**** DONE: GB-51 1/48 Heinkel He162A-2 Salamander - No Propellers

[Crimea_River]

Username: Crimea River
First name: Andy
Category: Judge – Non competing
Scale: 1/48
Manufacturer: Tamiya
Model Type: He162A-2
Aftermarket addons: None planned. Possibly some minimal scratch built adds

I will join this Group Build with a recently purchased kit of the He162. This looks to be another excellent offering by Tamiya as can be seen by the parts detailed below.

I have not yet decided on a scheme. The kit provides decals for 4 options to chose from from and I found another in Gaemperle's "Captured Eagles" that is intriguing but for which I have no decals. I will probably end up doing a kit scheme to keep things simple as I have no desire to make things complex at this time. Here are some box and sprue shots:

The kit:

Fuselage, wings, and tail, with a smattering of cockpit stuff. Details are crisp, free of flash, and the sprue attachment points are nice and small to keep things tidy. I have read that the fit is amazing and that some parts, like the tail, barely need glue. This will make things easier to paint.

There is a full engine provided and cockpit details seem to be fairly complete, except that there would have been some grab handles on the side of the ejection seat that Tamiya have chosen not to provide. These can be a simple add using wire. The frame that you can see at left is an engine trolley. The clear parts are, well, really clear and Tamiya have thoughtfully provided a steel ball to solve any tail-sitting potential..

Two identical sprues are provided for the engine cowls and that's because you can build an interchangeable closed cowl and an open one compete with the engine. These assemblies are not glued in place but rather can be changed out and pressed into place with tight fitting steel pins and vinyl bushings. In providing these two identical sprues, there are now some extra landing gear struts and doors. The doors need to be cut apart if the undercarriage is posed down.

Here are the decals with the 4 marking options. Tamiya's decals are often criticised as being on the thick side but these look reasonable and well printed. The little bag at left contains the pins and bushings for the interchangeable engine and cowls mentioned above,

Tamiya, for all their innovative ideas, still chose to provide the toy-like seatbelt decals which they have done now for decades but that I will once again not use. I might try sticking these to some wine bottle foil and make my own but we'll see. The rest of the kit looks like a cracker and I look forward to starting right away. With smoke precluding any outdoor activity and my P-38 gloss coat curing, I may dive in later today.

 

[Wurger]

 

[Airframes]

Nice one Andy, looking forward to seeing this diminutive kite take shape.

 

[Wayne Little]

 

[Ralph Haus]

Tamiya never seems to disappoint, well maybe the seat belts, but all that I have assembled have been well worth the +$. Looking forward to seeing the results of your skills being applied.

 

[tango35]

Looks like the most of the tamiya kits, shake&bake. You will have your fun.

 

[Crimea_River]

Thanks guys. I made a bit of a start while waiting for my P-38 coats to cure. Things go together quickly on this one and so need to remember to stop and take pics. Will post some soon.

 

[T Bolt]

Good one Andy
I built the Dragon kit a few years back and remember struggling wit the fit. The Tamiya hit looks a step above.

 

[Crimea_River]

Hope so Glen but all indications are that it's going to fit together nicely. Anyway, I better get some shots posted before I get too far ahead,

I began work by painting various cockpit bits in Tamiya XF-24 to resemble RLM 66. I mixed in a bit of Future as a thinner to allow for washes and the few decals to be placed with ease. At left is the large receptacle for the nose gear that ends up taking up much of the area between the pilot's legs. I added some wiring from the control column that can be seen running up the right side of the unit. More on that in a future post. The seat in the middle has the cushions done in black but I have yet to add the seatbelts, which I will scratch build, as well as the two side handles. The instrument panel turned out to be a bit of a flop in that one reviewer had success just putting the whole instrument decal in place and applying setting solution. I normally cut out the individual dials and apply them separately, a very tedious task, but I though this time I'd try just applying the whole decal in case Tamiya accounted for the stretch. Well, it didn't work for me and the dials on the right are well off the mark. The only saving grace is that the thing is so tiny that it won't be very noticeable. The IP is not finished anyway as I need to apply a matt coat and pick out the glass covers with Future or PVA.

The sidewalls have also been completed in a similar way. I used black Tamiya panel wash, though I'm still not 100% liking this product as it's much too aggressive and needs to be treated with respect. Note the stains where it has spread. The ribs have been highlighted with a slightly lighter grey and I did go ahead and add a yellow wire harness which is quite prominent in reference pics available with the Googler.

I had trouble with one of the torque links. In the pic below, you can see how one is still attached to the sprue just under the two circular pieces. At the top of the pic you can see what's left of the first one I tried to clean up. The thing is so fragile and hard to hold to clean up the sprue gates that I ended up breaking it. The thing dropped on the floor and I could only find half of it so I had to make the missing piece with styrene card.

Here's the main gear well partly done and it's a rather nifty little piece of engineering. At the top right you can see the repaired torque link in white, not yet painted. Tamiya have done a really nice job of detailing this area but that won't stop me from adding a few more bits here and there. But for that, you'll have to wait for the next installment.

Thanks for following along.

 

[rochie]

nice start Andy

 

[Wayne Little]

Like it...!

 

[Wurger]

 

[Ralph Haus]

Hope so Glen but all indications are that it's going to fit together nicely. Anyway, I better get some shots posted before I get too far ahead,

I began work by painting various cockpit bits in Tamiya XF-24 to resemble RLM 66. I mixed in a bit of Future as a thinner to allow for washes and the few decals to be placed with ease. At left is the large receptacle for the nose gear that ends up taking up much of the area between the pilot's legs. I added some wiring from the control column that can be seen running up the right side of the unit. More on that in a future post. The seat in the middle has the cushions done in black but I have yet to add the seatbelts, which I will scratch build, as well as the two side handles. The instrument panel turned out to be a bit of a flop in that one reviewer had success just putting the whole instrument decal in place and applying setting solution. I normally cut out the individual dials and apply them separately, a very tedious task, but I though this time I'd try just applying the whole decal in case Tamiya accounted for the stretch. Well, it didn't work for me and the dials on the right are well off the mark. The only saving grace is that the thing is so tiny that it won't be very noticeable. The IP is not finished anyway as I need to apply a matt coat and pick out the glass covers with Future or PVA.

View attachment 637569

The sidewalls have also been completed in a similar way. I used black Tamiya panel wash, though I'm still not 100% liking this product as it's much too aggressive and needs to be treated with respect. Note the stains where it has spread. The ribs have been highlighted with a slightly lighter grey and I did go ahead and add a yellow wire harness which is quite prominent in reference pics available with the Googler.

View attachment 637570

I had trouble with one of the torque links. In the pic below, you can see how one is still attached to the sprue just under the two circular pieces. At the top of the pic you can see what's left of the first one I tried to clean up. The thing is so fragile and hard to hold to clean up the sprue gates that I ended up breaking it. The thing dropped on the floor and I could only find half of it so I had to make the missing piece with styrene card.

View attachment 637567

Here's the main gear well partly done and it's a rather nifty little piece of engineering. At the top right you can see the repaired torque link in white, not yet painted. Tamiya have done a really nice job of detailing this area but that won't stop me from adding a few more bits here and there. But for that, you'll have to wait for the next installment.

View attachment 637568

Thanks for following along.

Learning something new every time I login. The mixing of Future with the paint to allow a wash to be applied and not have it 'melt' the paint off (yes I use Tamiya wash) is a great idea. Thanks.

 

[Crimea_River]

Thanks guys. Ralph, you can also use Tamiya's gloss clear as a mixer but it's not as thin and it's a lot more expensive.

Here's the main gear well all finished. I added another drain line (fuel vent?) plus a stub for a third, as well as some pipe and tubing to the rear bulkhead based on reference photos found on the web. These were easy adds to visible areas so I went ahead and did it. After adding the black Tamiya accent wash, I ran some muddy colours in there as well to make it look a bit dirtied up.

 

[Wurger]

 

[fubar57]

Nice looking innards, Andy

 

[rochie]

that turned out great Andy, like it a lot

 

[Gnomey]

Lovely work so far Andy!

 

[Donivanp]

Nice onem

 

[Crimea_River]

Today I was in the mood to tackle the nifty little BMW 003 engine provided with the kit. The basic shell, finished with Tamiya semi-gloss black, Alclad Magnesium, and Alclad Semi-flat Aluminum looks like this:

And with the other parts, painted with Alclad Aluminum, and now sitting on the kit's unpainted trolley, it looks like this:

In the above pic, there are a couple of bits of black still drying and the tail pipe seam has yet to be smoothed over and painted. This is a neat little kit in itself but I'm going to consult this site and add some piping and stuff. Thanks for looking.