Heinkel He-111 H5/6 1B+OH

[EirikB]

I got my hands on a Monogram Heinkel He-111 (H5) in 1/48, instead of choosing among the two versions suggested in the box - I want to make this a specific aircraft.

 

Wekusta 5 based in Norway had JU-88 and He-111 on visits to Svalbard/Spitsbergen serving the weather stations there. The germans had several stations around the islands, but the main station was Bansö just outside Longyearbyen (a Norwegian mine settlement). Bansö was located in Adventdalen (Advent valley), a large and flat valley perfect for landing aircrafts during winter. They also landed on the sea ica Adventfjorden (Advent fjord) a few kilometres away, and it was here He-111 1B+OH ended its career when one of the landing gears broke. It ended up on the bottom of the fjord. I am not sure if the 1B+OH is a H5 or H6.

 

 

Xtradecal as made decals for this specific aircraft, but only in 1/72. All I need is the letters 1B+OH (black without outline) for the markings on each side of the aircraft. It does not seem that the aircraft have the Wekusta 5-badge. The image below is from the Xtradecal instrutions.

 

I have searched and have only found 1/72 letters, or 1/48 post war letters. They might work as a good-enough-solution. I have searched this forum for information as well, and many points to fantasyprintshop, but I had no luck finding what I am looking for. I could print them my self on decal paper, but then I have to find resources on fonts and sizes.

Some questions:
- Does anyone have good sources for the kind of 1/48 decals I am looking for?

- Are there good (online) resources of information on Luftwaffe WW2 markings? (useful if I am making my own)

- What are the differences between He-111 H5 and H6?

As soon as I start I will show the progress in the Work in progress section... 🙂

[elger]

Regarding the difference between the H-5 and H-6, what I recall from when I built an H-5 in 1/32 is that an H-5 is essentially a long-range H-4 with extra fuel tanks where the bomb racks were inside the fuselage and it featured external bomb racks. I never did quite figure out if there was a fuel filler cap in the fuselage. The H-5 was also capable of carrying heavy bombs and had external bomb racks. It had the larger wheels that were standard on the H-6. It differs from the H-6 in that it had the earlier pointed propeller blades and pointed spinners. For my H-5 in 1/32 I started with an H-6 but used the propeller units from a P kit (which were the same as early H-types). I may have also used some of the glass from a P kit to backdate the H-6 but I don't quite remember.

 

You are right that there are very few if any generic Luftwaffe bomber code letter decal sheets available. It might be possible to find the different letters on different decal sheets but then you'd have be careful because the sizes might differ. Airdoc has some decals for Junkers 88 that feature black code letters, but they are in a different font (square, rather than rounded).

 

I don't know if the squadron badge is available anywhere in 1/48 - you may want to check out decal collections of Luftwaffe badges that exist but since Wekusta units were somewhat rare I'm not sure they exist. Perhaps you can make a mask and paint it?

[vppelt68]

Check what reverend John does for 1:48: http://www.aimsmodels.co.uk/Decals/1-48/1-48.html

V-P

[tempestfan]

I think I have read all H-6s had the slightly shorter, less bulbuous, MG FF-capable A-Stand, with a rectangular plate at the front of the glazing and two small semi-circles each side. The one shown in your pic may have this arrangement (sans cannon), but it's hard to tell as the earlier version looked similar when no gun was fitted. And I don't recall whether that A-Stand was (retro-)fitted to earlier versions.

[G.R.Morrison]

Your subject, "1B+OH" was He 111H-6  WNr.4909

 

I'm afraid I can not help with a source for your decals.

 

For your consideration, the He 111H-5, "1B+DH" of Lt. Rudolf Schütze (who was the first weather-reconnaissance pilot to be awarded the Ritterkreuz) was the first He 111 to reach Greenland from the European mainland.  The earliest weather-recon Heinkels were fitted with a MG 15 in the nose ("A-Stand") which was used as a 'wind gauge,' with the meteorologist able to determine speed and direction by reading the splashes.  Schütze flew many different aircraft, and was killed 26.August 1943 in the crash near Drageidet of Arado Ar 232A-10 WNr.100012, ferrying a dozen leave-takers from Banak.  He had made more than 2,000 weather flights before and during the war.

 

Good luck with your build, GRM

[Soris]

If you want, I can send you a file to cut out in Corel or ready-made masks (Tamiya masking paper).