ICM 1/48th scale Heinkel He-111H-3 Review

[Airframes]

ICM 1/48th scale He-111H-3, In-box Review - Part 1.

Just received this kit, and the initial impressions are very good indeed, with lots of nicely detailed parts, particularly for the interior and the engines.
I'll post this 'first look' review in three parts, due to the number of images involved, and this will show the parts layout, colour schemes and decals, coverage of some of the detail areas, and a selection of some of the assembly stages.

Part 1 - Parts layout and colour scheme options

The kit comes in a stout, two-part box, with the lift off lid revealing a strong, hinged-top box containing the sprues in one re-sealable cellophane bag, the clear parts being inside this also, but in their own separate bag.
The instruction sheet is in the form of an 'A4' size, 28 page booklet, with large drawings showing the sprue arrangements, and clear, toned drawings for each assembly stage. Colour schemes and decal placement are covered by a half-tone plan drawing, and colour side elevations, and the comprehensive decal sheet provides options for four subjects, along with basic stencils and instrument decals.
The 324 parts are nicely moulded in mid-grey plastic, on seven sprues, with a separate sprue for the clear parts.
Surface detail is finely etched, with some good internal and structural detail, whilst the transparent parts appear to be very clear and crisp, with those areas requiring painting being in a 'frosted', lightly textured finish.
First impressions indicate that the cockpit and fuselage internal detail is quite comprehensive and well detailed, as are the engines and engine bearers, and include such detail as a complete bomb bay assembly,fully fitted cockpit, and the radios and spare magazines for the MG15's in the dorsal, ventral and waist positions, although curiously, the dorsal gunner's seat seems to have been forgotten.
Alternative parts are supplied for the various decal options, and include such items as machine gun or cannon armament, and the different styles of ventral gondola glazing.
The large decal sheet contains the different styles of national markings, unit codes and badges, and the various stencils and instruments. although, as is fairly common these days, the swastikas are not included. Printing appears to be sharp and in register, and the colours seem to be accurate.

There are four options for colour schemes, all in the familiar RLM 70/71/65 finish, and are as follows :-

He 111H-3, 1/KG53, France, Spring 1940
He 111H-3, Gesch. Stab/KG53, France, August 1940
He 111H-3 I/KG26, Norway, Spring 1941
He 111H-3 5/KG27,Russia, April 1943


The images below show the box art, general parts layout, colour scheme profiles, and the decal sheet.
More to follow in the next two posts ............

 

[Airframes]

ICM 1/48th scale He111H-3 Review - Part 2.

Internal and Detail parts.

Shown below are a selection of detail shots of some of the internal detail, engines and transparent parts.
The cockpit (not shown here) has the seats for the pilot and engineer/navigator, along with the main controls and sub panels etc, with the main, roof - mounted instrument panel being a transparent part onto which the decals are applied. Unlike some kits, this appears to be quite thin, so might work as intended, although I'll probably paint mine and apply the decals onto the front.
The mid-section, including the bomb bay, is made up from two, large parts which form the front and rear bulkheads and main spars, with the bomb cells, and nicely detailed, vertically mounted bombs, being assembled and fitted into this area later in the build sequence.
The rear fuselage halves incorporate some internal structural detail which, together with the other fittings, supplied as separate parts, should provide a reasonably detailed interior, most of which, under normal viewing conditions, would not be visible.
However, the central 'roof' section of the fuselage is provided as a separate part, and it might be possible to fit this in such as way that it can be removed to view the interior, although I suspect it has been designed this way to allow for later versions to be released at some future stage.
The complex nose glazing is made up from five parts, and includes the sliding roof hatch as a separate part, allowing this to be posed either open or closed. Alternative parts are provided for the nose blister, to accommodate either MG or cannon, and those areas that need to be 'solid' painted sections, have a 'frosted' finish. The arrangement of parts and 'frosting' should ease the complex task of masking this large area of glazing.

The pics below show the radios, engine and bomb cell detail. fuselage internal structure detail, clear instrument panel, and a close-up of some of the nose transparencies.

Next post will cover some of the detail construction areas ............

 

[Airframes]

ICM 1/48th scale He111H-3 Review - Part 3.


The engineering of this kit appears to allow a fairly simple construction sequence, with what would seem to be an extremely strong assembly to support the wing to fuselage joint.
As mentioned previously, there is quite a lot of internal detail, in the cockpit, bomb bay and mid section, and in the rear fuselage, and no doubt many modellers will want to add further, scratch-built detail, or add after market detail sets which I'm sure will soon appear, especially if the central 'roof' section can be made to be removable without showing ugly joints.
Both Jumo engines are supplied, and are nicely detailed, with separate 'plumbing', ancillary parts and engine bearers etc, along with separate cowling panels, and should look presentable enough 'Out of the Box', but again, there is plenty of scope for additional detail for those who wish to add it.
detail in the rear compartment is adequate, with the bulkheads, floor, empty cartridge case chute and collection bin, radios and the spare magazines and mounting racks, along with some finely detailed MG15s, with separate 'saddle' magazines.
However, as mentioned earlier in this review, for some strange reason the dorsal gunner's frame seat, which was suspended from the 'roof', is not included, but it should be a fairly simple job to scratch-build this from wire, plastic rod or stretched sprue and plastic card.
The vertical bomb cells are particularly well produced, and the bombs included the braces between each fin.
EDIT :- Apologies, and a correction - the dorsal gunner's seat frame is included after all - see Posts # 8 and 11 below.

The pics below show some of the construction stages, with the central and mid-fuselage structure assembly, top decking details, bomb cells assembly and the fitting to the fuselage section, and part of the engine assembly sequence.

SUMMARY.

This appears to be a very nice kit indeed, and a very welcome addition to the Luftwaffe line-up from ICM.
The engineering of the kit parts hints at other versions probably being released at some point in the future, with the later 'H' series being an obvious choice, incorporating the dorsal power turret and, given the nature of the assembly sequence for the engine nacelles and cowlings, it's also possible that a Daimler-Benz powered 'P' series could be released, although a conversion from this kit should not be that difficult to achieve.
No doubt there will be some critics among the 'rivet counters' out there, but, given that it goes together without much problem, I'll be more than happy, as it looks like a Heinkel, is nicely detailed, and will be a very nice addition to my 'BoB - Hardest Days' collection, alongside a couple of modified Revell / Monogram examples.

My grateful thanks must go to my wallet, for providing the kit for this review (Heck ! That was nearly ten pints worth !!)

 

[rochie]

Good stuff Terry.

ICM have really sorted out their boxes and instruction sheets these days, hated the flimsy boxes the Spitfire and Bf 109 kits come in and also the rather cheap but informative instruction sheets they had.
but shouldnt really complain as the kits were pretty good and very reasonably priced

 

[Airframes]

Thanks Karl, and I agree - their recent kits have really upped the stakes, and, even at around £30 (or less) for the Heinkel, Dornier and Ju88 kits, that's extremely good value considering the amount of detail and parts provided. Had this been from a certain Japanese company, I'm sure it would be priced at more than three times that amount !

 

[rochie]

Thanks Karl, and I agree - their recent kits have really upped the stakes, and, even at around £30 (or less) for the Heinkel, Dornier and Ju88 kits, that's extremely good value considering the amount of detail and parts provided. Had this been from a certain Japanese company, I'm sure it would be priced at more than three times that amount !

very true re Hasegawa and Tamiya prices for new tool kits.

i will probably look at how i can build those engine cowls with as little of the internal detail i can get away with as it wont be seen all closed up !
also i noticed on the decals the Kg 26 letters are bigger than all the others by 2 mm, i must account for that when i look for the white F's i need and will measure the black M's i have in the spare decal file.

 

[Airframes]

I'll probably not use the engines either, if it can be assembled without them.

 

[Airframes]

Apologies to ICM and a correction to part of the review.
Having had a closer look at the instructions, it would appear the dorsal gunner's seat is included after all, or at least the suspension frame for it.
This is shown as Step 48 in the second image in Post #3., and provides the basic frame work, to which the canvas seat base can easily be added from thin plastic card or paper if desired.
The pic below shows the real frame and seat, looking aft from the bomb bay.

 

[Wurger]

 

[rochie]

Apologies to ICM and a correction to part of the review.
Having had a closer look at the instructions, it would appear the dorsal gunner's seat is included after all, or at least the suspension frame for it.
This is shown as Step 48 in the second image in Post #3., and provides the basic frame work, to which the canvas seat base can easily be added from thin plastic card or paper if desired.
The pic below shows the real frame and seat, looking aft from the bomb bay.


View attachment 474899

looks like a basic attempt at the seat in step 49 Terry

 

[Airframes]

Yep, that's the parts from Step 48, assembled and fitted to the roof section in Step 49.
I'd mistaken it for the gun mount assembly !
All it needs to complete it are the suspension straps and canvas sling, easily done with thin paper.

 

[fubar57]

Great review Terry. Looks like a quite a bit may not be visible at the end but I will definitely be looking at one at a much later point in time

 

[Crimea_River]

Thanks for taking the time to describe and show this kit to us Terry. Looks like a nice one for sure. Unfortunately I'm running out of space to display these things so would have to think long and hard about getting one.

 

[Ohm-men]

That's great! If it is as good as ICM's Do 17 and Ju 88, you're in for a treat!
Bit of topic perhaps, but I sure hope ICM will do an early He 111 "B" with the stepped cocpit.
Though we might be in for an accurate He 111 H-20/22 and all the in between versions (H-6, H-10, H-16, etc...)
The Monogram offering is still a good kit though, but lacks the real "accurate" details for any of the above mentioned versions.

Anyway, great to see a new Heinkel 111 in 1/48th scale!
Thanks for posting this!

 

[Jeff Hunt]

Drooling at this kit. I have a Monogram one built and may have to get this bad boy as well....strictly for comparison reasons of course.

 

[Airframes]

Thanks chaps, and I hope this review will be helpful to many, including visitors to the forum.
I spent a long time trying to get the Revell / Monogram version, at a less than silly price, including one from Canada, which arrived, but with a horrendously wrong import duty (based on a price of $325, instead of $32.50, read as £325 by HM Customs !!!), which Royal Mail returned to the sender as I was supposed to pay first and argue later - no way !
Eventually got one, and also the H-22 with V-1 version, to convert to the H-4, and as most know, they are still good kits, but the new ICM kit certainly ups the bar - a lot !
Really looking forward to building it, especially as one of the decal options is for a subject I'd already planned for my 'BoB - Hardest Days' collection.

 

[Jeff Hunt]

When does He-111 production ramp up?

 

[Airframes]

As soon as a) I have the time, and b) I prepare the display cabinets, by adding extra glass shelves between the existing wooden ones.
I have three He-111s to do now, with the Monogram H-22 probably now being converted to a He-111P-2, each to be a particular aircraft involved in combats with the RAF subjects in the proposed collection, or brought down in the period covered, during those combats (approx 15th August to 6th September).
But I also have two Do-17s, a further Ju-88, three Bf110s, one Ju-87 and another eight Bf109s to add to the existing Luftwaffe part of the collection, all with documented backgrounds and details of the combats (and losses, where applicable) and , in most cases photo evidence.
Then there's the RAF part of the collection to attend to - I might just get them all done before I start pushing up the daisies !!

 

[JKim]

Thanks for the great review Terry! I don't have any experience with ICM but it seems to be a well put-together kit with lots of detail included. Interesting to see the clear IP treatment here. I couldn't make it out 100% but it looked like the instrument dials were included on the decal sheet?

 

[Airframes]

Yes John, there are decals for the main instrument panel, and for the sub-panels and throttle quadrant, as well as the starboard side console instruments, and the dorsal position.