COBI Heinkel HE 111 H-3 Set 5772

COBI's Heinkel He 111 H-3 is a 1:48 model built from 788 blocks, 34 cm long with a 46 cm wingspan. The propellers turn, the wheels roll on rubber tires, and a set of SC 50 bombs loads into the bomb bay. A display stand with a transparent arm shows the aircraft in flight, and a nameplate is included. All markings are printed; no stickers.

The nose is all glass, and the pilot sits off to one side

Look at the front of the model. There is no separate cockpit canopy — the entire nose is one continuous glazed shell, and the pilot's seat is offset to the left, with a bulge in the roof above his head so he can see forward over the bomb aimer lying beside him.

It looks strange and it was deliberate. Putting the bomb aimer in the very tip of the aircraft gives him the best possible view straight down, which is what bomb aiming in 1939 required. The cost was that the pilot had almost nothing solid in front of him, and on a forced landing the whole crew position collapsed first.

Some later versions added a small retractable seat so the pilot could raise his head through an opening in the roof to see out during take-off and landing, because the glazing distorted the view badly enough to make it dangerous.

The H-3

Introduced in November 1939 with Jumo 211D engines of 1,200 hp, up to six MG 15 machine guns and a typical bomb load of 2,000 kg carried vertically inside the fuselage — nose-up, in cells, which is why the He 111 could carry a lot of small bombs and very few large ones.

It was the Luftwaffe's principal bomber over Britain in 1940, and by the end of that summer it was clear that a medium bomber with hand-held machine guns could not survive over a defended country in daylight.

In the COBI range

Set 5771 is the He 111 H-22 Executive Edition, carrying an air-launched V1 flying bomb, at the same 1:48 scale.

Specifications

Pieces: 788 · Scale: 1:48 · Age: 7+ · SC 50 bombs, display stand and nameplate included · No stickers
Model dimensions: 34 × 46 × 9 cm (13.4 × 18.1 × 3.5 in), 15 cm high on the stand