Heller Classic GB Chat

[JOCKNEY]

2 hours ago, TonyOD said:

Thanks for that. I was just scanning through the Mistercraft stuff too. Lots of ex-Heller at prices that seem too good to be true. Many, many decal options but pics suggest the printing might be a bit "acid" there also.

 

I've found the Mistercraft stuff a bit variable.  The kits have a tendency to be flash-tastic and some of the decals are great whilst others are considerably off register.  What you can't argue with is value, some kits have 5 decal options along with the kit for about £7 including postage !

 

Cheers Pat 

[rob Lyttle]

2 hours ago, JOCKNEY said:

I've found the Mistercraft stuff a bit variable.

I'd say that's it in a nutshell. If you don't know you're kits, and I don't, you don't know what you're going to get! 

Could be Heller, could be Frog, Polish or any. Scalemates can shine a valuable light. 

And decals..... They can throw up many surprises, good and bad! 

I'm looking at Smer decals for the Talbot Lago T26 racer right now and they look fine..... although it is just race numbers and some dials. 

A previous racer was the Merit Alfa Romeo 159 by Mistercraft and they worked but were fragile. The lack of carrier film paid off in the long run with no edges or silver. 

Bit of a lottery, but then that applies to the whole world of decals, doesn't it? 

All you can do is try them out 😎

[rob Lyttle]

My Heller kit of the Talbot Lago T26 racer is breezing along, compared to the graft of the Delahaye 135 coupe and I'm now starting to look around for the next effort. 

I'm not having any longings for getting back into aircraft at the moment 😏 and I think you'd better pencil me in for the E type. ✏️‼️

I lifted the lid and that little Heller Fairy popped up and blew some glittering dust over me.... 

 

I'll have a look and a read through, and see what's in the bags...... 🧚🧚‍♂️🧚‍♀️🧞‍♀️

 

Darn fairy-dust....... ‼️

[Johnson]

I've got a couple of Heller kits in the stash, so will be joining the GB soon. But I really fancy making a Messerschmitt Bf 109 G-2.

 

Heller do the kit; HELLER 1/72 230 MESSERSCHMITT BF 109 G2/5/6, and Kingkit have ample stock.

 

But is it any good? Should I make the kits I have in the stash, and save the Bf 109 G-2 for another manufacturer and build?

 

Any advice much appreciated!

[TonyW]

35 minutes ago, Johnson said:

I've got a couple of Heller kits in the stash, so will be joining the GB soon. But I really fancy making a Messerschmitt Bf 109 G-2.

 

Heller do the kit; HELLER 1/72 230 MESSERSCHMITT BF 109 G2/5/6, and Kingkit have ample stock.

 

But is it any good? Should I make the kits I have in the stash, and save the Bf 109 G-2 for another manufacturer and build?

 

Any advice much appreciated!

Charlie, I have a K-4 and an F sat here. Both yours if you want them. PM me your address and I'll fire them off in the week.

 

Tony.

[Jinxman]

1 hour ago, Johnson said:

I've got a couple of Heller kits in the stash, so will be joining the GB soon. But I really fancy making a Messerschmitt Bf 109 G-2.

 

Heller do the kit; HELLER 1/72 230 MESSERSCHMITT BF 109 G2/5/6, and Kingkit have ample stock.

 

But is it any good? Should I make the kits I have in the stash, and save the Bf 109 G-2 for another manufacturer and build?

 

Any advice much appreciated!

It's ok, but not the best - if you, (probably unfairly 😏),  compare it to Tamiya's latest offering for instance. However, it would be great to see it in the GB, so I would say build it.

[Johnson]

42 minutes ago, TonyW said:

Charlie, I have a K-4 and an F sat here. Both yours if you want them. PM me your address and I'll fire them off in the week.

Tony, thanks - that's really kind of you, but for the build I have in mind it would have to be a Bf 109 G. There is a bit of a story behind my intentions, scratching an old itch!

 

And having just done a bit of research (isn't Britmodeller wonderful?), there are too many differences between the F, K and G models.

 

14 minutes ago, Jinxman said:

It's ok, but not the best - if you, (probably unfairly 😏),  compare it to Tamiya's latest offering for instance. However, it would be great to see it in the GB, so I would say build it

 

I suspect you're absolutely right Jinxman. I may go ahead and order the Heller just to see.

[TonyW]

Sorry Charlie, no G's at this end. Until your post I wasn't aware of a Heller G. That reveals another gap in my collection!

[fightersweep]

4 hours ago, TonyW said:

Until your post I wasn't aware of a Heller G.

 

Tony!! I'm surprised at you young man! 🤣

[TonyW]

I'm still a new kid on the block as far as Heller goes, barely getting to grips with the companies output.

I've got a B, E ,F and K sat here, all by Heller, all black box kits. At some point a G will join them I guess. Then the need for earlier issues rears its head... It's not easy being a collector!

 

[fightersweep]

I do like the black boxes. My era as far as Heller goes. I've had the two types of K-4 in the black box. The later "proper" K-4, and the early version which was basically a Gustav that they stuck in a box, called it a K and thought we wouldn't notice. You'll need one of those for completeness. I like the newer K-4, B/C and E. They are still cracking kits.

[TonyW]

The weekend saw a bit of bench action taking place, but not enough to add to any of my build threads. The chat thread can have another post though...

 

First up, a tidy up! Boy did the bench need it. I'm a messy builder at the best of times and things get out of hand quite quickly. A clean up got me to here...

 

 

 

Most of the current builders all sat on the bench, with parts to complete sat with them. Possible bases sorted as well. The Hawk is currently at the front of the line with a Bloch and Potez right behind.

 

 

The Amiot 143 looks like a freshly plucked chicken ready for the spatchcock treatment! It's two mates look on in pity...

 

 

...and to add to the possible entries from me, this little Caudron just came out of a bleach bath. It was destined for a refinish in the KUTA GB but now the rather thick paint is off, the poor build is revealed. It's a built kit that came to me as part of a job lot.  Finished in, er, Finnish markings, it had to be stripped down as I don't get on with swastikas. The Finns went overboard with the things! I've got a handful of built Luftwaffe planes and the swastikas on them make me uneasy but I'll suffer them reluctantly. There's nothing for it but to break the model down and start again. If it joins the build list it will have an outside chance for glory here, who knows? It's a pretty little plane that deserves better than the carnage I've inflicted on it.

 

 

 

There should be more to report in the various build threads during the week.

 

Tony.

 

 

[Heather Kay]

12 minutes ago, TonyW said:

I don't get on with swastikas

I can understand that sentiment.

 

However...

 

Quote

The swastika symbol, 卐 (right-facing or clockwise) or 卍 (left-facing or counterclockwise), is an ancient religious icon in the cultures of Eurasia. The left-facing version may also be referred to as sauwastika. It is used as a symbol of divinity and spirituality in Indian religions, including Hinduism, Buddhism and Jainism. In the Western world, it was a symbol of auspiciousness and good luck until the 1930s when the right-facing tilted form became a feature of Nazi symbolism as an emblem of the Aryan race.

The Finns used it in an original and ancient form, whereas the Nazis literally twisted its form and usage.

 

Here's the Wikipedia page from where I lifted the quote.

[TonyW]

I can go along with that Heather. It doesn't fully translate to the real world though.

The nazi's have a lot to answer for, including perverting a harmless old symbol. My other half is German. I doubt we could hang a swastika outside our house as a good luck charm, the symbol is now perverted.

 

The point gets raised a lot and the same statements get their usual airing, which is good and healthy. I wasn't trying to make any points here, only my reasons for tearing into an old model. It's a measure of the depth of feeling out there that the subject can still ruffle feathers so many years later!

 

 

[Heather Kay]

Agreed.
 

Personally, I dislike the mild airbrushing of history that we see on box art, but accept it for what it is, and completely understand the reasons for it. I like to build historically accurate - as far as I can, at least - models, and so the symbol has to be applied where appropriate. It doesn’t represent anything regarding my personal political leanings, it is simply a historical fact. Others hold different views, and that is how it should be.

[TonyOD]

It's an emotive one to be sure. Building the occasional Luftwaffe plane with Hakenkreuz on the tail, probably no cause for alarm. Enthusiastically collecting Third Reich memorabilia, not so much. That said, I was casting about for aftermarket decal sheets for a Ju.52 and Print Scale do decals for a scheme that is basically the Nazi flag with wings. It was kind of appealing but also made me feel a bit queasy at the same time.

[rob Lyttle]

It's hard to separate the honour and bravery of the Luftwaffe from the political regime of the time. But the paintwork on their planes represents something that can't be handled easily. 

Always been baffled by the Finnish status. They were fighting the Russians, and the Russians were on the allied side, but the Finns had Hurricanes and Gladiators, decorated with swastikas, but reverse style..... 

 

I guess they were fighting their own battle.... 

[Graham Boak]

The Finnish swastika had nothing to do with the Nazi party or policies, but was the private symbol of the Swedish Count responsible for the first Finnish military aircraft.  The Finns had Hurricanes and Gladiators delivered either prewar or in support of Finland during the Winter War with Russia, when Russia was allied to Germany.

 

It's all in the history...  One of the joys of this hobby is that it can lead you to other aspects that you might not have considered.

[Heather Kay]

7 minutes ago, rob Lyttle said:

I guess they were fighting their own battle.... 

 

Quite. It's an area of my 1940 obsession that I really must try to get to grips with. My cursory reading of the situation is the Finns were a co-belligerant with the Germans in 1940, against the Soviet Russians. The Finnish use of the swastika as a symbol had nothing to do with their relationship with Germany, but was a favourite symbol of one of the founders of the Finnish air force in the 1910s.

 

At the risk of dragging ourselves further off topic - like that never happens ever anywhere anyways! - Hitler was so impressed at how easily the essentially inferior Finnish forces managed to beat the better-equipped Russian forces it is said he believed Operation Barbarossa would be highly successful. Well, we all know how that turned out in the end.

 

Ha! Cross-posted with Graham!

[Black Knight]

Without going too much off-topic.

I come across the bent-cross in lots of historical leatherwork. Often I've been asked to reproduce the leatherwork and I have no problem including the broken-cross. Sometimes the client hasn't even spotted the cross in the original piece.

[Foxbat]

I've just spent an enjoyable 20 minutes on Wikipedia reading up on the many and various uses of the swastika around Europe. As well as the Finns and Germans, in red and white it was the marking of the Latvian Air Force in their brief window of independence and I wondered why. As TonyW said, the Nazi's spoilt it for everyone, and I can't see it being rehabilitated in my lifetime  

 

Andy

[Richard Tucker]

I'm currently cracking through a build of a KI87 for the Interceptors and slowly wrestling a Bristol Bombay for the MTO GB and that got me thinking about what is next. I'd like to build another Heller kit.

 

I have the following in my SMER boxings in my stash :

 

MS406

Hawker Tempest

Leo 451

Breguet 693

MS230

ME262 Night fighter

 

and 1 Heller kit

108 Taifun

 

What should I pick next?

[TonyW]

On 11/5/2020 at 10:08 PM, TonyOD said:

I couldn’t get my head around this collector thing until a Mistral black box that I got for a fiver on eBay arrived and it was still shrinkwrapped. Then I understood.

 

This picture will explain better than words why I build old kits and sit them next to old boxes.

 

Imagine seeing that lot in a model shop window.  Wibble...

 

[Wez]

49 minutes ago, Richard Tucker said:

I'm currently cracking through a build of a KI87 for the Interceptors and slowly wrestling a Bristol Bombay for the MTO GB and that got me thinking about what is next. I'd like to build another Heller kit.

 

I have the following in my SMER boxings in my stash :

 

MS406

Hawker Tempest

Leo 451

Breguet 693

MS230

ME262 Night fighter

 

and 1 Heller kit

108 Taifun

 

What should I pick next?

 

Well my vote is for the Tempest, let's face it, it's always going to be the Tempest.  Make the Tempest.

[JeroenS]

1 minute ago, Wez said:

 

Well my vote is for the Tempest, let's face it, it's always going to be the Tempest.  Make the Tempest.

I was just checking out all the different aircraft on Scalemates because I really have no clue what they look like from the name only. I say Tempest as well.