Mitch K Posted June 13, 2018 Share Posted June 13, 2018 While my Me 163 and He 162 builds drift along, I found I wanted something that was going to actually make measurable progress, and I was unable to resist this. Whether it will make progress is another matter altogether! The Heinkel He70 was one of those super transitional designs of the early 1930's. Designed as a fast mail plane and small-capacity airliner, it set speed records on its maiden flight, and was significantly faster than the RAF's premier fighter of the time, the Hawker Fury. As well as its civilian role, it entered military service as a fast reconnaissance platform and light bomber. The Heinkel's early super speed was soon matched, and with this advantage gone, its military usefulness waned. This waning was speeded up by issues around its construction. The Heinkel was built from a super-light metal alloy called Elektron. Electron has a density of only two-thirds that of duralamin, with similar strength, making it very attractive as a material for building high-performance aircraft. Elektron is a magnesium alloy, and has the property of being very easy to ignite, and once ignited, being almost impossible to extinguish. In point of fact, it was widely used during the war as the material for constructing incendiary bombs. Couple this with unprotected fuel tanks and plywood skinning, the Heinkel gained a reputation as a total firetrap. It would probably have been possible to swap the Elektron for conventional dural and substitute the BMW engine for something like a DB601 to maintain/improve the power to weight ratio but you would still be left with a design which was too much aircraft for not enough bombload. The Heinkels ended their days as liaison aircraft and for transporting high-ranking Luftwaffe officers. The kit is, I believe an ICM offering re-boded by Revell. The parts are nicely moulded in fairly soft grey plastic, with some lovely surface detail and a comprehensive interior. I sprayed the interior with RLM 02, which was then drybrushed and given a wash of dark grey. The only thing I've added is seatbelts. The kit allows the building of the airline version, with an additional fuselage door and a solid roof, or the military version with the long greenhouse canopy. To do the latter, one needs to carve out a section of the upper fuselage. This is very clearly marked on the kit and is easy to accomplish. The kit instrument panels are moulded in clear plastic with some intricate dial detail, which is supplemented by some rather nice decals. This shows the navigator/observer's instruments. These were presumably those needed to allow dead reckoning. The pilot's panel is larger and more comprehensive, and the rear area is supplemented with the radio set. Next step is to get the fuselage together. The bulkheads need a bit of sanding to size/shape to allow a tight fit. Nothing too dramatic, but I'm not convinced that out of the box it work at all. There are alignment/location pins, but they're small and the holes are very shallow, so it takes a bit of care. 11 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JWM Posted June 14, 2018 Share Posted June 14, 2018 Interesting, that ICM kit is packed by Revell instead of Matchbox one, as proviously. Nice interior work. J-W 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Azgaron Posted June 14, 2018 Share Posted June 14, 2018 Nice work! Looking good! Håkan 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Martian Posted June 14, 2018 Share Posted June 14, 2018 Nice start on a very attractive subject. Martian 👽 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JWM Posted June 15, 2018 Share Posted June 15, 2018 Have you already decided which scheme you chose? If you need some additional materials I have some, maybe useful , just PM... Regards J-W 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jean Posted June 15, 2018 Share Posted June 15, 2018 Hi Mitch, I am not too sure what a He 70 looks like, although I guess I could google that, if I were not so idle... Your work looks rather nice and precise. Great start! Are you going to do a plane from Bosnia-Herzegovina or Borduria? Have fun!!!! JR 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mitch K Posted June 15, 2018 Author Share Posted June 15, 2018 13 hours ago, JWM said: Have you already decided which scheme you chose? If you need some additional materials I have some, maybe useful , just PM... Regards J-W Jerzy, many thanks! I am planning to build the aircraft represented in the kit - a utility bird serving with Luftdienst-Kommando 62 at Zwischenahn, so a nice, simple RLM 70/71 over 65. I've made promises before about building out of the box, I know, but this time I intend to keep the promise! Thanks again! 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mitch K Posted June 15, 2018 Author Share Posted June 15, 2018 58 minutes ago, jean said: Hi Mitch, I am not too sure what a He 70 looks like, although I guess I could google that, if I were not so idle... Your work looks rather nice and precise. Great start! Are you going to do a plane from Bosnia-Herzegovina or Borduria? Have fun!!!! JR Everybody knows the Bordurians didn't operate this variant! They used a version of the Hungarian airframes, replacing the WM-built engine with the extremely rare Bristol Hippocampus radial. 🙄 Keep up dear boy! In case you're worried I'm going too mainstream, I have Romanian and Croatian builds planned! 3 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Martian Posted June 15, 2018 Share Posted June 15, 2018 That's a really nice looking interior. Martian 👽 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JWM Posted June 16, 2018 Share Posted June 16, 2018 Interesting to see the ICM kit - it is much more detailed than Matchbox (Revell) from my stash.... I am going to do mine in SCW colours, I have already radial He 170 done in Hungarian livery. Regarding Luftwaffe schemes there is a strange scheme on Wing Palette with all wing bottom yellow Have a happy time with it J-W 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jean Posted June 16, 2018 Share Posted June 16, 2018 14 hours ago, Mitch K said: Everybody knows the Bordurians didn't operate this variant! They used a version of the Hungarian airframes, replacing the WM-built engine with the extremely rare Bristol Hippocampus radial. 🙄 Keep up dear boy! In case you're worried I'm going too mainstream, I have Romanian and Croatian builds planned! Phhhewww, Mitch!!! For a second there, you go me worried!!! You, building Luftwaffe aircraft???!!!! Where was our world going? I do apologize for my horrid mistake about the Bordurians' variant. I am re-reading Tintin , the in extenso Croatian edition! Cheers. JR 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TallBlondJohn Posted June 16, 2018 Share Posted June 16, 2018 Was fondling this kit covetously in my LMS only an hour ago - now I have to resist temptation all over again! Especially with the yellow wings. And it would fit both my experimental aircraft department and the record breakers... Anyway, let ssee how this build goes first. Yeah right... 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mitch K Posted June 16, 2018 Author Share Posted June 16, 2018 3 hours ago, jean said: Phhhewww, Mitch!!! For a second there, you go me worried!!! You, building Luftwaffe aircraft???!!!! Where was our world going? I do apologize for my horrid mistake about the Bordurians' variant. I am re-reading Tintin , the in extenso Croatian edition! Cheers. JR That Bristol Hippocampus - the world's only horizontal radial engine!😄 I've built Luftwaffe aircraft before and I probably will again, heck I've built RAF aircraft and even one USAAF bird in a moment of weakness. Actually, I also have a Spanish build in mind too! 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Killingholme Posted June 16, 2018 Share Posted June 16, 2018 I always assumed the Revell HE-70 kit was another re-box of the old Matchbox kit. What's the kit number of the Revell/ICM kit so I can look out for it? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jean Posted June 16, 2018 Share Posted June 16, 2018 1 hour ago, Mitch K said: That Bristol Hippocampus - the world's only horizontal radial engine!😄 I've built Luftwaffe aircraft before and I probably will again, heck I've built RAF aircraft and even one USAAF bird in a moment of weakness. Actually, I also have a Spanish build in mind too! Radial and horizontal does not bother me: who decided that a radial engine has to be looked at from the front? Why not from the top? or the bottom for that matter? You built a USAAF model?! Were you out of your mind? Unless of course it was something slightly exotic? The Budd Conestoga comes to mind, and would be just down your street!!! Of course it would be a USAAF whif! As long as you can live with yourself, that 's fine! JR 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mitch K Posted June 16, 2018 Author Share Posted June 16, 2018 I built some P-51D's, mainly because they were birds that flew from the airfields close to where I was born. I lost the will with them because I simply cannot get on with the Airfix P-51: I've started three and finished one. The rest have languished because I found getting the fuselage to close up was worse than most of the short-run kits I've wrestled with. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jean Posted June 16, 2018 Share Posted June 16, 2018 9 minutes ago, Mitch K said: I built some P-51D's, mainly because they were birds that flew from the airfields close to where I was born. I lost the will with them because I simply cannot get on with the Airfix P-51: I've started three and finished one. The rest have languished because I found getting the fuselage to close up was worse than most of the short-run kits I've wrestled with. Mitch, that's because you read instructions in serbo-croatian fluently, and struggle with papers written in Airfixese... JR 3 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mitch K Posted June 21, 2018 Author Share Posted June 21, 2018 Here are some more shots of the cockpit. In contrast to Spitfires, Bf-109's and the like, you can see quite a lot. 3 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Martian Posted June 21, 2018 Share Posted June 21, 2018 Tasty! Martian 👽 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mitch K Posted June 22, 2018 Author Share Posted June 22, 2018 These shots show the joint lines after assembly. You'll know I'm not the luckiest/most skillful in getting joints to close up, but it took a huge amount of trimming and fettling to get to this stage. These where the inner and out wing panels join were the worst. I masked either side and used white milliput to fill them, then smoothed it all out to reduce the amount of sanding. I did the upper wing/wing root joins with kneadtite green. You can get a really smooth finish with no sanding (in fact the stuff won't sand), but it shrinks a bit and isn't really amenable to building up in layers, so I find it really only works on narrow gaps like this. However, it does allow you to really preserve surface details. The tailcone took a LOT of fitting, and any resemblance between the original form of the slots in it and what was needed is pure coincidence. Following a few goes over with standard Squadron green putty everywhere else, I installed the fuselage windows (except the small round porthole which has gone the way of the wind and will need doing with Clearfix or something). I also installed and fitted wingtip navigation lights. After this I gave her a good scrub up and masked the lights and windows, ready for a coat of primer. This isn't a "full" prime as such, but more a case of seeing if any more filler will be needed. At that point I'll fit the rest of glazing. 4 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Martian Posted June 22, 2018 Share Posted June 22, 2018 Well worth the effort with the fettling and filling, she is beginning to look every bit the original aeroplane was. Martian 👽 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mitch K Posted June 22, 2018 Author Share Posted June 22, 2018 She's a beautiful aeroplane, Martian. Personally I think the Hungarian version with the radial engine is even better-looking - the BMW engine cowling is a bit lumpy for the rest of her lines. Might start with some paint soon! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jean Posted June 22, 2018 Share Posted June 22, 2018 Hi Mitch, she really is a beauty! Funny, but I like the typical Heinkel nose with the in line engine. Whatever, this is a great build. JR 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mitch K Posted July 4, 2018 Author Share Posted July 4, 2018 Here's the underside in RLM 65, with the wheel wells in RLM 02. I think the seam where the outer panel butts up needs a little more work. The RLM 71 went down nicely so I've masked up for the RLM 70. 7 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mitch K Posted July 11, 2018 Author Share Posted July 11, 2018 After adding the RLM 70 and stripping off the masks, she got a coat of Klear, and is now ready for decals. Revell don't supply tail swastikas, but my Xtradecals "Any size you like" sheet will provide. 4 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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