ICM Heinkel He.111H-6 North Africa (48265) 1:48

[Mike]

Heinkel He.111H-6 North Africa (48265)

1:48 ICM via Hannants

 

 

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-3 had an improved version of the engine and increased numbers of machine guns for self-defence.  As is often the case with wartime development, the end of the Battle of Britain saw the introduction of the H-4 with better engines and external bomb racks.  The H-6 also had improvements in design. The Jumo 211 F-1 engine gave it increased performance, and defensive armament was upgraded with one 20 mm MG FF cannon in the nose, one MG 15 in the ventral turret, and in each of the fuselage side windows with some carrying remotely-operated tail-mounted MG 17s.  The performance of the H-6 was also improved; the climb rate was higher and the aircraft could reach a slightly higher ceiling, despite its all-up weight increasing.

 

 

The Kit

This is an adaptation of the (relatively) newly-tooled range of 111s from ICM which we reviewed recently, and a rebox with different decals of the European theatre H-6 that we also reviewed in mid 2018. ICM have improved the quality of their products substantially over recent years, and this extends to all their products that we have seen during this time.  The kit arrives in their lidded top-opening box with a glossy card lid and painting to top it off, with 11 sprues in medium grey styrene, two in crystal clear styrene, an instruction booklet in line-drawn colour, and a long decal sheet that can be found ensconced within the booklet.  On opening the bags, it is very apparent that this is a thoroughly modern tooling, with lots of lovely details, crisp moulding, and some very clever engineering on display.  This version also includes torpedoes which the variant used on shipping off the African coast in the Med. 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Construction starts with the two wing spar parts, which are separated by the gear bay roof assemblies and a walkway part.  Additional detail is added to the bulkheads along with the fuselage walkways and a smaller bulkhead toward the tail, with the lower portion of the mid-upper "turret" ring attached to the floor.  The cockpit floor is then assembled with rudder pedals, instrument panels, seat and control linkages, slotting into the front spar once finished.  An additional chair and the overhead instrument panel are installed later in the build.  As a prelude to closing up the fuselage, the tail wheel is fitted together, which has the wheel separate and consists of five parts.  Preparation of the fuselage halves involves adding the inserts into the wing roots and making good the join; inserting the paired side windows; adding ammo can racks; radio panel; the pilot's control column, and more glazing in the ventral gondola.  The spar/cockpit assembly is then fitted to the starboard fuselage half and the port side is added along with some glue.  The rudder is separate and fits to the fin with actuators, then the missing fuselage panels between the spars are added, which of course will need painting and fettling in if you're bothered about the "endoscope brigade". If you are intending to fit the tail armament option then the tail cone will need to be cut off at the marked line and the new one added with a barrel inserted in the small hole.

 

The mid-upper insert is designed to cater for different gun installations, and has a crisp serrated ring moulded-in, with controls and bracing strut added before it is installed into the fuselage opening, closing off much of the rear fuselage.  There is no bomb bay interior to this kit, but the side walls are included and add a little structural strength to the assembly before being closed in.

 

At this point the wings are begun, with the lower sides added to the fuselage/spar assembly first.  The ailerons are separate, and are built up before the uppers are added, as are the elevators, and the two engines, which are provided in their entirety, along with much of the ancillary equipment and engine mounts.  The completed Jumo 211s are fitted to the front of the spars and depending on whether you want to display them or not, and then enclosed by cowling panels, radiators and the intake/outlet ramps.  The bottom cowlings can be split to reveal the engine detail, which is a good way of showing off the detail without ruining the lines of the aircraft.  The upper wings and ailerons are fitted, the remaining cowling panels with the exhausts are added, with the latter having a decent indent at the tip to simulate being hollow, and finally the nose glazing, which has a machine-gun and the aforementioned overhead instrument panel, which is moulded in clear styrene and is provided with a decal for the instruments.  The nose "cone" is a separate clear part, and it too is fitted with a machine gun with a choice of single or twin drum mags and dump bag for the spent brass.  Another two MGs are fitted to the front and rear glazing on the gondola, and the mid-upper gun is added to the turret ring, along with the protective clear shroud at the front. A different nose cone is provided if using the heavier armament and a different underside blister noses is included.  A new clear rear canopy segment is also included on the new sprue box with a hole for yet another machine gun, a choice of parts for the front glazing of the gondola and a choice of open or closed upper turret is also included.

 

The main wheels are each built up from two halves, and placed between the twin legs that have the main retraction jacks moulded in, and secured with a number of cross-braces between the two legs.  An additional ram is fitted within the bay, attached to the rear cross-brace.  The gear bay doors fit to the bay sides with large tabs, as do the bomb bay doors if you are using them, and these last parts have the correctly separated four "petals" that are seen on the real thing, rather than a single panel.  The props are made up from a single part with two part spinner and back plate, which fit onto the engine's output shaft through the vented front of the cowlings.

 

 

The weapons included in this boxing give the modeller the choice of a pair of bombs on streamlined pylons that attach over the bomb bay doors and each bomb has fin stiffeners and anti-sway braces to add detail, or a nicely detailed pair of torpedoes that have raised details on the body and a set of steering vanes around the screw.  Behind that is a four-louver box-tail that helps with entry into and control once in the water.

 

Markings

There are three markings options in this boxing, all of which are desert themed with a base of Afrika Brown RLM79 over RLM78 blue.  From the box you can build one of the following:

 

• Stab StG3, Libya, Sept 1941
• Sonderkommando Blaich, Africa, Jan 1942
• 2./KG26 Grosseto, Italy Dec 1942

 

 

 

 

The decals are up to ICM's usual standard and although they're not marks as such, they give the impression that they are by DecoGraph with good registration, sharpness and colour density, and a thin gloss carrier film cut close to the printed areas.  The stencils are dealt with in the front page of the painting instructions on a bare airframe so that they don't clutter up the individual markings options.

 

 

Conclusion

Another impressive Heinkel He.111 from ICM with plenty of detail from the box, crystal clear parts and good quality decals.  If you have a hankering for a North African 111, then this might just be for you.

 

 

Available in the UK from importers H G Hannants Ltd.

 

Review sample courtesy of