Popular Post Heather Kay Posted March 3, 2021 Popular Post Share Posted March 3, 2021 Heinkel He111P-2, G1+AN, 5./KG 55 "Greif", Villacoublay, France, 1940. By the start of World War Two, the Luftwaffe's core bomber strength consisted of the Junkers Ju87 Stuka and Ju88, Dornier Do17Z and the Heinkel He111H and P series. The Heinkel was the most numerous bomber in the fleet, with the H series the most numerous variant, powered by a pair of Junkers Jumo 211 engines. The P series was identical, save for using Daimler-Benz DB601A engines. The history of the Heinkel bomber is fairly well known, so to save me typing it all out again, here's a link to the Wikipedia entry on the type. Many years ago, as my 1940 obsession began to take hold, I struck upon the idea of buying the Airfix Battle of Britain 75th Anniversary gift set. It contained the newest toolings for the Hawker Hurricane, Supermarine Spitfire, Messerschmitt Bf109 and Heinkel He111. The overall cost was probably a bit cheaper than acquiring all the kits separately. Being a bit limited for display space, the three fighters got put together fairly quickly. The Heinkel, however, had to linger on the shelf, shivering in its polythene bag once the large box was gone. Time passed, and I made up my mind it was time to build the kit - and here it is. Built it straight from the poly bag, the box long consigned to recycling, aside from masking tape seat belts, using the original gift set transfers - hence no swathes of stencils and data panels! I also flattened the wheels slightly. Trouble was encountered fitting the gondola transparency, and also aligning the three-part nose transparency. You can see a bit of a step in the latter, but I didn't feel confident enough to file and sand it all down flush. I used a set of Pmask vinyl masks for the clear parts. I'm not a fan of vinyl masks, but these performed adequately. The model was painted with ColourCoats enamels, Humbrol acrylics for detailing, and Winsor & Newton Galleria Acrylic Matt varnish to finish up. My original plan had been to cover the undersurfaces with black distemper, a practice adopted during the Blitz to try and make the aircraft less visible to searchlights while on night operations. Since I had to paint the model in the normal camouflage colours anyway, I elected not to go the distemper route, so the finished aircraft is exactly as Airfix expected when they produced the gift set - plus the swastika marking, of course. The build was pretty enjoyable, aside from the transparency fit issues. It's a well-detailed kit that rewards a little patience, but isn't so complex that the modeller loses the will to live. The Heinkel essentially completes my 1940 Luftwaffe bomber collection, save for Revell's new tool Ju88A-1 and a nice big Trumpeter Fw200 that keeps catching my eye. When I'm feeling brave, I'll get a group photo of the bomber collection. The WIP thread can be found here: 78 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Johnson Posted March 3, 2021 Share Posted March 3, 2021 Excellent. And super photos with the slightly hazy background. Just right! 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jackroadkill Posted March 3, 2021 Share Posted March 3, 2021 She's turned out great, Heather. Thanks for sharing it with us. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dogsbody Posted March 3, 2021 Share Posted March 3, 2021 Nicely done! Chris 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Stew Dapple Posted March 4, 2021 Share Posted March 4, 2021 Turned out a beauty Hev Cheers, Stew 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JWM Posted March 4, 2021 Share Posted March 4, 2021 Great result! Regards J-W 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
steh2o Posted March 4, 2021 Share Posted March 4, 2021 Clean and nice! Great! 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Heather Kay Posted March 4, 2021 Author Share Posted March 4, 2021 Thanks, everyone! I should probably do a bit more weathering around the model beyond exhaust stains. Perhaps I will revisit in time, but I will need to get some better research in on which bits got chipped and how dirt built up. These planes had a hard life, but must have been maintained reasonably well. 3 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TonyOD Posted March 4, 2021 Share Posted March 4, 2021 11 hours ago, Heather Kay said: I'll get a group photo of the bomber collection. Looking forward to that. That's a very handsome Heinkel. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Team Aer Lingus Posted March 4, 2021 Share Posted March 4, 2021 Very nice work Heather fantastic looking model thanks for sharing Eamonn 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Heather Kay Posted March 4, 2021 Author Share Posted March 4, 2021 2 hours ago, TonyOD said: Looking forward to that Packing them into my photo base was fun. I’ve sneaked in the Dornier Do17P at the back. The type was used in the bomber role at the start of the war, but later relegated to training duties. For much of 1940, the Do17P was used for meteorological and high altitude reconnaissance flights. So, we have the Do17P, Do17Z-1, He111P-2, Ju88A-5 (A-1 in the stash waiting its turn) and Ju87B-1. 13 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Marklo Posted March 4, 2021 Share Posted March 4, 2021 (edited) Really nice build. That background really works well; the top photo looks like the real thing. ( note to self must do a bit of work on my own grass matting) The collection looks really good. Edited March 4, 2021 by Marklo 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Homer Posted March 4, 2021 Share Posted March 4, 2021 very nice work well done 👏 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TonyOD Posted March 4, 2021 Share Posted March 4, 2021 Beautiful collection. I feel we've had this conversation before, but are those Colourcoats RLMs? 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
stevehnz Posted March 4, 2021 Share Posted March 4, 2021 Lovely job on the 'Einkel Heather, to add to all your other lovely jobs, joys to watch, all of them. Steve 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Heather Kay Posted March 4, 2021 Author Share Posted March 4, 2021 46 minutes ago, Marklo said: That background really works well; the top photo looks like the real thing. I need to work on the transition between the flat grass area and the backdrop image. Still mulling that over. 44 minutes ago, Homer said: very nice work well done 👏 Thanks! 40 minutes ago, TonyOD said: Beautiful collection. I feel we've had this conversation before, but are those Colourcoats RLMs? Not all of them. The Do17Z used Humbrol 241 and 242, which are their RLM equivalents. The Junkerses used Xtracrylix. The Do17P and the 'Einkel are ColourCoats. As you can see, they all pretty much agree on the tonal variance between RLM 70 and 71. 19 minutes ago, stevehnz said: Lovely job on the 'Einkel Heather, to add to all your other lovely jobs, joys to watch, all of them. Steve Aww, bless you. Like all of my builds, they have errors, c*ck-ups and bits I would do better if I started over. I like to think each build gets better as I learn new things. 3 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TonyOD Posted March 4, 2021 Share Posted March 4, 2021 3 minutes ago, Heather Kay said: As you can see, they all pretty much agree on the tonal variance between RLM 70 and 71. That's the conversation I think we've had, given my recent experience of the Humbrols. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
swralph Posted March 4, 2021 Share Posted March 4, 2021 Lovely build Heather.😀 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Allan31 Posted March 4, 2021 Share Posted March 4, 2021 Loverly job on the 111 and everyone else. I know the 111 is Airfix, how about the rest? 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Wulfman Posted March 4, 2021 Share Posted March 4, 2021 Excellent build on the Heinkel, great stuff ! Wulfman 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Heather Kay Posted March 4, 2021 Author Share Posted March 4, 2021 25 minutes ago, Allan31 said: I know the 111 is Airfix, how about the rest? The Stuka and Do17Z are Airfix. The 17P is a hybrid Airfix Do17E and Revell 17Z. The 88 is Italeri. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bbudde Posted March 4, 2021 Share Posted March 4, 2021 Great looking Heinkel Heather. Like it a lot. Fine work!. Cheers 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LorenSharp Posted March 4, 2021 Share Posted March 4, 2021 Excellent job on the 'einkle Heather. I like the idea of the grass matting and background it really sets it off. Although I'd have to say the grouping of all the Bombers together it almost looks like "Heathers New and slightly Used German Bombers" sale lot. Definitely a job Well Done! 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TheBaron Posted March 4, 2021 Share Posted March 4, 2021 Superb paint job Heather. A great piece of work altogether. 👏 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Andreas.R Posted March 4, 2021 Share Posted March 4, 2021 Very nice build. of my favorite Bomber - the other one is the B29, but needs too much space. I have build the Revell / Hasegawa H6 version. Have followed your building. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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