Heinkel He111

[david whiston]

Hi Gents
over the Christmas break I have done some more to the Heinkel, I am struggling to get a "bubble" canopy for the nose of the aircraft. I am not up to making a good enough mould and moulding plastic, so if anyone knows where I can purchase one or something that will do the trick ? it would be of great help. I have tried to post a photo of the model but it might have come over as an attachment

Dave

[rob ellis]

WOW...

[Scott Crosby]

I 2nd the WOW!!

Scott

[Karl mander]

Dave

I originally used a front canopy of a B17(this was in 2002) , I don't know if a kind fellow member has a large b17 front canopy that they'd like to donate.


Karl

[david whiston]

Hi Karl,,, thanks for that, if anyone has one I am more than willing to swap some pound notes for it!!
Thanks for the wows! I have posted a couple more photos, the first is when I assembled the model after putting on the panel lines, and wanted to see what it looked like,the second is the front half of the fusalage showing my attempt at weathering!

[david whiston]

For some reason the second photo would not load so here it is

[david whiston]

Tried again

[DAVE JOHNSON]

Morning Dave---its looking great ---I may be able to help as Karl suggested---give me a call when you are back in the UK----DAVE

[Philip Goff]

Dear Dave
Your Heinkel looks superb, what part of the Country are you in please?
Why I ask that is because I hold a Battle of Britain Commemorative model event
at Tibenham airfield in Norfolk in late September each year.

Your magnificent Heinkel would be perfect for this event.
I have a thread for the event under none LMA events on this forum.

Sorry to have encroached on your thread.
Keep up the good work.

Regards Phil Goff

[david whiston]

Hi Dave
i get back end of the month so will drop you a line then.

Philip, not sure if the model will be flight ready by then, but will see where
i am closer to the date.

[david whiston]

tried to post a photo but it wouldnt load !!

[david whiston]

Just a quick update, I came to a bit of halt on the project , what with work commitments, anyway I did make up a new geared motor drive for the U/C unfortunalty it didnt work. But Gaydon supplied the solution , a converstation with Dave Brown and Kingfisher Aviation , is now seeing a U/C in production, as I am off to India with work, when I get back the gear will be ready and Kingfisher will supply me with their electric valve system, tubes ,tanks, etc. next up was the spinner back plates, a visit to Propguy sorted out new 6 inch spinners so we are now good to go !!!

I have fitted and tested all the servos and everything does what it is supposed to do,,each half of the model is powered via its own power system and twin Lipo batteries. The frot of the model can now also be finished off, I have been struggling to get a nose bubble, but Dave Johnson had a serch through his workshop and turned up one of theearly B17 nose bubbles, not totally scale but will do the job nicely.

[Dave Parry]

I hope you have been jotting it all down, I expect a full report with pictures for the journal Mr Whiston when it is all done.

[david whiston]

Well, the U/C is now with Dave Brown, as I am off on my travels soon it gives Dave time to get the gear sorted, fully Pneumatic will be a much simpler system to operate and maintain.
For those of you who might know the model, I think construction or the idea began in 2002, Karl Mander built the model originally, here it is at Haigh Hall in we think 2005'

image.jpeg (73.87 KiB) Viewed 12389 times

For what ever reason the model was never flown, but as is the way with these big models, it then passed through numerous hands, loosing bits and pieces on the way until I got my sticky paws on it. With my work comitments and travel, (I can easily be away from home for a couple of months) , progress has been somewhat steady. The majority of work being cosmetic, but there has been some time consuming machining work done , but we are as they say now on the final straight. At time of writing, I have one servo to replace, one outer wing panel to paint, then once the U/C returns she will be ready to go, but as I am travelling for a month soon we could be looking at the new year.

Here is the fusalage with all its paint on,,,,

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So lots of rubbing down to do yet, getting the joint of the two fusalage halves to be neat is a bit of a pain, but as I just purchased a new pack'of wet and dry,, I am ready to go !!

[david whiston]

Got a bit more done tonight, fitted up the starboard outer wing panel, servo runs well and fit doesnt look too bad, so put some more paint on and added the " Battle of Britain " stripes , here is the "tonights" photo, and yes the wing tip is holding the door shut! It is that big.

image.jpeg (84.56 KiB) Viewed 12334 times

[Dave Parry]

Looking good Dave, they say you learn something new everyday, well today is no exception, in all the history books and documentaries I have read and watched I have never heard or seen Battle of Britain strips on a German plane before today.

[david whiston]

I might be wrong, but will stand up and be counted if thats the case , but I am sure I read " somewhere" that the 3 stripes were painted on german bombers during operations taking place through the period of the Battle of Britain,, No doubt if I am wrong there will be a swift and brutal correction coming my way ,,,,,

[david whiston]

Dave
In my defence,, well I wanted to be almost sure I was right,,,,, I trawled the internet all morning and found this text relating to the white stripes,,,
By a guy called Gerhard Stemmer. "There is no question that these were tactical formation markings used by the KG of some LF for the massive daylight raids planned and executed in mid-September 1940. IIRC first documented date is 11 September, but examples continue until well into October and even later until the markings were worn off or finally painted over. At least four He111s shot down on 15 September from both KG26 and KG53 have been documented. These markings are also known by units flying Do17s and Ju88s during the same period. The reason you haven't seen many photos of them is that they were used for such a short time, and not all units used them. Regarding just He111s, off the top of my head I don't remember seeing any examples of these markings on a/c of KG1, KG27 or KG55.
Does that help?? Still ,anticipating a roasting but at least I tried!!

[Dave Parry]

I was not doubting what you have done, and that it isn't true I was just saying I haven't ever seen these marking on any German planes anywhere. I am sure I am not the only one that didn't know this fact, thank you for sharing.

[david whiston]

No worries Dave
But I have reached that time of life where sometimes I have to ask myself " did I imagine that or did I actually see it" I understand its an age thing!,
Tonight and tomorrow will be fitting the super duper 20gk airleron servos, that should keep her on the straight and narrow, then its a bit nore tidying up on the wiring and then will be making some ballast blocks. I wrote to the guy in America who has a similar sized Heinkel, he wrote that" his has 17 LB of lead in the nose to balance it". As I think I mentioned before, I will put 4 LBS in each nacelle and the balance in the nose.