[Epapazian]

The Germans didn't have the time during The Battle of Britain to do exotic night bomber paint schemes. Actual wartime pictures show that they merely painted the bottoms of their HE-111's black, then applied black blotches over the top two green colors and blotted out the swastikas on the tail. A number of artists have produced paintings showing a two-grey motif on the topside of nocturnal HE-111s, but this is wrong. Sadly Corgi went in this direction and , accordingly, got it wrong.

[mikeb1958]

Originally Posted by jim

I have some photos of a Do217 that shows the worst paint job you could ever see. I think the painter was given 3 minutes to do the job so the paint was just thrown at the aircraft. its a lesson to us that not all schemes were carefully done and to exact specification.

Would love to see the photes Jim when you have time. I was always interested in various German Nightfighters.

[Elmer]

The Flying Mule now has several pictures posted of the Greif He 111. The black blotches don't look very black, rather a dark grey, possibly a blue/grey. Overall, what do you think of this model? (Hey Mark... still waiting for your outstanding pics of this model!!)

[Epapazian]

In an earlier post on this thread, I noted that the HE-111, in question, was actually painted in the standard RLM 70 and 71 two-green splinter scheme on its upper surfaces; these were then mottled over with black blotches to create a crude but effective nocturnal camouflage motif. Unfortunately I credited Corgi with this goof, not Franklin Mint, which made the error. Which does not let Corgi off the hook. Indeed, Corgi has made the same error on several of its HE-111s. For example, take Corgi's rendition of Combat Formation Kuhlmey's Heinkel at Immola, Finland, in mid-1944. Corgi's version has an over-all light green base applied to its upper surfaces, which is oversprayed with a light greyish color (RLM 76?) to create a disruptive pattern. Actual pictures of this plane, published in books like "Luftwaffe Codes, Markings & Units" by Barry C. Rosch,indicate that the underlying camouflage was the standard RLM 70 and 71 format. The same is apparently the case for Corgi's more recent late-model HE-111, which launched V-1 "flying bombs" against Great Britain late in the war. So what we have here is sloppy research by both parties ( FM and Corgi)on this important German aircraft, or, perhaps a conscious choice to take short cuts when detailing the models at the factory.