Kagero Monograph No.3
Heinkel He 111 Vol.1

Reviewed by Rob Baumgartner

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Kagero’s reprint of their third aircraft monograph should prove very popular, especially with the new Revell kit just around the corner.

It’s Part 1 of a two volume set on the He 111. The format of the series is excellent with 78 pages of text and photographs, 22 pages of scale drawings and 7 pages of colour profiles. The artwork of the latter is superb with Andrzej Sadlo doing some truly inspirational work. This is matched by Arkadiusz Wróbel’s dramatic cover.

The narrative is in both English and Polish with the pages split to accommodate the two languages. An almost seamless translation means that the text flows easy and despite the technical content, is not a problem to understand.

The story starts with Lt. Hans Fehn’s Heinkel attacking convoy PQ 17. It’s told from both sides of the conflict as the Navarino cargo ship is hit by torpedoes from 1./KG 26. From here we step into the meat of the book.

The author explains the birth of the aircraft and the subsequent problems found with the performance and handling characteristics of the He 111A. The plethora of engines changes in subsequent attempts to improve the breed are well covered with the He 111B, D, E, F and J (the latter two with re-designed wings) all getting their slice of the limelight. 

A new generation of the He 111 was also on the drawing board, being built with a more streamlined fuselage. This was the “P” variant and the shape was kept for all subsequent models. A more technical description of the aircraft is presented here and once again is easy reading for the enthusiast.

With Daimler-Benz not being able to keep up with the demand for its power-plants, Junker Jumo engines were to be fitted to the He 111. It became the “H” model and this is where most of the narrative focuses. An interesting portion of this section also discusses the various electronic systems for bad weather flying and landing.

No book on the He 111 would be complete without mentioning the “Zwilling”. Thus the He 111Z, with its unusual mating of two independent airframes, rounds out the history of this versatile aircraft.

A camouflage and markings chapter details the various schemes these machines were seen in and this includes a summary of the interior colours as well.

The impressive scale plans are found predominantly in 1:72 and 1:48 scales. They cover all the major variants in the text and even the unarmed versions such as the “C” and “G”. Due to the size of the drawings, a fold-out page is necessary and this feature has been used for some of the colour profiles as well.

What‘s particularly nice about these illustrations are the shaded portions of the airframe that represent the changes from preceding models. This makes it extremely useful when one wants to quickly identify a certain version or sub-type.

A 1:48 scale masking set to cater for the clear parts of the P/H series completes the package.

Conclusion

This is an excellent publication for fans of Luftwaffe aircraft.

The format allows photographs to be reproduced to a size where maximum information can be gleaned from the image. It also permits the inclusion of detailed scale plans that cater for a multitude of types. The colour artwork is a credit to the illustrators and has the result of directing the reader towards their modelling “stash”...looking for a He 111 kit to build.

As a result it is heartily recommended to all modellers and enthusiasts of this famous bomber.

Thanks to Casemate UK for the samples.