Heinkel He 219

[mikeblack]

Hello everyone.  This is my entry for the 'Winkle's Wings' GB: the Revell He 219.  I plan to build it as the A-2 version (WN 290126) flown by Eric Brown on 21 August 1945.
 

 
Apart from some AM decals, resin wheels and a PE cockpit set (and maybe a figure) this will largely be OOB.  And having read several threads about the accuracy of the Revell He 219 I plan to limit any modifications - especially as this is my first attempt at a 1/32 scale kit!
 

 
 
While there's a lot of good information on the internet, there does seem to be a limited number of photographs of the 'Uhu'.  I'm particularly interested - if anyone has any information - on the British markings applied to captured Luftwaffe aircraft taken to Farnborough in 1945 (when Eric flew this particular aircraft).  At present I have two fairly poor quality black and  white photographs which show it in British markings.  It is this aircraft that I would like to build.

 

 
Finally can I say what a great idea it is to honour this exceptional aviator and test pilot with his own GB!  
 
Mike

Edited May 18, 2016 by LSP_Kevin

[LSP_Kevin]

Welcome aboard, Mike!

 

 

Great choice of project, and I look forward to following your progress.

 

Kev

[BradG]

Welcome indeed. What do you need to know about the markings?

 

If you need markings for this aircraft, EagleCals EC147 do them (in her German livery) and here's a link to a better picture of her in RAF markings.

 

http://www.asisbiz.com/il2/He-219/He-219A-NJG3.3-(D5+BL)/pages/Heinkel-He-219A-3.NJG3-(D5+BL)-WNr-290126-Grove-Denmark-May-1945-02.html

Edited May 4, 2016 by BradG

[BloorwestSiR]

Welcome aboard.

 

Like Ernie, I have the ZM kit in the stash too so it'll be fun to watch your build of the Revell kit.

 

Carl

[dennismcc]

Welcome aboard, and I hope that you enjoy the build, I certainly did, I built it as a change from my usual subjects so I did not get bogged down by worrying about details so it was an OOB build apart from some Eduard seat belts.

Just as a heads up this is what wrote in the build thread when I did mine about the weights in the nose.

 

My not so little Owl is now standing up on it's own three legs, but only just, the kit instructions would have you put 70g of weight in the fuselage and 25g in each engine nacelle, I put 80g in the fuselage and 30g in each nacelle but when I finished fitting the undercarriage and turned it the right way up it sat there on it's tail laughing at me.

My first though was to remove the engine cowlings and replace the cooler blocks in there with lead but the idea of plastic surgery at this stage in the build did not thrill me, so I fabricated a new roof for the nose wheel well consisting of lead strips 1/8" thick glued it in and painted it RLM 02.

In total I added another 38g, and that was only just enough, the slightest touch makes it tip over onto it's tail, I think it could be the height and angle of the nose undercarriage that causes the problem, but it's fixed now, and I can now carry on adding the fiddley bits.

 

Cheers

 

Dennis

[Lee White]

Very cool, I have the Revell kit, Big Ed set, and ZM metal gear (somewhere) for this kit. Hopefully I'll get around to building it in this lifetime.    

[mikeblack]

Thank you, gentlemen, for your warm welcome and encouraging comments.  I'm going to make a start on this build while continuing to research.

 

Dennis: thanks for the heads up about adding ballast:  Revell (now) recommends 90 g in the fuselage and 50 g in each engine nacelle!

 

Brad: I will shortly have the EagleCal (32147) decals for her, and I'm contemplating using some Kits-World decals for a N-A B-25J in RAF service.  Thanks for your enlarged images of '290126' and from the side view I suspect (and I'm open to suggestions) that:

 

1.  The forward part of each fin has been repainted in a lighter colour than RLM22 to cover the Luftwaffe markings (except the WN).  This appears to be carried along the whole fuselage OR is it the work of a censor?

 

2.  Under the wing is a British roundel though of what type I'm not sure.

 

Any suggestions or comments most gratefully received!

 

Mike

[BradG]

I'd say the just used black to paint out the swastika and the rudders are deflected slightly, causing them to look darker. If you look at the fuselage and compare the picture before and after, you can see just to the left of the British roundel that they have painted out the Luftwaffe markings with black and some type of light blue (I would presume).

 

The underwing roundel looks like a type D. 

[BloorwestSiR]

I just checked my copy of the Kagero books,the ZM Concept Notes, and The Airframe files and none have any photos of your particular aircraft. There are a couple of photos of a different He-219 in RAF roundels but it has the mottled scheme on it.

 

Carl

[mikeblack]

Well, I've made a modest start to the Uhu:  trying not to feel too intimidated by the ocean of plastic I see before me!  Quietly excited though.  I've decided (as others have mentioned) to build this aircraft in a modular fashion so I began with elements of the tail assembly.  Not only is this my first 1/32, but (I think) it might be my first Revell kit so getting used to the instructions is quite interesting.  Anyway, as a philosopher once said, "a journey of a thousand miles starts with a single step..."

 

Edited May 18, 2016 by mikeblack

[Azgaron]

Nice choice of kit and good start!

 

HÃ¥kan

[mikeblack]

Thanks, Hakan! I was hoping to make some more progress and post an update, but I've been busy elsewhere.

 

I am working, though, on the cockpit and still researching this most interesting aircraft! As you can see I've got some HGW seat belts and I've picked up a great tip for assembling them from BloorwestSiR on his Arado Ar234b build thread

 

 

 

Mike

Edited August 15, 2016 by mikeblack

[BradG]

I need to get myself some of those seat belts, they look tremendous.

[BloorwestSiR]

Thanks, Hakan! I was hoping to make some more progress and post an update, but I've been busy elsewhere.

 

I am working, though, on the cockpit and still researching this most interesting aircraft! As you can see I've got some HGW seat belts and I've picked up a great tip for assembling them from BloorwestSiR on his Arado Ar234b build thread

 

 

 

Mike

 

Mike, progress is progress, no matter how small. I've only painted a control column over the last couple of days so you're not alone. It will add up in the end.

 

I'm glad you found the tip helpful for assembling the belts. One thing. Some of the buckles are attached to the fret on the ends instead of the sides. For those, you can only thread the belt through one side before you remove the buckle from the fret. It should still cut down on losing them though.

 

I need to get myself some of those seat belts, they look tremendous.

Brad, if you're thinking of getting the belts, HGW has some where there are two sets of belts in a pack. They're only a dollar or two more than the single belt sets so are a better deal. For my Arado,I bought the set meant for the night fighter version as it has two full sets of belts versus the bomber one which just has one.

 

Eduard has also re-boxed some of the HGW belts under their Fabric line and those are also sometimes cheaper.

 

Hope that helps.

 

Carl

Edited May 15, 2016 by BloorwestSiR

[BradG]

Hi Mike, how are you going with this one?

Edited August 14, 2016 by BradG