**** DONE: GB-37 1/48th He-111H-4 - Helicopters/Military Aircraft of the BoB 1940

[Airframes]

Username Airframes
Name Terry
Category Judge - non-competing
Kit ICM He-111H-3
Scale 1/48th
Accessories Decals from kit and spares files, probably a little scratch-building.


Heinkel He-111H-4 of 8/KG26, code 1H + FS, August 15th 1940

This is another addition to my 'BoB - Hardest Days' collection, and will be built using the new ICM kit.
As I posted a review of this kit in December, i won't bother showing the parts sprues here, but a pic of the box art is shown below.
As with the Bf110 I built for GB 36, this aircraft was one of those lost during the disastrous raids on targets in the north east of England on 15th August 1940, having been attacked by Spitfires and Hurricanes from Acklington, Usworth, and Catterick, and eventually ditched in the North Sea, some 30 miles off the north east coast.
The crew survived, and their story is truly remarkable. I'll post details of the raid and the epic survival of the crew in a subsequent post, once I've edited all of the details into a manageable format.
I hope to make a start on this within the next few days, but to do so, I need to get some paint, as my matt white has dried up, and getting around in the snow and ice could be a tad tricky for the next couple of days at least. But we'll see.
Back soon with the details.

 

[Wurger]

 

[Crimea_River]

Ahhh this will be lovely.

 

[Airframes]

Thanks Andy, and I hope so.
Before even opening the box to plan the build, I've been changing stuff around in the cabinets, to make room for it !
And of course, I must 'Google' lots of pictures, in order to study the sloppy paint jobs used ...................... cough !

 

[Airframes]

OK, so a little bit of detail about the model, and the story behind it's loss, and the crew's survival.

This was the H-4 variant which, as far as a model is concerned, was outwardly identical to the H-3 provided in the kit. The aircraft was finished in the standard splinter camouflage of RLM 70/71 on the upper surfaces, with RLM 65 under sides, and the spinners were painted in the Staffel colour, red.
Code letters were in black, with the individual aircraft letter again in the Staffel colour, red, but with a white outline, and the yellow 'Lion' shield of III Gruppe was displayed on the nose, beneath the cockpit side windows.
Decals for these will be sourced both from those adapted from the kit, and from the spares files, and the red 'F' code letter will, hopefully, be pieced together from an available red, outlined white, letter 'H'.
As this kit has a major portion of the upper fuselage 'roof' as a separate part, I intend to do a lot of dry fitting, in order to see if some items, such as the waist guns, can be fitted after painting the model, by attaching the roof temporarily, and then removing it after painting, to install any smaller, delicate items - should be fun !

This particular aircraft was one of five Heinkels lost from 8/KG26 during the disastrous raid on north east England on August 15th 1940, and had to ditch in the North Sea, 30 miles east of Middlesbrough. Unlike at least one other crew from the Staffel, who were picked up fairly quickly by a fishing boat, this crew endured a series of events which was truly remarkable, and were lucky to survive to tell the tale.
The story is set out below, in PDF format, due to the length of the tale, and for ease of reading.

 

[fubar57]

Looking forward to it Terry

 

[Donivanp]

So looking forward to this one.

 

[Crimea_River]

Interesting story Terry. Thanks for posting it.

 

[Airframes]

Thanks chaps.
Hoping to make a start on it some time tomorrow. Unlike many kits, which often start with the cockpit, the first stage is the wheel bays, wing spars and bulkheads.

 

[Wurger]

Sounds good though. Not always we have to start with the cockpit.

 

[Airframes]

Yep. The cockpit area is much later in the build sequence, although I'll probably change the sequence here and there, to suit the requirements for painting.

 

[Wurger]

I must admit I do that quite often. Not only to conform the process to painting but also for making the entire way easier.

 

[Airframes]

Yep, same here.
The kit includes full engines and mounts etc for both sides, but I'm going to see if It can be done without them, as I won't be having the cowlings open.

 

[Wurger]

I see. Perhaps you may need to make the prop shafts for attaching of props and their mounts if you want to make he prop rotation possible.

 

[Airframes]

Yep, I think that can be done easily enough - I'll have a look when i get closer to that stage.

Anyway, I decided to make a start on it tonight, and the main internal structure is now assembled.
This consists of the main wheel bay 'boxes', each of four parts (other detail is added later), the main spars, which include the forward and aft bomb bay bulkheads, the bomb bay walkway, and the rear floor section and bulkhead.
The bomb cells themselves consist of seven parts for each side, not including the bombs, and are nicely detailed, and again, are fitted much later in the build.
So far, fit of parts has been very positive and neat, with very minimal clean-up to easily remove sprue attachment points.
There is a lot of detail to be fitted to the interior, and I will be adding scratch-built, open doors to the bomb bay bulkheads, as well as a little extra detail here and there.

 

[Crimea_River]

Neat.

 

[fubar57]

Good start. This is my main problem with building.....I follow the instructions.....literally.....almost no deviation. Even though I say the next kit will be different, I rarely stray and that adds a lot of extra time to the build. Mark my words, the next kit will be different..............

 

[Wurger]

 

[Donivanp]

Looks good there. I like the fact that the top can come off for display. I don't know if I would use it or not though!

 

[Airframes]

Thanks chaps.
Don, I'm not yet sure if the top section can easily be removed for display, as it might just be designed for ease of tooling for later versions, but I'll find out when I get to that stage. Either way, I'll most likely cement it in place anyway, as I hope to add the large fuselage framework in this area, visible through the waist windows, which will have to continue into the 'roof' section.
Haven't got any further yet, as I've spent most of the day trying to find fuse wire, in order to repair a 'blown' fuse at home. Haven't found any supplies yet, and it's almost impossible to get around on my mobility scooter safely, due to the snow, Hopefully, it might be clearer tomorrow, although more snow has just been forecast overnight, which wasn't shown earlier today, so i'll have to wait and see !
Got power to the electrical sockets, but no main lights, just desk lamps.
I might get a bit more done tonight though, so pics later if i do.