Airfix 1/72 Heinkel He 111/H-20

AIRFIX 1:72 HEINKEL HE-111/H-20

Reviewer: Carlos Giani (carlos_giani2002@yahoo.de)
Kit Review submitted: 25 May 2009

Kit Details:

Airfix 1/72^nd scale Heinkel He-111 H-20 (Kit N° 05021 ). Produced in France

Aircraft History:

The Heinkel He-111 was the mainstay of the German offensive against Great Britain during the “Battle of Britain”. It was produced in far larger quantities than the Do-17 series and remained in service throughout the war. The Heinkel He-111 was first displayed in January 1936, not as a bomber, but in the guise of a civil airliner. In 1937 the civil disguise of the He-111 was abandoned; He-111 B-1s were sent to the Condor Legion fighting in the Spanish Civil war. The success of the He-111 in Spain played a large part in shaping German bombing policy, which later proved wrong when the lightly armed bombers suffered heavy losses over Britain when opposed by modern and determined fighters.

The He-111 H-series was by far the most important variant of the bomber, the H-20 being the first to carry a dorsal gun turret and improved armament together with a redesigned nose and more powerful engines (two Junkers Jumo 213 each developing 1750 HP), giving a maximum speed of 470 Km/h and a service ceiling of 10000m. External bomb load was carried beneath the fuselage up to a maximum of 3600 kg.

The Kit:

This is another vintage Airfix kit, having the typical 70´s-look on it: no real sprues, it has raised panel lines/rivets, movable control surfaces and so on. Inside the sturdy box you get some 70 parts in gray styrene and 8 parts in clear acetate, the latter being acceptable (but not good). Annoyingly, the cockpit/nose glazing comes in two halves split longitudinally, which will guarantee for a problematic fit/ filling/sanding/polishing. Of course everything is floating loose around. There is no flash to speak of, and the molding quality is what we would expect for a model of this type. No nasty sink marks.

Instructions:

The classical longish paper sheet folded once, with history/technical data and symbols explanation in 5 languages on side 1, eight easy-to-understand construction steps on sides 2 and 3 (a few detail painting info for Humbrol paints), and a four-view painting/decaling diagram on side 4 (again Humbrol paints).

Construction:

While I glued the wings halves together and let them apart for drying (I glued the movable ailerons fixed), I started to “spice” the (scarce) cockpit a bit: I blanked some areas off with plasticard, added a rudimentary instruments panel and added seat belts made from Tamiya tape. The instructions tell us to paint the interior with H78 (British inside green) which is clearly wrong; having no more H92 I used H31 slate grey, which is just an approximated match [Note: there are endless discussions among modelers about the exact match to German interior color. I remember Humbrol Authentic HG6 “RLM 02” being very close to H92. IMHO, each one should decide for him-/herself]. Further, the small lateral windows were added to each fuselage halve, and these were then glued together, remembering to trap the turret and the rear wheel in between. Normaly the lateral machine guns are also glued from inside but, knowing I would break them up later, I left them off.

When the wings had their engine nacelles on, they were added to the fuselage, and this needed some heavy trimming, do to the strange way they are engineered: the lower wings halves are longer than the upper ones, and they “protrude” beyond the wing roots making the belly floor (if these makes sense). The fit in this area was terrible, and it required lots of putty to become acceptable smooth. The tailplanes and the vertical rudder went on without problems (again everything affixed), and then I tried to fill and sand smooth all the “square” gaps on the wing and tailplanes needed to permit the ailerons and the rudders to move; the result was less than perfect. Now it was time to tackle the front glazing. Not only had the join line to be filled and sanded, but also the fit to the fuselage was very bad. Of course I had to file/fill/sand/ polish the dam thing till there was nearly no more framework to be seen, which made masking also a horror trip (I’m aware that the result is very, very inaccurate). Further, the whole canopy became spotted and foggy from the inside (days after the glue dried -> I have no explanation!). A real pity! The next step was to properly mask the clear areas and the wheel wells.

I first painted the under surfaces with H65, masked it, and painted the upper surfaces with H30 and Revell´s R69 (had no H91 on stock!). A coat of Klear prepared for decaling, and also sealed the decals after, everything being then finished with a coat of H135 Satin Clear. The last step was to add the exhausts, the diverse antennae, the propellers and the landing gear, the later being a very good fit. I also added “machine gun barrels” from the outside, made from .020 rod. Voilá!

Versions:

Just one, in upper splinter green/black green scheme and sky blue undersides (H30/H91 over H65). Absolutely no information to the version portrayed.

Decals:

A small sheet with just basics. The usual hit-and-miss Airfix affair, the main crosses performed very good while the lateral crosses/unit numbers silvered through.

Overall:

Although this kit was far better than the B-17G, it still had some perils, so that I would only recommend it to Airfix fans. For a more accurate He-111 I would recommend the Italeri offering, since the Hasegawa one is nearly 2-1/2 times more expensive… Apart from the canopy, I’m contented with the result.

References:

None

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