Review

This introduction is as supplied by ICM:

One of the He 111H-20 aircraft has a remarkable history. Built as a transport variant of one of the Luftwaffe’s most widely produced bombers, it was manufactured in 1944 with factory number 701152. During the final days of World War II in Europe, American forces captured and transported it to Cherbourg. The pilots of the 56th Fighter Group USAAF, who were assigned the aircraft, painted it their unit’s signature deep purple color. By September 1945, when it was time to return to the USA, the American pilots faced leaving the aircraft behind. Unwilling to abandon it, the crew made a daring decision—without higher command’s approval, they flew their He 111 to the British airbase at North Weald, where bewildered British pilots discovered it on their airfield the following morning. This bold action ensured the aircraft’s preservation. It was subsequently featured at the German aircraft exhibition at RAE Farnborough, before finding its permanent home in 1978 at the Royal Air Force Museum in London, where it remains today.

Review

This offering from ICM is an interesting release, as it features a HE 1-11 that was captured initially by the Americans, before secretly being dumped on an English airbase. The packaging consists of a flip-top cardboard tray, with a separate card lid. Inside the plastic is provided in 2 re-sealable plastic bags and from what I can see the moulds are holding up extremely well and continue to provide us the modellers with what I consider to be the most attractive German bomber there was. The gates are of a reasonable size in most cases, and as long as you have a sharp pair of nippers you should not have any issues other than the finer parts that are provided. A quick look at the instructions shows you that there is a large number of un-used parts, and of course, you could, build just about any other version of the He 1-11 you wish.

This is an unusual model, as you build the wheel wells and then add to full width spars to connect both the fuselage and wings positively. You then continue to go backwards towards the tail and cover the gondola and upper fuselage gun position, and all of this before you get to the cockpit. The cockpit itself is reasonably detailed, but I really wish that ICM would provide the seat harness details at it is a glaring omission in a model with such a large glazed area. Something that does bother me slightly, is that ICM instructions indicate to add defensive machine guns in some areas, which I believe would have been removed in captured aircraft. Other than the harness detail which I have mentioned, the rest of the seat detail is good and internal detail generally meets with my approval.

The details inside the bomb bays of the model, will not be seen and so is one of those cases where you can content yourself with knowing that it is there. Another unusual aspect of the construction is that the upper wings surfaces are added to the fuselage, and I quite like this approach as it allows you to do some fettling and if need be to fill any seams from inside rather than out. Flight control surfaces throughout the model can be augmented as desired. Two very nicely detailed engines have been included and can be further dressed up with the application of aftermarket products. The engines are again added to the main portions of the model, along with nacelle parts prior to the lower wing being added. Once you do add the lower wing surface, you have the option of setting the flight control surfaces. If you have the desire to display the engines of the model, ICM has taken that into account and the cowlings are separate. 

The glazed areas of the model please me with regards to quality, however again defensive firepower is present. The wheel struts have reasonable detail straight from the box, but again could be further improved is wished. The wheels having been supplied in 2 halves will upset some, I personally have never really had an issue but there is resin aftermarket available if you wish to use it. 

ICM has provided 2 finishing options for this release:

He 111H-20, 56th Fighter Group (USAAF), Boxted, July 1945

He 111H-20, Farnborough, November 1945