A Pair of He-100's...Sort of

[sequoiaranger]

Heh, Heh! One of the reasons I long ago veered off into Whif-land and largely abstained from "replication" was *JUST* this sort of thing--the angst and/or bickering over minor details. I do feel, though, that when "whifs" incorporate the "characteristics" of a featured country's aircraft, the "believability" factor increases. In the case of the He-100/"He-113" we have a "real-world whif" on hand!! A hybrid!

I would think that if ever there would have been a satisfying job for JMN's, it would have been in 1940 "debunking" the German propaganda that the "He-113" was an operational fighter---the JMN's would simply point out the "improper" placement of the national markings, lack of Werknummer, etc. !!!

But anyway, thank you Logan and Wooksta. Obviously I can "make stuff up" with the best of them, so I will pick my own colors for the disputed markings, call it "close enough", and get on with the build.

*LOVE* that "they" dressed up a Messerschmitt (Hispano) as a Mustang, and a Mustang as a.....FMA 100T?

[Logan Hartke]

I do feel, though, that when "whifs" incorporate the "characteristics" of a featured country's aircraft, the "believability" factor increases. In the case of the He-100/"He-113" we have a "real-world whif" on hand!! A hybrid!

I would think that if ever there would have been a satisfying job for JMN's, it would have been in 1940 "debunking" the German propaganda that the "He-113" was an operational fighter---the JMN's would simply point out the "improper" placement of the national markings, lack of Werknummer, etc. !!!

I agree completely.  I honestly think what we do is more difficult than the purely historical JMNs.  It's like forgeries.  If all you had to do was copy papers, you wouldn't need to know what anything meant.  If you have to make up new papers that look authentic, though, you need to know what every letter, number, and marking on that paper means...and even if there are some missing from the reference document that you need on your fake papers!  It reminds me of my own words on the subject a few months ago:

Each of my profiles probably takes an average of about 6+ hours, with about half of that time being research.  I'll check serial numbers, unit movement dates, unit strengths, construction numbers, etc.  It's not just important for me to get the markings right, but to know WHY the markings are a certain way, then try to verify them with actual photos.  That's why my somewhat mocking title on the forum is "rivet-counting whiffer".  I'm the closest thing the Whiffing world has to a JMN.  I'm not that critical of other people's work, but I want mine to be right.

In fact, I think that making a historically accurate Whif profile is actually HARDER than making a 100% historically accurate profile.  Given good enough photographs of the subject, all you have to do is copy what you see in the picture.  You don't have to know what any of the markings mean, heck, you don't need to even know what kind of plane it is!

When you're Whifing a profile, you have to know WHY every marking existed on the plane.  You need to put the red prop stripe in the right place.  You need to know that the white line on the tail is an LSO stripe and you need to change the angle for your plane compared to the real-world example you got it from.  You need to make up an aircraft type code if it's Finnish, make up a manufacturer code if it's Dutch, find an unused serial number series if it's British, etc.  These are all things that people figured out and did for you 70+ years ago if you're doing a REAL profile.  If you're doing a Whif, you need to step into the shoes of some underpaid clerk in a cold Finnish Ministry of Defence basement office and figure out what unused two-letter code is most logical for the aircraft in question.  This is both the fun and frustrating part of these profiles.  It takes sometimes hours of research.  For example, I bought about 2 books and joined a Yahoo group on NEI Aviation just so I could make an educated guess as to what codes the ML-KNIL and MLD would use on Vikings.  This isn't a problem for real-world profilers!

Good luck with the He 100, ranger, and don't worry too much about it being "wrong".  Not too many people exist in the world that even COULD tell if they wanted to.  The subject's too obscure and was "wrong" to begin with!

Cheers,

Logan

[sequoiaranger]

>I honestly think what we do is more difficult than the purely historical JMNs.  It's like forgeries.  If all you had to do was copy papers, you wouldn't need to know what anything meant.  If you have to make up new papers that look authentic, though, you need to know what every letter, number, and marking on that paper means...and even if there are some missing from the reference document that you need on your fake papers!<

GAWD, I *LOVE* that! How apt!

Next model meeting I will triumphantly tell my fellow modelers that they are all making "forgeries". I'm SURE that will go over big! 

But you are right as far as NEEDING to know what is what in order to incoroporate the info into a "new" never-seen-before entity.

So I made one of the "white circles" on my He-100D yellow, one with a red center, and one with "writing". Now they all look different, and, as you say, WHO is going to challenge me for accuracy??

[Geoff]

Yes if you do wifs you do need to know the history of the thing you are modelling.

I get a bit peed off with people acusing me of "justifying" my models - they tend to be the ones who do not "get" wifs though.

[sequoiaranger]

Thought I would have both "He-100"s done by now. Debilitating chemotherapy side effects and some "engineering" issues have delayed progress.

For my He-100D, the "wonderful" PE landing-gear covers that came with the MPM kit have been found to be GROSSLY overlong (even given the folding section), and, if shortened to the correct length, mis-shapen. So I will probably end up using the THICK plastic ones instead--though I think I will sand/file them down so they don't look like armor faceplate--more time delay. Also, the stock MPM landing gear does NOT have any "pegs" anywhere on the landing gear to attach the covers to, so I will have to improvise. I put the spinner on, having to "engineer" that, too (no attachment points except to the fuselage itself--would have been impossible to spin with the prop). I painted the landing-gear-down indicator pins red with green tops (to blend in with the wing color), figuring that "no red" meant that the wheels were up, and "any red" meant that they were down.

For my FMA-100T I had alternate landing gear anyway, a little longer and with "pegs", and the PE set fits perfectly. I had spinner engineering issues here as well, but they have been solved. A few "fiddly bits" to attach, canopy framing to paint, and the model will be complete.

So I am "racing" to get these two completed in time for my IPMS meeting this Friday. Should be able to make it.

[sequoiaranger]

At last! I have four pics: First it a general top-quarter pic:



Next is a pic from "underneath", showing the protective bar that keeps an errant arresting wire from catching the scoop and ripping off the bottom. Good view of armament, spinner, and wide track u/c.



Next is a "comp" photo of my old Lindberg He-100 carrier fighter (very first whif model). The Lindberg nose is a little too narrow and "pointy", but you can see the similarities:



Next a "comp" from above:



If you aren't satiated yet, here is the FMA-100T Backstory:


Backstory:

In 1939, a Heinkel He-100 (a custom, short-winged, hot-rod version, NOT a fully-equipped military one) held the world's airspeed record. The fighter versions promised some 60mph speed advantage, and greater range, over the contemporary Messerschmitt Bf-109's and piqued Japanese interest. The powerful, inverted-V Daimler-Benz engine and its motor-cannon firing through the propeller hub were particularly intriguing. In truth, the Japanese were looking for a "modern European" land-based naval fighter to get them by until their own industry could produce something similar (Mitsubishi developing the J2M "Raiden" fighter for such a purpose). This led to a manufacturing license agreement and several examples of the newest "E" (export) model of the He-100 being shipped to Japan as the "AXHei"

The purchased Heinkel He-100E model was similar to those "D" models used by the Heinkel factory-defense squadron, and the Corpo Aero Italiano against Britain during the summer of 1940, but had modified cooling and intake systems compared to the originals. This combat airplane and battle arena were watched closely by Japanese observers attached to the Italian airfields in Belgium.

Drawing from Italian combat experience, the Japanese proposed further modifications to meet their specific needs. Willing to trade off some speed for practicality, the Japanese re-designed the wing root to take additional armament, fuel, and increase wingspan to relieve its high wing-loading (to the Japanese, a distasteful attribute). The wing-root supercharger intake was moved to the nacelle side like the Bf-109. Slight length and control surface size increases gave additional room for fuel (range) and maneuverability. A changed canopy and cut-down turtledeck gave slightly better vision rearward. Speed was brought back up to just over 400 mph by using the now-available DB 605 engine. Though initially not meant to be a carrier-borne fighter, this revised design had folding wings for compact storage, and stress points for a tail hook if the plane proved worthy.  The Imperial Japanese Navy now had their high-performance land-based "European" fighter with no equal in the Pacific.

Japan had hopes of increasing contacts and trade with South American countries. Already Brazil, Argentina, and Peru had significant Japanese populations. As the 20th century unfolded, Japan made an armored cruiser for Argentina's navy but had to "buy it back" to make up shortages due to the Russo-Japanese war. In 1939 Argentina wanted to create a submarine fleet and an aircraft industry to intimidate and impress her South American rivals, so eventually an agreement was made for Japan to supply I-boats to Argentina in return for subcontracting the manufacturing of warplanes for Japan.

Conveniently enough, a subsidiary of Heinkel Flugzeugwerke was being built in Argentina, known as F.M.A. (Fabrica Militar de Aviones). Wartime blockade of goods coming in or out of Germany stifled the new industry. But Japan was still at peace, and was even still busily trading with Germany over the polar route past the Soviet Union. Batches of Daimler-Benz engines and machine tooling from Germany made the arduous trip to Japan, then continued across the Pacific to Argentina to jump-start the production of the modified He-100's. Germany even made a deal with FMA to acquire fully carrier-equipped aircraft for its own use in the Luftstreitkrafte, and ferry dozens of the Japanese land version to the Pacific via the German aircraft carrier Graf Zeppelin and freighters plying the lonely expanse with little chance of Allied interception.

The Graf Zeppelin had slipped into the North Atlantic late in 1941, evaded Allied ships or kept them at bay, and then raided the Panama Canal (on the day after Germany declared war on the US) before heading down the coast of South America bound for the Pacific. The Bf-109T-3R fighters aboard were somewhat obsolescent and the air group tired of the Bf-109's atrocious take-off and landing characteristics, so the Graf Zeppelin handed over the Bf-109s to Argentina, then picked up a batch of new FMA-100's before heading for the Marshall Islands and a rendezvous with the Rengo Kantai. In Ushuaia, at the tip of Cape Horn, seven of the first batch of Japanese-built submarines lay alongside a tender as the Graf Zeppelin craned aboard her new "Heinkels".

Two variants were built and transported: the initial Japanese version with DB 601 engine and 7.7mm guns in the wings (20mm cannon engine-mounted and in each wing root being standard) with no tailhooks; and the German "Traeger" version with the DB 605 engine, 12.7mm guns in the wings (in addition to the aforementioned 20mm cannon), and tailhooks.

The first kills of the new FMA-100T were flying boats from the USS Curtiss that were trying to snoop and shadow the carrier near Samoa. The Graf Zeppelin's high cruising speed made any interception difficult and she was not bothered again until she entered Japanese-controlled waters in the spring of 1942.

What a welcome sight to see German recce planes (Aichi 119's, another Japanese-built Heinkel product) meet them at sea off the Marshall Islands! Kommando Marschall, the German Pacific Expeditionary Force, had been set up in the former German colony to train and assist the Japanese with the several German aircraft being license-built by Japan and to trade tactical expertise in air/sea warfare. When the Graf Zeppelin's FMA-100T's landed on Majuro, there were already many FMA-100's and other German naval planes decorated with the agreed-upon Kommando Marshall national markings, combining elements of German and Japanese symbols into a "Sonnekruze" or Sun-Cross. The normal-sized Balkenkruez has a conveniently small Hinomaru built into the center of it.

The Majuro airfield was flanked on one side by Japanese planes and workshops, and the other by German planes and workshops. Both sides were using the new FMA-100 fighter for land-based interception duties. The FMA-100 could clearly out-pace and out-gun the newest version of the Mitsubishi Zero aboard most Japanese carriers at the time, but still couldn't out-turn it. The Japanese were very eager to see how the FMA-100 might perform at sea, so took the Graf Zeppelin and her "Heinkels" along in a Striking Force mission in the Solomon Islands area.

The FMA-100 was more than a match for most Allied combat aircraft in theatre, notably the Grumman/Eastern "Wildcats". Arrival of the more capable Hellcats was just a few months away, but the Heinkels appeared in a short-lived window of superiority and opportunity. When the Graf Zeppelin cruised with the Japanese raid out to Mauritius in the Indian Ocean, its full complement of eighteen FMA-100T's were aboard and confident. The British, however, had their high-performance Hawker "Waterspout" fighters (Sea Tornado), quite the equal or better of the FMA-100, aboard its carriers. In a watershed battle, the Graf Zeppelin's Heinkels put up a gallant but losing fight trying to save their carrier from attack.

The difficulties in acquiring Argentine-built aircraft with the war in full swing were now overwhelming, so Japan lost interest in the FMA-100. The remaining Japanese stock was fitted with the lighter but inferior Kawasaki Ha-140 engine requiring the surreptitious removal of seat armor to restore the center of gravity. The Japanese instead were phasing in their new J2M Raiden, and had even converted a potent seaplane fighter into an even better land-based fighter (N1K2 Shiden-Kai) built at home.

The last use of carrier-borne FMA-100s was in 1943 when the Allies invaded Maloelap (adjacent to Majuro) and nearly the entire Japanese fleet responded to the threat. Graf Zeppelin's air group now consisted of a core of German pilots and planes, with fill-ins of Japanese pilots in their land-based FMA-100s converted with tailhooks and sporting a superimposed white-outline Balkenkruez over their Hinomarus. Slated to land at Majuro after a mission against the Allied fleet, the Graf Zeppelin's air group was duly "ambushed" by hordes of American carrier fighters sent specifically to keep the air base neutralized. The successful Allied invasion of the Marshalls, and the sinking of the Graf Zeppelin in the fleet battles, saw the disappearance of the FMA-100 from Pacific skies.

Aspects of the improved FMA 100 were incorporated into the He-100G (T) and the enlarged He-113 M back in Europe, but these were limited-run productions and ultimately replaced by the Fw-190.

This model depicts one of the Japanese, land-based FMA-100T replacement aircraft given over to the Graf Zeppelin's air group late in 1943 and re-equipped with a DB-605 engine, seatback armor, and tailhook. The Hinomaru of the Japanese plane was hastily overpainted with overlarge outline Balkenkruez to approximate the more deliberate "Sonnekruez". The fuel for the spray paint compressors was deemed too valuable to waste, so the splotchy camo to help darken the monotone Japanese sea green was applied by brush. Gerhard Burkhorn was "Gruppen adjudant" of "Gruppe III", MarineJagdgeschwader 3, in the "inflated" organizational airgroup structure aboard ship. The Japanese plane already had three kills credited to it, so Gerhards' mechanic just added two previous American downings. Gerhard was credited posthumously with an additional kill before he was shot down off Maloelap.

About the model:

My very first "what-if" aircraft, c. 1979, was a simple "paint" whiff (plus a tailhook) made from a 1/72 Lindberg He-100 (only $.79!) into a fictionalized German carrier aircraft. Recently I decided to replace this model with one more demonstrative of my extra thirty years of skill. I morphed it into a slightly more complex aircraft for which I have great fondness. Elements of a Hasegawa Ki.61 "Hien", Fw-190D, Monogram P-51 "Mustang", Matchbox Vickers "Wellesley", and the Lindberg and MPM He-100's went into this "FMA-100T".

[Cliffy B]

Way to go Sequoia!!!      Great build and great backstory; love every bit of it man 

[tc2324]

Absolutely awesome.     Great work and back story too. 

[JayBee]

Definitely gives that warm fuzzy feeling 

[TallEng]

Splendid work as Usual Sir
I especially like the camouflage, suits it very well.

Regards
Keith

[PR19_Kit]

That does look the business! 

And the comparison with the stock Lindberg kit is edifyng too, shows just how much work you put into it. Nice one!

[NARSES2]

All that hard work paid off 

[Dizzyfugu]

Nice work - esp. the different overall lines and the cockpit that's pretty far forward, very good for a carrier aircraft. The livery now looks very good, too. 

[sequoiaranger]

dizzyfugu-->Nice work - esp. the different overall lines and the cockpit that's pretty far forward, very good for a carrier aircraft.<

Thanks. The pilot of the FMA-100T sits in the exact same position relative to the leading edge of the wing as that of the He-100. The TRAILING edge of the wing root is farther back (the Fw-190 wing having greater chord) and the FMA-100T fuselage is extended rearward, so it might give the IMPRESSION of the cockpit being moved forward.

Narses2-->All that hard work paid off<

Thanks. I think so. It looks potent and fast. The highly compact former airframe of the He-100 now is enlarged to about the size of a Bf-109, but presumably better.

PR_19, TallEng, CliffyB, Tc2324, JayBee---Thanks. Yes, I think the "backstory" adds highly to the model. A mind is a terrible thing to waste on "reality"!

**Uh-oh! Looking at my pics I see the left LG supporting rod has become detached, and the footrest by the wing root is missing. Back to the shop!

Then on to my He-100D build!

[sequoiaranger]

I erred in thinking my model meeting was last Friday. Good thing, as I didn't complete my He-100 D until yesterday!

Anyway, here it is:


Front View:


Underside:


Nose close-up (Logan Hartke--note maint. markings!):

I'm afraid I "struck out" on the fuselage/canopy interface. I usually take great care to blend these in, but I used RC-57 white glue (MUCH THICKER than typical white glue) and it coagulated lumpily and...just didn't smooth out like regular white glue. Lesson learned!  

...and finally a "comparison" of the "stock" He-100D with my imagined FMA-100T: