This
is my 1/32 Revell He 162. This was my first foray into 1/32 scale,
and I doubt I could have picked a better kit to start with. The kit is
very well engineered and cast, fit was great and assembly was a breeze.
This kit has the most detail of any I've built, but that may be saying more about
my lack of experience than the virtues of the kit. The 162 is a very
compact plane, so the finished model is actually smaller than many other
subjects in 1/48. For the price (approx. $25 USD from several online
retailers), this is a hard kit to beat!
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I
only have a couple of construction notes. First, you need a LOT
of weight to get this one to sit on it's gear. Because of the size and
detail of the nose gear, there's not a lot of room in the front to add weight.
I wound up having to add several 1 oz. weights directly behind the cockpit to
get the plane to balance. Second, all three landing gear attach at several
small contact points, making the whole affair a tad fragile. This normally
wouldn't be a problem, but with a half-pound of ballast in the front, you have
to be careful when you move the finished piece as the gear tend to twist
and would break if you nudge it the wrong way. Everything else was
straightforward and didn't present any problems.
I
built the kit straight out of the box without any detailing or
add-ons. I washed all the sub-assemblies as I went to bring out as much of
the kit detail as I could. The cockpit, engine and landing gear/bays all
have a lot of little bits to catch the eyes. The fuselage and wings
were airbrushed with MM Drab Green for the top and a mix of MM Light Grey and Testors
Sky Blue for the bottom. Various other colors were used for detailing.
I gave the entire model a sludge wash over a flat finish - this leaves some
of the wash on the areas you wipe for some nice, easy weathering. I
also picked out some of the panel lines and leading edges with MM Aluminum
to simulate chipping. Decals look great and went on without any problems.
The whole thing was sealed with flat lacquer. I hope you like it!
Sean
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