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Heinkel He 111H-3 of Kg 53


Retired Bob

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As previously declared, this is my entrant for this GB.   Having done some research on the aircraft featured on the box art, ICMs artist has got carried away with the paint chipping. :facepalm:

IMG_1325

Cannot wait to start.  Thanks for looking.

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7 hours ago, Mottlemaster said:

A very nice project  to get into Bob, Looking forward to seeing the parts from all those different packets come together.

Same here, ever since I bought this kit I have been wanting to build it, there is just something about the shape of a He 111.  Having a rummage through the shed man cave today, I  found that I had Yahu instrument panels for this aircraft, and there is a Monogram 1/48 He 111 and Aires cockpit set that's been lurking in the stash for over 20 years, I quite fancy doing that as a night bomber with the black distemper on the undersides and covering the white areas of the markings.  I'll have a look at my reference  material and decals. :hmmm:

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1 hour ago, Mottlemaster said:

That must be a large shed to loose the 1\48 kit ,something along the likes of B&Q  diy shed :)

12 foot by 10 foot and well stacked. :yikes:

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Started on the internal bits, glued the wheel wells and the spars together and while they are drying I will assemble the bomb racks, I wasn't going to bother with these but I realised that they will visible through the forward windows.  I have put the engine blocks together but on Gregs advise I will not add anything other than the supercharger inlet after it has been drilled out, they are just there to attach the propellers.

IMG_1347

 

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Some intresting enginering on wing spar ,wheel wells and fuselage bulkheads. I guess this will require preise glueing as not to get some problems later that would be difficult to forsee

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2 hours ago, Mottlemaster said:

Some intresting enginering on wing spar ,wheel wells and fuselage bulkheads. I guess this will require preise glueing as not to get some problems later that would be difficult to forsee

 All the parts fit really well and as the wheel well parts lock together they make a rigid box that will hold the wings to the fuselage, but that's not for me, I have carried out my plan that I put to Greg to separate the wheel wells from the main spars so that the wings can be assembled as separate items like Monogram did with their He 111, I am hoping that it will make things easier to manage, when I get to making the fuselage and attaching the seven parts to each engine nacelle when I have smaller sub-assemblies to handle. :fingerscrossed:

IMG_1348

Bomb crates all glued together and the starboard (right) wheel well glued into the wing lower surface.  I'm having to fettle the upper surface of the wing into place, fit is fine at the wing tip but not around the engine nacelle or wing root, early days. :winkgrin:  Thanks for looking.

Edited by Retired Bob
missing word
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3 minutes ago, Dandie Dinmont said:

Hi Bob, you’re racing through this! I’m relying on you to point out all the pitfalls for my own build in the BOB group build!

Hi Craig, this is the bit I like best, don't worry I will slow down but I have found a small problem that was causing problems with the upper surface to lower wing fit.  The raised tracks to ensure the spars are locked into place follow the contour of the engine nacelle, but on the upper wing there is not enough clearance on top of the wheel well for this raised track so it needs to be removed.  Here's a photo to show what I mean:

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Arrow #1 shows the raised track for the spar as it follows the contour of  the nacelle.  Arrow #2 shows where I have removed a small section to allow the wheel well roof to fit correctly, I took some off the other corner to make sure that did not interfere either.  Arrow #3 shows the lack of clearance for the raised track.

The wing upper surface does fit properly after those small sections are removed.  Thanks for looking.

 

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14 minutes ago, Greg Law said:

Good progress Bob. I don't recall that issue with the wing fit, but it could a cause of later issues.

Hi Greg, at first I thought that the spar would not fit into the track on the upper wing, the wheel well had fitted easily into the lower wing and some thin glue stuck it in without a problem.  I used a sanding stick on the section of spar that goes out past the wheel well as that seemed to be stopping the upper wing seating, I then looked at where the spar fitted and noticed that there was not the clearance for the raised track to seat on top of the wheel well, so it was either cut a channel into the wheel well or easier, remove those corners of the raised track.  It's taken longer to explain than do, but as these are common parts of the He 111 family they will affect all He 111 builds.  I see what you mean about the soft plastic, it just seems to soak up the Tamiya extra thin glue.

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Yes you have to be careful using TET with the small parts. Be extra careful of the engine support brackets. I would use CA on them.  Revel glue might work as well. Just take longer to set.

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8 minutes ago, Greg Law said:

Yes you have to be careful using TET with the small parts. Be extra careful of the engine support brackets. I would use CA on them.  Revel glue might work as well. Just take longer to set.

I might get round to tackling them tomorrow, I don't have any Revell glue but I have some Mr color, I will give that a go, get them done early and let them have plenty of time to set, that;s the fun in doing two kits at the same time.  

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19 hours ago, Greg Law said:

Do your self a favour. Remove the aerials that are on the bottom of the fuselage and put them back later. They are very fragile and will break during construction.  

Thanks, that's been done.  I'm using some TET quick drying, it comes in same shaped bottle, lighter green top and label and smells awful so it is different to the ordinary TET, seems to be OK on the ICM plastic.

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I have been getting the inside parts glued together ready for painting, but on comparing the cockpit sections of the two models and the Aires resin one, ICM have not put in the horizontal firing "bed" for the front gunner, nothing at all, so I'm going to get out the plastic card and Evergreen plastic strip and make one up for him.  Eduards zoom set for this model have the instruments and throttle box in a strange light grey, neither RLM02 or RLM66 so I'm going to paint over it with RLM66.  Thought it was going too well. :unsure:

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Just been reading your and Greg's soft plastic and strong glue warnings .I can see this being an issue with Airfix plastic ,With these modern Cad designed kits there is no room for swollen, distorted plastic .

Cheers Alistair

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2 hours ago, Mottlemaster said:

Just been reading your and Greg's soft plastic and strong glue warnings .I can see this being an issue with Airfix plastic ,With these modern Cad designed kits there is no room for swollen, distorted plastic .

Hi Alistair, on the ICM kit I keep thinking about the undercarriage legs and struts, with this soft plastic I can see this model needing some support.

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Bob I had a look at the gear parts tonight. Once they are together I think they should be strong enough. I will put them in at the last minute to make sure my clumsy hands don't damage them. I think I will order some resin weighted wheels as they will look good on this plane.

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23 minutes ago, Greg Law said:

Bob I had a look at the gear parts tonight. Once they are together I think they should be strong enough. I will put them in at the last minute to make sure my clumsy hands don't damage them. I think I will order some resin weighted wheels as they will look good on this plane.

Hi Greg, I have cleaned up the undercarriage legs ready for painting, there are a set of white metal replacement parts If they are needed but hopefully when the legs and struts are all glued together it will make a strong enough structure.  The ICM wheels are very basic and not weighted, the Eduard Brassin ones look much better.

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A quick update on where I have got to. Cockpit parts are all painted RLM 66, so is the bomb bay, the rest of the interior parts are all painted RLM 02.  Once I have done the dark wash and some dry brushing of a lighter grey I can put on the Eduard P/E and join the fuselage halves.  The wings are glued together and are ready to start attaching the engines and nacelles.  I had wondered if I could assemble the 5 engine covers together and then slide that over the engine and fit it to the wing, but the 2 larger side parts have inserts that fit into the wing leading edge so they have to be glued to the wing first.  Other bits and pieces are painted, ready to have some detail added.  The front gunners bed needs the pad painting a brown/tan colour, the pilots seat is much wider than the Monogram one, perhaps he has eaten to many sausages? there are wurst things. :facepalm:

IMG_1353

Thanks for looking, any questions or comments are welcome.

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Bob, I see you have the engine brackets nicely together. Did you have any problems getting the part locating pins to fit into the provided holes? I did. I'm only asking to see if it was just my kit.

By the way I like the bed. I wondered about this as well when I was working on the cockpit.  I will do the same thing when I do another one.

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