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He 111 P2, Airfix, 1/72


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Finally, after two years I finished this bad boy! Most of the time it was sitting on my shelf waiting for painting, unfortunately I just didn't have time to work on it. The He 111 is definitely my favourite Luftwaffe bomber, I just love it's shape of wings and the greenhouse cockpit. The kit is nicely detailed for the scale and goes together nicely. Unfortuantely you won't see any internal detail after the assembly but that's the issue with most bombers. There are fit issues with engine nacelles and the fuselage windows. Also the lack of bombs is quite unpleasant so I solved it with the bomb bay closed. Other than that it was calm adn nice build.

 

The whole kit is brush painted. I used various Revell Aqua colors and I also bought set of Humbrol acrylic RLM 02, 65, 70, 71 for the camouflage. The Humbrol paints are alright, I used their original acrylic thinner for the camo. However i think that they are little bit too grainy/rough in comparison to Revell Aqua paints, which have smooth finish in my experience. With my next model, I'm going to use airbrush for the first time.

 

I also got aftermarket decals for swastikas by Tally ho! ,,Luftwaffe heavy fighters and bombers for 1/72 scale" I have several complaints about them.

  • First: they seem out of scale. At least the one assigned for He 111. I looked at historical photos and it seems that the cross should be smaller, not cool.
  • Second thing: they are unneccessarily complex. You have separate white outline crosses and separate black inner crosses. And you have to align them properly, so you have to put on the white outline first, then put a coat of gloss varnish on it and then you can apply the black inner cross.
  • Third: they are EXTREMELY soft and fragile. In combination with their compelxity and necessity to align the outline with the center it's really not good product at all. So if you are looking for aftermarket swastikas in 1/72 scale, don't bother with those by Tally ho!

 

Things I tried for the first time with this kit: oil paint weathering and panel line highliting, scratch built seat belts from masking tape, pigment weathering on the undercarriage wheels (pigment made from koh-i-noor hard pastels). There was also an attempt to rigg the radio antenna but the fishing wire is probably not the best material for this purpose. It just didn't stick to the superglue so I gave up after several tries. Maybe next time or later with this kit.

 

I know there are mistakes. The built up paint from masking is visible a lot between the camouflage patterns. Even though I tried to paint away from the edge to prevent the biuld up, it just happened. Also the connection at wing roots is not smoothed out perfectly after the putty, so I have to work on the cleanliness of my building part next time.

 

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Edited by plantaznik
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I really like your Heinkel , it looks used and fought in, I love the worn used look that you have achieved perhaps without you intending it.

My favourite Airfix He111 posted on here so far.

Thanks for sharing it with us.

 

Adey

Edited by adey m
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10 hours ago, stevej60 said:

Look's great,built this kit a while back a real pleasure.

Thank you! It is a nice kit indeed. I think I'll do the Airfix's H6 version too since I like the desert camouflage schemes.

6 hours ago, stevehnz said:

That is a very handsome build, the faults you describe are not obvious to me & the overall effect is excellent, one to be proud of to my mind. 👍

Steve.

Thank you very much, I appreciate your kind words :like: The photos are flattering the build a little bit tbh. I guess that I am seeing the mistakes since I made them and know exactly where they are.

2 hours ago, neil5208 said:

Excellent work, especially has is brush painted

Thank you! :) I used large (size "24 😅) soft flat brush by DaVinci - the Junior line. I can highly recommend these brushes!

41 minutes ago, adey m said:

I really like your Heinkel , it looks used and fought in, I love the worn used look that you have achieved perhaps without you intending it.

My favourite Airfix He111 posted on here so far.

Thanks for sharing it with us.

 

Adey

Thank you very much, I am flattered! 😁 I intended to make worn aircraft. Luckily it ended up quite decent, but throught he build there were several occasions when I thought that I overdone it. It¨s not really visible on the photos but before applying oils, I made scratches with alluminium paint. And especially scratches on the leading edge of wings seemed too much to me. But the washes toned them down a lot so it's okay. Perhaps I should have added some tiny scratches on the canopy frame. I forgot about it since I put the canopy on the finishing process, after the weathering is done :banghead:Its just practical, to avoid smearing of the clear parts since I do not mask them.

30 minutes ago, Bill.B said:

It scrubs up very well for an oldie, well done! :yes:

Thanks! I'm not sure if I understand you correctly 😅but this is not old kit, it's new mold from 2016.

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That is a lovely job of the hand painting. You are right about the swastika. It is far too big. I thought something wasn't looking right and that was it. I think it would be worth bitting the bullet and replacing it.

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Despite the issues you pointed out, I think you did a wonderful job on this.  I can't really see the problems you pointed out.  The weathering and wear is spot on.  Good job!

 

How did you like the Airfix kit?  Any major issues?

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On 02/11/2018 at 15:50, dogsbody said:

I'd be more than pleased to have built anything that looked as good as your Heinkel.

 

 

Chris

You are too kind sir! I appreciate it but honestly do not think that this is something special. It would harldy win any competition 😅 but alright, to be honest I am quite satisfied with the result and the general feedback from here 😁

On 02/11/2018 at 17:44, Greg Law said:

That is a lovely job of the hand painting. You are right about the swastika. It is far too big. I thought something wasn't looking right and that was it. I think it would be worth bitting the bullet and replacing it.

Thank you :like: Yes, it is too big. Unfortunately it's already covered in mlultiple coats of clear varnish and washes so I do not think I could replace it. I'd definitely make more harm than good with such operation so I'm gonna leave it this way. Next time I'll be more careful with aftermarket decals.

On 02/11/2018 at 18:33, Booty003 said:

My favourite Lufty bomber too, it looks a stunner. 

It IS a beautiful plane, isn't it? Thank you :)

On 02/11/2018 at 23:58, Kitchen Modeller said:

This is great - well done. Getting nice crisp lines with masking and brush painting is very hard so you should be really proud of this. You'll find with the airbrush that this process is so much easier - worth having just for this fact I feel. 

Thank you :like: It is hard indeed. But it's possible. For example Owen from Quick Kits does it :) I am courious about the whole airbrush thing. I'll have to get the hang of basics first, so I have old p-47 kit prepared in surfacer for basic training 😅

On 03/11/2018 at 01:27, opus999 said:

Despite the issues you pointed out, I think you did a wonderful job on this.  I can't really see the problems you pointed out.  The weathering and wear is spot on.  Good job!

 

How did you like the Airfix kit?  Any major issues?

Thank you very much :like: They are there however. Ebside the engine nacelles fit adn fuselage windows ni´ot fitting properly the kit was a pleasure to bulild!

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 This is just a suggestion.

I don't think it would be that hard to remove that  decals. With care you could easily sand back the fin because it is only one colour. Then repaint it. Carefully mask the rudder decal with paper. Only stick the edges off the decal. You might be able to save the aircraft number.. if it was me l would rather improve the swastika and lose the little number.  That is the safe way to remove it. However, if you were careful and masked the good painted areas around it you could use something like the dull coat thinner, l think it is lacquer thinner,  to remove it. It will cut right through the clear coat and dissolve the decal. I found the hard way. You would still need to sand it. Of course this is if you used an acrylic paint.

Edited by Greg Law
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Splendid build. The paint build-up along the masking lines can be tackled by careful light sanding - micro-mesh pads are ideal. Use them wet, take your time. If you are worried about over sanding then varnish first to provide a bit more protection.

 

Airbrushing isn't a magic for this - a lot of practise is required to get the angle and flow right and minimise the build-up along the masked edge. I haven't mastered it yet!

 

Frankly your paint finish and panel lining is so good that you may not need an airbrush, except for weathering like the exhaust residue (I'd use watercolour powder for this anyway).

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