Italeri 1/72nd He-111Z By Paul Schwartzkopf

History

The combining of two He 111 bombers to create one aircraft stemmed from the need to have a single aircraft with enough power to tow the large Messerschmitt Me 321 glider. Previous attempts using three individual aircraft as a team proved to be risky for both the machines and crew. The few original "Zwillings" (German for twins) were created using the He 111 H-6 variant, with the remainder using the He 111 H-16. But more history in my follow up on building this kit.

The Kit

Italeri has re-released their kit of the He 111 Z-1 as a "limited edition". I don't recall how long it has been out of production, but I believe it is the only mainstream production kit of this unique aircraft. The kit comes on six sprues--four in a light gray colored plastic and two in clear. You basically get two complete He 111 H-6 fuselages, one set of wings, and the center wing section that joins the two together. And, of course, the clear parts for each fuselage.

Detail is of the raised type, but doesn't look too bad. There is some heavy handed rivet detail on the tail sections which will require some work to get a better scale appearance. Clear parts are on the thick side; the more ambitious modeler will want to replace them with vacuformed parts. The main canopy parts (part number 27), nose piece (part number 56), and the top gunner's windshield (part number 60) on each sprue have identical "scratches" on them; this makes me wonder if the Italeri molds have had some damage done to them. This effect mars these parts, as the scratches extend through the clear window panels.

An adequate selection of machine guns and cannon are provided, as well as four external fuel tanks. There are also two torpedoes and bombs as "hold overs" from the H-6 kit that can be saved in the spares box. Each fuselage also comes with it's own five man crew, which can be used or also saved for a future project. There is very little flash on my example--just some on the crew members and the propeller blade openings on the spinners. Everything else looks pretty clean.

The fuselage interior is very Spartan. The cockpit is provided with only a rear bulkhead, floor, pilot's seat, control yoke, and main instrument panel. The rear fuselage and gondola do not have any parts other than the weapons, which are glued into the clear window parts.

Decals include two very basic instrument panels and markings for two different aircraft. No swastikas are provided. The instruction sheet is straight forward and clear. It also shows the paint schemes well, but note that the Testors Model Master paint colors called out on the instructions are different than those listed on the box lid. Also note that Italeri does not have the part numbers coded on the sprue. You will have to consult the instruction sheet's sprue layout diagram to get the part numbers.

Conclusion

The kit's re-issue should be welcomed by 72nd scale Luftwaffe modelers. Although it looks like a very basic kit (and should build up well), it can also serve as the starting point for those who wish to super detail it. Does this mean that a re-release of the Italeri Me 321 kit is just over the horizon?

Thanks to Testors for providing the kit for this review.