Heinkel HE-115B, 1/48
Well not too much to say about this, the big thing is I am calling it done. This is a Special Hobby brand kit, a first of those for me. Clint Eastwood said "a man's got to know his limitations" - there's a lot of truth in that and I may have learned some more of mine on this!
Thanks to Rick Wilkes for a suggestion that helped me recover from a self inflicted major flaw on this -
The plane is from1/KFIGr.406, Trondheim Norway 1942. That's what the instructions say anyway. I am not sure if it's true judging by the rest of the instructions. I will give the Special Hobby company credit for nice decals and very nice box cover art - that's what led me to purchase this and why I chose this paint scheme over the other two the kit provides decals for.
The instructions for this particular one say:
"The upper surfaces wore a temporary white finish for over-water winter operations.The ship markings on the fin are believed to signify involvement in the attacks against the PQ-17 convoy"
Also, "Note: the temporary white colour was rather weathered and the original camo began to show through."
I may try to weather this one, but may not and quit while I am ahead. I like it shiny.
9 additional images. Click to enlarge.
Beautiful Ralph! Like this one very much!
Very impressive, Ralph, all your hard work, problem solving and determination have paid off in dividends, you must be very pleased with the end result. Now, what piece of armour are you building?
Nicely done, Ralph...I like it - that last photo is eye-catching as well - good work.
I meant the "next" to-last photo 🙁
Glad you toughed this one out Ralph. Turned out well. I can see why you choose this color scheme. Now that you have a limited run kit under your belt your ready for anything.
Thanks Gents,
George, you know the problem with kit taking so long is that in that time, uh, 4, yep 4!, armour kits have moved into my stash...I started with the M3 Stuart, and I may still do it first, but I have a less expensive and hopefully simpler Monogram Panzer Mk IV that may be a better one to get warmed up on.
Craig, thanks for the photo compliment, it is not meant to be fancy, just blur out the distracting junk in the background!
Well it worked great. Unique effect.
Ralph, she's really impressive. Well worth sticking with it. I think once you get over being "sick of it" you'll go back and weather it up, etc. After all, you don't want to scrimp on the best He-115 you'll ever build.. 😉
Very nice Ralph. I think you should definately weather it, to really bring out the best of your wonderful work. I have the kit too. Want to start it soon. Need a bigger house first. Lol.
Paul you might want to check out my work in progress thread if you are going to build this, I described some of the issues you'll run into. They may not be such a big challenge for you - I hope not anyway.
As for size, yep she is big and in that thread you can see some comparison photos. I didn't consider how big this would be when I bought it and I have yet to figure out where it will go. I did not buy it to be the centerpiece of my collection but it looms over all others, even twin engine jobs like my B-25 and Ventura, because it sits up on those floats.
I think it would be interesting for the scratchbuilding, "what-if" bunch to do a land version of this.
Good effort, Ralph. Glad you made it
Well done Ralph.
Great Heinkel, Ralph. Your extra work was rewarded with a stunning looking
He 115, well done.
Great build and an interesting colour scheme!
I know what you mean about kits just appearing in your stash! I have a good few to get through!
Beautiful job, Ralph! Makes me want to have a go at one of these...
wow...totally unique...and a tough build i'd bet
Having done this kit, I know how hard it is. You've done an excellent job here.
Congratulations on gittin' her done. Worthy of all your effort. Clear parts turned out clear enough. The north Atlantic was rough on this kind of thing.
Ralph:
Beautiful job!
I like Bills idea, saltwater clouds up the glass.
Great job on a challenging kit.
The white distemper looks right. The Luftwaffe used a lot of waterbased temporary paints for local conditions and temporary markings.
Thanks for the nice words everyone. After stopping to catch my breath I will be weathering her and may update the photos after that.
Yes it was a challenge, more than I expected when I was lured to buy it by its cool box art and unusual subject.
To those who would try it, I hope you have a better method for getting the floats attached than me. Mine came out kind of pigeon toed.