132
Cutaway Heinkel He 219

  • move
The He 219 has long been one of my favorite planes. I was overjoyed to see the He 219 at the Udvar-Hazy Center and look forward to the day it's finished. And Volks has long been one of my favorite manufacturers-- I've been buying their resin FSS mecha kits and been a fan of their Super Dollfies long before Volks' owner, Mr. Shigeta, started producing aircraft kits under the Zoukei-Mura brand name. Buying every Zoukei-Mura to date, the He 219 was a must-buy.

After getting the kit and the rash of newly released printed material on the subject from Kagero, Valiant, and Zoukei-Mura itself, I got to work. The build is augmented with color PE in the cockpit , brass gun barrels, Eduard fabric seat belts, and brass landing gear dampers. I also got the bright (read: stupidly ambitious) idea to build the kit as a cutaway to show off all the cool internal details. So, a lot of cutting through the fuselage and one of the nacelles was needed. Not content to stop there, I also decided to do a "cutaway within a cutaway" and make one of the engines' internal mechanisms (pistons, etc.) visible. I wanted to present the build as an "industrial illustration" so I kept weathering to a minimum so as not to distract from the internal details.

The cutaway aspect added a whole new dimension of "fun" to masking for the painting process. Paint is Gunze Mr. Color and Vallejo, with weathering done using AK Interactive products. I wanted to show the build to Mr. Shigeta at the 2014 IPMS USA Nationals and spent three evenings putting on the finishing touches in my hotel room. Luckily, I got it done just in time to take it to the Zoukei-Mura booth and present my work to him. I was overjoyed to see the moment commemorated in one of the photos he posted on his Blog afterward.

I've also always loved the Ho 229 and was happy to pick up a copy of Zoukei-Mura's new kit at the Nationals. Happily, the skin in that kit is molded in clear plastic, so when I inevitably decide to build it as a cutaway, it should (hopefully) be a little less stressful! ;-)
  • move
  • move
  • move
  • move
  • move
  • move
  • move
  • move
  • move
  • move
  • move
  • move
  • move
  • move
  • move
  • move
  • move
  • move
  • move
  • move
  • move
  • move
  • move
  • move
  • move
  • move
  • move
  • move
  • move
  • move
  • move
  • move
  • move

About the Author

About Dade W. Bell (Karybdis)
FROM: MARYLAND, UNITED STATES

I'm a third generation modeler who builds a little of everything (mostly Japanese)- all while being a 45 year old hermit who lives a happy, simple life, with my fiancée (author Jaclyn Dolamore) and three cats. My father was an MM3 aboard the USS Saratoga (CVA-60), my grandfather was in one of the...


Comments

funny you should mention that build Dade Brilliant builds you did over at MSW, inspired me to buy the Haruna and get messing with PE in a big way. This Uhu is really a mind blower though, I love it,
SEP 20, 2014 - 06:54 AM
Even without the cutaways it's a outstanding build of a rather difficult kit. But with your cutaways to show off the detailed interior, it's just that much better. Joel
SEP 20, 2014 - 12:41 PM
Wow!! A fantastic build.
SEP 20, 2014 - 01:37 PM
Thanks for the very kind words guys! Julian, I hope to someday get back over to MSW and hope to see your Haruna!
SEP 21, 2014 - 07:46 PM
Splendid. How much AM or scratchbuilt additions are included? The ZM kits have so much internal detail already.
SEP 22, 2014 - 05:02 AM
Absolutely beautiful!!!
SEP 22, 2014 - 05:43 AM
Thanks guys! Bill, for AM stuff... it has color PE dials in the cockpit, Eduard's fabric seat belts, brass gun barrels, brass landing gear dampers, brass antennae. I also have the brass replacement stuff for the radar array in front, but decided the plastic looked good enough, I'll save the brass stuff for another kit that might need it more. But as far as stuff like the engine, it's all stock (even the wiring) with my only modification being cutting it all up "creatively" to show off the innards (pistons, etc.).
SEP 22, 2014 - 07:26 PM
Wow, you did a magnificent job. I need to get a ZM kit sometime.
SEP 23, 2014 - 05:18 AM
Extraordinary!
JAN 30, 2016 - 09:05 AM
What an awesome build!
JAN 30, 2016 - 01:35 PM