Revell Heinkel He 219A-7 “Uhu” 1:32 scale

Box and contents

Revell persist with rather flimsy boxes that are doubtless cheap to produce but not so good in protecting the contents. Having said that, the artwork is usually very good and so it is here and the box contents undamaged. Let’s go inside.

Good to see grey plastic sprues and immediately what I notice are the very restrained, finely engraved panel lines – impressive. Taking the main components first, they are very well tooled with precise definition of the detail that will look good under paint. The two huge lengths forming the long, thin fuselage indicative of the type show no distortion and, importantly, a dry fit of the fuselage promises a decent fit. Take care with the front windscreen support as it’s delicate and may get damaged.

Overall shape of the model looks good to me – I definitely come from the ‘if it looks right, it is right’ stable and Revell has done a good job getting the overall shape ‘right’. The ‘sit’ looks quite good and that’s important for the type – very slightly tail-down.
I like the wing detail and fine trailing edges on these and the elevators/tailplanes/fins.

Detail sprues

Cockpit…
When you start to examine the sprues that contain all the smaller parts you start to get an idea that this release is very impressive. The cockpit looks very detailed with pretty full internal detail, seats and instrument panels as well as side consoles. The seats look particularly impressive with shape and ‘leather-look’ cushions that will look great under weathering. Side wall detail looks good too and all this bodes well because the He 219 cockpit is about as exposed as one could be! You will want to add a seat harness for sure, but you can either make your own or, as I will probably do (as it’s the bigger 1:32 scale) get a set of pre-painted belts.

Wheel wells
These look good with decent ribbed and internal. I never get very excited about areas of a model you can’t see without picking up the model or are hidden completely but you do want some detail in the ‘wells’ and what’s provided is fine.

Undercarriage
These units are nicely detailed given that design of the original items is quite simple and straightforward. The nose leg is split vertically to allow you to trap the nose wheel and that’s a bit of a pain as you’ll need to try and prep the leg well. I will see if the nose wheel can be squeezed in after painting and assembly as this will make for a much neater job I reckon.

FuG aerial array
This to me is one of the highlights of the package, mainly because the parts are moulded so delicately. Great care will be needed in removing the parts from their sprue trees but using a new scalpel blade will help prevent damage. An alternative will be to replace the whole lot with metal rod and tubing but to be honest I can’t see the point of this from initial inspection.

Props and engine exhausts
The engine faces are all but hidden on the He 219, but those huge exhaust dampers will look great when painted and weathered in their familiar rusty-brown colour. If you take a look at the manufacturer’s pics included at the start of this piece you’ll see what I mean. The propeller blades may be slightly narrow in appearance, so may want to check this? They don’t look odd enough to replace and I expect to use what’s been supplied in the build.

Clear parts
Separately bagged, the clear parts are exceptionately clear and well moulded and if anything like their Halifax model should fit perfectly – let’s hope so!

Instructions
The Revell instructions follow their usual exploded stages format and hint at the great level of modelling to be had by the 82-Stage assembly sequence! Location of parts is clear but colour paint coding is for Revell paints only. However, the colour names are provided and this will help you to match your own choice of paints. Do check your references though as I think Revell has reversed the labelling on their painting instructions in error; reversing RLM 76 Lichtblau (light Blue) overall base colour and RLM 75 Grauviolett (darker grey) mottling. This is quite a good website for a quick general guide to RLM / FS Number equivalents. Directions seem to be clear on the build stages and although this is quite a detailed kit in terms of parts count, the build seems logical. Clearly you’ll probably want to leave off all the delicate parts like the FuG aerial array until the end of the project.

Decals
The decals seem very good quality with colour saturation and register being good and all markings are accurate and sharp in their detail; the carrier film also looks minimal and that’s great. Another plus is that stencil detail is supplied and although probably not totally complete, there’s enough to give your model an authentic look.

Conclusion

Personally I love this release – good levels of detail throughout and what a subject, you can’t fail to applaud Revell for their choice of subject. That we have yet another great Luftwaffe WWII type available in 1:32 scale is incredible and hugely welcome. The model is big and, well, so what? Worry about where you’ll put it after you’ve thoroughly enjoyed building it!

SMN Quick summary Star rating out of 5