1/72 FROG He219 "Uhu"

[Fifer54]

Here's what I'll be building........

This is the box......

The obligatory sprue shot......

Can't wait to get to grips with this. I like the dark blue plastic, probably seemed like a good idea

for an aircraft that was a nightfighter.....shame the colour scheme is a pale blue-grey!......

Edited August 9, 2010 by MadNurseGaz

[crookedmouth]

The box looks a bit "retro" - did it come from the bottom of the stassh or was it saved from a carboot sale?

[fraxinus]

The box looks a bit "retro" - did it come from the bottom of the stassh or was it saved from a carboot sale?

It's definitly model aviation archaelogy & Revell have just rereleased it!! The original moulding looks better though enjoy the build!

[Seahawk]

Retro and inaccurate it may but what sticks in my memory about this kit was the most delicately moulded "Hirschgeweih" radar aerials I have seen in any 1/72 kit before or since (those on Frog's much later Bf 109 G were nothing like as good). I wouldn't be surprised if newer issues have suffered from mould degradation but look at what Frog were achieving back in 1840 or whatever and ponder on how much progress we've made in the last 40-50 years.

Nick

[Test Graham]

Recent comment on this kit elsewhere suggest that it would benefit greatly from a replacement canopy, with less steep a windscreen. I might have a Falcon one, but no promises before I go digging.

[Enzo the Magnificent]

I like the dark blue plastic, probably seemed like a good idea for an aircraft that was a nightfighter

As far as I recall, all of FROG's kits were moulded in this colour.

Incidentally, I built this kit in 1969 as an eight-year-old.

[fraxinus]

I'm very tempted to do a Frog Black Widow now...ithat He219's tempted me to build from the box retro...its between that or the zvezda Ju88 A6 for the nightfighter Gb....or both?!

[Fifer54]

The box looks a bit "retro" - did it come from the bottom of the stassh or was it saved from a carboot sale?

It came from the small stash of a deceased relative whose widow shared the kits among whichever family members were

interested!

I got this, a MPM 1/72 Mil Mi-1 helo, a Revell 1/48 B-25 Mitchell which I intend building as a PBJ-1J (now that I've found a

pic of one without a radar pod!) and a Matchbox 1/72 Wellington. A few cousins got 4 kits as well, I didn't get there first

or I'd have had the Airfix Saro SR53 and the Monogram 1/48 B-58 Hustler and 1/72 B-36!

[Fifer54]

I've made a start, but unfortunately the camera is playing up (no spare batteries) so I've got no piccies!

Anyhoo, Frog provide 2 seats on a little floor panel for the cockpit....and that's all! No instrument panel,

cockpit coaming, joystick, consoles, nosewheel bay, etc.

Soooooo....... although I tend to build OOB, this was a bit bare, even for me! First of all, I cut and sanded

a cockpit coaming to fit under the windscreen, and attached a litte instrument panel cut to an "instrument

panel"-y shape under it. After closing the fuselage there was a BIG see-through aspect from top to bottom,

so a fairing panel under the floor blocked that.Finally there was a big gap under the rear end of the canopy,

all the way down to the bottom of the fuselage, so a rear coaming was needed to sort that out. All of my panel

designs are "speculative" but the 'pit does look a little better!

Oh,, and I blocked off the stand slot.

[fraxinus]

!

Anyhoo, Frog provide 2 seats on a little floor panel for the cockpit....and that's all! No instrument panel,

cockpit coaming, joystick, consoles, nosewheel bay, etc.

yup same as FROG Black widow!! cockpit non existant apart from 1.5 aircrew figs & 1 seat & floor!! will adapt a bit of etched probably using panel/joystick/seat & fusalage walls basic detail...I am not a model kit 'interior designer' as see no point in including detail when its not seen but the P61 has quite a bit of canopy & the 'pilots lounge' needs...er ....something!

[JamesP]

Look forward to seeing what you do with this as I'm going to build one with "Spin-a-prop" motors for a group build on UAMF next month.

[Fifer54]

Look forward to seeing what you do with this as I'm going to build one with "Spin-a-prop" motorsfor a group build on UAMF next month.

I wish I had some "Spin-a-prop" motors for mine..............

[CPNGROATS]

Great box art on the FROG He219..! I think the dark blue plastic was used towards the end of FROG's manufacturing period. The earlier issued kits seem to have been moulded in a gray plastic...

Cheers,

ggc

[marty_hopkirk]

The box looks a bit "retro"

It's a typical mid-seventies Frog.

Marty...

[Fifer54]

Progress report:

Good progress has been made in assembling the kit!

The fuselage has been closed up-

And some scratched parts added so that the 'pit is a little less "naked". Cockpit

coaming, a rear coaming, a roof to the nosewheel bay and an instrument panel,

all of them "speculative" (i.e. I made them up!)

Wings have been assembled, but not engines, yet!

I've also built up the empennage (now there's a posh word for the tail!)

10 parts each side!!

The fuselage has a "step" at the dorsal join, so lots of filling & filing, and it's now

got a stripe of paint down it to show up faults, so more filling & filing to come!

Also a repair where I sanded right through!!

[Fifer54]

OK, here's where we're up to-

Primer coat has showed up lots of places where a smear touch whole

tube of filler is needed to rectify bad joins, particularly on the engine nacelles

so I'll set to work on that now. Will report more progress when there's more progress

to report!

[Fifer54]

It's a while since I reported on this, and we're nearly done!

Here's a couple of recent photos:

Mottled and awaiting a burst of activity to finish!

[Fifer54]

two days too late, here it is. I 've got this far, and I'll call it finished.

Apologies for poor pictures, they looked better before uploading!!

:coat;

[CPNGROATS]

The pics are a little blurry,however, it certainly looks like an OWL... great nostalgia build of a classic kit...

Cheers,

ggc