Enter the He 100D-1
The D-1 model represents the final evolution of the record-breaking series of He 100 aircraft. The most prominent change introduced with the D-1 model was the abandonament of the surface cooling system which proved to be too complex and prone to failure. Instead, the He 100D-1 had an enlarged retractable cooler installed. Having omitted the surface cooling system, the wing chord was slightly increased.
Despite being an advanced and extremely powerful design, easily outperforming the Bf 109 in terms of speed and range, the RLM eventually decided to reject any plans to adopt the He 100D for large-scale production.
And even today, there's still plenty of speculation why the He 100D had been axed.
The remaining 12 He 100D-1c fighters were used to form Heinkel's Marienehe factory defense unit, flown by factory test pilots. At this early stage in the war there were no bombers venturing that far into Germany and it appears that the unit never saw action. However, German propaganda dubbed the D model as "He 113U" and was keen to publish lots of photographs via their media outlets, suggesting, a new type had entered large-scale production to defend the skies over Nazi Germany. The eventual fate of the D-1s remains unknown and none of the aircraft survived the war.
Construction
Special Hobby's 32nd scale He 100 is definitely one of the best multimedia limited-run kits I've ever built.
Moulding quality is flawless, devoid of any flash or parts' warping. Smooth surface texture and finely recessed surface details. In some areas, cockpit and wheel wells, detailing is somewhat sparse - mainly due to lack of any appropriate photographic reference depicting these areas.
Assembling the kit didn't cause any major problems - overall fit was excellent, only requiring some sanding and only very limited use of putty on the lower cowling.
Painting/Decaling
The model was painted using Gunze Mr.Aqueous Hobby Color acrylics and is finished in the then ubiqituous RLM 70/71/65 day fighter splinter scheme. Personally speaking, the combination of RLM 70/71 is a rather monotonous scheme, mainly due to the low contrast between those shades and it was quite a challenge to "liven up" that scheme by applying extensive post shadings and filters. Filter = thinner + RLM 70 in a 80:20 ratio.
Prior to decaling, I applied a thin coat of gloss clear varnish just to make sure that the decals have the smoothest possible surface to adhere to. Using some Gunze Mr.Mark Softer, the decals nestled quite neatly to the surface.
Once the decals had properly dried, I applied another thin coat of gloss clear to seal them. Thus, in case you may be using some thicker decals, you will be able to avoid any residues from your oil wash from accrueing at the edges of the carrier film. Besides, it's much easier to wipe off excess washing broth from a really smooth surface.
Finish:
After having applied some subtle traces of wear and tear, I applied a final coat of satin matte varnish
consisting of Revell Aqua Color Matt, Future and Tamiya X-20A mixed in a 30:30:40 ratio.
Cheers,
Erik
Paints/Finishing Materials used
- Gunze Mr.AQUEOUS HOBBY COLOR H65, RLM 70
- Gunze Mr.AQUEOUS HOBBY COLOR H64, RLM 71
- Gunze Mr.AQUEOUS HOBBY COLOR H67, RLM 65
- Gunze Mr.AQUEOUS HOBBY COLOR H70, RLM 02
- Gunze Mr.AQUEOUS HOBBY COLOR H77, Tire Black
- Gunze Mr.AQUEOUS HOBBY COLOR H343, Soot
- Gunze Mr.AQUEOUS HOBBY COLOR H95, Smoke
- Gunze Mr.SURFACER 1200, primer
- Gunze Mr.COLOR THINNER
- Gunze Mr.METAL PRIMER, despite being a primer, also one of the smoothest gloss clear cotes around
- Gunze Mr.MARK SOFTER
- Alclad II exhaust
- Revel Aqua Color, matt clear varnish
- Future
- Tamiya X-20A acrylic thinner
- Tamiya X-27 Clear Red, position lights
- Tamiya X-24 Clear Green, position lights
- Model Master Metalizer Alu/Magnesium, chipping effects, etc.
- Vallejo Model Color, various shades for detail painting (cockpit/instrument panel, etc.)
- Vallejo Plastic Putty #401
Torben
