Hi, folks... yes, a wee while since I've posted something here but I've managed to remember to take some actual photos during this build, which I can show you now... ;-).
So, as many of you will probably know, ICM have released a few different versions of this aircraft in recent years in 1/48 scale, although not a specific V-1 carrier variant. The aircraft used in this specific role were not production-line versions; rather, they were aircraft removed from their bombing role with their existing units, and modified to carry the missiles. Therefore, the H-22 suffix is unofficial and was not sanctioned by the RLM, Instead, it was an unofficial suffix used as a blanket description for H-16 and H-20 bombers after being reconfigured to undertake this role. I think I may also be correct is saying the H-23 suffix was also unofficial, instead describing a small number of H-21 bomber airframes modified to be troop transports towards the war's end.
As most kits I've seen built as missile-carriers involve the H-20 version with the gun turret in the dorsal position, I looked around to try and find an H-16 instead... just for a change. Two units used the '111' in this role, KG3 and KG53, although III.Gruppe, KG3 was eventually redesignated I.Gruppe/KG53, and another two Gruppen were brought in to bring KG53 up to full Geshwader strength. KG3's aircraft began operations from Venlo in the Netherlands during the summer of 1944 and towards the end of the year, KG53 were operational from bases in northern Germany.
So, to the kits... the Heinkel we now know something about, and the V-1 selected is the Tamiya offering in 1/48 scale. This latter kit is very straightforward in its construction and despite the minimal amount of parts, the kit is really very nicely detailed and as a bonus, it comes with a transportation trolley. I began with the internal areas of the Heinkel, painting relevant areas and starting work on the smaller pieces to be installed in the cockpit, and the undercarriage. In the second image below, I've added a few levers onto the side console, then tipped them with a small spot of Krystal Klear which, once dry, can be painted to represent handles. The pilot's seat and pedals all go together well, as does the observer's seat. The first major issue is the layout of the cockpit glazing and pilot's instrument panels. The ICM H-20 kit has the correct upper glazing layout specific to all versions from the H-11 onwards, where the steel panel above the pilot with the small windshield was made delete, and changed to being fully glazed; the instruments that had been in that position were moved down to his left-hand side where he could more easily see them. The few small dials on his left-side console extension are not correct in their layout for either the H-16 or H-20 kits and should be adjusted. The correct main panel had a narrow metal strip attaching it to the left-side canopy frame, but the kit piece has a thick and oversized integral attachment, which will be adjusted later in the build. As with the earlier kit H-3 kit I built some time ago, there is no provision for the narrow instrument panel above the pilot's right shoulder, which I think may have provided fuel tank readings, and this needs to be procured from the spares box and some creative thinking employed to bring it up to speed. Incidentally, if you intend to build a bomber version, the bomb sight cover which extends under the cockpit glazing is provided, but the sight itself isn't. On the (very) positive side of things, the H-16 and H-20, if built as bombers, have standard external racks, but also the large ventral panier which could carry both a selection of up to five bombs or cargo holders; differing nose caps in the H-20 kit are also useful and theoretically, with some more creative thinking and procuring of items from the spares box, or scratch-building them, you could end up with a late-war transport version, so a good range of alternative variants can be considered. As you'll probably have gathered, there are a whole host of common items across the entire range, but there are also some obvious omissions and errors I would not have expected to encounter, the upper canopy glazing being an example of this, and also the propellor spinners; the blades are good and the backplates have the correct circumference, but the spinners themselves are far too rounded. I acquired some replacements from the Hungarian company SBS, but although correct in their appearance, the circumference of the backplates isn't wide enough; admittedly, they were produced for use with the Revell/Monogram '111', so perhaps some differing dimensions in play. For now, I'll need to work with the kit pieces.
The undercarriage assemblies are really smart and go together well; seatbelts used in this build are from the 'Superfabric' range from Eduard and are very well detailed, pre-coloured and easy to install. Despite location pins being present, the fuselage took some persuading to line up slightly better than it was intending to do and some filler was required; similarly, the horizontal tail/rear fuselage join but only the undersides of the wing to fuselage join. I found the upper wing join pretty good. The instructions for, and indeed, the process of, attaching the wings are a little convoluted, in that the underside pieces go on first, then the engines if you wish to show them, followed by the nacelle side pieces and then the upper wing should descend onto all of that, in an idea world, perfectly... but hey, we don't often get to visit an ideal world, so some filler was required to correct a little misalginment along the wing leading edges and certainly around the nacelle sides where they attache to the wing - not a massive amount, but enough to make you feel you can easily get bogged down if you're not careful.
So, changing tack for a few minutes, towards the last few images of the selection below, you can see that the V-1 has had its pale grey undercoat applied, and indeed, you may also see the pale blue-grey on the undersides. It can be difficult at this stage to differentiate these two shades, but they are there. The wings are not yet permanently attached. After rectifying many of the above airframe issues, the Heinkel also received its undercoat and a very light overspray of RLM71. Gunk-removal will begin later on some small amouts of debris which got onto the surfaces, but nothing that should cause any major problems.
And to finish for now, a cautionary tale of noticing the obvious when you're ordering things online... check the scale! I sent off for what appears to be a very good PE fret for the V-1 suspension rack, only to find on arrival it was 1/32 scale... if I had any commonsense, I'd be dangerous, to myself , if no-one else! However, the silver-lined cloud is that the instrctions for these pieces are very clear, and although not the best scrath-building you'll ever see, they provided me with the opportunity to create a very basic rendition of same, definitely not to proper scale but I think more intresting that what other kits of this version provide.
So, that's all for now. I hope to have some more photos in due course. I trust this finds you all well... :-).
Regards,
Paul
19 attached images. Click to enlarge.
