The Heinkel He 219 Uhu (Eagle-Owl) was a night fighter serving in the later stages of World War II with the German Luftwaffe. The requirement for an advanced night fighter was issued in 1942 and the He 219 was the product of this programme. A relatively sophisticated aircraft, some speculate that had the Uhu been available in quantity it may have had a significant effect upon the strategic bomber offensive of the Royal Air Force. However very few of the aircraft saw service and the He 219 had no appreciable impact upon the course of the war.
Production models, equipped with radar, began arriving in the Luftwaffe in October 1943. The capable He219 had an enviable reputation as a “Mosquito”-killer, but production was never sufficient to have a significant impact on the air war. The later He219B model was fitted with 2500hp Jumo 222A/B engines, giving the Uhu a maximum speed of 700km/h. It also featured a lengthened wingspan for better high-altitude performance.
The Kit
Upon opening the sturdy lidded box you are confronted with 5 sprues of grey injected plastic parts, 2 sprues of clear parts and a small photo etch set. The clear, P.E parts and decals are separately bagged and taped to a cardboard sheet to protect them. A total of 125 parts make up the kit, with 12 parts not being used.
The make up of the parts are as follows:
- 96 x grey styrene parts
- 6 x clear styrene parts
- 11 x photo etched brass parts
The plastic injection parts have no flash on them but there are lots of sink marks on them. I would like to state that the sink marks do look to be in places that won't be seen once the kit is finished, so clean up of the parts should be a breeze. Nearly all Dragon model kits have small knockout "nodes" that are attached to nearly every piece to help with getting the parts out of the moulds and some care will be required to remove these, as some of the "nodes" are bigger then the piece it's attached to.
The kit has some very nice engraved panel lines and access hatches on the wings and fuselage. I know if you scaled this kit up to 1/1 scale you would lose your arm in there but until someone comes up with a better way of recreating panel lines this fine then Dragon have done a marvelous job on current moulding techniques.
Interior detail is pretty good considering the scale. The cockpit has the seat bases already moulded onto the floor with the backs being separate parts. The front of the seats have a couple of pin marks on them and haven't got any harnesses moulded on them or that come separately, so adding them should improve the look of them. The main instrument panel is a P.E part and will require some careful painting to make it look realistic.
The main wheel bays have some rivet detail moulded in, but should look pretty good once complete as each undercarriage leg has 10 parts each. The nose wheel bay has no internal detail but considering the size of the bay its not surprising, as I feel you wouldn't see anything anyway. The same goes for the engines, which are moulded with the cowling already in place.
The clear parts are very, eerr, clear with no distortion visible. The frames are nicely replicated and raised. The frames have a frosted look to them, so painting the correct part is easier to do.
The P.E parts are the already mentioned instrument panel, 2 underside aerials and the 4 main aerials. I believe the inclusion of the P.E aerials can only be a good thing as A - they will look more realistic then injection plastic ones and, B - they will not break so easily.
Instructions
The instructions are printed on the normal Dragon folded paper. The build sequence is broken down into 8 stages with interior colours given along the way. The build looks to be fairly straightforward with the optional parts highlighted along the way. The last 2 pages contain the painting and decal guides. All the paints are from Aqueous Hobby Color, Mr Color and Model Master paint ranges.
Decals and Markings
The decals are printed by Cartograf and are in register. There is minimal carrier film and the colours don't seem too bright for a night fighter. There are markings for 3 aircraft:
- 1. AC, NJG3, Germany 1945 - All black
- 2. D5 CN, NJG3, Germany 1945 - Black mottle over light grey uppers and black undersides.
- 3. G9 CY, NJG3, Germany 1945 - Black mottle over light grey uppers and black undersides.
Whether the colours are correct or not I don't know, as I have found several different colour schemes for German night fighters.
SUMMARY
Highs: Some great detail. A nice touch with the P.E aerial's. Great recessed panel lines. An all-round nice looking kit.Lows: A little on the light side detail wise for the cockpit and nose wheel interiors. Unsure if the colour schemes are correct.Verdict: Well worth the money. Should build up to a good looking model.
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About Andy Brazier (betheyn) FROM: ENGLAND - SOUTH EAST, UNITED KINGDOM
I started modelling in the 70's with my Dad building Airfix aircraft kits. The memory of my Dad and I building and painting a Avro Lancaster on the kitchen table will always be with me. I then found a friend who enjoyed building models, and between us I think we built the entire range of 1/72 Airfi...
I know this review has been up for some time, just curious if anyone has built this kit? Is the image of the decal accurate, does it not come with Swastikas?
thanks
Looks like the usual Dragon policy of not including swastikas in their aircraft kits.
Here you can view scans of the instructions: http://www.1999.co.jp/eng/10056598
But then, I have no idea what the decals number twelve are supposed to be. Sort of looks like politically correct swastika replacements, they're instructed to be placed righ on the rudders, but then they're only for one of the marking options...
They're stealth swastikas. Two swipes with a razor knife while they're on the decal sheet, and a fiddly postitioning job later, you have your swastikas without Dragon having broken EU law.
But it's so much easier to use aftermarket.
So what exactly is the case with Swastikas? I find some kits have them, some don't. Some have them on seperate sheet, or in a seperated section on the decal sheet. Some show the diamond on the box art, but they are included in the kit.
They're illegal in the EU. Those separate sheets or the ones off to the side of the decal sheet are left out of kits destined to be shipped there. I would assume the kits that have one included on the decal sheet in the kit will have a separate sheet for EU versions, or simply not be shipped there.
Given the availability of aftermarket decals I've always just considered the lack (or not) in the kit as a non-issue.
To be exact, Swastikas are not illegal in EU, just some countries like Germany and Hungary. There have been proposals for a EU-wide ban, but they've been dropped.
I've seen those too. Some manufacturers have swastikas on box art but have multi-part decals or none at all. Some don't show the markings on the boxes, but include full decals. At least Hasegawa and Eduard seem to have sheets with full swastikas on the side for easy removal when sold in Germany for example.
Talking of swastikas, I've heard stories from fellow modelers buying WW2 luftwaffe kits from German webstores and upon opening the boxes, finding the decal sheets censored with a black marker pen. Made a mental note of that: "don't buy Luftwaffe kits including swastika decals from Germany."
Sorry, going a bit OT here...
Something that has always bothered me is this swastika thing. If you look back the swastika was associated with Native Americans and Indians (of the sub continent) among others. It was of course the German use of it that has sullied it's position.
Even so, I think it would be time for the EU or any other organization to come to terms with history. I put swastikas on my WW2 German aircraft, that in no way condones the atrocities committed by the maniacs running the Third Reich!!
To be historically accurate shouldn't be viewed as an endorsement of genocide or any other misbegotten ideas!! Just my two cents. Russell
Oh, I thought the ban had gone through. I would suspect then, that model companies often take the easy way out and just don't include them if the kit might be sold in those countries.
But since it's trivially easy to get them from aftermarket it's really no bother.
Hi there
I've put the case to our contacts at Dragon for some time that they should consider including Swastikas for historical accuracy, even if only in "sliced" form for the modeller to assemble, but it doesn't look like happening. As Jessie says, luckily aftermarket decals are easily obtainable.
All the best
Rowan
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