Airgunner Posted June 9, 2018 Share Posted June 9, 2018 Whilst waiting for a new canopy for my 262, I thought I would make a start on another of my favourite subjects, the Heinkel 111. It remains one of my favourite aircraft to this day, I remember as a boy in the very late sixties going over to Blackbushe with my Dad to see the planes there, the airfield owner at the time had several Ju-52's, a couple of B-25's various Spitfires and, over in the corner of the field, a 111. Alright, it was a Spanish CASA, but to a boy brought up on stories of the BoB, it was the real thing and of massive interest. One day, we saw some blokes working on it, and cheekily asked if we could have a look inside. They told us they were preparing it for a taxi run to the hanger at the other end of the airfield and would I like a ride? Well, no need to ask twice and a delirious 8 years rode about two miles around the perimeter track in the bomb-aimers position. I've loved the type ever since! On to the kit, no box top shot as it's covered in paint. The kit is molded in very soft grey plastic, and there seems to be quite a lot of mould lines on most parts, but they are easy to remove with a swish of a file. More concerning is the huge amount of ejector pin marks that need to be cleaned up first and some are in some pretty prominent areas. On reading the instructions, it seems the build process is quite modular, with various sub assemblies coming together later in the build. Construction starts not with the cockpit as usual, but the interior. I will be building this buttoned up so I'm not going to massively spend loads of time in here, infact, it got a squirt of RLM02 and the control boxes painted black, incase they can be seen through the windows. The fuselage can then be closed as the design of the cockpit means it fits on the front of the fuselage. For those that want loads of detail, the bomb racks are very well done, but other than a coat of RLM02 I am doing nothing with them so no photos here. Onto the cockpit bits and bobs, the main floor is assembled and painted, no massive detailing here as I want this to be a quick build to see if its worth getting another and going to town on it, The seat and control column are next.. This is the fuselage closed up with sidewalls etc painted., ready for the completed cockpits assembly. And with the cockpit in place.... Whilst waiting for that lot to dry, I started the engine nacelles, which are mini kits in themselves. That's it for now, more later... 5 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Unfinished project Posted June 9, 2018 Share Posted June 9, 2018 Good start, these new Airfix kits look fantastic, nice subtle wear on the inside of the front fuselage Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Brandy Posted June 9, 2018 Share Posted June 9, 2018 Nice start! I have an ongoing build of this with interior PE, stalled at the moment due to relocation for a new job, but it's a lovely kit, and I haven't found any huge gotchas yet. Ian Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Airgunner Posted June 12, 2018 Author Share Posted June 12, 2018 (edited) On 6/9/2018 at 6:16 PM, limeypilot said: Nice start! I have an ongoing build of this with interior PE, stalled at the moment due to relocation for a new job, but it's a lovely kit, and I haven't found any huge gotchas yet. Ian Thank you Ian. I am more than minded now as this build goes on to go to town on one will PE goodies etc, despite it's little annoyances it really is a nice kit to build. Onto progress, a couple of better shots of the nacelles, they went together well, but needed a little fettling with a file to clean them up afterwards. The nacelles were then fitted to the wings, again a little fiddling about was required to make them fit, nothing drastic, but they would go in the gap without it. Once in there was a few steps on the joins to sort out, but nothing a bit of filing and tidying with wet and dry can't sort out. A quick dab of filler was needed to sort out a small gap at the top, this was more my fault than the kits, it's the only filler I've used so far. Next up the exhausts got a quick blast of Alclad Exhaust manifold. These will be opened out and a quick tart up with some pastels later. So this is where we are now. Starting to look like she should, everything has been an excellent fit and goes together simply. Making a start on the smaller ancillery assemblies now, like the upper gunners position and undercarriage. The quandry I have now is do I hold for a couple of days and try to get some pre-cut masks for the glazing, or try and do it myself? There is a lot of it so I may wait, but it is now at the point where it is critical to the build to get it done. More soon, thanks for looking. Steve Edited June 12, 2018 by Airgunner 3 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Azgaron Posted June 12, 2018 Share Posted June 12, 2018 Very nice work! Håkan Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Airgunner Posted July 1, 2018 Author Share Posted July 1, 2018 (edited) So, back from some time off and on with the build. Decided against masks so I'm doing it myself. Big mistake. It's very fiddly and there is A LOT of glazing. I started with the lower gondola, this comes in three pieces, so I started with the middle bit, masked it and stuck it in place. This is the first piece that hasn't really fitted perfectly, it took a bit of fettling to get in place. The goo at the back of it is dissolve sprue used as a plastic filler which is easy to work and obviously well once set. I also used it to fill the attachment points for the towel rail. I then masked and added the rear gun position.. And finally the front part... So with that done, I started on the cockpit glazing, with the bottom section first so I can the rest around it. The nose comes in four pieces so I will add one at a time and let it set up before moving on. It will be a slow process, but necessary I feel. So that's it for this update, hoping for a bit of cooler weather soon so I can get on with laying down some paint. One other quick item of note, those who saw my 262 build will remember I destroyed my old cutting mat by throwing Alclad thinners all over it. I was in The Works the other day picking up James Hollands RAF 100 book for a tenner, when I spied a pile of A2 cutting mats for a mere £8 each, so I grabbed two. Worth a look if anyone needs one. More soon Steve Edited July 1, 2018 by Airgunner 3 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Azgaron Posted July 1, 2018 Share Posted July 1, 2018 Quite a bit of work to mask all the glass. Nice work so far! Håkan Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Airgunner Posted July 13, 2018 Author Share Posted July 13, 2018 (edited) This hot weather is killing my bench time, far to hot to spend anytime in the shed. However, did get some thing done last night. First up, the instrument panels were painted and the kit decal used. I also added a bit of twisted wire to connect the two so I could add a bit more detail. Cockpit closed in. This took place over three separate sessions, it is a really good fit but needed a tiny bit of fettling to get perfect. Next time up I may assemble the whole thing first then fit it to the fuselage to see if I can save a bit of time. So, if you look carefully at that phone you will see my first balls up. I closed it up before I added the ip Fortunately there is just enough room through the hatch on the cockpit roof to wiggle it in. Just glad I noticed before I put the front gunners glazing on.... Also got a few other bits done, props built and upper gunners position started... So that's it for now, supposed to be a bit cooler today so I may try and start to lay some paint. More soon Steve Edited July 13, 2018 by Airgunner 3 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Airgunner Posted July 23, 2018 Author Share Posted July 23, 2018 Another small update between bouts of impossibly warm weather, got some bits and pieces done. First up, cockpit glazing got a coat of RLM02 sealed in with black. A coat of primer then went down to check for any imperfections.. Whilst that was curing, I set about sorting some of the smaller assemblies, starting with the undercarriage... Other odds and sods done.. Gear doors painted and washed... Then cleaned up... A quick pre-shade.. Then the first coat of RLM65.... That's it for now, more soon hopefully.... Steve 4 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Azgaron Posted July 23, 2018 Share Posted July 23, 2018 Nice paint job, so far! Håkan Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Airgunner Posted August 6, 2018 Author Share Posted August 6, 2018 Time for another update, finally got some painting done..!! Started with a nice patchy coat of RLM71. I have used Xtracolour enamels for the first time as they didn't have the Luftwaffe colours I wanted in Acrylics. They are also gloss finish so will eliminate the need for a clear coat before decals... Then a couple of hours masking the splinter... Before lying down the RLM70... As you can see, it was probably was a bit too warm when I did the spraying and I got a slightly pebbly finish. Because it is a gloss finish, it looks worse than it is, so before decalling It will need a light colour sand and then a clear coat after all. So here she is unwrapped but not sanded.... After a light sanding to smooth the surface. This also has the added bonus of being able to add a bit of wear and tear and weathering. All done with 12000 grit Micromesh. So, finally time to start decals. I started with all the large ones so I could get them settled before attempting the millions of stencils the Luftwaffe like wasting paint on.. So, that's it for now, they have all been doused in Microset and Sol to snuggle them down. Tomorrow I'll start on the tiny stencils that come with the kit then get a sealing cost on ready for a wash and weathering... More soon, thanks for looking Steve 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Airgunner Posted August 7, 2018 Author Share Posted August 7, 2018 Very small update, after 2 hours of eye watering decalling, all the stencils are on... So thats it, it's now had a clear coat so will leave that to go off and on to weathering tomorrow... Steve 4 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ozzy Posted August 7, 2018 Share Posted August 7, 2018 Nice build Steve, there's some nice detail in the new Airfx kit. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MikeR Posted August 8, 2018 Share Posted August 8, 2018 Coming along nicely! Mike. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Brandy Posted August 8, 2018 Share Posted August 8, 2018 Looking great now the paint and decals are on. I'm looking forward to seeing it weathered. Ian Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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