MPM

1/48 Heinkel He-177A-5 Greif

Kit Number: 48058

Reviewed by  Rod Lees, IPMS# 10821

MSRP: $95.00 Back in 1999 I built and reviewed MPM's resin and metal HE-177 kit. It was a heavy monster, ate up a substantial portion of the modeling budget, but in the end was well worth the hassles of swashing and buckling large resin bits around the house. When it was announced MPM were finally going to release their injection molded kit, I was excited to see how it would compare with the resin kit. In particular, injection molded clear parts instead of the vacuum-formed versions would be a blessing. (Trying to cut and fit the clear vacform cockpit windows into the resin kit was a nightmare; today I'd just hog the area out, epoxy in Plexiglas, contour, sand, and polish it out to match the surrounding resin). MPM does NOT, to quote our British friends, "disappoint". This is one great kit. I am impressed with the moldings, detail, and finesse. On initial examination, there are only a couple of areas to note. First, no external racks or stores. None. Period. Second: no bomb bay. Both of these indicate to me there are plans for further releases in different markings and versions with the appropriate "smart" or "dumb" weapons. And I will assume Eduard and CMK will probably release plenty of resin and etched color bits to clean up the initial kit. I've heard several complaints concerning high-tech kits, "Why did they put all that in there, I just want a basic kit?". Well, here we have it. Add-on's to come. (As I write this I have just learned of the next release which will do just that. PLEASE let there be one-piece metal landing gear legs!) This is a big airplane. Wingspan comparable to a B-17. Plan accordingly. It's a simple build but you have to be careful. What I liked about this kit: It's plastic and not resin. It makes for better modelling, because of lower cost and ease of working on the kit. Resin is great but the weight can be an issue. Resin details in the kit: Included were two well-detailed MG 151 20MM cannons and the engine carburetor intakes. The MG 81's and MG 131 Barrels are injection plastic and nondescript. I used Bill Koster's cast metal items for all the weapons with the exception of the turret mounted MG 131's. Bills' cast metal items are infinitely more resilient (Particularly the 151 cannons, because I would have snapped them off at least ten times during the build.) This kit took me a bit longer to complete than others I've worked on. I had some difficulties with the center seam on the lower part of the aircraft requiring filler, more a function of my poor modeling skills than the kit engineering. The top seam was difficult due to details standing proud of the surface; I decided to putty, sand (which removed the circular details on the top of the aircraft) and punch out the circles from a leather punch and install them afterwards. Worked fine, and the seam now gone! I have learned there is a wooden spar kit from Nautilus for this kit; I opted not to install one (I also fly RC and have plenty of plywood scrap laying about if I need spars). So far I have not had the seams split or the wings sag. It might not be a bad idea to install a carry-through engine to engine spar if you are still not complete on your kit. The only area I got really frustrated with was the landing gear; I built them up per instructions, and when I installed them found I had built in toe-out; the wheel/tire assemblies looked like they wanted to go down separate parts of the runway. Fortunately the Tenax had not hardened totally, and I was able to re-set them back into place. ALSO, make sure when you are constructing the wing, the landing gear mount assemblies are properly and firmly installed on the inner gear bay spar details. I had mine too far back and had to resort to superglue fillet "cheating" on gear installation. (You know, fill the gap, accelerator, then paint the resulting blob and hope nobody notices). Modeling is about challenges and solutions.

The cockpit was excellent as is. I used some Eduard photoetch belts on the seats, Koster rudder pedals from one of his DO-217 etch frets, and everything else went together well. I ended up making a new port side window as I slimmed TENAX 7 in the middle of the thing and it promptly fogged. The clear parts for this kit are light years away from the resin kit's vacuum-formed items; you can actually cement them to the kit and fill the seams without sanding through the clear plastic. I had a bit of a step in mine; when you put the fuselage halves together, make sure you firmly clamp them and use the upper front and nose parts to ensure they mate well. I didn't and had an ugly bit to fix. Clarity was never an issue, and the upper cabin part incorporating the forward side and top windows was a Godsend. THANK YOU MPM!

I was originally going to use the Condor 1/48 #1 missile set to build a Hs 293 missile carrier, and had gone as far as scratch building the under fuselage missile rack and installing the Condor wing racks, when I learned of the "High grade kit" coming out next year. Off came the racks. I didn't want two of the same kind of '177's in the display cabinet. Kit decals went on well; be cautious with them for they are extremely thin and can come apart; Tamiya and Polyscale paints were used, and I followed the instructions for the scheme. In the end, it's an impressive model, well worth the effort. I'll be building it again when the High grade version comes out. And now know what I'll do differently. An excellent effort by the MPM team! The kit was provided by Chris at CRM (Mecca for modelers), funded jointly by my outlaws and myself.

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