The most well known German bomber of the early war and through the Battle of Britain was the Heinkel He-111. It first earned its reputation from the bombing of Guernica in Spain. This was probably the first time that the press jumped on the notion of 'terror bombing'. The implication was that the aircraft bombed just to kill civilians and create havoc in the population. Though not intended (there were reports of enemy troops in the town), it came to pass that the expected troops were not there and the bombing killed a lot of civilians. As horrible as it was, the number of people killed was easily paled by the bombings of British cities during the Blitz where thousands were killed. The later carpet bombing of German cities by the British killed tens of thousands of people with each raid.

Anyway, the He-111 was probably the best 'heavy' bomber that the Luftwaffe had until the Ju-88 came into service. It soldiered on for the rest of the war, though it was often switched to less hazardous tasks as it didn't have the speed, armor or gun protection it needed to be a strategic bomber. The Germans really didn't have a successful strategic bomber and didn't realize they needed one until it was too late to develop one. 

All of the aircraft on this sheet are from 1940 and 1941 when the He-111 was still considered an effective weapon. The sheet provides all the unique markings and one set of insignia. If you wish to do others, then the kit decals will have to provide insignia for those markings.

First is an H-13 variant from 1./KG 100 in September 1940. It is camouflaged in the standard RLM 70/71/65 scheme and was used in the daylight raids.

Next is an H-2 also in RLM 70/71/65. This Stab./KG 53 aircraft carries formation bars on the wing and rudder. This and the previous aircraft have collector exhaust that are not provided in the ProModeler kit.

A black bellied P-6 from KG 55 is next its upper surface RLM 70/71 is mottled in black to cut down on visibility for the night Blitz.

Another black underside He-111H is shown with KG 26. This time it is in service in North Africa as you can see from the white fuselage band.

Finally from Stab./StG 3 is a sand yellow over RLM 65 H-6 variant. This one has not only the white fuselage band but also the white underside wing tips.

Any of these aircraft will be a nice alternative to the kit decals. TGR even provides alternative staffel badges for the KG 26 plane for those wanting to customize their plane even more.

Review sheet courtesy Three Guys Replicas

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