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

[fubar57]

Best of luck; better on the ground than in the air

 

[Crimea_River]

Been busy designing an engine stand for the Merlin and got the drawings to the fabricator today. Minimal bench time for this little model but here's a bit to show.

Studying canopy pics, it appears that there is no outer frame but that the perspex is riveted to an inner frame. So I masked the INSIDE of the canopy and sprayed it with Tamiya XF24 which is pretty close to RLM 66. Apologies for the poor focus.

The windscreen was done in the same way and then glued in place. The clear area was then masked and is now ready for paint to see how the seams look.

I mentioned earlier the lousy fit of the closed engine over the pins and so tried to fix some of this by cracking the cowl panels and wedging one side open a bit:

I also drilled out the vinyl bushings in the pin holes to make the fit less tight but nothing that I've tried so far is making the engine fit properly. I may just have to bite the bullet and glue the whole thing in place, level the stepped seam, and forget about the interchangeable open engine part. I can't figure out what's preventing the thing from sitting properly and will fiddle with it some more when I get time.

Thanks for checking in and for your patience.

 

[Crimea_River]

I don't feel so bad now. Even Chris Wauchop didn't get a good fit:

Heinkel He 162A-2 by Chris Wauchop (Tamiya 1/48)

 

[Wurger]

 

[SaparotRob]

Could it be that the kit is correct and even Heinkel didn't get it to fit right? It did appear late in the war when manufacturing tolerances were a bit more "relaxed".

 

[Crimea_River]

That would be a great excuse for Tamiya but no, it was not that bad.

Axis Warplane Survivors, German Aircraft: Heinkel

Harold writes articles on Canadian military history, including Military Parachuting, Warplanes, Armour and Artillery, Castles, Fortifications, Sieges and Battles, Warships, The Cold War, Women in the Canadian Forces, First Nations and Black Canadian Military Service. Each article is supported by...

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[Donivanp]

Getting there. Looking good.

 

[Gnomey]

Great work so far Andy!

 

[Wayne Little]

keep up the good work, despite the small glitch.....

 

[T Bolt]

It's looking real nice Andy. I would just glue that engine cover. How often are you going to open it up to look at it?
Hope you get the Merlin sorted out.

 

[Crimea_River]

Thanks Glenn. Engine stand for the Merlin is in production and should be ready in 2 weeks. Until then it awaits amputation from the aircraft.

Spent a grand total of maybe 15 minutes on this build over 4 sessions since the last update - not even enough to warm the seat at my bench. I've not given up on improving the cowl fit and have broken the sides away from the base and added wedges. If that doesn't work then I may yet end up gluing it all as Glenn suggested. Mojo on life support.

 

[T Bolt]

Mojo on life support.

I'm right there with you Andy

 

[Crimea_River]

Managed to sit at the bench for half an hour today while I waited for my computer to reboot after a botched update. Shot a coat of primer on everything but the engine which is still not fixed. The wing leading edges and the canopy will get a little TLC to fix some minor seam issues.

See you in three weeks at the rate I'm going.

 

[Wurger]

 

[Gnomey]

Lovely work so far Andy!

 

[Wayne Little]

keep at it man....

 

[Crimea_River]

Done fiddling with the closed engine cowl so got it painted. I used AK Interactive for the first time and the colour is RLM 81 Version 3. I'm a bit surprised how glossy this turned out but am otherwise pleased with the finish. Probably because I used Tamiya's thinner and not AK's.

The picture below has been adjusted for colour somewhat but I still could not achieve the tones seen with the naked eye. The actual colour is more green than it appears in the photo. I settled on RLM 02 for the intake ring. The silver paint chipping was done by spraying Tamiya Aluminum first then putting a roughly cut mask over the patch before applying the 81. The chipped area replicates that seen in the reference pic for yellow 11 seen in an earlier post in this thread.

 

[Donivanp]

Nice. I did enjoy using the AK's on the F-4. Smells and I'm using the Tamiya and Mr. Thinner for the thinner.

 

[Crimea_River]

Thanks Don. I had my dust collector fan going with a manifold inlet right by my desk and I had the window open so no issues. I used the Tamiya Lacquer Thinner.

 

[Wurger]