1/48 He162 - Finished

[Engineer66]

Hello Folks,

As my A-10 is currently stalled whilst I work out how to resolve a few issues I thought I would start on another kit. Just to stop the dust from settling on my workbench of course!

Its the Trimaster kit of the Heinkel He162A-2 in 1/48 with a resin pit by Aires, etch from Eduard and Montex masks.



I bought this kit and the associated aftermarket as a 'job lot' at Sword and Lance in Darlington in 2014. And thought it would be a nice quick and easy build to keep me occupied. It was the box picture and the resin bits taped to the lid that caught my attention (the opportunity to add extra details to cockpit and engine!). The box was still sealed in it's cellophane.

Anyway, here is the obligatory in box shot...







'Only three sprues included in the box? hmm that's not much for your money' thought I and then I decided to have a look inside the little blue 'packing' box on the right, and these fell out...



Sorry about the poor photo I didn't realise it was part in shadow until too late. I'll include better shots later in the build.

Etched detail parts for the cockpit and engine, and a set of PE hinges (to assemble!) for the cowlings. There's also white metal landing gear, ejector seat, and even a cast nose weight shaped to fit in the nose!

The remainder are bits of brass rod, wire, tube etc, for the other details.

I wonder why the original owner bought the resin pit and Eduard etch?

Speaking of which, here's the aftermarket...



And a better picture of the resin 'pit before cleanup.



Well, these things don't build themselves, so better get started....

More to follow later

Al

(Edit to correct typo's)

Edited September 2, 2015 by Engineer66

[Martian]

Got to follow this one! I just love the He 162. Ooops, you have just reminded me that I have long stalled Revell 1/32 kit of this subject. I might just have to return to it.

Martin

[Troy Smith]

Hello Folks,

I wonder why the original owner bought the resin pit and Eduard etch?

stupidity? as the kit was sealed and didn't realise the extra parts? I believe the etch parts are steel, not brass, and are quite tough.

Note, when Trimaster first issued kits in the late 80's they were the first hi-tech kits, and were eyewateringly expensive,

eg http://modelingmadness.com/scott/axis/luft/fw/190/fw190a8.htm

a Fw 190 costing $40 in the late 80's..

....and are now 'collectable' Don't know how much it cost but they are collectors items. Apparently.

the Dragon tailplanes are too long BTW

http://www.network54.com/Forum/149674/thread/1278462662

the real ones are 120cm each side

so 2.5 cm in 1/48th...

HTH

T

[Engineer66]

Thanks for the info Troy, now that you've pointed it out I'll have to remedy it.

As my dad used to say "If it's worth doing, it's worth doing properly!"

Five minutes with a razor saw to remove 5mm (ish) each side then re-scribe the elevators should do it.

I made a start on the office a couple of days ago, and this is what we have so far.

First off was to remove the interior details along with the rear bulkhead (Yes you've guessed Im using the Aires 'pit, well it was there so would be a shame not to )

Cue the 'before and after' shot...

Next job was to apply a coat of Tamiya NATO Black as a primer with the airbrush, followed by a coat of XF-24 Dark Grey. Then out came the hairy stick things to pick out the details. This was then followed by a light drybrushing with XF-53 Neutral Grey (I think, cant quite remember as there seem to be more jars of paint on the bench than I actualy used!) As well as the edges I drybrushed the centres of the panels to lighten them a bit. This was then followed by a careful wash of a 'brownish' mix just to highlight the shadows a bit. I didn't want to weather/distress it too much as they only came into service at the end of the war and didn't see that much use.

The leather gaiters over the cannon barrels were painted overall with another home brew of browns, with shadows and highlights added using darker and lighter versions of the same colour. proir to the wash being applied. I know the gaiters are wrong and should only be half the length they are on the Aires pit, but I didn't want to try and re-make or alter them. They'll probably be hidden when the cockpit is all closed up anyway! I also added the glazing to the nose gear observation panel from a bit of scrap clear stuff I found in my spares drawer.

The Ejector seat (yes it had a bang seat) was given an overall coat of XF-32 Titanium Silver then the back and headrest given a coat of 'leather', made from a blend of XF-64 Brown and XF-3 Yellow.

Seat belts came from the Eduard pre printed etched set and were applied with a dab of cyano as the 'self adhesive' wasn't and didn't inspire much confidence. This was also the case with the two placards on the seat and the few on the sidewalls and panels. (This was probably down to its age maybe?)

The etched pedals have been assembled and are waiting a turn in front of the airbrush along with the instrument panel and gun sight.

Anyhoo that's as far as I've got so far, so without further ado or whaffle here are the pics, comments welcome...

The colours in the pics area bit darker than they are in the flesh, I really must get the 'big' camera out and stop using the eyephone!

See you all soon, thanks for lookig.

Alan

Edited April 8, 2015 by Engineer66

[Bordfunker]

That's looking very interesting.

I built the 1/32 Revell offering a few years back, but looking forward to your build with the AM.

Karl

Edited April 8, 2015 by Bordfunker

[Engineer66]

Hello all,

It's been a while since I last posted, but I have mad a little progress, twice!

I painted and assembled the main undercarriage bay, and added some details working from photo's, big mistake! It turns out the photo i was working from was of a restored aircraft, and the bay had been painted green, not RLM02, guess what colour I had painted it? Yup it was time to stop admiring my work and dismantle it, strip the paint and start again!

Anyway here we go again...

I painted the bay overall in RLM 02 (mixed from XF22 & XF49 in the ratio 1:1) Driy brushed with a lightened version of the same mix (added a splash of matt white), then a burnt umber-ish wash for the shadows, followed by another drybrushing of the lighter shade. The fescalized parts of the oleos where polished (The legs are white metal) and coated with Humbrol clear. The legs were then painted light blue/grey XF23. In hindsight I think i should have added some white. this was followed by a very dark grey wash to take away the 'new, fresh from the factory' look.

The metal elements were painted with Citadel 'boltgun metal' which I've come to really like as it brushes on lovely. and then the plumbing added with some fine lead wire. The yellow wiring is simply four strands stripped from some wire i had in the spares box, stretched between two clamps to straighten it and then painted. Once installed the wire will be moved out to run along the side of the bay.

Here are a couple of my usual 'not the best quality pics'.

Looks like I have a bit of touching up to do!

That's all for now, next up may be the engine, or maybe to close up the fuselage.

Cheers

Al

Edited September 2, 2015 by Engineer66

[Engineer66]

Didn't realise how long it's been since id last posted in this wip!

I know I said I'd probably be back with the engine, but I got carried away a bit and forgot to take some photo's. Anyway, here's some pics of how far I've got so far...

I'll post some more pics in RFI when I get a few minutes.

Thanks for looking

Al

[giemme]

Brilliant! And very unusual too! :clap:

Ciao

[Martian]

It looks great!

Martin

[GazB]

Such a pity PB decided to pull all the pics

 

Gaz