The Little World

The Heinkel He 111 is done and I am very pleased. It has already visited RCAF WET DOG and been photographed. She’s got no guns or bombs aboard, but three RAF test crewmembers are buttoned up in there – as period photos show.

Presumably the RAF A/B upper scheme and bright trainer yellow undersides would have alerted British pilots over Great Britain that this was a test aircraft…but it’s been recorded that whenever they went up in it there was a Hurricane assigned to accompany it and warn off any other fighters that might suddenly bounce it. Even then, it was restricted to a small area where it could fly – after all there were AA gunners everywhere in the UK at the time and not all of them would have been in on the joke.

It will form the nucleus of my captured plane collection – already there are a number of Axis planes that have been painted in captured colours. And I’m always delighted to discover another one on Google that will enable me to add a German or Italian ship to the collection that might otherwise have been barred. Likewise I am delighted to find planes that have been sold or given to neutral or Allied nations.

In the end, in desperation, I could always paint some of the ones that were never sold or captured in Ruritanian colours. I’ve prepared my decals and scheme plans for this.

Oh, and remember I mentioned that visit to RCAF WET DOG…