Sheet:

AIMS 72006: He-111 pt 1

Units: See review

Price

£6.50

Reviewer:

Scott Van Aken

It is great to see AIMS getting involved in producing decal sheets. This is their first on the He-111 and concentrates on the P and early H versions that took part in early war operations. All of them are painted in the standard bomber scheme of a splinter pattern of RLM 70/71 on the upper sides with RLM 65 under.

The decals are very well printed and appear to be quite thin so should snuggle right down when applied. The instruction sheet is very good giving upper and lower wing views as well as separate views of the engines and whatever exhaust type or spinner color was used.

First up is a 1./KG 27 He-111P-2 with a red spinner and a white artwork marking used during the Polish Campaign

Another P-2 (or perhaps an H-1 as the engine was obscured in the reference photo) is from 1./KG 55 and in addition to a white spinner, has a large white buffalo on the side of the fuselage.

From the May 1940 time period comes this P-2 of 5./KG 55 with a red spinner. By this time, this P-2 has been retrofitted with a forward firing gun in the gondola.

Next is a 7./KG 4 P-6 used during the Norway campaign of April-May 1940. It has a white spinner.

Finally a H-1 from Stab/KG 26 with the distinction of being the first enemy aircraft shot down over the British Isles in late October 1939. This aircraft has blue spinners and a tubular exhaust.

There are sufficient insignia to do at least two aircraft directly from the sheet, with stencils and such coming from the kit decals. A very nice addition is a reference for each scheme so that readers will be able to use it for additional information.

January 2005

Thanks to AIMS for the review sheet. You can find this and other products on their website.

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