1/48 Revell Heinkel He 111 of KG4

Gallery Article by Greg Goheen on Sept 8 2009

 

The unusual scheme for this Luftwaffe bomber was found in the outstanding book (Luftwaffe Codes, Markings and Units by Barry Rosch) and was undoubtedly one of the most enjoyable builds I've done in quite some time.  The main body and fuselage carry the standard splinter scheme of RLM 70/71 over RLM 65 while the starboard wing carried an unusually mottled scheme of RLM 80/65.

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Construction featured extensive detailing of the cockpit and Eduard PE seatbelts.  The instrument panel was airbrushed RLM 66 before gloss black dials were hand painted and then drybrushed to accentuate detailing further.  Each of the dials then received a drop of Future for a nice, glass-like appearance.  The canopies were dipped in Future as well and hand cut masks were made from Tamiya tape and used for painting the frames.

Gunze acrylics and lacquers were used throughout, while Alclad II lacquers were used for the exhausts.  The entire plane was sealed with several light coats of Future.  Decals were custom made with my laser printer and set in place with Solvaset.  Panel lines were airbrushed freehand with my Iwata HP-CS Eclipse airbrush to depict wear and panels faded appropriately.  Likewise, the mottling effect on the starboard wing was airbrushed freehand.  Finally, the entire model received several coats of dull flat clear to seal the paint.

Greg Goheen

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Photos and text © by Greg Goheen