discussion 1/48 ICM - He 111H-3

[topgazza]

It's bigger than I thought and so many sprues/parts it's mind boggling but in a good way. Love the bomber colours but not sure I'll attempt the amount of wear on the panel edges that you can see on the box. Mine will be on its 2nd or 3rd mission so still pretty clean. Recommended by Dave and I must admit the parts look superb with excellent details.






Yes two of these

 

[colin m]

I like the shape of the He 111. As for big, Revel do a 1:32, which I've just realised, doesn't actually have any engines, unlike the ICM version.

 

[Steven000]

Nice project :thumb2: , will follow your build, it's on my list too but haven't got the room for it...
Steven

 

[topgazza]

It's not massive to be fair I think it's because the wings are so wide. But it's a lovely looking aircraft and I'm looking forward to starting it

 

[tr1ckey66]

Love the He 111 and the H3 is my favourite variant. Looking forward to the build Gary.
Cheers
Paul

 

[Steven000]

It's not massive to be fair I think it's because the wings are so wide. But it's a lovely looking aircraft and I'm looking forward to starting it

Yes the plane has wide wings indeed, I like the typical shape of it :thumb2:.
I checked out the kit dimensions but a wingspan of 471mm is still quite large to put in my cabinet though ...
Looking forward to your build, I'm curious about the fittings :thumb2:
Steven

 

[topgazza]

Looking at the sprues, if this is an example of the improvements in more recent new tooled ICM builds then I will look to buy some more.

There is a lot of plastic in the box thats for certain :smiling:

 

[Dave Ward]

Gary,
the recent ICM kits ( last 5 years ) have been as good as any other maker - I made the 1/48 Mig-25RBT a few years ago, and to date it is still the best model I have ever laid my hands on! I've been eyeing up the 1/32 Gladiator, but I can't find it at a good discount!!
Their 1/35 Softskins are just as good, I've made a few & have the WOT 6 in the stash.
Dave

 

[AlanG]

Yep the ICM He111 and Ju88 kits are fantastic value and detailed. They've certainly up'd their game in the last few years.

 

[topgazza]

Update and some pics. One of the most enjoyable, detailed kits I've built. Not over fussy or parts so fragile they fall apart just by looking at them. Everything went together well, so far. Then a huge problem with the upper wing half. The problem is that the engine mounts on a frame and assembly on the lower wing then you fit the upper half of the wing. If anything below is a fraction of a mm out then it won't fit. There are some guides on the lower half and the wheel hold fits into those and again into the ones on the upper half. I had to grind them away as the wings parts were 3-4 mm apart despite being carefull in fitting the engine and wheel housing. They should assemble the wing complete and then fit the engine. Still half a tube of filler later and I'm left with the sanding down. All this fettling led to several parts being broken off which is annoying. Still, I'll get back on track once I've stopped sanding







You can see the wheel housings above. The engines mount onto the front of those. But the issue, and to me it's a design one, is that the flat pieces going out on both sides of the body have to be precise. There is not way of ensuring that is the case other than fit them as best you can. The top 2 mm were grinded down and as I said before the moulded, proud of the surface, grooves they fit in on the inside of the wings were also removed. Shame

 

[scottie3158]

Gary,
Looking good nice progress so far.

 

[topgazza]

Just spent a couple of hours rubbing down and applying the camoflauge underneath. Quite a bit of touching up I guess later on but used Tamiya XF23. Looks OK

Filler hides a multitude of problems

 

[topgazza]

I was almost tempted to leave it as per the picture. Looks pretty



Brushed on some Dark green as a sort of additional primer.

 

[topgazza]

Finished but not totally happy with canopy. It looks ok and a bit weathered but it never fitted correctly no matter what I did. But the overall plane is very impressive in its colours in the flesh. I did a bit more weathering underneath and a little bit on top but not much there as the dark colours didn't allow too much. Overall a good kit apart from two major design flaws for me. The wings fitting was hampered by the slots on the inside they sit it not alligning meaning a lot of filing. And the flimsy design of the canopy parts but live and learn so I'll know next time to take different steps. But everything else was great. I'll take some more pictures for the completed section tomorrow

 

[scottie3158]

Gary,
That is a great result.

 

[prichrd1]

Gary,
Nice smooth finish on that one:thumb2::thumb2: - the colors look nice and smooth - especially the underside, reminds me of the "Battle of Britain" film that was screened yesterday!!

Paul.
:smiling2:

 

[topgazza]

Thanks.

I used Tamiya paints with Mr Colour thinners and it does go off very nicely. The Black Green and Dark Green topside looks very sinister and smart. Interesting choice of camo from the Germans.

I'm experimenting a bit more with weathering and its not an exact science of course. Too much ? Too little? You never know

 

[Steven000]

Great result Gary! :thumb2:
Steven

 

[colin m]

A good finish Gary, it looks really nice.