Eagle Owl : Night Defender of The Reich

Historical Background

The He 219 had its genesis in Heinkel's P.1055 high-speed bomber project. It was an advanced design, incorporating pressurised cockpit, ejection seats, tricycle landing gear and remote-controlled defensive armament. The P.1055 was to be accompanied by a night-fighter variant, the P.1056, armed with four 20mm cannons. However, the RLM considered the aircraft as 'too risky' and rejected Heinkel's proposal. At the same time however, Kammhuber was looking for a new night fighter for his command. Heinkel responded by offering a redesigned P.1055 as the P.1060. This was of similar layout, but smaller and powered by the largest mass-produced liquid-cooled engine in Germany, the Daimler-Benz DB603 with annular radiators similar to Jumo 211 engines. DB603 was not noted for altitude performance, but Daimler offered the 'G' version to address the problem. Heinkel, using their own funds, submitted their proposal to RLM in January 1942 but was rejected in favour of Ju 88 and Me 210-based designs. Construction of the prototype began in February 1942 but suffered a serious setback a month later when Daimler was unable to get the engine ready in time. The prototype eventually flew on 6 November 1942 with the 'C' version of the DB603. Kammhuber was so impressed when he saw the prototype and ordered the He 219 into production - to the fury of Milch. The aircraft however had yaw/roll stability problems but were corrected by lengthening the fuselage and enlarging the tails. The rear-facing guns were deleted and forward-firing armament was increased to six 20mm cannons (two in wing roots and four in a ventral gunpack). Radar equipment was UHF-band FuG-212 Lichtenstein C-1.

In March 1943, the P.1060, now known as He 219 Uhu (Eagle Owl) defeated rival designs from Dornier and Junkers. The Heinkel was unique, being the first operational aircraft to be fitted with ejection seats. Pre-production prototypes were ordered as Heinkel He 219A-0 and in June 1943, three prototypes were  sent to front-line units for operational testing. On the night of 11-12 June 1943, Major Werner Streib of Nachtjagdgeschwader 1 flew prototype V9 and claimed five RAF night bombers. He however crashed the prototype upon landing at NJG1's base at Venlo. Despite this success, Milch kept trying to have the programme killed, enraging Kammhuber. This resulted in the (verbal) fighting between the two and led to Kammhuber's transfer to Norway, commanding Luftflotte 5. Work however continued and the first production model, the A-2 was equipped with longer nacelles carrying extra fuel tanks, VHF-band FuG 220 Lichtenstein SN-2 radar set and Rüstsatz R1 kit featuring two 30mm cannon in Schräge Musik installation which allowed German night fighters to attack their targets from below. With the departure of Milch  in mid-1944, the RLM gave greater priority to the He 219 (also because the Ju 388 and Ta 154 were nowhere near series production). The final variant was the A-7, powered with improved DB603E engines and was armed with two MG151/20 20mm cannons in the wing roots, two MG151/20 20mm cannons in the ventral gunpack and two 30mm MK108 in the Schräge Musik installation.

Despite the need, the programme was marred by political rivalries between Generalleutnant Josef Kammhuber, chief of the German night fighter command, Ernst Heinkel, the manufacturer and Generalfeldmarschall Erhard Milch who was responsible for aircraft production at the Reichluftfahrtministerium (RLM - German Aviation Ministry). It was also complicated and expensive, further limiting the number of aircraft produced.  Only 294 were built. The Uhu served mainly with Nachtjagdgeschwader 1. They had some successes against the RAF bomber streams but increasingly suffered from losses at the hands of night-fighting de Havilland Mosquitos.

The Kit

Tamiya released this kit in 1997, answering the calls from modellers who wanted a model of (probably) the Luftwaffe's best night fighter of World War 2. The kit comes in five medium grey sprue trees, a small clear sprue containing the cockpit transparencies, gunsight, ADF 'window' and the extreme tail, a small decal sheet and most impressively, a nose ballast. The nose ballast helps the model to stay on its three points and also forming the nose wheel well and part of the cockpit. There is an option for opened or closed cowl flaps and dropped flaps. Details are finely engraved overall although the exhaust stacks look crude. They should not be a problem since they would be covered by the nicely detailed exhaust shrouds. Two styrene tubes, acting as spars, help in giving the long wing some strength. The most delicate parts would be the FuG 220 radar aerials - they are thin and need careful separation from the runners. Actually one can backdate the kit simply by changing the angle of the dipole aerials. Decals are provided for three planes : 'TH', 1./NJG1 May 1945; 'G9+CH', 1./NJG1, May 1945 and 'D5+CL', 3. NJG3, May 1945.

Construction

As always, construction started at the cockpit. Since Tamiya made the nose ballast as part of the cockpit /  nosewheel well, I primed it using Tamiya Surface Primer. The various parts that made the cockpit were then painted Tamiya XF-63 German Grey. However, Tamiya did not specify the colours for various knobs and switches, save for a few small areas in red, making the cockpit drab and featureless. Using some common sense and what few photos of the interior of the He 219, I painted most of the switches white while the headrest were painted XF-68 NATO Brown. Tamiya provided decals for seat belts, which should really be substituted with PE parts. I used them anyway but refrain from using decal softening agent as they will make the belts look painted on! The cockpit sub-assembly was then glued to the ballast using superglue and the cockpit halves can be mated. Despite earlier dry fitting, I can't clamp the extreme nose properly, leading to fit problems later.

The next step is concerned with fitting the nose landing gear. I however skipped this step as the lanky gear could interfere with subsequent steps. So I jumped to wing assembly. The kit wings consist of upper and lower halves, the engine nacelles and the main wheel wells. Speaking about the last, I believe Tamiya missed the rear bulkhead and one can see all the way to the ends of the nacelles. Any modeler would box-in the wells using plastic sheet but, being me, I just left them as they were. The wheel wells were then painted Tamiya XF-22 RLM Grey. The flaps were separate and while I glued the halves together, they remain unattached until later. Next I assembled the engine halves; while they match perfectly, assembling them to the wings produced a step in the joint which I sanded off. The radiator grills were glued to the front of the engine nacelles - I chose the closed flap option. The landing gears were assembled and painted XF-22 rather than TS-48 (RLM66 Schwarzgrau) as I believe RLM02 Grau was still being used even late in the war. The landing gears were however left off until later.

Following that I assembled the tail. The endplates were butt-jointed to the tail and some eyeballing were needed to ensure proper alignment. Then the MK108 Schräge Musik installation were placed in their compartment. I did not paint the interior as it would be closed and that only the cannon muzzles were visible. The wings were then mated to the fuselage. The spars did help in ensuring proper alignment and also adding strength to the rather long wings. I then return to the front fuselage, attaching the nose and the rather fragile Lichtenstein SN-2 aerial bases. The aircraft I modeled was equipped with Schräge Musik and according the sources I read on the internet, aircraft so equipped were provided with a second Revi 16B/G gunsight on the canopy, between the two headrests with the reflector glass slightly in front of the pilot's head. I used a discarded sight from a previous built; I however did not add the reflector glass. Since I intend to spray paint the model, I attach the canopy parts and masked them off.

Painting and Decaling

In general, the Luftwaffe's night fighters were painted RLM76 Lichtblau with a mottling of RLM75 Grauviolett. Tamiya provided three marking options: two with RLM75/76 and another ('TH') also in 75/76 but with the undersurfaces in RLM22 Schwarz. The last option looks sinister with its black undersurfaces but I prefer something with a little splash of colour so I chose 'D5+CL'. To paint the 75/76 pattern, I first paint the relevant parts of the model RLM75 using Tamiya AS4 Gray Violet. When dry, I placed bits of Blu-Tack to act as masks on the corresponding parts. Admittedly the pattern did not match the pattern in the instruction sheet but it did look good enough for me. The process was also tedious and it took me more than a week to finish and I sometimes did it in front of TV. Once done, I sprayed Tamiya AS5 Light Blue all over the model. The Blu-Tack can then be removed, revealing Grauviolett pattern among the Lichtblau. However, I can't get a soft edge between the colours, mostly.  The exhaust stubs were painted Burnt Iron.

The decals went on next. Again, after looking at other resources, I found out that Tamiya made a rather fundamental mistake. They had the Werknummer for D5+CL as '310188' but actually it was '310189'! There is no alternate number decal for me so 310188 it would be! The decals were however quite all right and respond well to Mr Mark Softer. The still loose parts were also painted at this stage. Tamiya suggested X-18 Semi-Gloss Black for the flame dampers but I painted them XF-69 NATO Black which was followed with an application of Tamiya Weathering Master 'Rust'. Without thinking I almost painted the prop blades black but consulting the instruction sheet, they were painted XF-27 Black Green. The Peil G6 DF aerial were painted silver. With my failing eyesight I should have painted the part entirely in silver and then removing the paint from the raised areas.

Finishing 

The loose parts can now be glued onto the model. I started from the rear by adding the rear aerials for the FuG 220 radar and the aerials for the FuG16ZY radio. As for the FuBI 2F blind landing instrument antenna, I read somewhere that Tamiya got it wrong - it should be of the 'towel rack' configuration rather than the blade supplied in the kit. I have the materials to fabricate the 'towel rack' but decided to use the kit antenna to save time. The Peil G6 slots easily into its recess on the upper fuselage; so is the cover for the searchlights on the left wing. Finally it was the turn for the most vulnerable parts, the forward aerials for the FuG 220 radar. Clean-up of the parts (including the rear aerial of course) was not tedious but care has to be taken so that the frail parts do not break on their sprue or while cleaning up the remains of the runner. Then I run a 2B pencil along the panel lines and finally a spray of Tamiya TS-79 Flat Clear ends the build.

Conclusion

As usual Tamiya has come up with the goods which enhanced their reputation further. There were hardly any hiccup with the fit of the kit and I believe the difficulties I face at the front fuselage was entirely caused by me. The Uhu was one of the Luftwaffe's most advanced aircraft towards the end of World War 2. Despite that, kit manufacturers generally shunned it off and thanks to Tamiya we can have a 1/48 kit of this outstanding aircraft.