Introduction

The Heinkel He 111P-1 is the aircraft that saw action during the Battle of Britain along with aircraft updated to the P-2 variant. The main visual difference between the P-1 and P-2 are the number of defensive MG15 machine guns on the aircraft, three on the P-1 and five on the P-2. When I get to building this model I will be replacing the barrels with metal offerings from Master Reality in Miniature, a link to a review of that product can be found at the end of this review.

The following is the introduction provided by Revell of Germany on the front of the instruction booklet provided with the model.

At the start of the Second World War the Heinkel 111 was the most powerful medium range bomber in the world. With a maximum speed of 410 km/h (255 mph) it was faster than most fighters of the period. Although the He-111 evolved as early as 1932, it was still as a civil project for a fast aircraft for Lufthansa. At this time though, it was forbidden to build military aircraft in Germany due to the treaty of Versailles, Heinkel therefore designed the civil aircraft in such a way that it could be mass produced as a medium range bomber with little effort. After the restrictions of Versailles Treaty were lifted in the Summer of 1935, work on the military version of the He 111 began with some haste. Series production started in the Summer of 1936 and in May 1937 the newly formed Luftwaffe took delivery of its first He 111B-1. With the advent of the Spanish Civil War the Luftwaffe found an opportunity to test its new aircraft under actual wartime conditions. Experience gained during this conflict was eventually incorporated into the He 111 during a large modification programme.

Out of the initial stepped nose with limited forward visibility now evolved a bomber with a fully glazed asymmetric glass nose section that was later to become the trademark of the He 111. This version received the designation He 111P and went into mass production in 1938 as the P-1. Experience with this model led to the more powerful P-2 which in the summer of 1939 gradually replaced the P-1 within the Luftwaffe.

At this point the defensive armament of the P-2 still only consisted of three MG15 machine guns, similar to that of the P-1. During subsequent upgrades and modification packages the P-2 eventually received a total of five MG15 machine guns. A particular characteristic of the P-2 was the housing of eight ESAC vertical bomb magazines in the bomb bay. This solution enabled a higher speed, restricted the bomb load however to a maximum of eight x 250kg bombs. For propulsion the P-2 received two Daimler Benz DB 601A engines. Each water cooled 12 cylinder engine had a cubic capacity of 33.9 litres and produced 1100HP. The HE 111 bore the brunt of bombing missions during to Polish Campaign which commenced in 1939 and which led to the Second World War. Despite this it was still only seen as an interim solution by the Luftwaffe high command. They preferred the medium range Junkers Ju 88 dive bomber because conventional bombing could not achieve accuracy comparable with a vertical release in the dive. From the end of 1941 therefore the Heinkel He 111 was considered obsolete by the Luftwaffe high command. Despite this series production of the He 111 was continued and ceased in 1944. A total of 834 He 111P’s. the first He-111 to be mass produced were built, mostly at the Heinkell works in Rostock-Marienehe and in neighbouring North German Dornier Works in Wismar. Most of these were Heinkell He 111-P2s.

Contents

Inside a very large tray and lid box you will find a very large quantity of plastic for what will go together to make one very large model. The parts are packaged in a number of clear plastic bags which in my case seem to have kept all of the parts free of damage. You will find;
19 light grey/light blue sprues
3 clear sprues
A large decal sheet
An instruction booklet

Review

General Overview
All of the parts in this kit look to be cleanly moulded with no obvious flaws such as flash or sink marks, there are a lot of ejection pin marks on interior surfaces that for the most part will not be seen, but to be on the safe side if in doubt fill it to avoid annoyance further into construction. The gates between the sprues and the moulded parts are of a reasonable size and easily accessible for removal of the various parts. So far my observations are positive with the exception of some of the ejection pin marks.

Cockpit
The cockpit detail included with this version of the Heinkel He 111 appears to be the same as the cockpit in the Heinkel He 111 H-6 reviewed previously, a link to that review can be found at the end of this review. That said It would seem that the instrument panel mounted on the roof of the clear canopy is correct for this version. The defensive MG15 machine guns are reasonable detail wise and correctly placed, but as indicated earlier I will be replacing the barrels for turned metal offerings. Revell of Germany does not provide any photo etched parts with this model which does mean some of the detail is on the heavy side; however Eduard alone offers a number of products for detailing the model both inside and out and due to the low cost of the model compared with other manufacturers in this scale make for affordable additions. Even without after market update sets this area of the model is a busy and from what I can tell accurate area. The cockpit walls of the fuselage do have some ejector pin marks that I believe will need to be filled to prevent them being seen.

Interior Bomb Bay
This is another area of the model where there are some ejector pin marks that will need addressing; the interior rib detail will make this challenging to do well. I have a few books on the Heinkel He 111 but none of them show the Bombay area and so I am unable to comment on the model accuracy in this area, that said Revell of Germany have gone to some lengths to make this area busy with radios and the vertical drop bomb racks and so it should be pleasing when completed and I have no reason to believe it is not accurate.

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 tread detail in the form of lines running straight across the tyre, this detail does match detail seen on a number of German aircraft of the period and some of the images in my reference do display this detail.

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 portrayed and look fine; the panel lines also look to match up with my reference very well. The ejector pin marks on the interior will be difficult to remedy.

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 are 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 propeller blades look to have a good profile and while I do not have dimensions of the real thing look to be a match one type of propeller blade used on the He 111. The face of the engine where the propeller attaches looks accurate to me and with careful painting will look the part. The radiator and intakes also match one of the three layouts in my reference, but photo etched detail parts will improve this area further..

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.

Instructions
The loose leafed instruction booklet guides you through the construction of the model in 109 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. There are three finishing options which are covered in the instructions which are;
Heinkel He 111P-1 of 5 KG 54 Totenkopf Geschwader, Coulommiers, France 1940
Heinkel He 111P-1 of III KG 27 Geschwader Boalcke, Delmenhorst, Germany 1940
Heinkel He 111P-1 of II KG 5 General Wever, Preserved at the Norwegian Aviation Museum, Gardemoen, Norway

Decals
The decals are fair as regards thickness and have good colour with well defined lines with the exception of the black on the crosses. 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

This model from Revell of Germany is a must have if you are into German World War Two bombers and like large impressive and eye catching models. The Heinkel He 111 is one of my favourite German aircraft and this models hits all kinds of highs for me. The interior and exterior details are good and excellent if you consider the price. The model from the box can be built to provide a good model and this can be further enhanced to an even better model via the edition of some after market photo etch products for those modellers who like to add extra detail to there models; I am aware that some modellers get upset about having to go down the after market route to further improve their models but the price of this kit allows that approach while still keeping the price affordable. As such I highly recommend this product for your consideration.

Related Reviews

German Aircraft Machine Gun MG 15 Live links

Heinkel He 111 H-6 Live links

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