Heller Revived from the Dead

[Fin]

39 minutes ago, Fukuryu said:

 

It was sold but is still available from Modelex.

Where is it available though? I’ve only seen it occasionally on ebay.

[Fukuryu]

3 hours ago, Fin said:

Where is it available though? I’ve only seen it occasionally on ebay.

 

Is available in Argentina from a local eBay-style site called Mercadolibre as far as I know. Probably also available in hobby shops if there are still some around and toy stores in general. The price is around 10 dollars. 

 

https://articulo.mercadolibre.com.ar/MLA-836678621-heinkel-he-112-b0b1-172-modelex-240-milouhobbies-_JM#position=7&search_layout=stack&type=item&tracking_id=3b929509-1d71-49c9-9825-6eb6f3175649

 

Maybe you can contact one of the Argentinian Britmodellers and arrange a deal? I live in a neighbouring country but is not available here.

[Fin]

Thank you! I can usually find used Heller kits for about 10$ on ebay, but the shipping is usually twice as expensive as the kit. I was hoping, seeing old Heller kits being re-released, that the He 112 might be among them so that I can buy it relatively cheap locally or at least together with other modelling stuff from the big stores in Poland, the Czech Republic etc. I think in 1/72 it’s still the better kit available for this aircraft.

[Casey]

After initial excitement, I've got more experience with other Heller paints. Some paints were fine, like Heller 29 being basically a carbon copy of Humbrol 29, but Heller 60 (Scarlett Matt) had some issues with its matting agent, and end result ended up more coarse than 400 grit sanding paper. It wont go through airbrush neither. Maybe that's why Heller is very mysteriously quiet about how to thin them?

[Smudge]

I saw the 1/72 Dornier Do.27 by chance, and just had to have it.

 

This one..   http://scalemates.com/kits/heller-30304-dornier-do-27-casa-c-127--1415855

 

It's the Special Hobby kit, in a rather large box for such a small kit. But the decal sheet for the skydiver is stunning. Should look very smart.

 

I'm very much looking forward to the E-2 Hawkeye. The wing fold option is a great idea. 

 

Good luck to Heller for the future.

[klr]

On 4/27/2024 at 12:52 PM, Smudge said:

I saw the 1/72 Dornier Do.27 by chance, and just had to have it.

 

This one..   http://scalemates.com/kits/heller-30304-dornier-do-27-casa-c-127--1415855

 

It's the Special Hobby kit, in a rather large box for such a small kit. But the decal sheet for the skydiver is stunning. Should look very smart.

 

I'm very much looking forward to the E-2 Hawkeye. The wing fold option is a great idea. 

 

Good luck to Heller for the future.

I got this myself a couple of months ago. It was also a "must have" for me.

 

I've gotten quite a few Heller re-releases as well recently. Some of the decal sheets are excellent, such as with the CL-215 water bomber.

[Ian_M]

On 4/30/2024 at 12:12 PM, klr said:

I got this myself a couple of months ago. It was also a "must have" for me.

 

I've gotten quite a few Heller re-releases as well recently. Some of the decal sheets are excellent, such as with the CL-215 water bomber.

 

I have a bit of a soft spot for Heller, and I've picked up a couple re-releases recently too. The decal sheets do look decently printed I'll give them that, though I've not actually tried them yet so whether they work well or not I don't know - anyone given them a go?

 

I guess they're doing them in-house as they don't look like Cartograph etc (and they don't mention it if they do). If they are in-house they've at least improved massively over when Heller/Airfix were under one roof 20-30 years ago. Barely got a decal sheet from them in-register back then!

 

I've also been weirdly enjoying their box packaging where they've got rid of plastic bags and are basically putting folded sheets of crepe paper between the sprues to separate them, almost like it's a shoe box!!

 

Several of the kits I've bought are gift sets that come with paint too. I've wondered if they were maybe rebranded Lifecolor paints? Does anybody know? I know the numbers match up with Humbrol, but the paint bottle style looks identical to Lifecolor only with an embossed Heller logo on the top of the lid instead of the Lifecolor logo.

[PhantomBigStu]

Shame they are so hard to get hold of over here, the new su-27 is on my radar as I’ve a trumpeter that needs a canopy and it comes with both the single and double seater parts unlike previous issues so will see if it fits and then eventually build heller as a double but at 38 quid including shipping to the uk just too much on a gamble 

[klr]

On 4/2/2024 at 10:04 PM, Fin said:

Thank you! I can usually find used Heller kits for about 10$ on ebay, but the shipping is usually twice as expensive as the kit. I was hoping, seeing old Heller kits being re-released, that the He 112 might be among them so that I can buy it relatively cheap locally or at least together with other modelling stuff from the big stores in Poland, the Czech Republic etc. I think in 1/72 it’s still the better kit available for this aircraft.

The He 112 is one of the kits that Heller (presumably) sold to Modelex of Argentina some years ago, along with the likes of the Ar 96, Gladiator, Spitfire I, Bf 109G and Saab Draken. So unfortunately, it's unlikely to ever be seen in a new Heller box again, more's the pity.

 

EDIT: I see that information had already been given above months ago ...

Edited August 25, 2024 by klr

[PhantomBigStu]

On 6/23/2024 at 3:56 PM, PhantomBigStu said:

Shame they are so hard to get hold of over here, the new su-27 is on my radar as I’ve a trumpeter that needs a canopy and it comes with both the single and double seater parts unlike previous issues so will see if it fits and then eventually build heller as a double but at 38 quid including shipping to the uk just too much on a gamble 

fast forward a couple of weeks and creative model were offering them for 17 something delivered so I took the gamble, turned out the single canopy isn’t compatible and the double needs major surgery to fit, but got a nice (though I’ve heard it’s a pig to build) su27 kit with a fantastic decal sheet for the stash, think creative are sold out now but there is another seller doing it for 16 notes 

[dalea]

I see Heller is now selling the Airfix Dakota in French markings. Do Airfix retain the moulds or are they likely to get them back? Seems a bit odd to have to buy from the Eurozone.

[PhantomBigStu]

2 minutes ago, dalea said:

I see Heller is now selling the Airfix Dakota in French markings. Do Airfix retain the moulds or are they likely to get them back? Seems a bit odd to have to buy from the Eurozone.

Assume they send bagged kits to heller, much easier than transferring moulds to another factory 

[treker_ed]

From what other manufacturers have done (Hasegawa kits to Eduard for example) it would seem that they send the bagged kits, and then re box them with their instructions. When Eduard did a recent reboxing, there were a few issues. They reported that the kits were delayed due to transport issues. That would suggest the moulds stayed with Hasegawa (or could have been Academy) and they just sent the bagged sprues over.

[cardiff guy]

Any News on the Hawkeye ?

[WillDeeks]

Time for a new thread, or at least thread title, perhaps?  While the "new" Heller hasn't exactly flooded the market with new kits as yet, their revivification seems well-established and is hardly news any more.

 

[Rabbit Leader]

On 12/11/2024 at 9:32 AM, cardiff guy said:

Any News on the Hawkeye ?

Good point, doesn’t look like it’s gone too far in 12 months. 

[alt-92]

Just my opinion, but I think 2025 may be a make-or-break year for Heller. 
While they are re-introducing several old classics, there still is no sign of the 2023 promised E-2.

The kits are now unbagged, bare plastic (except for the clear parts) in a box accompanied by a rather costly glossy-paper instruction magazine* that still contains errors (paint numbers magically appearing out of nowhere without being listed as needed on the materiel list), and the decals - while well-printed - are still somewhat generic.

_{*ostensibly, not bagging kits is 'green'.} 

 

I'm not convinced they're investing in the right areas. People will forgive you for using 4-colour instruction sheets instead of glossy magazine-style Revell-like books as long as the kits themselves show improvement (and/or are actually available), and so far I'm not really overwhelmed on that part...
None of the announced new-tool kits from 2022 onwards have been released. And that is concerning.

 

There's only so much time investors will give you before they decide to pull the pug plug. 
 

I doubt we will ever see the Peugeot 205GTI and that makes me a really sad 🐼 as a former owner...

 

 

[Rabbit Leader]

Have to say, I bought a ‘Yellow boxed’ T-28 a few years back and the quality of the transparent blue plastic is terrible. Couple that with a decal sheet with dubious colours and you don’t exactly have a great product on your hands. The Heller kits I bought just before this yellow box era were all great with some of the best decals going around, however this latest iteration will just turn modellers completely off their products. I’ve only just started seeing some local Australian online stores start to stock Heller kits but nothing at my LHS as yet. I agree, 2025 may be a turning point for Heller, either bang or bust! 
 

Cheers.. Dave 

[alt-92]

On 12/11/2024 at 1:02 AM, cardiff guy said:

Any News on the Hawkeye ?

On the site it's listed as planned for April 2025. 
I do hope it's middle or end of April, for obvious reasons.

[AlbertLima]

Some trawling of their Facebook page yielded this in the comments section of their Christmas post

 

[alt-92]

On 1/19/2025 at 3:51 PM, alt-92 said:

 

 

It appears I am about to be proven wrong, and what looks like in the best way

 

 

[KRK4m]

Unfortunately, Heller's biggest problem is still their quality control. In September, I bought a 1:72 Air France L-749 Connie from a mail order store. After opening the (factory sealed, of course) box, it turned out that one complete sprue containing 29 parts was missing. I filled out and sent the warranty form, sometime in October they wrote back that they would send the frame, but they still have to think about whether it will be free of charge (sic!). 

It's been over 3 months since then and I haven't received anything. And they never responded to my subsequent e-mails asking about the fate of my complaint. Unfortunately, changing the location to Germany did not change the French approach to business responsibility.

Cheers

Michael