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Heinkel He 111 H-6 (03863) - 1:48 Revell


Julien

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Heinkel He 111 H-6 (03863)

1:48 Revell

 

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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 had improvements in design. The Jumo 211 F-1 engine gave it increased. 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, some carried tail-mounted MG 17s.  The performance of the H-6 was also improved; he climb rate was higher and the machine could reach a slightly higher ceiling. Overall weight of the H-6 increased to 14,000 kg (30,600 lb). 

 

 

The Kit

This is a reboxing of the excellect ICM kit, ICM have raised their game substantially over the recent years and Revell are tapping into this with their homemarket distribution system.  The kit arrives in their lidded top-opened with a glossy card lid and painting to top it off, with 11 sprues in medium, grey styrene, and 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 modern tooling, with lots of lovely details, crisp moulding, and some very clever engineering on display.  This version also includes torpedoes which the variant could use. 

 

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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 moulded-in, and consists of three 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 sawn off and the new one added. 

 

The mid-upper insert is designed to cater for different "turret" installations, and has a lovely 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.  You can pose the bomb bay open or closed by selecting one of the two panels, one of which has opening for the bomb bay, where the bombs are suspended tail-first in a framework that is peppered with lightening holes so that the included bombs are visible within.   With the bomb bay finished, it is inserted into the fuselage from below, filling yet another gap in the skin.  Even if you are leaving the bays closed, the bomb bay can be seen from the side windows, so it's best to build that assembly and install it anyway to prevent that section from being see-through from the sides. Racks for either bombs or torpedoes are added to the underside. The bombs themselves are built up from two halves that have two fins moulded-in, and a single part that fits on the tail forming the other two fins in a cruciform layout.  To these are added stiffening brackets, with two bombs in total to make externally or two torpedoes. These are two part main bodies with main propeller and a 6 part tail to be made up and added. 

 

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 machinegun 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 blister nose is also included in the new box. A new open or closed top blister is also included. 

 

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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.

 

 

Markings

There are tow decal options included in the box,  one of which share the same RLM70/71 splinter pattern over RLM65, and the other is in the ETO scheme as per the box top.  From the box you can build one of the following:

 

  • 1H+MM, 4./KG 26 Sicily Aug 1941
  • G!+EH, 1./KG 55, Russia, Aug 1941

 

Decals are designed by AirDOC and printed in Italy.  These can easily be cut off before they are applied however, so it's not an issue.  No swastikas are provided so the modeller will have to source these.

 

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Conclusion

The He.111 is a truly iconic shape, and we're long overdue a new tooling of the type in this scale.  This is a great kit for Revell to have in their inventory.

 

Very highly recommended.

 

 

 

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Revell model kits are also available from all good toy and model retailers. For further information visit

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1 hour ago, Adam Poultney said:

Do we have a price for this one? Very appealing scheme on one of my favourite WW2 aircraft. Might have to consider this one in future

Jadlam have it for £33.64 delivered.  They often have 10% or more discount days.  Sure to be one on Black Friday.

 

https://www.jadlamracingmodels.com/revell-heinkel-he111-h-6-1-48-plastic-model-plane-kit-03863/

 

Cheers,

 

Nigel

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