Heinkel He 162A-2 by Chris Wauchop (Revell 1/32)

Revell's 1/32 scale
Heinkel He 162A-2

by Chris Wauchop

Heinkel He 162 Volksjager

images by Brett Green

Revell's 1/32 scale Heinkel He 162A-2 Volksjager is available online from Squadron

Introduction

Revell's 1/32 scale Heinkel He 162 comprises 87 parts in pale grey injection moulded plastic on four sprues, and 4 clear parts. The fuselage, wings and tailplanes certainly capture the distinctive lines of the Volksjager.

The Heinkel He 162 was a simple aircraft, and the relatively small number of kit parts reflects that simplicity. However, this does not imply any compromise in detail. The kit includes a full BMW 003E engine, positionable clamshell engine cowling doors, a nicely detailed cockpit, a gun bay with poseable access panel, and wheel wells packed with structural features. The gear legs are nicely rendered with brake lines moulded in place. The wheels are outstanding too.

The quality of the exterior surfaces is also very good. Many of the major parts on the He 162 were wooden. These areas, including the nose cone, the main section of the wings and the tailplanes, are accurately depicted smooth and featureless. Metal sections have fine panel lines and some rivet detail. I particularly like Revell's reproduction of the simple hinges on the He 162. The deep cannon troughs, continuing through to separate parts for the cannon barrels inside the fuselage, are also noteworthy.

Ejector pin marks - those raised or recessed circles usually seen in various locations on kits - are a perennial challenge for kit manufacturers. They are an unavoidable by-product of the injection moulding process, but Revell has cleverly designed the kit so that the marks will not be visible once the kit is assembled. The usual areas that you would expect to see ejector pin marks, including the inside of the big engine cowlings and the gear doors, are completely clean.

There are a few ejector circles on the inside of the forward fuselage, but even these have been located away from the moulded-on sidewall detail. The only blemishes on the surface of the kit are some sink lines on the side of the fuselage, but even these actually look like stressed metal effect!

Construction

Chris Wauchop has been busy with commission builds lately, so he decided to actually build a model for himself. He had been busting to build Revell's large-scale Volksjager ever since it was released, so it was not surprising to hear that he was making a start on this kit. What was more surprising was to receive a phone call seven days later telling me that he was finished!

Chris stated the the model was a pleasure to build. He made the following additions and changes:

The ejection seat head rest was removed and replaced with a new part formed from plastic card and Milliput.
Added seat harness from lead foil for the straps and buckles from fine wire.
Rudder pedals from Eagle Editions photo-etched parts
Hydraulic brake lines from fine solder
Tyres each received a subtle flat spot
DF loop was discarded and replaced with a bent staple (from a Tamiya plastic bag!)

Canopy locking rings were added from fine wire, with corresponding slots cut into the top of the canopy sill.
The lower inside lip of the windscreen was painted silver, per reference photos.
Reflector on gunsight was replaced with thin clear sheet acetate.
Canopy locking handle was thinned.

Pitot tube flag was cut from Tamiya masking tape.

A very large amount of weight was added to the nose in order to prevent the model from sitting on its tail!

Painting and Markings

The model was painted using Chris's Aztek A470 airbrush fitted with the "Fine" tan-coloured tip.

The cockpit interior was painted Tamiya XF-24 Dark Grey. The canopy frame was painted using Tamiya XF-63 German Grey, with light grey spots representing rivets. The canopy was then carefully brushed with Future floor polish to create the impression that the frames were on the inside of the plaxiglass.

Lower surfaces were painted with Gunze H417 RLM 76 Light Blue.

Upper surfaces were painted with Gunze H423 RLM 83 Dark Green. The rear fuselage dorsal decking was painted Flat Black, as was the rear of the engine nacelle.

The engine intake was finished in Tamiya AS-12, Bare Metal Silver, toned down with a thin Brown/Black mix.

Weathering was applied in Chris's usual way, spraying a thin mix of Black and Red Brown along panel lines and in the occasional random streak, with a thin wash completing this post-shading.

Markings were from the excellent 1/32 scale Fritz Decals release, "Heinkel He 162A-2 Part One".

Conclusion

Authentic appearance, simple parts breakdown, exceptional fit, easy construction, good detail, affordable price.

Could a modeller ask for anything more?

Revell's new 1/32 scale Heinkel He 162 is a terrific model. In this scale, the He 162 is big enough to see the detail but small enough to display easily. This aircraft also suggests some interesting conversion possibilities for Luftwaffe '46 aficionados, including different tail surfaces, wings and powerplants.

With some very nice aftermarket decals and accessories now available, there is no excuse for Luftwaffe modelling fans not to get cracking on their own Volksjager, whether super detailed or built straight from the box.