Last Hope...1/48 Heinkel He162A-2 Salamander/Spatz, 1./JG1
Built in 2016.
One of the weapon systems towards the end of the war that was intended to bring the change.
Has some connection to our home region.
About 30km away from our hometown there was a He162 underground facility in Hinterbrühl. Besides that, the 162 maiden flight took place also about 30km away at the Schwechat Airbase (now the Vienna International Airport) on Dec. 6th 1944 where the testpilot Gotthold Peter reached over 800km/h. On Dec. 10th 1944 during the official presentation flight the aircraft partly disintegrated and Peter died in a fatal crash.
Tamiya kit with Kagero decals from their mini Topcolors 37 "Last Hope of the Luftwaffe" including some nice profiles made by fellow Austrian Simon Schatz. Super-Fabric seatbelts from Eduard, model painted with Gunze and Tamiya acrylics.
The model shows an aircraft of 1./JG1 in May 1945. The whole unit surrendered to the Anglo-Americans.
Awesome Salamander, Reinhard!
Beautiful build Reinhard. I have this kit on my to do list. I love late war German aircraft. Your effort is an inspiration!
Great build, Reinhard.
Saw one of these in real and I have to admit that they were bigger than I expected.
Absolutely STUNNING. You are a true master of the craft. Your work is inspirational to say the least. Well done!
Reinhard, @grimreaper
I'll echo what has already been stated. I have several of these kits in the stash, and hope to build them in our upcoming Luftwaffe themed group build, which should start on Saturday, May 1st.
What really strikes me on this build, is the putty lines and how realistic they look. I have seen two pictures of these JG1 aircraft when they were being surrendered, or shortly afterwards. Thank you for presenting this for us to enjoy. You have helped me decide on which paint scheme one of my builds will have... this one of course !
I can tell this model means a lot to you, as it has a close personal connection with the underground factory, and test flights occurring not too far from your home.
I definitely pressed the "liked" button. Well done.
Thanks a lot Louis! Will definitely participate with my dad´s ongoing Luftwaffe builds 😉
Well, wouldn´t say it means a lot to us but it´s part of our local history. There were several airfields and aircraft(part) factories in the surrounding 20-30km area, like the WNF, Wiener Neustädter Flugzeugwerke and the Heinkel factory in Schwechat.
On one side it´s interesting to have had some innovative aircraft industry in our area but on the other side it was also part of our dark past. The mentioned underground factory was in a grotto. About 1800 KZ inmates had to mount the aircraft parts under harsh conditions there. About 50 fuselages (a third of all He162) were built there, then brought to the Heinkel factory in Schwechat where the final assembly was done.
Towards the end of March 1945, when the Red Army was already close, it was decided to close the factory in Hinterbrühl. On April 1st about 50 sick KZ prisoners where killed by gasoline injections into the heart. The rest of the prisoners were forced to walk to the KZ Mauthausen in Upper-Austria (a distance of about 160km), guarded by the SS. A lot of them died or were killed during the march. 56 prisoners could flee during the march.
That's a beauty - love that scheme. I have an old kit of this in 1/72 (Heller I think), and have been wondering how to spruce up an older kit. I really like the mixed scheme here, and like Louis, I may have to find decals to replicate!
Very sharp 162. Really like the puttied panel lines.
Reinhard, an excellent looking He 162, I really lie the paint paint scheme !
I built this kit awhile ago and must say its an excellent kit to build !