Hasegawa 1/72 scale He 111Z “Zwilling”
Produced in very small numbers, the Zwilling – designed as a glider tug – has always attracted the attention of modelers who like building the big and the outrageous.
Kit:No. 00995
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Scale:1/72
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Price:$89.95
Pros:
Top-notch fit; excellent surface detail; clean molding; crystal-clear parts
Cons:
Poor decals; no pilot or crew
Comments:
Injection-molded, 368 parts, decals
The He 111Z “Zwilling” (twin) was a big plane that would never win a beauty contest. However, it does look great on a display shelf with all your other 1/72 scale German World War II aircraft. It has the wingspan of about three Bf 109s, so you will need to make room for this beast on your shelf.
Tightly packed into the box are 368 flash-free parts – somewhat daunting at first, especially for a 1/72 scale model. Luckily, many of the parts are not used; the number of actual parts used is closer to 300. You have your choice of two Zwillings to paint, in either a standard camouflage or a whitewashed scheme.
Like most aircraft models, the build starts in the cockpit and is followed by joining the fuselage halves. This seems typical at first – but then you have to do it all over again on the next step! Only a little filler was needed on the seams on both fuselages, and assembly went very smoothly.
The wing came next. This was broken down into three parts, the inner wing and both outer wings. Fit of the parts was great, but a tiny seam near the wing roots on the fuselages needed filling. Care is needed when assembling the landing gear; the parts are very thin and will crack when you try to cut them off the trees.
All the glass parts were crystal clear and scratch-free. I would recommend waiting until the very end to install these parts, though. This will keep them nice and clean, and help you avoid marring them with fingerprints while you are handling the model.
I painted my model with Testors Model Master enamels. Once I had painted the basic camouflage (RLM 65, 70, and 71), I went over the entire top with a very thin gloss white to give the model a whitewashed look while leaving some of the original camo showing through.
Up to this point, the build was excellent. I was actually very impressed with the overall quality of the kit until I started adding the decals. What a letdown! Not only are they thick, but they don’t want to adhere to the model. Just about all of them silvered. However, this is not too noticeable on the white background.
Decal trouble aside, the build was easy enough for me to recommend it to anyone who has a couple of kits under his or her belt – especially if you have an aftermarket decal sheet handy. My Zwilling took me 25 hours to build, about what I had expected when I opened the box, and the scale looks right on. Now to make room for it on my shelf …