I will be building ICM's recent 1/48 He 111H-3, I wanted this kit from the moment is was announced so very exciting to be building it
Unfortunately in terms of my connection to the plane that is all I've got - and the fact of love the look of it!
Here is a brief summary of information I found on Wikipedia and historyofwar.org:
- The early development of the He 111 was done in secret and was disguised as a civilian transport aircraft, as German re-armament was banned under the Treat of Versailles<
- The design was based on the He 70 Blitz, an interesting plane in itself which set 8 world speed records in the early 1930s
- When it was introduced it was considered a heavy bomber, but was soon to be considered a medium bomber
- The first He 111A flew in 1935
- The early variants were rejected by the Luftwaffe due to poor performance
- The He 111 first saw combat in the Spanish Civil war; it then played an important role in the early stage of World War II
- Despite becoming obsolete as technology developed, He 111 continued to be used in combat role for the remainder of the war as the projects to replace it were unsuccessful
- The H variants were the second (after the P) to use the distinctive glass nose
- The H and P variants differed in the choice of engines. Whereas the P used the DB 601, which was also in high demand for fighters, the H use Jumo 211
- The H variant were the most produced He 111 variant
- A major feature of the H variants was the increase in defensive armament as bombers could no longer rely on speed to get through
- The H-3 specifically had more powerful engines installed with Jumo D-1s and had more guns added. The H-3 also had more armour added to protect crews
- A total of 504 H-3s were produced
, although saying that I have already nearly lost a piece which fell off in the bag!)
Here are some closeup of the surface detail, not mind blowing but seems okay:
The decals; which I must admit seem a little thick to me, we will see how they work though
And finally this will be the version I build, I was tempted by the box art one intially, butI really want to build a plane using RLM04
I have also got the Eduard PE. I always wanted the nose set as so much of that part of the interior will be seen and I also wanted the undercarriage set. I was trying to decide whether the bomb bay and radio sets were worth it. Still not convinced they will be but I decided to go for it anyway
I have also bought some Eduard resin machine guns but don't think I will use them because they seem to have been discontinued so it may be better to use the on a build with the guns will be more prominent; we'll see
So first things first, I gently washed all of the sprues in warm soapy water (I know its not really necessary but I like to do it anyway). They are all drying overnight ready for the glueing suff to start
Scott 
. I did try for the first time using PVA glue (in the form of Kristal Klear) to stick the PE parts down though. I previously always used CA glue as I wanted a stronger bond, but I think the ease of cleaning PVA glue up may make it the better option (it was certainly much easier for these parts anyway 
(not 
