He111J - Aufklärungsstaffel, 7. Flieger Division; Airfix & Roden kits, 1/72 scale
A further use of the Roden early variants of the He111, this time their He111B kit amalgamated with the most recent iteration of this design, the Airfix He111H. I wanted to use the Airfix kit as it has the option to position the control surfaces and generally speaking, using most of one kit makes the build process a bit easier.
On this occasion, I needed to use the transparent nose section and the MG turret in the nose, and also the early-style underside section for the ventral MG position. This meant removing a section from the Roden underside central section and fitting it into the space normally occupied by the large transparent piece on the Airfix kit which has the later ventral gondola included as part of that transparency. This was all blended together using plastic card and Humbrol filler and although I chose not to include the lower MG 'dustin' position in the deployed mode, I did have to use its base plate to blank off the opening.
The engines are also from the Roden kit but fitting the nacelle into the Airfix wing was a little tricky, the Roden nacelle pieces being slightly bigger and wider and these needed some adjustments and lots of filler to get them to look presentable. The deeper intakes under the engine cowlings are also part of the Roden model. The Airfix propellors were modified slightly to fit the propellor spindle on the Roden kit, which in turn made using the ducted propellor spinner from the latter kit a better fit. This variant had unusual exhaust outlets, as they had a passing resemblence to a series of small horse shoes fitted to each horizontal outlet pipe and I chose to fashion these from fuse wire - all twenty-four of them! They're not perfect, but it was a first occasion trying to create these pieces and I was happy with my efforts.
The forward fuselage sides on the Airfix kit had to be removed to accommodate the early-style layout of the Roden kit nose section, and also because the Roden kit had the leading edge curve of the wing root built into it and therefore, it was the easier option retain that feature. The fit of the replacement forward fuselage does not match overly well with the Airfix fuselage so the space from the rear of the canopy to the dorsal gun position had filler applied and carefully sanded smooth to try and eliminate this issue, at least to the extent of not excessively drawing the viewer's eye to it. After attending to these various points, a coat of pale grey primer was sprayed onto the model and then some pre-shading was applied to the panel lines on the undersides. This was later reduced to a shadow with careful application of the pale blue and it brought out a good finish. The dark green uppersurfaces were oversprayed with a slightly off-white shade of paint and then varnished, transfers applied, varnished again and then blackwashed. This was sealed in with a final homemade satin varnish mix. Maskol was used to cover all transparencies during the painting process, and also applied randomly to the external uppersurfaces to convey chipping of the white distemper.
The model is based on a photograph of this particular aircraft parked on a wintery airfield somewhere on the eastern front. It was assigned to the reconnaissance section of 7th Air division. It appears only to have been fitted with the dorsal and nose MGs. Only about 90 examples of this variant were built alongside the He111F; intended to be operational as torpedo-bombers, the He111Js never fulfilled this role and were revamped to standard bomber configuration instead.
As ever, the full build can be seen on YouTube via this link: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nZ8gSB1FMhQ
Thanks for taking time to look in.
That's an impressive conversion, Paul @paulh
The end result in winter scheme is really impressive.
Thanks, John - your comments are much appreciated... :-).
That's model engineering Paul.
Superb display of modelling and a good looking aircraft to finish with 🙂
Guy, thank you for your very kinds comments. I'm pleased you like the outcome... ;-).
Conversion came out great. Layered finishing is excellent.
Hi, John... you're very kind with your comments. Thanks very much... ;-).
Wow - quite the effort to marry those two kits together! Beautifully done.
Hi, Greg... yes, it was indeed quite and effort but well worth it for this end result. Thank you very much for your comments... :-).
Absolutely astounding, Paul! Seamless surgery and masterful surface finish make this build a real winner is all its aspects. Congratulations!
Christopher, thank you... you're very kind and I am pleased that you like the finished kit... :-).
Excellent result on that conversion. Roden 111s are not exactly shake 'n bake!
Hi, Chas... indeed you're right, no shake 'n' bake but still a good model to work with, even out the box. It can be built up to a very nice representation of the early variants. It's also the only kit offering version which had the original and beautiful eliptical wing. Thanks again for your much appreciated comments... :-).
Excellent conversion and absolutely stunning result, Paul!
Congratulations!
Hi, Spiros... thank you for your comments. Pleased you like the outcome... :-).
That’s a labor of love! I know what’s in that Roden box and it’s not pretty. Well done, Paul.
Thanks, John... yes, challenging but ultimately a decent outcome which I'm very pleased with. Thanks very much for your comments... ;-).
Very nice building. I like it a lot.
Hi, Milan... thanks very much. I'm pleased you like the way it worked out... ;-).