Heinkel HE-111 B1

[grwebster]

remarkable progress. Bravo

[soslipstream]

What an impressive piece of work. I am looking forward to seeing the next update. many kudos for the progess so far!!

Regards, Tom

[fliegerii]

The work continues in 2011.....

Unfortunately I could not find so many hours to progress during christmas vacation, but many small steps sum up as well.

Now the canopies are ready. In the latest picture you can see the main canopy, the front dome, the small window for the B-stand and the several fuselage windows. Note the window frame and the MG15 made from brass added to the front hole in the fuselage.

The main canopy, the front dome and the tiny window of the B-stand was hot moulded from plexi and a brass frame was glued on (except the front dome).
All the other windows were cutted from thin clear sheet.

Now the paintjob has to start....

Regards,
Christian

PS: This year is 75th anniversary of the HE-111 being in service....

[soslipstream]

That progress is certainly worth bragging about. Take plenjty of pictures of the paint progess,

Congrats,
Tom

[grwebster]

Good progress, Chris.
What markings are you going to use?
I know present day Germans {any others.....} have problems with the Swastika but if you proceed without them, it won't be right, historically speaking. No?
Just sayin

[soslipstream]

You ould use the Spanish Civil War markings, right?

Regards, Tom

[fliegerii]

The colours will be again those applied originally, i.e. green, grey and brown on top and light blue the bottom. The markings will be from early Luftwaffe, not Spanish Civil War. I am living now around 2 km close to Hanau airfield, where the KG55 was allocated until 1945 first with He-111 B-1, later with H-version.
I am hoping to find some pictures in our city files with a representative marking of a specific B-1 aircraft.
All markings will be painted (no decals).
And yes, the Swastika will be on. The according laws here in Germany are not practiced that severe anymore. It is still strictly forbidden for toys, but in terms of historic reproductions, it is meanwhile accepted (e.g. we again import models from Corgi, FM with swastika).
An exhibition is only allowed with legal remarks, but a public exhibition is not my primary goal. Private exhibition is no problem.
All in all I have no motivation to try a perfect reproduction and then to leave the swastika. It is just a matter of professionality.

[grwebster]

I fully agree that it should be in full markings, Swastika and all.

[fliegerii]

Here comes the next update. Paint job is finished. It took a loooooong time not only because of the paint, but also many other corrections were done. E.g. the engines were moved slightly downward to match better the original.
The paint is simple enamel type, with which I have made best experience for application on metal. It is not that hard and has good adhesion.

Next steps are now the glue in of the canopy windows and the decal transfers for the crosses.

All that sounds rather simple, but in fact sometimes I faced difficult times... I have no real garage at home and my paint set is a really simple one..

PS: This is the Luftwaffe pre-war splinter camouflage scheme.

[soslipstream]

Fabulous Progress Chris!

Looking through the thread and seeing the pictures of the cut-outs of clear plastic, I wondered if you have a plan for gluing all those windows? The fellows here in the states that build free-flight scale moldels use "gluestick" glue because any glue that gets on the "panes of glass" can be swabbed off with regular rubbing alcohol without leaving residues on the clear plastic. With such a complex set of windows to install, I was thinking that a simpler adhesive with lots of "tackifier" (very high viscosity) that also allowed easy clean-up might be just the ticket.

Keep up the good work, you have a very handsome, detailed model!

Best Regards,
Tom Sanders