Heinkel He-114, S 12 in the Swedish Air Force. It is an odd bird to start with (production number unknown but I've seen 162 stated), only twelve of them came to Sweden in 1940 where it is a fairly obscure aircraft. I've always been a fan of it, it looks rather fast for being a floatplane and that engine cover is rather good looking

Let's start with being brutally honest: this is a model for the person who desperately wants a He-114. In the box there is an OK short-run with an awful canopy, that's about par for the course until you pick up your wallet and hand over 45 pounds for it... Alternatives in this scale are an Airmodel vacform, a Top Gun or Planet Models resin kit or the masochists first choice: Mach 2...

Enough whining though, towards a Swedish Air Force S 12!


Nice box! If Swedish isn't your cup of tea there is always the choice of going Romanian!


Plastic...


...and even more plastic...


...a really nice decal sheet and even some masks for that horrible canopy.


I have even managed to collect some references over the years.



Magnus

I've started building! It reminds me of MPM from the 1990's...





The struts will be a true adventure!



Magnus

Nice subject despite the rather sorrowful kit Magnus. You certainly pick them for the exotic appeal :-)

Pedro! I picked it because it was so expensive, assuming that there should be some kind of correspondence between price and quality ! I think a more clever approach would have been waiting for Special Hobby to release one and build either of the two Tamiya kits that were in the same package from Hannants (Zero or 109, pick your choice )!


Anyway, upper halves of the stub wings in place...



Magnus

Magnus,

I remember your work and if anyone can make this model a jewel, my money is on you. I too these exotic subjects, too.

Wow Magnus!

you sure have picked an exotic subject! And at 45pounds it sounds even more fantastic!

Looking forward to seeing you work your magic on it!

Friends! I am so sorry that I have to disappoint you. I will never be able to get a result that I am happy with so why waste modelling time on this one?

I realised that the struts are too short so I started extending them:


And after sanding these to shape and dry-fitting I realise that all the other struts are wrong as well. I then took the decision to draw the line exactly here:
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Magnus

Magnus, a disappointing end to what looked like a very interesting build. I’m sorry for you that the kit just wasn’t buildable.

Cheers, D

What D, said.

A disappointing end to what looked like a unique build...

Waiting to see what you do to fill the void on the work bench

Damian and Russell! Could be that I've grown a bit old and lazy but this model is bad in a bad way, not bad in the High Planes sense that I happen to appreciate every now and then !

If it wasn't for the configuration with all the struts, both to the wings and the floats, I might have persevered but I don't expect myself to be able to turn this one into something I would be happy with !



Magnus

Maybe not old and lazy, but wise and experienced. I'm totally of the same mind when it comes to kits with problems like you've described: Life's too short to waste time fixing the unfixable and besides, there are far too many other kits that are far better engineered that we need to be building

So it shall become a paint-test model and earn its keep that way. I'm a little disappointed in their execution, because they've announced that they're working on a Boeing 307 and Curtiss Condor, both of which need to be in my collection.

Jessie! I woudn't worry about the Boeing 307, no struts and four engines that can be pilfered from any B-17-kit if needed. Though, with the He-114 pushing 70 CAD, I would start saving NOW if I were you ! The Condor, hmmm, lots of struts... I would wait for Special Hobby for that one !



Magnus