Introduction

There is a saying that big is beautiful and Revell of Germany must have taken that saying to heart with some of the 1/32nd scale aircraft models I think. In this review I will be taking a look at the Heinkel He 111 H-6, the torpedo variant of the aircraft from Revell of Germany, and if the mouldings are to be believed, on the inside of the wings is a 2011 date stamp. The Heinkel He 111 is one of the aircraft of World War Two that appeals to me the most as I feel it had very futuristic lines for the time.

Contents

Unusually and thankfully Revell of Germany have used the more traditional box of a tray and lid rather than an end opening box, I much prefer this packaging method as it makes keeping all of the kit parts together and easier to search through. Inside the box you will find;

• 22 light grey sprues
• 3 clear sprues
• 1 very large decal sheet
• 1 loose leafed instruction booklet
• 1 warning pamphlet

Review

Starting with a general overview of the mouldings I have to say they all appear very good with no obvious flash present and no ejector pin marks that will cause issues other than the shallow ones on the inside of the fuselage. The parts a reasonably well packaged with a small number of sprues packaged in a number of plastic bags that are taped shut, this does appear to have prevented any damage to the mouldings. The clear sprues are packed in a heat sealed bag which has not done quite as an efficient job of protecting the parts as three of the moulding have become fully free from their sprue attachment points. Fortunately the parts do not appear to have been damaged or marred by this as the gate has broken away from the moulding itself. The gates attaching the parts to the sprues are of a reasonable size and not excessive in number. The only real complaint I can make at this stage is that the parts layout is not really logical when it comes to the internal parts and you will find yourself doing some searching, fortunately however despite their being 22 sprues a number of those are large mouldings of obvious parts. I did find some very minor shrink marks on a few parts that will be covered in the review.

Cockpit and Interior
The fuselage interior and cockpit at first glance looks to be quite complete. The fact that Revell of Germany does not include any photo etched parts does mean some parts are on the heavy side but regardless of that it should meet the needs of most modellers. The cockpit control areas look to match my reference with the exception of the instrument panel; the panel does not match any of my available reference and the match I found was a museum example and more fortunately some period photographs of the cockpit area.. Unless I have missed it the seat harnesses appear to be absent which will show due to the very large glazed area, because of this it is worth considering checking the after market companies for this harness detail; before anyone starts complaining about this missing detail remember the price of the kit and would it would cost for a kit this size from some of the other manufacturers out there. The radio operator's station in the middle of the fuselage is supplied by Revell of Germany but I am unable to comment on accuracy as I only have reference that shows this area from some odd angles which makes it very hard to confirm accuracy.

Undercarriage
The tail wheel is a fair representation with my only dislike being that the main support comes in two halves which will make clean up difficult.. The wing wheel bays are very nice and have a fair amount of detail included. The main struts have again been supplied in two halves which really will need great care while sanding the seams after filler has been applied. The brake lines will need to be scratched using fine fuse wire or similar. The tyres in the kit are smooth which does match some period photographs, however I have also seen a straight across line tread pattern and a criss cross pattern.

Fuselage
The fuselage looks very good and is not made from so many parts that a lot of filler will be needed. The recessed panel lines are nicely designed but fine; the panel lines also look to match up with my reference very well. While looking at the fuselage exterior it would seem to be a good time to look at the defensive weapons. The defensive machine guns are reasonably detailed and can be enhanced further by drilling out the end of the barrels, you can take this even further if wished by the addition of turned metal barrels from a company such as master models.

Flight and Control surfaces
The wings are made up of five parts and are some large mouldings which look to go together very well. The recessed panel lines and rivet detail is again very good and from my reference accurate. The control surfaces are for the most part workable according to the instructions, however apart from the tail fin I cannot see how the control surfaces are secured while remaining workable. That aside I would always secure parts like this as playing with them will usually result in damage sooner or later. The detail that Revell of Germany has put into the wing, tail and fuselage of this model is very impressive to me.

Engines and propellers
The engine housings are well detailed and as with the rest of the model the recessed panel lines are very good, there is no engines included in the model which may not please those who like to have that kind of detail. The exhaust nozzles are made in two halves which has allowed Revell of Germany to provide hollowed out exhausts even though they do not as yet use slide moulding technology that I am aware of. The propellers look very good but this area is where the sink marks are, on the rear of each propeller blade there is a very shallow shrink mark that will need to be filled, however this should not present an issue that is difficult to overcome. The face of the engine where the propeller attaches looks good to me and with careful painting will look the part.

Glazed area
Revell of Germany has done a very good job of the glazing as it is of a reasonable thickness and has good clarity. The biggest problem with this model is a result of this area but not through the fault of Revell of Germany, it is during the painting aspect that this area will test you unless you are good at masking areas or you purchase an after market set for that purpose. I have been told that there is an area of the glazing that is incorrect but I have not been able to find it and as the saying goes a blind man would like to see it.

Offensive weapons
This model is supplied with two options when it comes to offensive weapons, you have two torpedoes or two bombs. Both of these choices look to be well detailed with my weapon of choice being the torpedoes as they are an impressive size and will make for an eye catching addition either on the model or shown below it.

Instructions
The loose leafed instruction booklet guides you through the construction of the model in 118 steps using black and white line drawings. The instructions are a little cluttered and in some cases show questionable placement of parts, so remember the golden rule and dry fit to check before adding glue to the mix. Two finishing options are covered in the instructions which are;
Heinkel He 111H-6 of 7/KG 4 General Weaver Stalingrad Russia 1942
Heinkel He 111H-6 of 2 KG 26 Norway July 1942 flown by Lt K. Heennemann

Decals
The decals are fair as regards thickness and have good colour with well defined lines. Some of the decals do have a lot of excess carrier film which while usually easily overcome by most some may struggle to hide or will not be happy with the silvering that may occur. For me the down side is that with Revell of Germany being a German company there are no swastikas on the decal sheet and these will need to be sourced elsewhere as they seem to be present on the tail of all aircraft I have seen in my reference material.

Conclusion

I feel this has the ability to be a stunning and eye catching model due to its impressive size and good exterior detail, you would also I believe find it impossible to find a model with anything like this level of detail and of this size and scale for the money. Is it perfect? No it is not but then again tell me what model has ever been released that is. I feel that the model offers excellent value for money and even if you decide to invest in replacement decals, gun barrels, seat harness and masks for the canopy it will still represent a great kit for the money. I know that some like to knock Revell of Germany because they don’t have all the bells and whistles of some other manufacturers, but as I said consider the price before knocking them for what is not in the box. In my opinion this is a great kit that begs to be built and just needs the space to keep the finished product in. all I need to do now is find a crew for it.

Revell model kits are available from all good toy and model retailers. For details visit www.revell.de/en, @RevellGermany or facebook.com/Revell

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