Go Louis, GO!

You are truly an inspiration to this olde DAT. I haven't been able to finish the TWO kits I've been fooling with for about a year. You have an entire squadron of aircraft built (give or take a couple - HA!) complete with ground forces!

As to this build, the ICM looks really interesting. Long ago, in a Galaxy far away - or at least here in Indy in the mid 1960s, THE first multi-engined aircraft I built was one of the "not very good, but the only one available" Airfix 1/72nd He111 kits. I rather liked the shape of the wings but marveled at the asymmetrical shape of the glass nose. Not long after, the great "Battle of Britain" movie came out featuring the Spanish Casa He111s in the aerial cast along with the Spanish Bf109s and the awesome Spitfires and Hurricanes. I saw that great movie my first time while I was in London for a week's vacation (holiday) after spending the summer of 1970 in Oberammergau, Germany (in Bayern or Bavaria to us English speakers) working at the Hotel Gasthof Turmwirt carrying bags, pouring & serving Bier, guiding English-speaking tours, and translating Deutsch to English or vice-versa for the many guests who visited there for the Passion Play that year.

I love the '111 and look forward to this comparison build! The fact that these kits are both in 1/48th scale is like icing on a cake! Like you, I sold off my many 1/72nd kits years ago and decided that 1/48th would be the best for me. Actually, 1/32nd or even 1/24th would suit me (and my limited skills) better but - A) I have none, and B) haven't enough room to keep any if I DID have them!

As I said earlier to cheer you on: Go Louis, GO!

Thanks Chuck ! I have been wanting to build this kit as soon as I got it. I also wanted to build the Monogram kit at the same time as a comparison, so please keep following along.

Thanks Jeff for the encouraging words. The older I get, the worse my eyesight has become. This is why I sold off all of the 1/72 kits. As far as storage goes, had I not located a display case at a very inexpensive cost, I wouldn't have room either.

Bernard, now check out the interior details ... This one looks like the real thing to me. Now I don't know how much will be visible after the fuselage is closed, but the details are there for sure. I'm loving this kit so far...

Last night I made more progress on the Heinkel...

It involved building the cockpit section. I varied from the kit instructions just a little. I'll show you why as we go through the process.

The previous building work left off at step #9. I left off three small items that should be painted a different color from the RLM 02 and RLM 66. One part was a small round knob numbered D2-30, a compressed air cylinder D2-9, and something that looks as if it could be a relief tube, part #D2-17.

I can add them easily after the interior is painted.

The instructions would have you build the front cockpit as a separate unit and install it after it has been completed. I did not do this, because I wanted to make sure mine fit into the front bulkhead of the bomb bay.

Building started with the cockpit floor, the "Port" side console, and control linkages that are under the pilot's seat. This carries you through to step #13.

So I left the seat out for now. However I did test fit it to make sure it aligned up with the tabs in the floor.

I jumped ahead to step #36, and built the pilot's control yoke. The control yoke is made from two parts, D2-29, and D2-19.
Then I installed it, as shown here in the picture below. The rudder pedals and all of the control linkages have also been installed. There are some areas on the rudder control rods that you will have to be careful with as you cut the parts off the plastic trees. Then cleaning them up to remove the mounting stubs from the control rods is a little tricky too. Just take your time and be patient, and you should be OK.

There you have it... My progress so far on the ICM kit. We are currently at step #22, which is building the tail wheel.

This one is going together great so far.

Build both one for KP, one as BoB. Let us know the result.

Wow. Very good progress Louis, this ICM kit really looks like a charm, and your reporting style too of course!

So far that ICM kit seems to be pretty much state of the art by today's standards. Looking good Louis.

Thanks gentlemen for the compliments and words of encouragement. I have to agree that this ICM kit is state of the art so far. The fit of the parts have been spot on. I was reminded of that once I started building the older Monogram cousin last night.

I am going to build up the ICM kit as a BoB plane and the Monogram kit will be from North Africa.

I have both planes completed to the same place with construction now.

It should be fairly easy to write about this comparison. The easiest way would be to simply say that this ICM kit is a great model. But I have noticed a few minor differences between the two models. The most obvious thing is the side windows in the fuselage.

Follow along with me and I'll explain this in my next posting.

Louis, the HE-111 does have 4 windows on the forward fuselage, the front two ones were usually painted over. Probably, there should be an outline of them showing on the exterior. The Monogram plan actually shows them, step 3.