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

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Thanks Wayne, Don. Time once again to show where I'm at.

The decals have now all been applied and a bit of subtle panel line washing was done throughout. Following that, the model was sprayed with a matte coat and the masks were removed. Sorry for the blur in the following pic.

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Looking closer in at the engine joint, you might see that I spent a fair amount of time trying to improve the fit here. Though far from perfect, the cowl remains removable to swap the closed one with the open engine insert.

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Close inspection of the one reference pic shows a patchy paint application around the squadron emblem. I guessed that this would have been some roughly brushed RLM 02 to blot out what might have been some personal markings (who knows?) and so I masked the patches and sprayed some 02. The effect was a bit too stark so I went over it again with some very thin 82.

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Here's the underside. I kept it pretty clean as these little jets saw very little, if any, service. Here the wheel covers have been placed and the shell ejection ports painted black.

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Yet to install are the cannon barrels, pitot tube, canopy, and the D/F loop. I also need to get this little circle done somehow (below pic). I searched through my decal stash for a white circle but got no joy so I think I'll be trying to paint it.

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That'll be a challenge for another day. In the meantime, thanks for stopping by and for throwing your two cents in.
 
Thanks everyone. Some more to show:

The open canopy has been installed and on the real airplane there is a very rudimentary locking mechanism that is quite prominent but missing from the kit. It's a great big version of the fasteners that are used to hold the cowls in place and, when the canopy is locked, it takes up much of the forward field of view! The handle locks to a hook on the windscreen rim and is pushed far forward. To release the lock, the pilot needs to pull on a wooden ball that is attached to the handle. I felt this is something I had to replicate so I slapped one together using bits of rod. The ball was made from the end of a toothpick dipped in CA that was then glued to a piece of stretched sprue that has yet to be painted. Pictures of this contraption can be found here: http://memorial.flight.free.fr/He162photod13uk.html

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Also above can be seen some small loops on the back edge of the canopy that I added using 0.2mm lead wire. I painted the corresponding slots in the bulkhead black. I have yet to add a prop that would have been used to hold the canopy in the up position.

The D/F loop for the FuG 24 unit was made of a strip of brass sheet and the kit-supplied one was binned.

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That circle on the vertical stab was painted by hand and could use a bit of touch-up.

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I'm getting close to finishing this now and so should be done for the GB deadline. I am also working on the open engine with its cowls and hope to get it done as well but that involves a lot more detail work. I'll start showing pics of the engine stuff after I finish the remaining bits on the main subject.

Thanks for looking in.
 

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