Scale aviation modeller international

are sufficiently unobtrusive.

However, once I began to

remove parts from the sprues

and test fit, I began to get the

impression that all might not be

as perfect as it appeared. Most of

the larger components, such as

the fuselage halves and wings,

appeared to suffer from various

degrees of warping. I didn’t think

it would prove a major problem,

but in such a beautifully produced

kit it came as a bit of a surprise.

Even stranger was that, like

all quality kits, the Heinkel comes

with a good number of locating pins

to assist in aligning components

correctly. Why then, are the pins

too big to fit in the corresponding

holes? Not by much, but sufficient

to prevent the fuselage closing, or

the wing halves coming together.

Why? A couple of turns in each

hole with a 0.85mm drill sorted

the problem, but...? I have never

encountered this issue before.

COMMENCEMENT

If one follows the order of the

instructions – and why not? – the

build begins with the wheel wells.

These form the beginnings of a

sort of backbone support for the

model; once they are added to the

wing spars, bomb bay walkway,

and rear fuselage floor you have a

fine solid structure around which

the rest of the model will be built.

When it was all assembled I

tried a test fit of the wings and

fuselage around it. The result

was very encouraging; despite

the minor warping mentioned

earlier, everything fitted almost

perfectly. All the parts join at

natural panel lines so the only

sanding and filling that would be

needed is on the top and bottom of

the fuselage, of which more later.

The internal detail on the

inside of the fuselage halves is

very good. All the formers and

stringers are there, on the fuselage

halves themselves and carried

onto several fillets which span

the gaps left by the wing roots.

Apart from the distinctly shaped

nose (nasal?) glazing, the Heinkel

contains many windows. These

attach from the inside and include

continuations of the internal

fuselage frames onto their edges,

a very nice touch. Once these were

in place I masked them inside and

out in preparation for painting

(at this point I tied a knot in my

hanky to remind me to remove

the internal masking before I

joined the fuselage halves).

The cockpit is well appointed

with some beautifully detailed and

“ICM HAVE COME UP WITH A

FANTASTIC KIT OF A HISTORICALLY

IMPORTANT BOMBER, AND IT IS AS

FINE AS ANYONE COULD ASK FOR”

8 • SEPTEMBER 2018 • SCALE AVIATION MODELLER INTERNATIONAL

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