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ICM is to release in Q1 2020 a 1/48th Heinkel He-111Z-1 “Zwilling", WWII German Glider Tug kit - ref. 48260 Source: https://www.hannants.co.uk/product/ICM48260 V.P.

Hi guys This is quite an interesting subject by Takom that surprised us all. It just goes to show the vast range of kits and subjects available now. I bet most people never would have thought they would see a kit of this ever be made. Personally It's not my usual build but unusual enough to grab my attention. I have been working on it on and off for a while now. Quite a nice kit but a bit laborious to build. This is down to most of the bits being duplicated to cover both guns and a slight mould misalignment meaning the parts clean up is taking longer than it should. I can finally see the light at the end of the building tunnel though. IMAG0475 by Mark Inman, on Flickr IMAG0478 by Mark Inman, on Flickr IMAG0479 by Mark Inman, on Flickr IMAG0480 by Mark Inman, on Flickr IMAG0481 by Mark Inman, on Flickr IMAG0482 by Mark Inman, on Flickr IMAG0483 by Mark Inman, on Flickr IMAG0484 by Mark Inman, on Flickr IMAG0485 by Mark Inman, on Flickr IMAG1166 by Mark Inman, on Flickr IMAG1167 by Mark Inman, on Flickr IMAG1168 by Mark Inman, on Flickr IMAG1169 by Mark Inman, on Flickr IMAG1170 by Mark Inman, on Flickr IMAG1171 by Mark Inman, on Flickr

Ok here we go, after much talking and boasting in the WhatIf III GB chat, I’ve finally plastic where my mouth is and started building “The Beast!” As we all know the WhatIf III GB didn’t get up, missed by that much, but I just couldn’t let such a good idea go unbuilt.........ask me latter next year as to how much of a good idea it was! This will be the first of two grand builds using the He-177 as a base, the second WILL be the “Amerika” bomber! For those that hadn’t seen the chat, this was a “Zwilling” version of the Heinkel He-177 Grief, a three (tripe DB-810 or six DB-605’s) engine monster designed for long range anti-shipping duties. Fitted out with advanced attack radars (nose and tail), guided munitions, and for the up close and personnel stuff a pair of 50mm cannons! Due to my very limited free time this will probably be quite a slow build and build updates only once a month, so please be patient. There will be a full story to go with this, as per all WhatIf’s and will be included in the final build photo.......or earlier if I’m too bored on shift. Ok lets go..... 1, do some crazy mock-up drawings so at least we have a plan to work to.... 2, then take two plain ordinary Revell He-177’s 3, measure up and cut (measure multiple times, cut, find unexpected gap, add filler and plastic plug,......figure out latter there was a better way to have done this the required no filler!! ) So the centre section is done but there will be quite a bit more added. I need a radiator for this engine, plus want to add a weapons pylon. So I’ll be adding a section behind the engine where the radiator will be housed, plus a “special weapons” pylon! Possible “mini nuclear carrier killer” missile or a heavier anti-shipping missile.......to be decided on and sourced. Have modified the rudders so I can fit the gun turret and radar radome, plus started putting together the control cockpit, will start the radar/weapons control cockpit once Santa has left! 4, admire handwork....and wonder what have I gotten myself into!! Just a couple of photos to show how big she will be.........rather large I think!!! Oh and there will be a couple of Junkers Jumo 004's to be mounted in the insides on the lower sections on the cockpit area, just for more power!

Master-X is to release a 1/32nd Heinkel He-111Z (Zwilling) conversion set for the Revell kit - ref. MX3203 Source: http://master-x.wz.cz/He111Z1-32.html Box art V.P.

Good day, gentlemen! Let me present you my next model.

German 128mm Flak 40 Zwilling Eduard 1:35 The Flak 40 Zwilling was a surprise kit from Takom, and a very welcome release as the only other in this scale was a rather expensive resin kit. Naturally though, Eduard have deemed it required some attention from the artisans of etched brass. This single sheet set, although quite small does add that little bit extra to an already nice kit. The sheet contains items such as the rifling for the ends of the barrels. These two parts need to be carefully rolled to fit inside the bore of the kits barrels. Whilst they are only about 20mm long, they will give the impression that the rifling goes all the way down if fitted correctly. The other parts on the sheet include the foot pads for the gun trainers, panels for the ends of each breech slide, along with additional brackets for the sides, the interior troughs of the shell cradles, the end plates of each breech block, replacement handles and panels for the electrical box and filler cap for the gearbox, plus the end panels and handles for the storage boxes. Conclusion Ok, so this is only a small set, but it does add some nice detail which Takom either missed off or are bit clunky due to moulding constraints. A bit like adding a cherry to an already great cake. Highly recommended. Review sample courtesy of

128mm Flak 40 Zwilling Takom 1:35 History The 12.8 cm, (128mm if using si units), FlaK 40 was a German anti-aircraft gun used in World War II. Although it was not produced in great numbers, it was one of the most effective heavy AA guns of its era. Development of the gun began in 1936, with the contract being awarded to Rheinmetall Borsig; the first prototype gun was delivered for testing in late 1937 and completed testing successfully. The gun weighed nearly 12 tonnes in its firing position, with the result that its barrel had to be removed for transport. Limited service testing showed this was impractical, so in 1938 other solutions were considered. The eventual solution was to simplify the firing platform, based on the assumption it would always be securely bolted into concrete. The total weight of the system reached 26.5 tonnes, making it practically impossible to tow cross-country. In the end this mattered little, since by the time the gun entered production in 1942, it was used in primary static defensive applications. There were four twin mounts on the fortified anti-aircraft Zoo Tower, and they were also on other flak towers protecting Berlin, Hamburg, and Vienna. Approximately 200 were mounted on railcars, providing limited mobility. The gun fired a 27.9 kg (57.2-pound) shell at 880 m/s (2,890 ft/s) to a maximum ceiling of 14,800 m (48,556 ft). Compared with the 88mm FlaK 18 & 36, the 128mm used a powder charge four times as great which resulted in a shell flight time only one-third as long. This meant that it could be used more accurately against fast moving targets. The Model Whilst it is great to see this kit released, I do feel for the resin manufacturers who seem to be having the rug pulled from under them by the injection moulding companies, in that subjects that would normally only be produced in resin are now being picked up to be produced in styrene. Its a great time for the modeller, but I still feel for the cottage industry that has served us well for many years. Still, its a kit Ive always fancied and now we have one that is not only easily accessible, but relatively cheap. The kit comes in quite a large portrait orientated box with an atmospheric depiction of the guns in a night setting. Inside, there are six sprues of light grey styrene, a separate base and turntable, a small sheet of etched bras and a small decal sheet. As there are two guns, the sprues that contain them have been doubled up and the build sequence is the same for both. All the parts are well moulded, with no sign of flash or other imperfections and only a few moulding pips. The kit has been designed so that any ejection pin marks are on the insides/undersides so there is little additional clean up required other than for the sprue gates. The instructions are very clear and easy to read, in fact they have to some of the clearest instructions Ive seen in a while. Construction begins with the first of the two guns, in particular the slide, which comes in four parts, left and right halves, top panel and a small crosspiece. To this the elevation quadrant is attached, along with two fixing to the rear of the slide underside. The slide piston end cap is then attached to the front, whilst four mount fixings are fitted to the rear. Each barrel is made up of nine parts, with the rear section of the barrel, including the breech and the front section each in two halves split longitudinally. The end of the rifled barrel is sandwiched at the breech end between the two halves and the curved section of breech is attached to the left half. With the front barrel section assembled, the front and rear sections can be joined together via a single piece transition joint. The completed barrel is then slid into the previously assembled slide. The breech is then detailed with the hinged breech block, breech opening ram and associated cogs and the breech block itself, made from three parts. The recuperator tube is now assembled, from two halves to which the end cap, valve and shaft are fitted, this is then fitted to the top of the barrel and connected, by two rods, to the slide. Each of the two trunnions are made up of five parts, to which a pad, and grab handle are fitted to the left hand unit, while the right hand unit is fitted with a four piece elevation gearbox housing. The eight piece shell cradle is then attached to the rear of the slide along with a three piece connecting beam. To the top of the gun there is a complex series of fifteen parts the function of which I cannot find, other than it looks like they make up into something to do with the recoil and spent cartridge removal. The two elevation springs are assembled next, each one consists of the inner shaft, outer cylinder and three piece end cap, and they are then fitted to the underside of the gun. With both the guns assembled its on to the mounting and the assembly of the middle trunnion mount, which consists of five parts. This is followed by the upper gun mounting base unit which consists of a single piece base, to which the elevation shafts, with added cogs and poly caps are fitted after which the shaft cover is attached. At the front of the base are to storage boxes and two cover plates. Before fitting the guns to the base four hinges need to be affixed to the lower ends of the elevation spring tubes, these are not to be glued, only snapped into position. The inside trunnions are then slid into the central trunnion mount and the whole assembled fixed to the base. Each gun is then fitted with what looks like an elevation motor and a fuse setting to the outside trunnion mount panel which are fitted before these assemblies are attached.. Each elevation motor is made up of nine styrene and two PE parts, whilst the fuse setter machines are each made up of sixteen parts. The lower base unit is fitted with and end plate, on which there is a small three piece platform with associated PE grating. Each side of the base is fitted with the fighting platforms with handrails and inner edge parts plus two four piece tread steps, each with additional PE mesh grating. Each side is fitted with a crew station consisting of a seat, foot pedals and associated support frame, the right hand side station is also fitted with the training gearbox casing and control wheel. With all the platforms attached the lower base unit is attached to the underside of the upper base section. The modeller is given a choice on how to mount the zwilling, either on the hexagonal base, via a small turntable, for a fixed gun battery, or a smaller round base, also via the small turntable, which can be used on a flatbed rail wagon or the like. Takom do provide a couple of shells to display with the guns, but, unfortunately no crew. Decals The small decal sheet has markings for three guns although none are exactly covered in them with just the Hamburg gun being provided with anything different such as the kill markings on the barrels. They are well printed and quite thin, with little carrier film to worry about. The three options are:- G-Tower, Caesar gun position, Tiregarten, (zoo), Berlin 1945 in overall Panzer Grey. G-Tower, Anton gun position, Stiftskaserne, Wien, 1945, in Panzer Grey with yellow squiggles all over. G-Tower, Caeser gun position, Heiligengeistfeld, Hamburg 1945 in either overall Panzer Grey or overall Olive Green. Conclusion As I said at the beginning of this review, I do feel for the Cottage Industry and their fabulous creations, but to actually get a subject like this in injection moulding is quite incredible and something that I never thought would happen. I love big guns so was thrilled to hear of the impending release, and the wait has been worth it. There is nothing to difficult with the build, just a bit repetitive with two of everything except the base. It will certainly look great in any collection. The only downside is that, once again we are given a great gun system, but no crew to man it, perhaps it is here that the resin guys can come to the rescue. Very highly recommended. Review sample courtesy of UK Distributors for

I have just completed a build of a completely...well almost unknown and unusual, Luftwaffe bomber that I thought I'd like to share. I have placed a link to the full story of what I have found of this amazing aircraft plus some further photos of my beast. I have to admit that it may not be 100% accurate as there are no details available on the He-177Z A6/R3’s that I have been able to find. Opps forgot these photos; Heinkel He-177Z A6/R5 This is the start of the brief story of this unusual and amazing bomber, as it full story was just a bit too big for this thread. I hope you enjoy, it was an amazing and rewarding build. "Of all the Heinkel bombers produced during the Second World War the least documented and most unusual was the little known He-177Z* “Zwilling” project, born out of time where desperate measures were being looked at to help stem the growing flow for Allied conveys coming across the Atlantic. From which produced Ernest Heinkel an ultra long range aircraft of unrivalled abilities. Which if delays, shortages in strategic materials and political interference had not occurred, may have had a dramatic effect in the supply of materials to the UK? *occasionally referred to in some text as the He-377, recovered documentation shows this designation was never used for this aircraft and was reserved for a project that never left the drawing board" And yes that is a Rheinmetall BK 5 auto cannon in the starboard nose, that actual fitment of guided weapons cannot be confirmed but they included: Henschel Hs-293's Henschel Hs-295's Henschel GT-1200A LT 950 T Glider Torpedo Ruhrstahl X-4 Air to Air missiles (though fitment of these was/is debated)

German 37mm Flak 43 Zwilling Trumpeter 1:35 History The Flak 43 Zwilling was a development of the 3.7 cm Flak 43, which whilst as a single barrelled weapon was a dramatic improvement over older models. The new weapon introduced a gas-operated breech which increased the practical firing rate to 150 RPM, while at the same time dropping in weight to 1,250 kg (2,760 lb) in combat, and 2,000 kg (4,400 lb) in transport. Instead of having a single barrel the Zwilling, as the name suggests, was designed to mount two barrels. While this was thought to enable double the fire power from a single mount it proved to be unwieldy and heavy. This resulted in the increased production of the single mounts which proved pretty successful, particularly when mounted on Sd.Kfz 7s, and Panzer IV chassis producing the Mobelwagen and Ostwind. The Model The kit comes in Trumpeters standard top opening, and quite attractive box, with an artistic representation of the gun in action against some rather low flying B-17s. Inside there are seven sprues of light grey coloured styrene, plus a small sheet of etched brass. The mouldings are very well produced, with no sign of flash and only a few moulding pips. Surface detail is good although the bolt heads on the splinter shield are perhaps a little small. The build begins with the splinter shield, which is fitted out with the sighting hatch on the right hand side which can be posed either open or closed. On the inside there are four further shield panels fitted along with their support braces. The two guns are made up in the same way with the lower gun section in three parts, which once joined together, fitted with two recoil springs and the top breech section. The elevation shield is fitted to the mounting arms which are attached to each side of the breech; these differ in size depending on whether it’s fitted to the upper or lower weapon. The ammunition tray is then attached to the port side of the breech. The crew control sub assemblies are made up and these include the elevation and traversing wheels, plus the crew seats and their mounts. The elevation mountings on either side of the guns are in two halves, which, when joined together are fitted out with the rotating parts, the control sub assemblies, seats, control rods and sighting units. The right hand side is also fitted with foot pedals, and support brackets. The completed guns are then fitted to either the upper or lower elevation rotational parts and sandwiched between the two structures. The footplate is fitted with a turntable part underneath, whilst on top there are two ammunition boxes, another crew seat and grab handles. Onto this the gun mount is then attached, followed by the splinter shield, spent case tray and the etched brass netting that surrounds it. Finally the whole mount is fitted to the trailer bed, which is assembled from upper and lower halves, associated travel locks and three footpads. The kit also comes with several clips of 37mm ammunition which will help in the making of a nice diorama. Conclusion This is a fairly simple kit, but it does have a lot of character, the etched netting is a nice feature. Although not as widely used as the single barreled weapons it would make an interesting subject when combined with a suitable crew. For a what if, you could mount it on a truck, halftrack or even a flatbed railway wagon, as I’m sure the Germans would have done so at some point even if there are few photos available. The kit would also make a nice quick mojo build as it could be built in a day or two, then have fun painting and weathering. The only downside is the lack of crew which would have been nice to have included. Highly recommended. Review sample courtesy of

Of all the Heinkel bombers produced during the Second World War the least documented and most unusual was the little known He-177Z* “Zwilling” project, born out of time where desperate measures were being looked at to help stem the growing flow for Allied conveys coming across the Atlantic. From which produced Ernest Heinkel an ultra long range aircraft of unrivalled abilities. Which if delays, shortages in strategic materials and political interference had not occurred, may have had a dramatic effect in the supply of materials to the UK? *occasionally referred to in some text as the He-377, recovered documentation shows this designation was never used for this aircraft and was reserved for a project that never left the drawing board A small group of designers at Henkel’s Vienna-Schwechat works were given the task of designing an aircraft to meet the RLM’s requirements. It became quickly apparent that a radically new design could not be achieved with the resources available in the time frame required. With the He-177 slowly losing favour with the RLM due to reliability issues with the DB 606 engines which were causing heating and fire issues with the He-177A3’s. So an innovative design was drawn up using two He-177’s airframes with a new centre wing section housing the third engine. With the design having 80% commonality with the existing He-177 production and development costs could be kept to a minimum. The initial prototype was built from two early development He-177’s, V13 and V14 (Wk-Nr 00 0024 & 0025) in August 43. The prototype V1 required with only additional strengthening required for the new centre wing section which was made up from the inner sections main wings. Additional strengthen was require after initial flight tests around the undercarriage mounts due to the additional weight. These were early preproduction aircraft fitted with the Daimler Benz BD 606 (2600 HP)** coupled engines. Though using under powered and running notoriously unreliable engines, early flight testing showed the aircraft to have good handling qualities and exceptionally stable. Under the right conditions with one of the coupled DB 605’s shutdown, level flight could still be maintained. ** in later testing these were changed out to the more reliable and more powerful DB 610’s after the engine fire! With success of the initial flight trials seven further development aircraft were planned but later cancelled due to lack of funding and resources. Aircraft V1 was kept as the sole development aircraft. Despite a few minor undercarriage mishaps and an engine fire in the centre coupled engine*** development continued successfully. During this time He-117Z V1 and He-177A-3 V21 carried out trails with the Hs 293 remote controlled bomb as well as other missiles and bombs at Peenemünda. *** The engine fire occurred during high altitude trails and seriously damaged the centre wing section. The aircraft only managed to remain in-flight and land due to the innovative design and strength of the new wing section. With the introduction of the He-177A-5 and its engine improvements He-117Z V1 and replaced a newer aircraft made up from He-177 V101 & 102. This was fitted initially with the DB 610C-2 (2950 HP) then for most of its life with the more powerful DB613B-0 (3200 HP) before finishing with the last and most powerful coupled DB engine, the DB627D (+3600 HP). This engine comprised of two DB 603N two-stage supercharged engine with after cooler, each developing 1900 HP continuous and 2750 HP max at sea level. These we to be the engines fitted to the He-177Z A6-R3. The He-177Z V2 entered into development trails without issues and the additional power from the new DB engines improved all handling aspects of the aircraft. The success of these trial prompted Heinkel into series production planning. Aircraft V3, V4, and V5 followed on shortly thereafter, these aircraft were made up from He-177A5 airframes and were eventually converted**** to operational He-177Z A5/R2’s with the DB 613B-0 engines. ****(V3 and V5 only, V4 was lost during a over water weapons test) After demonstrations to the RLM were given in April 44, permission was given for limited production shortly thereafter. With the worsening start of the war and growing allied bombings, development and production suffered. Only eight 8 of the He-177Z A5/R2’s were built and released onto service September 44 with KG40 first before moving to KG100. In parallel to development to the other He-177Z’s, aircraft V6 was to be a different aircraft altogether. To closer match the RLM requirements of offensive armaments and large calibre cannon was to be fitted in the nose of the aircraft. Initially He-177 V18 was used as a development aircraft and was fitted with a 30mm Mk101 cannon, this was later changed to a single then double Rheinmetall BK 3.7 auto cannon. ***** ***** unconfirmed reports were that a 7.5cm Pak 42 or 8.8cm Pak 43 were fitted, but it is suggested that the shock of firing was too great for the airframe and caused engine issues. Ultimately a single Rheinmetall BK 5 auto cannon was selected and fitted into a streamline pod under the right hand side cockpit gondolier. Fitted with special 5 round magazines, these cannons provided to be very effective against the new convoy escort ships and devastating against long range patrol aircraft. New advances in radar development prompted the idea of fitting radar to the aircraft to aid in target acquiring and identification. Telefunken has just developed a variation of their new centimetre radar, the FuG 240 Berlin which used a dish antenna rather than the earlier antenna arrays. Given the size of the new radar a bomber the size of the He-177Z would be perfect. Aircraft V6 tried various combinations of Air to Surface and Air to Air radars during testing ****** ******even a version of the FuG 244 “Bremen was tested in a airborne early warning (AEW) system, this was planned for the He-477 “Amerika” Bomber Trails were completed on V6 quite quickly after a very intensive few months at the end of 44. By early February 45 the first three (3) production aircraft, A6/R3’s, were completed (these were the only ones to be complete by war’s end. These were originally intended to be A5/R3’s (R2’s with the new more powerful DB627D engines). These had quickly been upgraded to the A6 standard which was fitted with FuG 240S (surface scan radar) in special nose mount and normal FuG 240 radar in a tail mount for air defence. Plus a power turret from a He-177 A6 to replace the single 20mm cannon for the earlier models. These three aircraft were quickly dispatched to KG100 and started operational missions at the start of mid-April 45 with immediate success. In just two weeks shipping losses of around 120,000 tons were achieved, which included the CVE HMS Campania. These were mostly to the newly operation Anti-shipping missiles produced by Henschel, but a few were by the nose mounted Rheinmetall BK 5 auto cannon. None of these amazing aircraft survived the war, with all aircraft being destroyed less they fall in the hands of the Allies.

Hi, folks! Let me present you my latest model. It's the "Zwilling" - another creation of a gloomy German genius. Served exclusively for towing heavy glider Me-321 or two Gotha Go-242. Photos from the site here: http://scalemania.ru/forum/viewtopic.php?f=11&t=588&p=9600#p9600.