ICM Heinkel He.111H-20 (48264) 1:48

[Mike]

Heinkel He.111H-20 (48264)

1:48 ICM

 

 

The He.111 was originated in secrecy, disguised as a civilian transport in the mid-30s, but once Nazi Germany came out of the closet and disregarded the Versailles agreement, it immediately became clear that they were rearming in a major way.  The early civilian and military variants had a more traditional stepped canopy, and there is a famous piece of film that is used and reused in documentaries showing a D or "Dora" variant dropping bombs during the Spanish Civil War as part of the Condor Legion, which was Hitler's proving ground for his new designs and Blitzkreig tactics.  Various revisions followed until the P, which introduced the now-iconic stepless fully glazed cockpit, which improved both aerodynamics and the pilot's situational awareness.

 

The P series saw limited action in WWII as it was replaced by the more competent H variant, substituting Junkers Jumo 211 engines, detuned to give it the throbbing beat that was to be heard over Britain almost until the end of the war.  The H-16 was a product of the experience of the Battle of Britain, with improved armament and armoured glass for the gunners was introduced along with additional armour around the crewed areas, some of which could be jettisoned in an emergency, plus improved communications and radar equipment.  The H-20 was based upon the H-16, but had a power-operated dorsal turret instead of the draughty streamlined glazing with exposed gun mount.  The H series continued until the H-23 paratroop carrier, although there were also a number of side-projects such as the Z, Zwilling with two airframes joined by a central aerofoil and sporting five engines, designed to tow the Me.321 Gigant glider.

 

 

The Kit

Most of the plastic in this boxing has been out before in the H-3 and later H-16 boxings, so you'll recognise many of the pictures if you've read those reviews.  The new parts are concerned with the new turret (which tickles my interest), with clear parts and a revised dorsal insert, as well as simplified upper nose glazing and exhaust flame dampers for the Jumo 211 F-2 engines.  You can read the review of the less turret H-16 here, and we'll cover the differences below.

 

Parts Common with the H-3 Boxing

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Parts Common with the H-16 Boxing

 

 

 

New Sprue for the H-20 Boxing

 

 

New Clear Parts

 

Suffice to say that the new parts blend seamlessly with the others in terms of quality, with crisp styrene and crystal clear glazing parts, the latter being cocooned within their own bags to prevent any scuffs in transit.  The build begins with the engine bays and spar, moves through the cockpit and fuselage closure, and then diverges briefly to install the new dorsal insert in the top of the fuselage, complete with the new turret ring and the starburst shaped circular antenna for the Peilgerät (PeilG) 6 direction finding equipment, which has a clear cover fitted over it later.  Underneath, the external bomb carriage rack is fitted between the wings, then wings, tail and engines are built up, again having two complete engines in the box.  The nacelle cowlings are wrapped around the engines, and then the new tubular flame dampers are put together with the exhaust stubs showing at the base, totalling four sub-assemblies that are handed, with the rear angled away under the wing.  Soon after the nose glazing it put together, with the less busy top section found on the new sprues and mated with two from the earlier boxings.  The rest of the glazing and the main gear are identical in construction, with ten bomb shackles added to the hump between them to accept the five bombs carried under the fuselage.

 

The turret starts on a circular ring, with the MG81 fitted into a crutch, then covered by the newly tooled glazing, with a small aerodynamic winglet at the rear, and in front the aforementioned clear cover for the PeilG6, then behind the turret a substantial aerial that must have been frequently shot off.

 

 

Markings

We have four decal options in this boxing, with the first page showing overhead and underwing views for the various options.  From the box you can build one of the following, which includes a couple of H-16s retro-fitted with the turret:

 

• He.111H-16/R1 EKdo (Erprobungs-Kommando) 16, 1944
• He.111H-16/R1 2./KG55, Sarabuz Airfield, Crimea, December 1943
• He.111H-20 4./KG53, Poland, June 22, 1944
• He.111H-20 8./KG4, Berlin-Gatow airfield, April 1945

 

 

 

The decals are provided on a long sheet with good register, colour density and sharpness, with a thin glossy carrier film cut close to the printed edges, with a few exceptions on some of the more rounded code letters.  The stencils are found in the bottom right, all of which are legible with or without magnification.

 

 

 

Conclusion

This boxing makes me personally very happy, as I've been pondering how best to scratch-build this exact turret after reviewing the recent Kagero TopDrawings on this aircraft, and now I don't have to.  Detail is good, the instructions are clear, and the 111's iconic status is already well established.

 

Very highly recommended.

 

Available in the UK through importers H G Hannants Ltd.

 

Review sample courtesy of

[Caerbannog]

Nice review - thanks. What puzzles me a litte are the interior parts - I seem to remember that the area under the spine turret was different from the kit part. Not a big deal unless you do not intent to build a cut-away version I think.

[Mike]

TBH I doubt you'll see a cotton-pickin' thing inside there once the fuselage is closed up. I'd imagine the powered turret would have some kind of drum-shaped mechanism and space for the gunner, but it's just the turret ring and glazing in the kit. 

[BerndM]

Looks like a good build and i like the color schemes.

Are the newer ICM decal better as the old brittle ones ?

[Mike]

15 minutes ago, BerndM said:

Are the newer ICM decal better as the old brittle ones ?

I've not yet built one, but they look totally useable (i.e. just like everyone else's decals) from my view here

[BerndM]

Thanks and this sounds not too bad.

[Mike]

Just now, BerndM said:

Thanks and this sounds not too bad.

If I could decide which mark I want to do, I'd test them, but I'm torn between all four at the moment   They look a similar style to DecoGraph (sp), although there's no logo on there.  A lot of Ukrainian companies use them and people seem ok with that

[BerndM]

On the oversprayed aircraft you won t see much stencils and when it goes wrong the crosses can be replaced with spare ones leaving only the squadron codes.

[AmaruTG]

I still have concerns regarding the bombardier gun position. Nevertheless, I already ordered one and, if it comes to the worse, I hope my Koster nose gun clear part fits.

 

Regards

 

A.

[Greg Law]

I think this will be my Christmas gift for myself. I want to give them time to come out with an V1 carrier. Was it a H-22