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1/72 ICM Heinkel HE-51A


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All,

 

Showing pictures of my latest completed build of ICM's 72nd scale kit of the Heinkel HE-51 interwar biplane fighter.

 

What appeared as a straight forward kit (only one sprue in kit box) actually turned out to be a fairly demanding build.  Certainly not a bad kit though.

 

Apologies if there are too many pictures

 

Regards

 

Dave

 

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A great rendition of a very attractive aircraft.  I wonder whether it ever clashed with Spanish Republican Hawker Furies during the Spanish Civil War.

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Excellent, clean (as it should be!) model of this shapely fighter. The rigging is superb, too.

 

I'm wondering a bit about its stance. It seems a bit exaggerated – almost as if the landing gear is max extension, even though the plane is on the ground. Does the kit offer alternative gear configs, perhaps?

heinkel-he-51-wallpaper-20.jpg

 

Kind regards,

 

Joachim

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8 minutes ago, Spitfire31 said:

Excellent, clean (as it should be!) model of this shapely fighter. The rigging is superb, too.

 

I'm wondering a bit about its stance. It seems a bit exaggerated – almost as if the landing gear is max extension, even though the plane is on the ground. Does the kit offer alternative gear configs, perhaps?

heinkel-he-51-wallpaper-20.jpg

 

Kind regards,

 

Joachim

Thanks, Joachim -

 

Really don't know about the landing gear  - the kit instructions require you to cut 2mm of height from the landing gear legs -after doing this I did not get the the wheels attached straight and true (in line with the legs not obvious until I had fitted the legs to fuselage) which is what I think has created an illusion of them being spread out.

 

Thank you all kindly gentlemen for your positive comments especially regarding simulating bracing - rigging was accomplished using combination of invisible mending thread (for cabane struts); Oschi standard elastic thread and fine on rudder and radio aerial.   This was a heavily braced biplane so rigging did take some careful planning and work to get right.

Model was brush painted using Revell and Humbrul acrylic paint.

 

Regards

 

Dave

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4 hours ago, tonyot said:

Very nice indeed,.... the legs do look a tad long but it could be an optical illusion maybe? 

Thanks, Tony -

 

They are from the kit although the instructions require you to cut 2mm of them (which I did) but they do still seem a bit long though ..........

 

Regards

 

Dave

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That looks super Dave. A shapely aeroplane which is under-represented IMO, and an important aircraft in the development of the Luftwaffe. The rigging is first class, as is the paintwork. Looking forward to seeing it soon.

 

P

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  • 5 months later...

I must say it's indeed a very beautifull result indeed! Sorry for being so late at the party 😉 

 

For the landing gear legs, I think you should have "saved" 2mm of the vertical part, cutting off the entire block shaped thingy, which was the look without the wheel fairings. However there might be room to correct with your skills. But as it's such a beautiful finish, I wouldn't have it spoiling my joy over it if I were you!

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14 hours ago, 128fiddler said:

I must say it's indeed a very beautifull result indeed! Sorry for being so late at the party 😉 

 

For the landing gear legs, I think you should have "saved" 2mm of the vertical part, cutting off the entire block shaped thingy, which was the look without the wheel fairings. However there might be room to correct with your skills. But as it's such a beautiful finish, I wouldn't have it spoiling my joy over it if I were you!

No worries at all - I really appreciate your kind words and advice regarding the landing gear.   Your right - the problem is I mostly build WW1 aircraft so know much more about them than other biplane types.   I also have the Roden 1/48 kit of this aircraft in my stash so will be looking closely at this aspect when I get round to cracking it open.

 

Regards

 

Dave

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4 hours ago, S. Uehlinger said:

Really magnificent Rigging.    Although I do rig Biplanes, I am never going to do the "Double Rigging" that you have done and made Look So Easy!  Even I know My Limits!

That's really kind of you to say and appreciate it!

 

Rigging is not a black art - you just need a method that works for you.   Just give it a go - I am more than happy to give advice via a PM if you get stuck!

 

Regards

 

Dave

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As I'm not realy experienced in rigging and more specificaly the "horizontal crossing sticks" inbetween the front and aft main wing riggings, how did you replicate that? 

 

And are those decals the ones from the box? How did you get these to settle upon your model? Only that is a Distinguished Modelling Cross worthy 😉

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18 hours ago, 128fiddler said:

As I'm not realy experienced in rigging and more specificaly the "horizontal crossing sticks" inbetween the front and aft main wing riggings, how did you replicate that? 

 

And are those decals the ones from the box? How did you get these to settle upon your model? Only that is a Distinguished Modelling Cross worthy 😉

 

Hello, there and thank you kindly for your lovely comments.

 

The decals are those within the kit (exception being the swastika which was from my spares box) and are pretty good.  Settled them down using a decal setting solution followed by a decal softener.  Once the softener starts to work, use a stiff brush to brush the decal (carefully) onto the contoured surfaces.   I then follow this up (before the decal has dried) painting on (all my models are brush painted) about four individual coats of clear matt.   Set aside to dry - after several hours the decal will have pulled in very tight to model surface and with the clear matt almost looks like they were painted on.

 

Rigging - as said before, rigging is tedious but you just need a method that works for you.   I assume the particular rigging you refer to is the crossed wires between the wing interplane struts?  I used 'Uschi' standard elastic thread for all the rigging on this one.  Pre drill holes where you want lines to run and thread the elastic through them making sure CA glue has set first at one end before starting to add small amount of tension (to get a straight look to the wires without any sagging) before CA gluing at the open end.  The interplane struts are the same method except that I simply glued on end of thread to top of one strut before pulling in tension and gluing at the lower end of the strut.

 

I hope my bad explanations make some sort of sense?  If not, please feel free to drop me a PM.

 

Regards

 

Dave

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