First a bit of history:
The Heinkel He 115 was a three-seat World War II Luftwaffe seaplane. The Heinkel He 115 was the most successful German floatplane of the Second World War. It was used as a torpedo bomber and performed general seaplane duties, such as reconnaissance and minelaying.
The He 115 was an all-metal stressed-skin aircraft, with a slim streamlined fuselage. The mid-mounted wings had a rectangular center section and tapering outer panels and carried two BMW 132K engines (based on the Pratt & Whitney Hornet). The three-man crew were carried in three cockpits. The observer was located in the glazed nose, with a bombsight and an MG15. The pilot was located just above the wing leading edge, and the radio operator/ rear gunner above the trailing edge. In the prototype the pilot and radio operator had been given separate canopies, but in production aircraft a single 'greenhouse' canopy was used, connecting their positions. An internal weapons bay was installed between the wings, and could carry either a 1,763lb torpedo or three SC 250 bombs (550lb each). The A-1 could also carry two more bombs under the wings.
At the beginning of the war, the He 115 was used for dropping parachute mines in British waters, normally aiming for narrow passages close to busy ports on the English south coast; the River Thames was also a prime target. The aircraft had its finest moment on anti-shipping operations against Arctic convoys from bases in northern Norway. Because the first convoys lacked air cover, the slow and lightly armed He 115 was less vulnerable than near the English coast. With the appearance of carriers and escort carriers, coupled with new Soviet heavy fighters like the Petlyakov Pe-3bis, Luftwaffe air superiority over the convoys was challenged and losses increased. Apart from its use as a minelayer and torpedo bomber, the He 115 was also used for coastal reconnaissance and drop agents behind enemy lines.
The build:
A very nice model of a rather unusual aircraft. Molded in three colors: black, gray, and white, this model goes together rather easily. A rather large aircraft (about the same size as a 72nd scale He-111) the parts are molded in a hard styrene plastic and feature rather deep panel lines. Since I build old kits "as they were meant to be built", I just built the kit out of the box.
Three sets of markings are available. I decided to build an aircraft in winter camouflage out of Sorreisa, Tromso. Painting was done using a very primitive Badger hobby air brush and propellant can. I used Tamiya acrylic German Gray and Tamiya flat white for the upper surfaces, and Tamiya German light blue for the undersides. all the canopy frames are masked off and hand painted.
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