Books on the Messerschmitt Bf-110 Zerstorer

Osprey Modelling "Modelling the... Bf 110"

Squadron/Signal "Bf 110 Zerstorer" In Action no 30

     ISBN 0 89747 029 X Most modellers and aviation historians will be quite familiar with the Squadron/Signal "In Action" series. They seem to have been out in the market place in prolific quantities since the 1970's. This copy dates from 1977 and was written by Jerry L. Campbell and illustrated by Don Greer. These books were pretty much 'the business' for modellers looking for good reference material for nearly thirty years. They were a reliable mainstay and it seemed that every High Street Model Shop had a stack of these in the corner. How times have changed. The hobby has moved from the High Street to the internet and this format of book is now looking oddly dated. I picked this up of EBay in August 2006. It came at an excellent price as it was packaged with an old Profile Publications "Messerschmitt Bf 110 Night Fighters" nbr 207 (1972) and a reprint of an article on the Messerschmitt Bf 110 from Aero Modeller (1968 - this is before I was born) nbr 175 which features scale plans. (The joke was that another EBay buyer paid far more JUST for the In Action book a few days before. It left me feeling quite smug.) The book itself is 50 pages long and of archetypal format - there are 2 pages of colour profiles in the middle. It deals with each variant with good sketches of the major external changes. There are even small but reasonable scale plans. There are certainly much better (and more expensive) references out now but I still recommend this book for the modeller because it is neat and simple.

Squadron/Signal Walkaround "Mssr'chmitt Bf 110G"

     Squadron/Signal Publications "Walk Around Number 24 - Messerschmitt Bf 110G" ISBN 0-89747-420-1. Published in 2000 and written by Ron MacKay. Squadron/Signal Publications' "In Action" series were the original Modeller's guides. However, times move on and the model-maker became more demanding. I don't know who first dreamt up the 'Walkaround' idea but I first saw this approach from Verlinden. This the first Squadron/Signal Walkaround I have purchased. I picked this up off EBay in early 2007. Squadron/Signal have chosen to keep the 'look and feel' of the "In Action" which means they have used Don Greer's artwork on the covers. His work looked good twenty years ago but it looks dated now and is a somewhat of an acquired taste - being a bit 'cartoony' & bleached out for my liking. The colour profiles & line drawings inside are still great but that is because these are by Andrew Probert & Ernesto Cumpian. You get 80 pages not including the colour front and rear covers (with the Don Greer artwork that I don't really like). Of these there is a sprinkling of colour profiles and some wartime photo's that appear to have nothing to do with the 'walkaround' intent of the book. Maybe this is a stylistic throwback to the 'in action' series? Roughly 75% of the actual 'walkaround' photo's are colour shots of the machine at London's Hendon Air Museum. The remainder are black and white shots. Some photo's are not clearly lit with only a basic flash being used. Hence the book is trying to be all things to all people. Don't get me wrong - it is a great walkaround for the modeller of the 110 G series. You just get the feeling that Squadron/Signal are a bit at a loss as to how to redefine their work in the 21st century. Hopeful they will settle on a format with greater clarity in the near future. I see no reason why the walkaround should not be added to the back of their existing range of 'in action' books. Recommended.

Wydawnictwo Militaria "Bf 110" vol. 2 (114)

     ISBN 83 7219 078 X Published in 2000 this 68 page Modeller's reference is typical of a new breed of material emerging from Eastern Europe that stands head and shoulders above the old "In Action" series discussed opposite on this page. I am mystified as to why this is called "vol. 2" as this seems quite complete to me. The book is in Polish but all the photo captions are also in English. The text seems to describe each variant in detail. There is a brief early section with black and white photo's on good glossy paper but this is just a taster of what this book is about. Past page 25 the contents turn into page after page of line sketches of various aircraft systems. From page 39 there is page after page of scale drawings of every possible variant culminating in two large fold-out sheets of scale drawings. As if this wasn't enough what follows are 8 pages of colour profiles (not counting the 3 further pages on the covers) followed by 4 pages of colour photo's of a Bf 110 at the Hendon Air Museum in London. Still it isn't finished. After you have feasted your eyes on that little lot there are still 4 pages of coloured sketches at the back of various features such engines, cockpits and Unit Markings. A beautiful and remarkable reference book that I picked up cheaply on EBay in August 2006. I couldn't recommend this more highly. Get a copy now.

Janusz Ledwoch "Messerschmitt Bf 110" 16

     Published by AJ-Press in 1994. This originates from Gdansk and is entirely in the Polish Language. I obtained my slightly battered copy from EBay in early 2007. This is a fine Monograph considering it is now over 13 years old. If you own any similar Monographs ("Monografie Lotnicze") then you will know what you are getting here. (See another example on the He-111 page here.) You get 60 pages if you include both front and back covers that include full colour artworks and a lovely cutaway. Inside you get another four pages of colour artwork and then there are a further 18 pages of scale plans and line-drawn illustrations. The rest of the pages are liberally scattered with good quality black and white photographs distributed 50/50 with the text. Many photographs are close ups of various airframe features such as armament and undercarriage. Certainly recommended if you can't get a copy of Wydawnictwo Militaria book shown above.

Crowood "Messerschmitt Bf 110"

     Ron Mackay's book was published in 2000 and this is typical of the quality of the Crowood Aviation Series. ISBN 1 86126 313 9 The 190 pages are packed with large black and white photo's and lots and lots of text. A very worthy but dull effort as there are no scale plans, no colour pictures, no colour profiles, no line drawings and no engineering sketches of any kind. This is pretty much the sort of material that filled all aircraft text books in the post war period. However, we are in the 2000's now. Although presented in a modern style this unexciting content makes this one of the worst Crowood Aviation Series books I have had the misfortune to review. Thankfully the Crowood series can be snapped up really cheaply on EBay these days for one fifth of its cover price - which makes it good value for money. But this is essentially thrill-free. Buy it for your coffee table or bookshelf but don't expect it to get well thumbed. Not recommended for the model maker but there are a few good photo's in here that may prove useful. I got mine for about £5GBP off EBay in August 2006.

Osprey "Bf 110 Zerstörer Aces of WWII"

     ISBN 1 85532 753 8. Number 25 in Osprey's "Aircraft of the Aces" series. Written by John Weal and published in 1999. Warning: you will see copies of this book under a later repackaging with the AOTA number 34. This is the same book jointly published with delPrado in 2001 with some minor changes to the covering artwork. DelPrado published the same books in a joint venture to be collected by subscribers weekly through their local Newsagent. Evidence from our 'Halifax Squadrons' book suggests the del-Prado version is edited down and smaller than the original with many of the fine artworks missing. Yet they appear side by side on EBay with slightly different numbers. This can be confusing. Do not accidentally buy both off of EBay like I did! For your money (only about £4 off EBay) you get 104 pages of text and good quality photo's all in black and white. There are two pages of 1/96th scale drawings (!) and 10 pages of colour artwork (two of which only depict the crew - although this is useful!). This is of partial use to the modeller but this is not designed to be a monograph for the modeller. Instead it is an easily digestible, bite-sized, book covering the exploits of various Bf 110 aces. The books takes us through the action in Poland, the Battle of Britain, the Balkans, Mediterranean. North Africa, Eastern Front, Western Front, from success to failure and the final defence of the Reich. The text appears lively, interesting and authoritative rather than a dull retelling of battles by statistics. Probably an enjoyable read as background material if you are researching a specific topic. Recommended.