ICM's 1/48th He-111Z1 Twin Bomber, Glider Tow
This has been quite the adventure, and first off I want to thank my good friend Ed for getting this kit for me. I would have to say that overall I thoroughly enjoyed this kit. This is basically two complete airplane kits in two boxes with extra parts to join them together. In general the fit is good, the detail excellent and the engineering pretty damn nice. That said, I did struggle with a number of parts that were warped, worst of all was that one complete set of clear parts were warped. Since the cockpit glazing is which is over a half a dozen parts to put together. I used hot water to try and get the curve closer to correct and while I was successful to a point the glazing crazed, and from certain angles is very evident. I had to get used to the soft plastic ICM molds in, and I am still not sure if I like, I guess I will have to build another one of their kits to find out...can you say B-26?
This is a big kit when all done with a wingspan of just over 29 inches (740mm). That is a lot of plastic to paint, and I am fairly happy with the results. I do know that I love the Mr Color line of lacquer paints. They spray so nicely and I am not an expert on colors, in fact I try to stay out of those debates, it can get pretty nasty. I compared it to my Monogram He111 and while the colors are a bit different, they still look right.
I was hoping to get the Glider that ICM released early this year, but world events have made that highly unlikely. Till saner heads prevail here is the Glider Tug for the Luftwaffe during WWII.
If you want to see what it takes to build this thing, you can see the Build Blog here: https://imodeler.com/groups/imperial-german-air-service-luftwaffe-group-build-may-1st-1910-to-present-day/forum/topic/he-111z-1-zwilling-1-48-icm-kit/
WOW! JUST WOW! That thing is HUGE. Amazing build! Congratulations. Bravo!
Exactly, wow, that is an incredible He-111 variant, already a fairly large twin engine med bomber. Beautiful work.
Very impressive model airplane. You’ve done a fine job on it.
Amazing work Walt. I have been intrigued by this Glider tug for a long time.
This kit in 1/48 is simply, fantastic. Well done.
Exellent result on this amazing aircraft, Walt @luftwaffe-birdman
One He111 is already impressive but two of them joined, and build in this high quality, is amazing.
Painting such a huge area this uniform requires great skills and you defintely showed to have those.
It was a pleasure to follow your thread and I learned a lot from that.
Well done.
Thanks John, @johnb, it was quite the effort to paint this kit. It was so big, it didn't fit easily on my work bench or in my spray booth. It really helped that the Mr Color lacquers dried so quickly and nicely for moving it around to get at it from different angles.
OMG ! all that glazing, all that masking, this must have taken months to complete . Fantastic job on this Walt ,well done sir.
Congratulations Walt for this truly superb model. Everything on it looks "right". Your build thread was a real joy to follow and I learned a lot from it.
Keep them coming!
Well done, Walt. Like the paint job and weathering. I'll bet that baby takes up a bit of display shelf.
Thanks Gary, @gwskat, yes it is big bird, and was a massive dust collector. I have put it in storage already, hidden away until the next show. Unfortunately I do not display any of my builds. I build and they go into storage until I go to a show.
Very well done model! Good job Walt.
Unbelievably good job on that monster of a kit. Don't know how you painted that much plastic but it sure came out well. Nicely done.
Looks really cool. A testament to the German tendency to overcomplicate things mechanical during WWII.
Thanks Greg, @gwfabian, yes they did like to complicate things, but necessity is the mother of invention. The Germans just didn't have anything that would tow their giant cargo glider Me321. They tried using three Me110's which was perilous and the engines tended to overheat. This conversion, all things considered, was actually fairly simple. The planes are basically stock, with just the port outer wing of one plane and starboard outer wing left off of the other and then joined with a new center wing section. From what I read, it worked very well, handled nicely and was a good solution overall.
3 attached images. Click to enlarge.
From what I've read, very few became operational. Maybe a giant glider wasn't all it was cracked up to be. Very cool model and you did a great job on it.
And then the Germans said... "Hold on a minute! What are we doing? Just put engines on the 321 and be done with it!"
Great work! I first saw a 1/72 of this aircraft with the center wing scratch built in an old Scale Modeler Magazine in the early 1970's.
Looks great! I think the colors came out spot-on. Huge project!
Nice, great job, this looks great.
Here is a great video on the "Zwilling." https://youtu.be/d1U0h_nAdIk
Thanks Bob, @v1pro, that was a very good video. Confirming some of what has been mentioned here, it was pretty impressive to see the three Bf110 towing the Me321. I would really love to see a 1/48 model of that.
Splendid work Walt! And it was a pleasure following your WIP during these past months. It really is a showstopper.
The non-zwilling 111 photo…is that the Monogram or one of ICM also?
Thanks Pedro, @holzhamer, glad you enjoyed the build blog I learn from what others do here, I hope what I do helps some people also. The He-111 is the Monogram kit, built OOB per the current IPMS rules at the time. Painted in Model Masters enamels, it is a much simpler build than ICM kit, and I think holds up fairly well still. You can see the post on the kit here. https://imodeler.com/2020/08/monogram-he-111-in-1-48th/
Fine work on something I know I'd never do! It's really good to see one built.
Amazing project, fantastic work and a great result @luftwaffe-birdman. If you'd just assembled and painted it, it would be impressive. But the work you put into it and the paint job make it really outstanding.
Thanks Tom, @tcinla, it has been over a year and a half since I post my first He-111 and the picture of the newly received Zwilling, hope it was worth the wait. It was a fun build with a few moments of frustration and oh F@&% moments.
Spectacular build!
Your post prompted me to get one of these while I could. (Mainly because I didn't know a 1/48 He-111Z was a thing! I used to look at the Testors Zwilling wishing there would be one in 1/48!) How do the cowlings fit? Just as good as they look like they do? I'd like to have at least the upper three panels removable on at least one engine. (I was amazed at the sprues and parts for the engines alone!)