Heinkel He-121 Stratospheric Fighter

[sequoiaranger]

I didn't think I would get so "far" today. Now I have the nose chopped off, the spinner and prop shaped (the four indentations to fit over the prop in weren't there), I sawed the small fairing behind the canopy (from the green Lindberg 1/64 He-111 rear nacelle!) and custom-fitted it to the fuselage. I sawed out sections of the U-2 wing to put in identical sawed-out He-70 wheel wells. The craft will have kind of narrow u/c (like the He-70, He-112, etc.), but will have "outrigger" wheels like the U-2 for its massive wings. The new wing tips are there, too.



>I love the port hole arrangement on the high-altitude flight deck. <

Those look so Art Deco!

Junkers seemed to be the German leader in pressure cockpits; I am making Heinkel the leader in pressure SUITS. I have an idea for the "tomato worm" helmet worn by the pilot. We'll see if it works!

[ysi_maniac]

Very promising project!

[dumaniac]

yes - lots of promise - looking forward to more in this one

[John Howling Mouse]

Very cool, extremely unique.  Good luck with this one: may your putty be fight.   

[sequoiaranger]

I have never before tried the "plunge-mold" method of forming parts, but now I have. I have a Mattel "Vac-U-Form" and have had some success, but for my purpose of getting a "tomato worm" helmet for my Heinkel He-121 pilot needed a different technique. The Mattel plastic sheets that come with the VUF have perforations around the rim that snuggle nicely in the frame, and keeps the plastic from "caving in" from the sides when pressure is applied in the middle. My "aftermarket" clear plastic that I have acquired over the years does NOT, and has given me some problems.

Anyway, I had gotten some drink-stirring sticks (plastic) that had a ball on the end of them, and tried out the "plunge-mold" technique. It created some interesting (but useless) forms, here!! I was hoping that the blue or green plastic would be transparent enough to be "tinted", but that didn't work out.



The aftermarket clear plastic did NOT work, so I used a carefully-hoarded clear piece (only one left) of official Mattel perforated clear plastic, and was able to make "my" helmet. It's a little large (blame the swizzle stick), but appropriate for the whif!

[dumaniac]

nice problem solving skills

[Doc Yo]

 Nicely done! Interestingly enough, I made my first successful 'plunge-mold' canopy over the holidays.
I had tried a few years ago, but kept getting a 'frost' on the clear as soon I heated it. I had the Mattel
machine for years, but it gave up the ghost some time ago. I had success this time by drilling out a
small piece of wood just larger than the intended form, and thumb-tacking the sheet ( cut from a
miniatures blister pack ) over the hole. Heat, smash, success! Glad your project is coming along nicely-
I love the idea of the "space-suited" pilot figure.

And thanks to Jon for expanding my ever-growing collection of plan views. Just when I think I've seen
just about everything...

[Allan]

now, isn't this an interesting project!!!!!

I love the idea of the long wings and am curious about how you're going to paint this model

Allan in Canberra

[Taiidantomcat]

That pilot is superb! 

[sequoiaranger]

>I love the idea of the long wings and am curious about how you're going to paint this model<

Gee, I thought you'd never ask!  

Most trainers, prototypes, and research aircraft in Japan were painted red-orange overall, but mine will be painted a "high-altitude camo", with orange "flaking" as wear marks! It'll be a dark blue on the bottom (what the sky above would look like at high altitudes), and light blue-gray on top (the hazy gray of landscapes as seen from high above). I plan to put some "landscape" elements (using a new technique to introduce a "grid" pattern to simulate cities below) in to break up any single color. I hope to use the white "bandages" around the Hinomarus (I just LOVE the visual effect of them) but might "reduce visibility" of them. I am torn between "bright" to avoid friendly-fire incidents, and "stealth" to be able to sneak up on the B-29's that serve as "prey". A "WIP".

The nature of the beast I am creating seemed to favor insertion of a cockpit (there was no interior in the Faller 1/100 He-111) over the wing, and my personal insistence of using the ancient Faller 1/100 gunner's perspex as a canopy made for a small opening on top. It proved too small for creating a cockpit using that hole, so I cut off the "nacelle" and tried to insert scratch-built cockpit parts from the front somewhat like ship-in-a-bottle modelers do—via long tweezers. I found that because of the "tomato-worm" pilot's suit and the small canopy, that there was only about a half a millimeter of head clearance between "perfect" and "unacceptable" (too low so the pilot couldn't see forward), and I couldn't test-fit the parts and judge them via tweezer-placement---too "squirrelly". I ended up hacking out a chunk of fuselage so I could build a decent cockpit, now claiming this chunk as an "ejection module" that would be blasted off to get the pilot out of a disabled aircraft. So now I have the pilot in his pressure-suit with an air hose (silver, but it looks gray) out the back (made from a wound guitar string), flight controls with red armament buttons on top, a large "ejection" handle next to it, a spare Oxygen tank (green) and instrument panel (edge on and hard to see).

[dumaniac]

I like it - looking good

[Gondor]

Nice improvisation with the cockpit.

Gondor

[sequoiaranger]

Here's a view of the exposed cockpit and the wings glued in place. The pointy protrusions (considerably cut down from the U-2's) will house Japanese 40mm guns. When I test-fitted the "clear" nose (soon to be quite opaque and filled with engine), it *DID* resemble a He-111 with enormous wings!



I am now working on my custom engine/turbocharger setup (with its long piping along the fuselage) and experimenting with various "WGr. 21"-type underwing armament.

[Gondor, dumaniac, Taiid, Doc Yo--thanks]

[John Howling Mouse]

I have a source for original-style perforated plastic to fit your Mattel machine.  The guy also sells some great accessories for it which increase its reliability and efficiency greatly.  Let me know if you're interested and I can dig out the last packing for contact details.

[GTX]

Looking good!

Regards,

Greg