[hworth18]

Great pics Ara1!! I had never seen those before..

[aeroeng]

Cool pictures Ara1.

[TopHat]

aeroeng -

Do you ever go to Designs in Motion out in Chesterfield?

[Ara1]

You're welcome guys, cool pix for a cool diecast. I dream of owning that He 111 one day. Thanks Mark for taking those excellent model pics.

Photos of full chord insignia He 111s are very, very rare. The markings existed for a fairly short span of time, roughly Oct 1939 thru December. If you look closely at these pics, you can see where the small outer wing crosses had been oversprayed. Researcher David Wadman says the tiny crosses existed on the same wing as the full-chord crosses on some He 111s (and other planes) for a brief period.

I suspect Franklin Mint may have the swastika wrong, though. It should be mid fin for the time period. Not a big deal, but the mid fin marking is a discerning feature of the Polish campaign and pre-war/early war German a/c in general.

[djjeffhall]

Ara1,
Hey there.

Those are some amazing pictures. Thanks for posting them.

I can't image the German Air Force didn't figure out really quick that those crosses on the wings make WAY too inviting a target for enemy gunners diving in.

[aeroeng]

Originally Posted by TopHat

aeroeng -

Do you ever go to Designs in Motion out in Chesterfield?

No I haven't. What is it?

[STARMAN 352ND]

Ara1 the pictures you posted are great i have never seen them before...Are they your own personal pictures from a family member ?
You can see the guy in the pictures has the biggest grin on his face too.
I have a friend that has the Franklin Mint He-111 and i thought the marking were wrong on there but i guess not.
I have never seen the German markings so large like that...That sure does make a good target for the allied fighters.
After seeing the great pictures Mark took of that He-111 i'm sold on it Got get this in my collection as well.
JP

[Ara1]

Hey djjeffhall and Starman,

Glad you liked the pictures. They were in an ebay photo album. In 30 years of studying WWII pictures, I'd never seen such crosses on an He 111, although I'd read about them. And had seen similar markings on Bf 109s.

Regarding Allied fighters finding them easy targets-- you gotta remember, these markings were used starting a few weeks into the Polish campaign and were discontinued soon after. They were used because German fighters were having great difficulty discerning friendly and enemy aircraft.

There weren't many Allied fighters in the theater at the time, mainly Polish defenders.

Several of the Osprey titles (covering early Stuka units, Bf 110's and Bf 109D/E's) relate firsthand accounts of the Sept-November time period, and how mistaken identity cost German lives.

[TopHat]

Originally Posted by aeroeng

No I haven't. What is it?

A St. Louis area dealer who sells FM/Armour/Minichamps models. I just wondered if you got yours there. I do. Where do you buy locally (btw, I live in STL as well)?

[TopHat]

Guys, I need some opinions here since I'm not really a bomber collector. Of the He-111s available from FM, which do you recommend? I don't want the desert livery, but of the remaining three? I'm gonna take the plunge for one, but only one.

Thanks in advance!