Heinkel He 219 “UHU”

[Paul A H]

Heinkel He 219 “UHU”

1:72 Revell

The Heinkel He 219 Uhu (eagle owl) was a successful night fighter design that boasted a number of genuine innovations. It was fitted with the advanced FuG 220 Lichtenstein SN2 air intercept radar and, unusually for a German aircraft, featured tricycle landing gear. It was also the first operational combat aircraft in the world to feature ejection seats. Fortunately for the allies, and for mainly political reasons, fewer than 300 aircraft were produced by the end of the war.

Revell’s He 219 has been around for a good few years now and so will probably be familiar to many modellers already. Most of the kit’s 99 parts are divided across 6 sprues of light grey plastic. The larger parts, such as the fuselage halves and wings, are not attached to a sprue. The layout of the sprues is a good indication of the age of the kit as they do not feature any frames to protect the parts. As you might expect from a ‘mature’ kit, a little flash and a few sink marks are present, although generally the mouldings are holding up well. Surface detail is comprised of fine, raised panel lines. As this is part of Revell’s ‘Model-Set’ range, a tub of Revell’s Contacta adhesive, a paint brush and three tubs of acrylic paint (Light Blue, Medium Grey and Dust Grey) are also included.

The builder is invited to begin construction with the cockpit. This is a basic affair and just a floor and two seats are provided. Before the fuselage halves can be joined, the nose undercarriage has to be fitted. This also a simple affair and is designed to be moveable so it can be posed up or down. The tail planes are the next parts to be assembled and they all feature moveable control surfaces. The wings and engine nacelles are next up. As is the case with the tail planes, the wings feature separate ailerons. The chunky main landing gear legs fit into the engine nacelles and are also retractable. No engines are provided, but this is no great loss as little can be seen behind the radiator grilles.

Once the moveable airscrews have been fitted, all that remains to do is to fit the canopy and a variety of lumps, bumps and the aerials for the air intercept and tail warning radars. The radar aerials themselves are very refined and nicely moulded. The clear parts look fine and are not as thick as you might expect for a kit of this vintage.

As we’ve come to expect from Revell these days, the decal sheet is rather nice and features crisp, clear printing and bold colours. Two colour options are provided:

• Heinkel He 219A-2 of 2./Nachtjagdgeschwader 1 as flown by Lt. Kurt Heinz Fischer in November 1944 at Münster-Handorf, Germany. This is the aircraft featured on the box artwork; and

• Heinkel He 219A-5 of 3./Nachtjagdgeschwader 3 at Grove, Denmark in 1944. This aircraft differs from the other scheme in that it features black undersides.

As is the case with other Revell decal sheets, no hakenkreuz are provided.

Conclusion

Although this isn’t the most modern of kits, it is a more affordable alternative to the Dragon offering. With a little work and the help of the rather nice decal sheet, I’m sure it could be built up into a decent replica.

Review sample courtesy of

[Andre B]

This is not the original old Revell kit but the old Frog kit from 1966. But the Frog kit is the better one...

http://modelingmadness.com/review/axis/luft/cai219.htm

 

/André

[sroubos]

Wow, Revell found an even worse He-219 than their own ancient tooling?

 

Kits like this should not be sold anymore without a health warning and a Zimmer frame.

[Eric Mc]

At least you can get it. As far as I know the only "modern" 219 is the one from Dragon - which must be approaching 30 years old itself - and will be a lot more expensive.

[tempestfan]

...and early Dragon aircraft kits at least did not have a Reputation for precisely stellar fit...

[theplasticsurgeon]

Just now, tempestfan said:

...and early Dragon aircraft kits at least did not have a Reputation for precisely stellar fit...

[Ka-Efka]

On ‎21‎.‎07‎.‎2017 at 3:47 PM, tempestfan said:

...and early Dragon aircraft kits at least did not have a Reputation for precisely stellar fit...

...and on these kits the panel lines of the l/h and r/h fuselage halves are off by approx. 1mm. I found it to be a quite annoying kit.

Basically there is no recommendable 1/72 kit of the He 219 existing imo.