Scale Aviation Modeller International – March 2019

T

he Heinkel He 70

was designed for

Deutsche Lufthansa

in the early 1930’s as

a fast mail plane, as a result of

a German government request

for an aircraft faster than the

benchmark Lockheed Vega

and Orion used by Swissair.

Flying irst in 1932, it proved to

have excellent performance,

setting several world records

for speed over distance, and

being capable of a maximum

speed of some 377Km/hr (222

MPH), earning the nickname

‘Blitz’ (Lightning). Lufthansa

operated the He 70 (as the

G-1) between 1934 and 1937

on a fast passenger service

which connected Berlin with

Frankfurt, Hamburg and

Cologne, as well as on the

Cologne/Hamburg route. Like

many pre-war German designs,

the He 70 proved eminently

suitable for conversion into

a warplane and was quickly

developed into a light bomber

and reconnaissance platform

deployed irst in the Spanish

Civil War with the Spanish

Nationalist Air force. Of

a relatively conventional

construction for its time, the

He 70 had a metal fuselage

and wooden lying surfaces,

with great care being given to

producing an aerodynamically

clean airframe. The BMW V1

vee-inline engine was cooled

by a water/ethylene glycol

mixture, allowing smaller,

lower drag radiators to be used.

THE KIT

This is the second issue of the

He 70 by Revell. The irst, in

1998 was the ex-Matchbox

ofering, (04229-0389) from

which the G-1 civil version,

the F-2 military type, and the

interesting, radial-engine He

170A used by the Hungarians

could all be built. This kit shows

its age in terms of detail, but

is cleanly moulded, and has a

spectacular decal sheet. The

current issue (03962-0379) is a

re-boxing of the 2005 ICM kit

and as such is more modern

in its approach, although

the moulding is a bit hit and

miss. 71 plastic parts (seven

not used) are carried on two

sprues, with a separate frame

for the 13 clear components

which are rather thick and

distorted. The moulding is

generally pretty good, with

minimal lash but with heavy

sprue gates. Some efort has

gone into producing surface

detail where unfortunately it

will be lost (like the rivets on

the undercarriage doors) where

perhaps the time might have

been better spent on overall it

(like the lower wing to fuselage

joint). Unlike the Matchbox

The 1/72 Revell Heinkel He 70 F2 built by Huw Morgan

FIRST CLASS POST

HEINKEL

HEINKEL HE 70 F2

MANUFACTURER: Revell

SCALE: 1:72

KIT TYPE: Injection moulded

KIT NUMBER: 03962

NUMBER OF PART: 71 plastic plus 13

clear

DECAL OPTIONS:1

KIT DETAILS

MARCH 2019 • SCALE AVIATION MODELLER INTERNATIONAL

1/72

30

FE ATURE

BY HUW MORGAN

HEINKEL HE 70 F2

1/72