Build #1: Heinkel He.70 T2: torpedobomber

[Spey_Phantom]

UPDATE:

the outer parts of the wings are now decalled and painted.
the main fuselage has alse recieved a first coat, but it needs to be redone, as the paint arround the landing gear didnt turn out that good 

[Spey_Phantom]

i added a little more color to the "Blitz", looking at some pictures of Stuka's, i thought it would be nice to ad some yellow to the tail (decal from original kit) and the engine cowling. exhausts for the engine are to be fitted later, as the parts for it are still drying.

as soon as the paint is dry, im gonna appy decals to the fuselage, after that i can glue on the wings 

[pyro-manic]

Ooh, nice. Attacking the RN's Channel forces in the opening phases of Operation Sealion?

[Spey_Phantom]

the model is finished  

Back History:

When germany started to finish up the construction of the Graf Zeppelin and 7 other similar carriers in february 1940, a number of manufacturers offered the Luftwaffe a series of aircraft to equip the carrier airwings on board of the ship. Messerschmitt produced the Bf109T as a fighter, Junkers build a version of there Stuka divebomber and Fieseler build the Fi167 torpedo biplane. but in august 1941, the Fieseler plane was seen as underpowered and the construction wasnt strong enough to withstand the intens stresses of carrier landings.

Heinkel proposed an aircraft to replace the Fi167 in the competition, what they came up with was an adaption to the He70 airliner/transport/bomber aircraft. for inspiration he looked at how the Japanese developed and utilised the Nakajima torpedo bombers, and modified his He70 to a similar standard. the basic He70 design was kept, but the aircraft recieved a stronger redesigned landing gear, a strenthened fuselage and the ability to carry a single 1600lbs torpedo. when the prototype flew on december 9 1941, it performed extremly well. after the Germans heared of the japanese attacks on Pearl Harbor 2 days earlier, they knew how these types of aircraft can be usefull in low-altitude anti-ship warfare, and placed an order for 267 aircraft.

the He70T-2, the production version, first saw combat in january 1942 when the German Navy's aircraft carrier "Hindenberg II" sailed from its port at Kiel through the east Sea, all the way to the coast of Southern France. on its decks were 15 He70T-2's, ready and armed to attack the British Royal navy fleet curently at port. in an attack, similar to the one the axis puled of at Pearl Harbor, the luftwaffe came in at low altitude to avoid radar detection. the Royal Navy was completly surprised by the German attack on the fleet, and responded to slow to wear off the attack. in total the Germans damaged 5 Destroyers, and 2 battleships including the HMS Hood and sunk 2 corvettes. with this attack, the british were unable to send reenforcement to the strait of Gibraltar.

the He70T-2 was replaced in 1944 by the He-170T-3, witch was pretty much an further development of the He70T, but had its Daimler Benz engine replaced with a BMW Radial engine that gave about 40% more power. the german Luftwaffe ordered 300 of these aircraft, but by the end of hostilities, only 50 were delivered and saw very little action. the Italian navy also used 100 He70T-2's as torpedo planes of the Aircraft carrier "Aquilla". the surviving Italian aircraft continued to serve after the war until 1952.

The Model:

[Weaver]

Nice one Nils - that look really good! 

One small point re the backstory: air-dropped torpedoes were way heavier than 1000lb. The standard German F5b was over 1600lbs and rather light as such things went: the British 18" weighed about 1800lb if I remember correctly.

[Spey_Phantom]

Nice one Nils - that look really good! 

One small point re the backstory: air-dropped torpedoes were way heavier than 1000lb. The standard German F5b was over 1600lbs and rather light as such things went: the British 18" weighed about 1800lb if I remember correctly.

corrected, thanks for pointing that out 

[Caveman]

I wonder if the Italian aircraft after the war were re engined with Merlins like the spanish 109s?

I believe that Rolls Royce actually purchased a Blitz and fitted it with a Kestrel engine to act as a test bed. But I cant find any images...

[pyro-manic]

They did, yes.

Great build, Nils! It really looks the part.

[redstar72]

I believe that Rolls Royce actually purchased a Blitz and fitted it with a Kestrel engine to act as a test bed. But I cant find any images...

Here are some photos. Not only Kestrel, but also Peregrine engine was tested on it:

[Hotte]

Well   
I would have only selected another colour. Green for a carrier aircraft does not fit so correctly!


Hotte

[Ed S]

Nice one Nils.  Looks the part.

Ed

[Brian da Basher]

Nils this is my favorite of all your models so far. The concept is outstanding and you built such a convincing and colorful project that's sure to turn lots of heads!

Brian da Basher

[ysi_maniac]

I have always liked H-70 and your model is so plausible
BTW, I had no idea about the RR engines equipping this aircraft.

[buzzbomb]

All good.. and immensely plausible

Nice job

[sequoiaranger]

Wow Nils! You really hit it over the backfield fence (baseball term) with this one! I really like it! I particularly approve of German aircraft-carrier aircraft, having made some eight different ones myself:

Bf-109T-1 fighter
Bf-109T-3 fighter
He-100T fighter
He-113T fighter
Ar-196T Dive Bomber
"See Stuka" Dive Bomber
"Katrina" Torpedo bomber
Aichi 119 Torpedo bomber


>I would have only selected another colour. Green for a carrier aircraft does not fit so correctly!<

Actually, the US Navy was the ONLY naval air arm that didn't use green on the top surfaces. The British used alternating green-and-gray bands, and the Japanese used a "sea" green (blue-green, but much more green than blue) solid top color.