The Aircraft

The Heinkel 162 series was a last-ditch effort by the RLM to stop the destruction of Germany’s industries, transportation system and energy distribution by Allied bombing. The project began in September of 1944, with the prototypes first flown in December.

The He-162A versions were mostly wood construction, with the single turbojet engine. It ended up being the fastest jet fighter flown during WW2. The wood construction turned out to be highly problematical, as the glue used was not compatible with the wood, and the second prototype flight ended with one aileron coming apart, and the aircraft crashed, killing the pilot.

The Kit

This kit contains all the parts for one Post-WW2 He-162A, with decals for four different aircraft. There are two 162s with Soviet VVS markings, one British and one French. The VVS apparently never flew their Heinkels, but the RAF flew theirs at Farnborough , crashing it in November of 1945. The French example lasted longer, flying in 1949. There’s no resin or PE in the kit. There is a cockpit with seat and instrument panel, wheel wells with some detail, and separate parts for the jet engine intake and exhaust.

Construction

Construction begins with painting the cockpit and wheel wells and installing the detail parts. This includes the nose wheel well, the main wheel well, the jet engine intake and exhaust and the back bulkhead for the cockpit. I added a bit of lead weight in the front. The instructions call for 2 grams of weight. A US Penny weighs 2.5 grams, so that gave me an idea how much weight I needed. I wound up using a piece of flat lead from many projects ago. I also painted the wheels, and landing gear legs at this time, to save time later.

I held off installing the jet engine intake ring, seat and instrument panel to make painting easier. So I now installed the wings and tail. The tail went in pretty easily, the wings went on just fine. I built the He-162D a few months ago, and those wings didn’t fit as well.

I also put on the part on the bottom of the fuselage, between the landing gear, as it required a bit of sanding and putty, and it needed to be done before painting.

Painting

The most difficult part of the paint scheme was deciding what color matched French Insignia Blue. Then it was paint the whole thing blue. When that was done, I masked the nose and put on the red, and then did the black on the exhaust area.

Decals

The decals were very good. I had no problems getting the decals off the paper. When I’m applying decals, I put a tiny spot of white glue where the decal goes, then wet the area to thin the glue. This allows me to have a wet spot so I can move the decal to align it. Once it’s in place, a dab with a tissue removed the extra liquid, and the decal stays nicely.

My biggest problem with the decals was the tricolor stripes on the tail. I had to look very closely at the trailing edge to be sure I was even with it with the back of the decal. I matched the two blues VERY well, and it was hard to tell where the decal ended.

Finishing Touches

Once the decals had set overnight, I put on a coat of Testors clear flat acrylic to dull down the finish and protect the decals. It was also now time to put the landing gear on, add the gear doors and put on the canopy. One note on the gear. The instructions have you put the nose gear on before assembling the fuselage halves. It lasted until the next step, then I knocked it off. It went in fine after the decals, and stayed in because it wasn’t getting any rough handling.

Overall Evaluation

Recommended. It’s a fairly easy assembly, the decals are very good, and it’s interesting. This is another of those projects which will cause a certain amount of discussion at a chapter meeting. The French markings lead to statements like “I didn’t know the French had any of those!” Yep, they did.

Many thanks to Brengun for this excellent kit, and to IPMS/USA for the chance to build it.