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ITALERI 1:72 HEINKEL HE 111 H-6 |
Reviewer:
Kevin Ronayne (kevin.ronayne@nuigalway.ie)
Kit Review submitted:
18 December 2002
The Heinkel 111 was essentially a scaled-up twin-engine version of the Heinkel 70 single-engined aircraft. Like the He 70 (and other contemporary German aircraft), it had both a civilian and military role. As an outgrowth of the He 70, the He 111 had the same distinctive elliptical wing planform. The first prototypes flew in early 1935. Early tests proved that the aircraft had a performance comparable (or even superior to) contemporary fighter aircraft. The first production bomber version was the He 111 B-1, which was rapidly pressed into service with Luftwaffe bomber units. Some 30 B-1's were also sent to fight with the Nationalists in the Spanish Civil war - this was the famous Legion Condor unit. Along with Dornier 17's, the Heinkels gradually replaced the Junkers 52 in the bomber role. This was a gradual process, and in the most infamous raid of the war - the 1937 attack on Guernica immortalised by Picasso - there were 20 Ju 52's, but only 2 He 111's.
The lines of the He 111 were not to stay the same, however. In order to speed up construction, the wing planform was simplified somewhat, with straight edges replacing some of the pure elliptical lines of the early versions. This resulted in the He 111 F version. By the outbreak of World War II, two further major design changes were to take place: the first was the replacement of the 'stepped' cockpit and nose section with the distinctive (and asymmetric) glazed nose. The second change was the replacement of the retractable 'dustbin' ventral turret with a fixed gondola - this would become known to the crews as the Stertebett (deathbed)! With these changes, the Heinkel 111 assumed the form familiar to most of us.
The Heinkel 111 had a very long and varied career and was produced in (or modified to) a huge variety of different designs or sub-designs - the H-6 represented by this kit was one of the main versions. In service, it outlasted contemporary bombers such as the Junkers 86 and Dornier 17, and managed to soldier on alongside the Junkers 88/188 and Dornier 217 for most of the war. Production (of more than 7,000 aircraft) did not end until October 1944. The He 111 service career had many highlights - its swansong was the attack on U.S. aircraft at Poltava airfield in the U.S.S.R. in June 1944 (the American aircraft landed there after a raid on Berlin). However, this attack relied more on surprise than anything else, as the He 111 was obviously long since outclassed as a pure bomber, let alone one that could operate safely in daylight without heavy fighter protection. Towards the end of the war, remaining He 111's were used only in the transport role.
Once again, I find myself coming back to a kit that I built many years ago - 1985, to be exact. Apart from the kits of the early Spanish Civil war versions released by Roden/Toko (which are plagued by some major fit problems by all accounts), there have been no new kits of the He 111 released for a really long time. Therefore, by default, this is still the best kit of the He 111 - certainly covering World War II versions. Although Revell once reboxed this kit, I don't think the current Revell box has this tooling inside. As well as this kit (Italeri #121), there is the very similar H-20/22 V-1 kit already reviewed by Mark Braithy (#37), and the 'Zwilling' kit (#119).
In recent years, Italeri have become very adept at producing different sprues for different versions of the same aircraft - for example, the three kits of the Bf110 all have subtly different sprues to address a myriad of version difference details. However, this isn't the case with this older tooling - it's actually the later V-1 kit with a few parts being marked not for use, and the V-1 mini-sprue being completely omitted (Note: Italeri kit serial numbers bear no real relationship to the order of release). Nothing has been omitted from the original H-6 sprue, but some original parts are now marked as surplus to requirements. Excluding these, and some V-1 specific parts also not used, there are about 120-125 parts in all. These include optional gun fits and external loads (bombs and torpedoes). The parts are on two main sprues molded in standard light grey, and an enclosed transparency sprue. Some new and reissued Italeri kits have the transparency sprue sealed in a plastic bag, but not here. I guess that will have to wait for the next production batch. The detailing is done mostly with raised lines, as you would expect given the basic mold vintage. However, despite the age, the there is hardly any mold seam or 'flash' to deal with - it is in very good condition.
The box artwork hasn't changed - indeed, the scan is from the original box. The three same subject options are included, along with the exact same set of decals. Since Italeri switched decal suppliers about ten years ago, you wonder why they didn't take the opportunity to offer new options with some of their older kits, or at least offer an expanded and improved decal sheet for the same subjects (such as Airfix are doing). Actually, Italeri are just beginning to do this very recently, but invariably with a noticeable hike in the price. This kit was just under 14 Euro (or about £8 STG from Hannants), which is still very good value.
The instruction leaflet is another 'improved' Italeri production. As with other Italeri kits, careful checking of both old and new leaflets showed that some vital details had been messed up, and some worthwhile diagrams and instructions deleted. I'll refer to these issues as they arose during construction. At least the sprue diagrams still have the part number included - vitally important, as the sprues don't have any part numbers stamped on them. The three subjects belong to:
The paint codes are the standard FS/Modelmaster codes, and as usual, they bear only the vaguest resemblance to the shades required for a WW II Luftwaffe aircraft. Translating the codes is mostly a straightforward affair: FS34092 is RLM 70 Schwarzgrun (or Humbrol 91 for me). If I had been doing the 'splinter' camouflage, RAL 6003 would have been RLM 71 Dunkelgrun (probably Hu 30). For interiors and undercarriage, FS34227 is RLM 02 Grau - correctly identified on the older sheet - or Hu 31. All three subjects had the underside colour as FS36375. For the North Sea and Russian subjects, this was RLM 65 Hellblau (Hu 65), but for the tropical subject it would have been RLM 78 Himmelblau. Note: Any Italeri kit of a late-war Luftwaffe fighter will still have FS36375 for an underside light grey/blue surface, even though it would actually be yet another shade - RLM 76 Lichtblau. For completeness, the tropical aircraft would have had RLM 79 Sandbraun (or possibly RLM 79a Sandgelb) upper surfaces with RLM 80 Olivegrun blotches. For my Russian aircraft, the under wing theatre markings were yellow, which is RLM 04 Gelb, or Hu 154.
This is a typical Italeri kit in that despite having a seemingly high 'piece count', it would prove to be generally very straightforward in terms of engineering and construction. Taking this into account, and the fact that the basic kit has already been reviewed, there is no need to recount the construction in great detail. It's also one of those kits where the specified construction sequence can be tossed out the window.
The first point of note is the crew figures: these are marked as surplus to requirements in the current release. Why? Maybe Italeri just want to go with the current (perceived) trend of omitting crew figures. I didn't use these, but I assembled and cleaned them up anyway, and stored them away for possible future use with something else. They are very crisply detailed, and well worth using or keeping. As the new leaflet blanks out these parts, it's not obvious which arms go with which bodies. I have included a scan from the old leaflet for anyone who needs it:
| 10, 11, 12 and 13 - pilot |
|
| 39, 40, 41, 42 - dorsal gunner | |
| 7, 8 and 9 - bomb aimer/nose gunner | |
| 7, 8 and 9 - ventral gunner (same as previous) | |
| 23, 24 and 25 - waist gunner |
There is no interior detail aft of the forward bulkhead, and even this does not need to be installed until later in the assembly process. There is little to do internally except paint the entire surface with RLM 02 and attach the fuselage and gondola windows - and the waist guns. The kit provides for a 'standard' defensive armament of 5 x 7.92 mm MG 15 machine guns (nose, rear gondola, dorsal and two waist positions). These have separate ammunition drum units and are very detailed. Various upgrades to this fir were used in practice. The H-6 could carry one or two 20 mm MG FF cannons (often used for strafing duties, particularly in the anti-shipping role). The kit has these, and they are located in the nose (to replace the MG 15) and in the forward gondola position. The second cannon should really be (and had been) listed as an optional part, but the current instructions have it as a mandatory item. The box art is also incorrect in showing an MG 15 fitted in this position - although it was probably used in practice, it wasn't not an option in the kit itself. I fitted both cannon, as well as the 13 mm MG 131 provided as an option in the dorsal position. The background text in the instructions still mentions the 'stinger' machine gun (7.92 mm MG 17) that was fitted above the tail cone of many machines, but this is now omitted from the instructions. It's still on the sprue though.
A fine study of a He 111. Note that this aircraft appears to have an MG 15 in the forward gondola position, and an MG FF cannon in the nose. Also, note the small vertical masts located just ahead of the radiator air intakes - these are missing from the kit. Note the exact position of the exhaust stubs. Finally, note the size and position of the swastika, which obviously is not included in the kit.
The cockpit bulkhead is a 'loose fit' in that there are gaps on each side caused by the curvature of the fuselage where it meets the wing roots. I didn't bother to fill in these gaps, as they would not really be noticeable once the kit was finished. The fuselage halves were a very precise fit. The tail units are unusual in that the locating tabs are extra long, and are designed to meet in the middle and form the roof of the tail wheel bay. This is an unusual solution, and it makes it much easier to get the tails in the correct position. The tail wheel simply fits into a hole in the middle, although it needs to be cut for a model with retracted undercarriage.
The upper and lower wing halves were also very good fits. There was no undercarriage bay detail in the upper wing, but the lower wing has a rectangular cutout section, around which the undercarriage would be located. This makes this area look reasonably realistic unless viewed from directly below.
The real problem came when I attached the wings to the fuselage. The wings attached at the correct angle, and the upper wing/fuselage joint was perfect. However, there was a gap of almost 1 mm between the lower edge of the fuselage root sections, and the lower edge of the wings themselves. Either the wing doesn't have a deep enough chord, or the fuselage wing root area is too deep - or a bit of both. This is a real problem, as there should be a smooth transition from lower wing surface to lower fuselage surface. Before doing anything, I firstly attached the bomb/torpedo pylons. In true Italeri style, these were designed to attach 'conformally' - no locating pins or marks whatsoever. They fitted perfectly, but this might not have been the case if I had already sanded away some of the lower fuselage. Once the pylons were in place, I then worked away at the small fuselage areas between the outer edges of the pylon and the wing root. I did as much as I could to try and make the joins look blended, but the problem is still noticeable to some degree.
Old Instructions - landing gear and doors layout. Note that the outer doors are wider than the inner doors.
The main undercarriage units looked complicated, but were easy to build because of good engineering and precise fit. However, the new instructions nearly messed things up again: there were two pairs of rear retraction struts - parts 68 and 69. Because the main undercarriage stood perpendicular to the ground, the inner and outer struts had to be of slightly different length. Part 69 is the longer strut, and should be on the outside, with part 68 on the inside - not the other way around! It also follows that the main units had have slightly longer outer legs, and they did - that was not a problem. The detail on the struts and wheels was very good. However, in designing the kit, Italeri missed a small lateral strut connecting the two rear struts. The old instructions had an insert to cover this, but it has since been deleted. Viewed from the side, the main strut should tilt back slightly (from top to bottom), even against the perpendicular. The kit is spot on here.
Old Instructions - addition to the undercarriage. The instruction was to use stretched sprue, but any suitable spare part would do.
With the exception of the tires and shock absorbers (which were both painted black, as per the instructions), every other part of the undercarriage was painted RLM 02. The instructions actually specified the use of RLM 70 for most of the undercarriage, and the older instructions had an even more questionable colour scheme. The entire undercarriage bay and insides of the undercarriage doors were also painted RLM 02. The undercarriage doors were molded as pairs of loosely attached parts. For a 'wheels up' model, they looked fine. However, with the wheels down, it required a very delicate attachment to the wing under surface. Not only were the angles and exact point of attachment uncertain, but also the physical attachment process was awkward - until I decided to use superglue.
The engines were basically trouble-free, although it was not obvious as to the exact positioning of the exhaust units. On the basis of reference photographs, I positioned them as far back as possible in the 'troughs' on either side of the engine. The sprue diagram showed a full set of shrouded exhausts as being included, but not to be used (for the H-20/22 V-1 kit). However, exhausts for one engine were physically removed from the sprue anyway by some means. If I get another kit, I'll have a full set of exhausts to use next time around! The kit is correct in having both propeller units rotate counter-clockwise when viewed from the front. The blades were painted RLM 70. The instructions show a deep black band at the base of each spinner, but I didn't paint this on my kit. If I find that this band still remained visible even on winter-camouflaged aircraft, I can always add it later.
Belatedly, I finished off the cockpit and front glazing. I had to resort to superglue again to fix the main pilot/bomb aimer assembly to the main bulkhead. Care needs to be taken that this entire unit attached at a flat (or even very slightly raised) angle. Otherwise, it might be difficult to attach the main glazing. There was a modicum of detail on the fuselage walls. I couldn't figure out how to attach a small instrument panel (part 26A) without it getting in the way of the pilot in real life. Also, the old and new instructions differed on how this part should be oriented, so I decided to omit it. The other panel that hangs off the cockpit roof had an instrument decal (a rarity for Italeri). This panel should be attached to the very rear of the main glazing. This was very easily confirmed with a dry fit, which was just as well in the light of more confusing and conflicting instructions.
The nose glazing consists of just three parts: the upper rear section, the asymmetric main section, and the nose gun unit. Although quite thick by modern standards, the larger parts are still quite clear and distortion free. The framing is implemented using lightly raised panel lines, as opposed to raised panels. I always find that the raised panel line method is much easier when it comes to painting the framing. There was a lot of this, with undercoats of RLM 02 before the main surface colours. I must also echo what Mark Braithy said in his review about the nose gun 'bubble' - pay attention and make sure to attach it with the gun opening pointing down. The instructions aren't clear on this, but the artwork is.
Each pylon has variable position crutches to hold either the bomb or torpedo as required - there are parts to fair over the unused crutch positions in either case. The crutches themselves proved to be a loose fit, which is very important when trying to fix stores in the correct position. I had exactly the same problem with the under wing bombs on the Italeri B-57. I fitted my aircraft with bombs (2 PC500/D500 L-type bombs, I think). The instructions specify that only this subject should carry bombs, but in practice I think any H-6 could carry bombs - the box artwork shows bombs on one of the (supposed) torpedo-carrying aircraft! Also, in the aforementioned plate of the Mediterranean aircraft, the aircraft is depicted carrying bombs. Here, the bombs are painted yellow, whereas in the kit, they are painted black. I have read that this type of bomb was painted either field grey or aluminium, so now I'm more confused than ever. The torpedoes (which I obviously didn't use) looked alright, although they lacked the Monotane-style units fitted to the rear of the weapon. These were used to alter the trajectory of the falling torpedo and improve its chances of entering the water successfully. These are included in the Italeri Ju 88 A-4 Torp./A-17 kit. However, that's a much later kit - perhaps by 15 years or more - and it may just be that these type of units were overlooked by Italeri (and other kit manufacturers) until relatively recently.
A He 111 being armed with torpedoes. Note the extension at the tail of the torpedo, used to improve its flight when dropped. The torpedoes in the kit lack these, as well as the hollow at the tip (they have a flat tip instead). One of the masts ahead of the radiator air intakes can just be made out in this picture. Note that this would be offset to the right on both engines, as the He 111 was not 'handed' - the mast is obviously linked to the engine itself for some reason. It is strange that Italeri omitted this detail, as it is clearly visible on the box artwork of this kit.
The rest of the kit involved some minor items, such as masts, control hinges and separate rudder and elevator units. I had to move the aerial mast behind the turret back slightly, or else it would have been right up against the machine gun muzzle. Of course, if I had used the smaller MG 15 I wouldn't have had this problem. At any rate, the dorsal gunner would have had his field of fire obscured by the tailfin/rudder anyway, so the mast shouldn't have been a problem as long as the gun could be swung freely! The kit includes the transparent part for the enclosed turret used on some later versions, but it is of no use with this kit without other parts that are presumably provided only with the V-1 carrier kit.
Painting the winter scheme took me longer than anticipated for two reasons. The first is I needed to apply two or three (depending on the area) coats of matt white paint. Humbrol Matt White is even thinner than Gloss White! Even then, the finish was a long way from being pristine and even. However, that was just what I wanted for a temporary finish such as this. Secondly, the paint/decal diagrams show far more panel detail on the upper wing surface than is actually in the kit itself. The detail shown is correct, but Italeri just didn't include that level of panelling detail. Actually, I preferred it that way, as I felt that too many raised panel lines would have detracted somehow from the appearance of what was a very 'clean' aircraft. However, the upshot was that it was at times difficult to apply the disruptive RLM 70 pattern exactly as shown. The fact that some of the other details (e.g., the port wing leading edge pitot tube) were not shown in the correct position didn't help either. However, as this scheme was almost certainly applied in the field, I felt I had some degree of artistic licence.
© Kevin Ronayne 2005
Applying the decals didn't take very long, as the sheet was quite minimal, and, on the other hand, with the decal quality being so good. A few small areas of white on the decals showed themselves to be not quite opaque against some RLM 70 underneath. Maybe I should have applied the decals before applying the disruptive pattern, which would have probably mimicked the real sequence. The swastikas were from a sheet manufactured by a company called Fantasy Printshop. I used the largest size available, but without applying (for obvious reasons) the white outline seen on most He 111 swastikas. I had to break the forward attachment points of the delicate rudder balances so that I could slide the swastikas into the correct position - serves me right for not checking this first.
As well as the various issues that I have commented on - plus Mark Braithy's comments in his review - there is very little left to say. In my view, apart possibly from the wing root/chord problem, there is no sign of a really major flaw in the kit.
© Kevin Ronayne 2005
This kit was very enjoyable to build, which should be the principal criteria against which almost any kit is judged. It compares very well with any of the other kits of multi-engined German and Italian aircraft that Italeri were so good at producing all those years ago. The only real problem that I can see is that there aren't more boxings of the basic mold to cover some of the myriad of alternative versions. I really like the He 111 as an aircraft, as much as for its classic 'lines' as anything else, but obviously not enough modellers feel that way.
My printed references were mainly restricted to just two standard reference works:
The Squadron Signal book on the He 111 has been very recently updated and republished, but I don't have it yet. Presumably, that would help to shed light on some issues such as the possible gun/cannon configurations, which were probably numerous.
The pictures used here are from Rod's WarBirds, a huge source of pictures for WW II German aircraft. This in turn is part of the WarBird Pictures site, which also includes a huge supply of Japanese aircraft photographs from WW II. I have mentioned this site before, and the good news is that it is being updated on a regular basis. Strictly speaking, most of the original photographs are probably still copyrighted, but in my book it's OK to use them for something like this. It's not as if I'm making any money out of this!
Note: the following related reviews links have not been updated since early 2000's - more kit reviews of this aircraft may now be on SMAKR, not reflected below. Refer to the Index for other kits of this type.
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