He 177A-5

[Old Dog]

OK, I have decided on this one for my "EPIC" build. Note: For epic I'm going with Webster's New Collegiate Dictionary definition for the word as an adjective, second definition: extending beyond the usual or ordinary especially in size or scope. This kit is beyond my usual in both size and scope. As for being my best work we'll see, as I age I find it more an more difficult to deal with details due to my shaky hands and the early stage cataracts in my eyes.

I have wanted to build this kit for a long time, I have seen a few started and fewer completed. This was the first release not the "high tech" version so I had to pick up most of the other goodies separately. I have yet to decide on markings and see the final paint job as being the largest challenge of the build due to the complexity and physical size of the model.

I also have this but whether it gets used will depend on which markings I go with, I not particularly enamored with any of the provided markings.

I will post an official start photo and provide more info on the AM when I get a

 

[chrispisme]

Great kit!
I bought one at a club swap/ sale with loads of resin and p/e the original owner had obtained for it, most of it fit great (what I used) it also came with 2 hard cover books on the development and use of the aircraft. Turns out it was as deadly or more to its own crew than the enemy. Not helped by the idea Göring had that it had to be able to dive bomb!
I’ve still got the ( resin upgrade) paired engines and bomb bays around here somewhere.
It takes up as much room as a 1/32 He219 on the shelf!

 

[moon puppy]

That's the spirit!

 

[sharkman]

SWEET!!!

 

[phantom II]

Yiiiikes I have a 72 scale one . Yours will certainly be large :coolio

Better clear some space . Cheers, Christian B)

 

[Heavens Eagle]

Looking forward to your build Gary!

Chris, you are right about this plane being a problem for it's crews. The double engines had problems with overheating and I believe it had some other issues. Heinkel did figure out how to fix it all and built one or two that had the fixes that were needed. The powers that be decided not to take the time and effort to do the corrections and things continued and the problems with the planes pretty much kept them grounded.

 

[SA Dave]

oh my good greiff :drinks

 

[Piet]

Nice !

 

[Old Dog]

OK, let's get the preliminaries out of the way so I can being whittling on this big turkey.

Yes, this is the Luftwaffe's big loser, I have a couple of books on this bird and the tale is a sad one of political incompetence, design vacillation, and just plain poor decisions made by persons not educated in aircraft design and usage.

While the sanity of using such a large aircraft as a dive bomber can be questioned the Germans weren't alone in pursuing this idea. The British specification to which the Manchester was based originally required that the aircraft be capable of delivering bombs in a 70º dive. The Manchester was also powered by two large and complex 24 cylinder engines that ultimately were never made reliable. The difference being the British gave in on the dive bombing part of the specifications and went with four conventionally power plants early on whereas the Germans stuck to their original ideas until such time as it was too late. Ernst Heinkel pushed for converting the design to four conventional engines as early as 1939 but the plea fell on deaf ears.

The He 177 also proved to have a structural weakness in the wings which could fail just doing evasive maneuvers so it would have never worked as a dive bomber without considerable modification. The penchant for the engines to catch fire was another issue that was finally resolved but again by the time all of this was worked out Germany no longer had the fuel reserves to mount a bombing offensive.

Interesting to note that one of the excuses offered for not instigating the necessary changes to alleviate the fire issue was that it would have delayed production of the air frames. This doesn't make a lot of sense considering that power plant production never kept up with air frame production and air frames were oft time photographed by Allied reconnaissance aircraft parked without engines. Many air frames were built and never got power plants or flew, going straight to the scrappers at the end of the war.

The 177 prototype flew almost a month before the B-24 yet three years later the 177 still wasn't considered combat ready and the B-24 was earning its keep dropping bombs on Germany.

Enough of that, I still find it to be an interesting aircraft. I haven't decided on markings yet although I'm leaning towards a KG 40 bird. They flew a number of types in maritime service including the Fw 200, He 111 and Do 217. I'm also leaning towards a paint scheme as shown below, as it is easier to do than some of the other possible schemes.

Stay tuned !

 

[phantom II]

Yes, this is the Luftwaffe's big loser, I have a couple of books on this bird and the tale is a sad one of political incompetence, design vacillation, and just plain poor decisions made by persons not educated in aircraft design and usage.


I must say , that paragraph pretty much reflects how are country has designed most of the century fighters , until the F-15 , F-16's .

I believe they were working on a fix late in the war with the HE 274 which had a longer fuselage and wingspan and four proper engines .

The next poor idea was trying to get the French to build them . Thankfully , that never made it before the war was concluded.

I love this bird. Successful or not . It just looks interesting .

Cheers, Christian B)

 

[moon puppy]

What was the issue, they didn't have any faith in any other bomb delivery technique other than dive bombing?

 

[razordws]

Bring it on Gary!!! :coolio

 

[Skinny_Mike]

What was the issue, they didn't have any faith in any other bomb delivery technique other than dive bombing?

Basically dive bombing was more accurate than carpet bombing at the time.

I have the high tech version of this kit. Every once in a while I get it out and think about starting it, but then I remember I have no where to display it once finished. :S

Good luck Gary - I'll be watching!

 

[Old Dog]

Germany's fetish for dive bombing actually has its roots in the US Navy, I don't recall all the names involved but I believe Ernst Udet was one of them who was impressed by the Navy's success in dive bombing and convinced others to get on board back in the earliest days of the Luftwaffe. Not everyone was on board with the idea but it won out none the less. It eventually became ingrained that all bombers should be capable of dive bombing. One clueless upper level official stated that if the twin engine Ju 88 can be made to dive bomb then so should the He 177.

 

[Piet]

 

[moon puppy]

Those 'tween war movies were dripping propaganda and great....

Flight Commander, Dawn Patrol, think one was called Flat Top..

 

[lupanzer]

Fantastic plane!...great model!!...very nice choice

Luiz.

 

[Old Dog]

OK, I'm pulling the plug on this one. Nothing to do with the kit itself, it's all me. I did spend time earlier this year plotting my strategy and actually started cleaning up parts but when the weather broke back in the spring I shifted into train mode and have not been able to. get back into plane mode. Probably no one noticed but I haven't been present here much nor at any of the other forums I visit regularly. Even if I started now I doubt I could finish by the dead line as the fuselage requires a lot of work and the time remaining would not likely result in my "best".

Some of my train fun will have benefits for aircraft modeling when I'm ready to hit the bench again. The boxcar shown below was recently painted and lettered. The road name and number were painted using stencils cut on my Silhouette cutter, nothing new there but the data lettering was printed on my laser printer using a white printer cartridge. It was printed on Micromark decal paper and set with Microsol due to the heavily scribed surface. The printing got one light coat of Testors decal set. The sheet was the first print on decal paper, I did one test print on black paper first. I was impressed, opaque even on the rather dark surface of the car. For reference the car is 1/24 scale, about 16" long and the font size of the data is 12 point, about 1/8" high.

 

[moon puppy]

Probably no one noticed but I haven't been present here much nor at any of the other forums I visit regularly.

Always notice your absence Gary but we know you get distracted in the summer. ☀

Even if I started now I doubt I could finish by the dead line as the fuselage requires a lot of work and the time remaining would not likely result in my "best".

Deadline be damned...build man build. 🏗

laser printer using a white printer cartridge

Uh...as an old school laser printer repair guy I gotta ask. What laser printer has white toner?

 

[jeaton01]

Will it work in a Dell 1250C?