Messerschmitt Me 410

This latest book, by Mushroom Model Publications (MMP), is in their usual 6 ½” x 9” soft-cover format for this series of aircraft books. It is 120 pages in length.

The book describes the design and development of the Me 410, developed from the wholly unsuccessful Me 210. This entire program, to produce a replacement for the Bf 110, was flawed from the start and never produced an effective warplane for the Luftwaffe. Along the way, many different versions were produced, as fighters, bombers, and reconnaissance planes, and each is described and illustrated in this book.

There are 60 pages of with 120 color shots of all aspects of the two surviving airframes in museums. These are of the walk-around type. There are 60 illustrations from the aircraft manuals, there are 30 1/72nd scale line drawings (some of these are multiple views), there are 34 black and white wartime photos. Six tables and charts list all the versions of the Me 210 and the Me 410 that were built. One table gives a full technical description and performance information. In the back of the book, including the outside of the back cover, are 29 full color profiles (one of these is a 3-view),

Unique to this book is a large loose sheet, that unfolds into 4 times the size of the books pages, and  is inserted to the book. This has a 1/72nd scale drawing of the Me 410A-1 on one side as a 5 view and the opposite side has a cut-away drawing with a listing of all the internal and external parts shown.

Colors and markings of the Me 410 are shown covering both Luftwaffe operational aircraft and captured machines in RAF and Soviet colors.

This is a highly detailed look at the flawed, but fascinating, Me 410 WWII aircraft. It will be of interest to historians, aircraft enthusiasts and modelers

I want to thank Dr. Roger M. Wallsgrove, Editor-in-Chief of MMP for this review copy.