's successes.
The Me410 served in many theatres, like the North-European,
Mediterranean, and Eastern Theatres. Many aircraft were built as reconnaissance
aircraft, since the Me 410 had a good range and good performance. Another
version in which it was extensively used was that of the Bomber destroyer. By
mid-1944 most surviving Me 410's were operated in the Defence of the Reich
against day bombers. The good speed and heavy armament brought down many
bombers, but overall score was probably about even since the Me 410 were easy
targets for the much more nimble North American P-51's and Republic P-47's, who
were escorting the bombers.
The Me 410 B-2/U2/R4 was a heavy firepower subvariant of the
Me 410 Hornet fighter-bomber. Like most German fighters at the mid to late
stages of WWII, its air-to-air firepower was strengthened as per the
requirement of the Luftwaffe which found that their aircrafts’ air-to-air
weapons were not powerful enough. This fighter was modified to carry a gun pod
with two 20mm MG 151 cannons in the bomb bay instead of bombs. Meanwhile, it
could still carry WGR rockets under the wings and also kept all air-to-air weapons
of the basic Me 410 version.
Sometimes an external gun pod with two 20mm MG 151
cannons was carried under the belly of the Me 410 B-2/U2. Because of its strong
firepower, it’s widely used by the Luftwaffe in the high altitude interception
operations.
You can find out more about this release as more comes out
from us here or the Meng Website…
