Heinkel He 219A-7
Night Fighter

Mark I Models, 1/144 scale

Reviewed by Mark Davies

Valom's 1/48 scale An-2 Colt is available online from Squadron.com

The Heinkel He 219 Uhu ("Eagle-Owl") was a night fighter that served with the German Luftwaffe in the later stages of World War II.

A relatively sophisticated design, the He 219 possessed a variety of innovations, including an advanced VHF-band intercept radar; itself also used on the Ju 88G and Bf 110G night fighters. It was also the first operational military aircraft in the world to be equipped with ejection seats, and the first operational German World War II-era aircraft with tricycle landing gear.

Had the Uhu been available in quantity, it might have had a significant effect on the strategic night bombing offensive of the Royal Air Force; but only 294 of all models were built by the end of the war, and these saw only limited service.

Source: Wikipedia

Mark I Ltd is perhaps best known for their 4+ range of aviation booklets and Mark I Dozen Sets of decals with comprehensive markings guides and walk-arounds. A year or so ago they also took over the superb CMR range of resin kits, and included a few new releases under Mark I's auspices. Most recently, Mark I has acquired the Attack Hobbies 1/144-scale range of jet aircraft, which it re-boxed and released with new decals.

The re-released Attack Hobbies range and two ex-Eduard kits (Bf 109G & Fw 190A) have served as a launching-pad for Mark I to move into the development and realisation of its own new tool 1/144-scale kits using electro-plated metal moulds.

The He 219 kit reviewed here is the third new tool release for the company, following on from two Westland Wessex variants, and is apparently the first time this night-fighter has been kitted in 1/144-scale. Mark I Models also offer it in He 219A-5 form in another boxing as MKM14425.

Content

The kit comes packed in a good quality end-opening box with nice artwork on the front, and a painting and decaling guides for the four decal options on its rear. All parts are sealed in a plastic bag, with the PE fret sealed separately in its own smaller bag. The decals are loose with the kit sprues. This kit also includes a colour printed card Luftwaffe airfield base for display (MKA14402) of the finished model. This is one of a new range of bases offered by Mark I.

Unlike some other Mark I Models releases, this one is not a two-kit boxing.

The instructions are formed by a multi-page fold-out sheet with colour printing. They include a parts map, and very well-drawn assembly diagrams that are easy to follow. All text is in English, and detail colour call-outs are included. The instructions include a four-view coloured painting and markings guide for each option, with RLM paint numbers included for the main colours.

The Kit

The kit follows a conventional breakdown for this type of aircraft and all parts are nicely moulded with delicate recessed panel line detail. There is however some flash in places, but this should be quick to clean up.

The cockpit is formed from a styrene tub, PE seats, seat harnesses, rudder pedals, control column and instrument panels. This is plenty of detail considering the small size of the cockpit interior in this scale. The canopy is clear and commendably thin, but its curvature will lead to some distortion when viewing the interior. Perhaps Brengun will release a vac-form canopy for this kit, as they seem to be growing heir range of 1/144-scale canopies.

This kit’s airframe should be fairly quick to build as the wings and horizontal stabiliser are both one-piece mouldings; with only the twin tailfins, engine nacelles and radiators to add to compete the main structure.

The remaining airframe assembly involves the nicely done undercarriage garnished with some PE detail, undercarriage doors, plus the exhaust pipes and two props. The props are unavoidably thicker than they should in theory be, due to moulding limitations, are none-the-less nicely done and better than some 1/72 scale examples I have seen.

The remaining PE caters for aileron mass balances, DF and other fuselage antennae, and the very prominent nose radar array. This last component will be quite challenging and fiddly to assemble, but is essential to the model’s final appearance; so real care is required to get everything correctly aligned. The radar array will definitely be the last item to add after painting and decaling is completed.

The kit captures the lines of the real aircraft and high degree of moulding finesse. Yes, in theory panel lines in 1/144-scale are going to be overdone no matter how fine the moulding, but most would want something represented to add interest to the model. Mark I Models have done a very good job in this regard. The overall quality is very good, and about equal to the Platz 1/144-scale kits I have reviewed.

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The addition of a display base is a nice touch, representing a hard-stand area with concrete paved squares. I would be inclined to cut the straight edges to have either a circular or an irregular curved base, rather than a square one to display the model on. 

Colours & Markings

The four colour schemes offered with this the kit are:

• W.Nr 310193, Luftwaffe, Germany, spring 1945;

• Black/Red G9+SK, 2/NJG.1, Luftwaffe, Munster-Handorf Air Base, Germany, spring 1945;

• Black/Yellow D5+CL, 3/NJG.3, Luftwaffe, Grove Air Base, Denmark, April 1945; and

• Air Ministry 22, Royal Aircraft Establishment, Farnborough, England, 1945-46.

The decals appear to be excellent, as we would expect given the company's background in decal production.

This is a very good effort from Mark I Models. The moulding has sufficient finesse that I think the eye will be drawn away from any unavoidable slightly over-scale elements. 

Definitely recommended.

Thanks to Mark I Ltd for the review sample

Text and Images Copyright © 2014 by Mark Davies
Page Created 20 May, 2014
Last updated 20 May, 2014

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