T

he Heinkel He 219 was

the Luftwaffe’s first, and

only, purpose-built night

fighter, and featured a number

of advanced features, such as

compressed air-powered ejector

seats for its two-man crew. It was

also heavily armed, with up to

six forward firing cannons, and

in later variants, two Schräge

Musik upward-firing oblique

cannons. As a twin-engine,

tricycle undercarriage, twin-

fin aeroplane it was also an

aesthetically pleasing machine.

Revell’s kit of the He 219 has

been out for a few years now; this is

a re-release, and includes parts to

build the earlier A-0 variant, which

features smaller radar antennas and

a differently profiled rear canopy.

The kit comes in Revell’s

standard end-opening box and

contains fourteen light grey

sprues and two clear sprues. The

grey parts feature some very fine

details, including recessed panel

lines and panel fasteners. There

is some flash and a few mould

ejector marks in awkward places,

but the rather long fuselage

halves are free of any warping.

The instruction booklet is in

Revell’s new colour format, with

twenty-seven pages covering

seventy-seven assembly stages,

and colour painting guides for three

schemes. Colour callouts are for

Revell’s own paints, though they are

cross-referenced to RLM colours.

CONSTRUCTION

Stages One to Thirteen of the

instructions covers the assembly

of the two-seat cockpit. Out of the

box, a very highly detailed cockpit

can be built, featuring raised

detail on the various instrument

panels and consoles. Numerous

NIGHT

OWL

Revell 1/32 Heinkel He 219 A-0/A-2 Night

Fighter by Angelo Picardo

6 • APRIL 2018 • SCALE AVIATION MODELLER INTERNATIONAL

BY SACCO DE VRIES

HE 219 A-0/A-

BY ANGELO PICARDO

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