1/48 He 111 progress.

[Don]

Hi Folks,

Well everyone here is what I have accomplished so far on my 1/48 Revell He 111. The level of detail is quite good and building this kit straight out of the box, as I am doing, gives the kit (and builder) a sufficient “busy†appearance to please most. The only thing that I have added are new seatbelts made from tape, and new rudder peddals (the kits were really thick!). The interior is rather bland in color, being overall RLM 02 (my version of RLM 02 that is :D ). Weathering was done with pastels and some washes. It was a toss up over RLM 02 or the dark grey color. But doing some research and asking around here on ARC, I decided on RLM 02 as from what it seems, 02 was the interior color until the late H5 and early H6 versions of the He 111 (but one thing that I have also found out about the various versions of the He 111 is that there really is no such thing as “standard†as many aircraft received additions and deletions making some versions very different from similar versions).

I still have wires and cables to pick out, some boxes and controls to paint, and add some detail to the instrument faces. I am not going too crazy in the gondola or rear area of my He 111.

Once it is all buttoned up, there really will not be all that much to see.

Here is what the cockpit area looks like with the fuselage sides dry fitted together.

While I have your attention, I have to say that I am quite disappointed in a few things with regards this kit :lol: . One major thing that is really slowing down the building process is the severe amount of flash that I am forced to removed and cleanup. A friend of mine has the initial release of the Monogram He 111 (1994), and his kit is actually pretty crisp, with little or no flash. I have the latest release and, considering this kit has only been released a couple of times over the years, I have no idea why the flash is so heavy. Another thing that is quite annoying is the rather vague parts placement in the guide. It’s not the entire parts placement, so don’t get me wrong, but quite a few of the key assemblies are given a rather simplistic explanation/diagram as to their proper placement . Thank goodness for the internet and the Squadron in Action book! The last area of the kit that I am not at all looking forward to is the wing to fuselage assembly. Based on dry fitting done, the starboard upper wing will have a massive step (the width of a US 5 cent piece along the entire length of the wing!) :o .

So stay tuned. I will add more updates as I move through this build. One thing is for certain, this kit will not be completed as fast as my 109!

Thanks for your time and for looking.

Regards,

Don :)

[Lansen]

Looking nice so far. There are a couple of things I'd like to point out, though. The navigator's seat was made from fabric and should be khaki/ochre rather than brown. Same goes for the "bed" ahead of the navigator's seat.

Back of the pilot's seat was dark brown leather.

[Matt]

Very Nice.

Love the gloss in the guages, it looks just right.

[Dr Fester]

Beautiful work so far Don I like it.

Also someone else's take on RLM02 hmmm..... mine looks much greener damn I might have to get that airbrush out again.

Doc

[Don]

Looking nice so far. There are a couple of things I'd like to point out, though. The  navigator's seat was made from fabric and should be khaki/ochre rather than brown. Same goes for the "bed" ahead of the navigator's seat.

Back of the pilot's seat was dark brown leather.

Thanks for the tip about the "bed" area in front of the nav's seat. I will wash some color into it . However, as I pointed out in my initial post, there is nothing "standard" about the He 111. I have seen some shots of the pilots seat without any padding at all (as you see mine). It seems (from readng that I have done) the padding was removable and the pilot could choose to use it or not (perhaps opting to sit on his parachute instead?). It was also very bulky and a had a very noticeable texture to it. The Revell/Monogram seat has absolutely no texture and no clear molded on area where padding would be found. So I went with the unpadded version. Also, the fabric coverings on the jump seat were indeed canvas colored, but some were also redish brown, others a very dark brown...almost black (depending on the age/weathering/use of the seat).

Thanks for the post .

Regards,

Don

[Pete Wenman]

looking good

some nice painting there

Pete