Hi everyone!

By following Chuck A. Villanueva's @uscusn thread of his 1/48 Tamiya Uhu amazing build (https://imodeler.com/groups/work-in-progress-aircraft/forum/topic/tamiya-heinkel-he-219-uhu-1-48/?topic_page=1&num=15), Louis Gardner @lgardner and yours truly, decided to do a simultaneous build of 1/32 Uhus!

(Thanks wiki!) The Heinkel He 219 Uhu ("Eagle-Owl") is a night fighter that served with the German Luftwaffe in the later stages of World War II. A relatively sophisticated design, the He 219 possessed a variety of innovations, including Lichtenstein SN-2 advanced VHF-band intercept radar, also used on the Ju 88G and Bf 110G night fighters. It was also the first operational military aircraft to be equipped with ejection seats and the first operational German World War II-era aircraft with tricycle landing gear. Had the Uhu been available in quantity, it might have had a significant effect on the strategic night bombing offensive of the Royal Air Force; however, only 294 of all models were built by the end of the war and these saw only limited service.

The Revell kit is simply amazing!

Oh, and did I mention the finished plane will be HUGE?

Louis already had the kit in his stash; I found a sealed one at an offer I couldn't say no (roughly $45)

Lots of modeling projects are currently running, but I believe tomorrow I will cut some sprue!

It is so great that I will build together with Louis, a true friend and a person I fully respect.

I am so honored, Sir!

More to come!

Will do with great pleasure, my friend @airbum!
Those are lovely kits! (...a tad on the big side...)

Talking about the factory building at above capacity Spiros, Even the Gardner Iron works would have a hard time keeping up with your construction pace. That is one excellent kit to start on. A few I have seen built look very well. Louis also is on this as well. I have 3 48th scale medium size bombers, 2 Lightnings in progress and a 72nd B-24, the work desk is packed. The Uhu will probably still be larger with those kits combined. And a pair of Corsairs about to get started on. Like Erick, make some more room for me to strap in.

Oh man - I have the Dragon Uhu in 1/72...do I have space on my bench...? (I have been on a German kick recently, with my Ju-188, Hs 129, and Fi 167, and I had been considering either the Uhu or a Ju-86))

Sprue cut! - and onto the cockpit!

The level of provided cockpit detail is really amazing (for a pure styrene kit). The parts are crisply molded, with an udrestandable tiny hint of flashing here and there, requiring minor cleanup before assembly. The styrene quality is good, as well: not too hard, not too soft, nice and workable. A modeler could scrape off the molded-on seat belts and add extras, for a more realistic look.

It is simply miraculous how Revell managed to provide such a big kit with such a quality at THAT price. Ahhhhhhh, those heroic Revell years!

There's still some assembly to be done at the cockpit, before appying the RLM 66 base color, I had to leave basic cockpit construction in the middle, as it was midnight and my younger son decided not to sleep, but to fly "aircraft missions" allover the basement, him being the leader with the in progress 1/72 Noratlas, yours truly the wingman with the also in progress 1/72 Buckeye...!)

Thanks my friends @gkittinger and @johnb for commenting!

Greg, I would love to hear that you made the neccessary bench arrangements, in order to host your Uhu! The Ju-86 is a beloved plane/model also...oh well!

John, this is a huge plane for sure and there's a lot of plastic indeed. It seems to be a "complex but not complicated" kit, meaning a lot of parts, but since I decided to do the radical innovation and follow the instructions ( 🙂 ), it seems to go along nicely.

Thanks Tom @tcinla!
Hope you pull your kit out soon!

Some more progress

I glued the two flaps housings into each lower wing half and attached the wing halves. I then started to build up the main wheel wells and assembled the two engine nacelles. Fit was almost Tamiya. Many critical joints were fortified with liquefied styrene, as I try to avoid nasty parts splitting apart surprises when it is too late...

Instructions want you to trap 50g weight into each nacelle front, before attaching it at the wing. I decided to trap some fishing weights, "wrappped" with my sons modeling clay and formed to fit in the corresponding opening. This is the progress so far:

And this is how the whole kit looks:

Overall kit impression so far is AMAZING!

As you may have noticed, I have really gone nuts and follow the instructions. I believe this radical action may help potential builders in building the specific kit...

More to come!

Wow! That's going to be a heck of a impressive build Spiros! Talk about big!
I am looking forward to following this .
With all the model production you do, when do you find time for sleep? Do you build models in your dreams? I caught myself doing that once.