Suppose to get away. My build of this Monogram 1:48 ProModeler He111H-22 is a “What-If” build to accompany this evolving story I am writing while I build the model. Sure one can research the history books and references to build a specific aircraft, but one can also create an alternate history and build a model to accompany it. Fiction writers have given us such aircraft as “The Old Dog” which is the main character in the book of “Flight of the Old Dog” written by Dale Brown. Another classic is the “Flight of the Phoenix” which is probably one of my most favorite movies…the original that is. So sit back and enjoy the build as well as the story.

The war in Europe had turned sour for the German high command. Adolf Hitler was deep in his paranoid thoughts, contemplating his escape from the Allies, especially the Russians who were getting closer and closer to his secret bunker.

In a section of the bunker an aircrew of four stood ready to depart at a moments notice. Their mission…to drive the Fuhrer to a secret location at the edge of the city where a section of roadway was kept clear. This section of road was a secret runway long enough for a bomber to launch from on a one way mission…to freedom. The roadway was camouflaged to prevent the Allies from discovering its existence.

The Reich had tapped its movie makers to create the perfect illusion. Not only was did the runway look as if it were an ordinary street, the  building that held this secret plane had a false front made to look like a series of small storefronts. Germany’s movie industry would have won awards in the way it created this near perfect illusion. A lone Heinkel 111 bomber sat inside this “movie set.”

It had been stripped of all unnecessary equipment and gear. Only one defensive weapon was left intact the upper turret. The gondola under the belly was removed and an extra fuel tank was grafted in its place to increase both speed and range. It would fly south towards the continent of Africa where secret landing locations were heavily guarded and awaiting the arrival of the Fuhrer. Each one just within the estimated range of this special  He 111. There would be no room for error, it would take a special crew to squeeze the maximum performance from this aircraft.  Not only was speed, range and perfect navigation important to this missions success, but so was the appearance of the aircraft too. Hitler had a plan to flee by air in an aircraft under the guise of a humanitarian relief aircraft. The plane had to look like it was being used by the International Red Cross to conduct relief support in areas where the wars hostilities had ended.

More of the story later, now lets turn to some of the highlights of the build itself. The model is assembled per the instructions with the exception of the belly gondola which I removed and fabricated a fairing for the auxiliary fuel tank from a “pancake” type belly tank from a P-47 kit. The tank as is was too wide so I had to narrow it to fit the way I wanted it.

The amount of space needed removal was not that much so I found the center line, used a piece of masking tape to mark it as well as tape the piece to a corregated box to make holding it easier while I sawed it in half. Once secured to the box, I used my Dremel rotary tool with a saw blade to slice down the center line of the tank. The kerf of the blade almost removed enough material to narrow the width for my needs. I will use the upper section of the tank to act as a plug to lengthen the lower section to fill in the area where the gondola was removed. With a little solvent and stretched sprue I will be able to fill any unwanted gaps…then finish off with a little glazing putty.

I’ll set this aside for a while I start working  with other assemblies and components of the aircraft. I have assembled the wings and attached them to the fuselage halves. I will join the two fuselage halves together after I have finished the cockpit assembly. Before I forgot I also installed the aft cabin glass into the sides of the fuselage pieces. I have forgotten to do that on other builds before.   Somewhere I also started assembling the engine nacelles and they are also now attacted to the wing assemblies.

Time for a little tip about painting exhausts. I separated the exhausts from the sprue and cleaned them up. I also drilled out and opened up the ends of each pipe for more realism. Then I placed them in my handy little clips (sourced from a promo item that Toro gave away at a meeting I once attended). and gave them a coat of flat black.

Once the flat black had enough time to set up…curing isn’t necessay, I gave them a light mist of Red Anodized Aluminum.  Once this has cured completely I will no doubt give them a rub with some Steel Polishing Powder to dirty them up a bit.

I’m going to have to come up with a unique maskerading paint scheme for this project…I have  a couple of ideas in mind but really won’t know what will happen until I start putting paint to the plastic.

The plan was to travel south through Africa to a point along its southwestern coast. From there it would begin a long cross oceanic flight to South America, where Nazi loyalists had established a base. The aircrew had been hand picked, by none other than Herman Goering, Commander in Chief of the Luftwaffe for his beloved Fuhrer. The time to flee was quickly approaching. Reports that Russian and American forces were closing in. If either side cut them off before they could leave they’d catch the Fuhrer alive.

Stay tuned, I’m just starting to have fun now.