**** DONE: GB-36 1/48 He 162A-2 - Axis Manufactured Aircraft of WWII

[Crimea_River]

Looks good.

 

[Gnomey]

Nice work so far!

 

[Donivanp]

 

[Wayne Little]

 

[Wurger]

 

[Crimea_River]

Nice.

 

[Airframes]

Good stuff Don.

 

[Gnomey]

Good work so far!

 

[Donivanp]

I'm quite displeased with how this has turned out but it is what it is. I really don't like these Peddinghaus decals at all, I tried several types of setting solution and solvents but nothing seemed to work. As mentioned by several the "PE" was more like steel and took a lot of force to release. I will be covering the canopy, not having a pilot and having issues with the cockpit area.

 

[Wurger]

Looking good though.

 

[parsifal]

I agree with Wotjek

So apart from the decals and the PE stuff, what do you think of the kit?

 

[Crimea_River]

Doesn't look bad at all.

 

[turbo]

Looks good to me

 

[Wayne Little]

Not bad..!

 

[Donivanp]

So apart from the decals and the PE stuff, what do you think of the kit?

Thanks guys, The kit is fairly respectable given it's age. It looks pretty good over all. The main gear doors are molded as one piece with the center brace and if you want them open you have to cut them out before mounting them. the cut line is molded on the inside with no panel line on the outside. I spent 20 years working on aircraft and as a rule I don't go for a lot of panel line work on models. I agree with underside panel lining on light colored aircraft in certain areas but in my experience it is normally overdone. That being said, Gear doors almost always show up as with speed breaks. these Items are large and open and close and don't always fit perfectly and are noticable. With hydraulic gear leacts and dirt and grime they are prominute items. so as the kit does not have them outlined, they should be scribed in. I did not do that, my bad. These aircraft (He 162) were new. almost no hours on them high end might have been like 10 hours. most were just built and as the Russians were overtaking the factories they kept trying to stay one step ahead.
The kit had a couple of minor fit problems but the worst thing was the PE. Heavy and bulky and hard to get off the tree. It was well done but as an early example of PE it is harder to work with, trim and modify. the instrument panel and hood if redone by today's standard would be great.. The cockpit is a shame to cover as I'm doing because though it's a bit barron it is well done. needs seat belts as many kits do, but for most that is minor work. If you like the early jets and the He 162 (I do) it's worth the effort. I did not have the time early one and thing got messed up while in the truck and that degraded my resolve as well as losing some of the PE parts necessary for proper effect. I have always though that having molded parts as well as the PE would be nice as some modelers prefer the molded over PE and some not.
The decals were old and brittle and did not want to come off the transfer sheet. That prompted getting the Peddinghaus set. I can not say I recommend these decals. I did not like the lay of them or that they are printed on a single transfer sheet and not individually. I did not note this before using and almost had a full disaster right off. I recovered but it was too late to trim the first couple of markings( the arrow and the 5 and shields. The sheet is complete though I did not use much of the stenciling. Some others may have used them with out issue but my experience was not a good one. they did not set well and show up in spite of using MicroSol and and MicroSet and also Solaset solutions. The Solvaset normally bring any decal to it's knees, shriveling and forcing it to conform to the base it's on. These thumbed their nose at me and did nothing.
I had wanted to do gear down. All the books and videos I could find on the subject the kit depits well. I would recommend theis kit to anyone with the caveats pointed out. Take the time to work though the PE and have a catcher for when it flies one you.

 

[Capt. Vick]

Like it! I'm building one just like it in my garage.

 

[Donivanp]

Almost considered

done!

 

[Wurger]

Looking good. But why the canopy is blue?

 

[Donivanp]

Looking good. But why the canopy is blue?

because I can't fix the cockpit and no pilot. It's a cop out on myself.

 

[Wurger]

Roger.