1:48 HEINKEL He115

A floatplane Heinkel with a glass nose

The He 115 was among the most elegant seaplanes of its day and in 1938 it collected eight world records in its category. Two radial engines, long floats and a glazed nose made it an all-purpose machine for torpedo attacks, minelaying and long-range reconnaissance over northern waters. Several examples fell into British hands and they used them with false markings for secret flights over the Mediterranean and for putting agents down, because a German type over German-controlled airspace disturbed nobody. The Norwegian machines flew to the British Isles after the country was occupied and some of them served on.

Why a pre-cut mask helps

The glazing on the He 115 makes up an unusually large area, the grid of the nose is densely divided and several hours can be spent outlining it by hand. The pieces from the package are laid on the glass, hold in place by themselves and after spraying come away together with the paint above them.

• it masks the nose glazing, the crew cockpit and the dorsal position
• both sides of the glazing, that is the view from inside too
• it works under a divided fuselage camouflage and under a uniform lower shade
• the package holds no floats, engines or other plastic parts

A short piece of advice

It is best to finish the glazed nose before the floats are attached to the model, because the lower part of the glazing is then hard to reach. On such a large area it also pays to check the adhesion of the edges against the light, as a small gap shows straight away under the spray.