Heinkel He 162 A-1 1/72 Revell (Ex-Lindberg) No. 4143 (1984 boxing)
I recently finished building a 1/72 Revell/Lindberg He-162. This should have been an easy build but I lost interest on it pretty early after I started the build. About 4 different builds got done before I got serious on this one again.
The goal on this build was the same from my other builds, to take an older kit and see how much I can add to bring it up some. I know there are better kits out there of the He-162 but I had this in my stash for over 30 years, I am currently still enjoying these old builds so why not!
On the first shot on the left side is the Lindberg kit that I built in 1973, the one on the right is my recent build of the same kit but from a Revell boxing.
To start off I scratch built the cockpit area in which also was involved with making the nose gear wheel well. For this to get done, I had to open up the cockpit area to make this all fit. Then I worked on some smaller items like adding antennas, air scoop for the cowling, flight control trim tabs, stall vanes and a tail skid. Lindberg's canopy was very thick and distorted so I used a Squadron vacu-form replacement canopy for the Dragon He-162 kit. I had to do some trimming to make this fit the Lindberg kit. To me I felt it did make this area look a bit more correct and easier to see into the cockpit. The entire model was sanded down to get rid of the rivets since a good portion of this aircraft was made from wood.
Lindberg first released this kit in 1965 and to my eyes it does presents itself as a He-162 very well. At the end I was happy with this build. It looks happy on the self with the other builds.
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- 1. Added stall vanes on the inboard wing, a small air inlet was added on the upper left side of the cowling, also the DF antenna and its mount.
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- 1. Used stretched sprue to add the rudder and elevators trim tabs.
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- 1. I added a red nose gear down a lock indicator (red pin which is stretched sprue) in front of the wind shield.
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- 1. Looks messy but it got better after everything was closed up and the nose wheel well installed.
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- 1. Working on the headrest area.
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- 1. Nose wheelwell is installed.
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- 1. Nose wheel well, head rest are installed. Added a little to the forward top part of the cowling to build up this area a bit. And added the glaresheild.
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- 1. Added a bottom keel beam to the main wheel well. I should have done this much earlier.
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- 1. Used Print Scale decals for this build.
Nice result on this oldie but beautie, my friend @v1pro!
Love all the improvements you made!
Thank you Spiros, by the way I enjoyed your Yak 3 article in MM! ?.
It takes dedication to do all those improvements on a small scale aircraft such as this one. Good work , Bob @v1pro !
Jay, thank you.
This is definitely a work of love and dedication. With all those fancy extra detailing sets and aftermarket items out there, going back to the "simple" things of our hobby -the essentials- is always a refreshing experience but at the same time a highly demanding one.
Bravo!
Thank you Oscar. I am okay with the scratch building, for me I enjoy it. It may not look anything great but it does the job.
I agree with Oscar Ruf! Great work of a truly devoted model builder!
Gary thank you.
Very nice of a challenging build of a most interesting aircraft. Nice work.
Thank you Bernard.
Nice example of some elbow grease and creativity bringing an older kit up to a great result! Well done. I still think these are my favorite projects.
Thank you Greg. Yes I agree, these are my favorite builds.
Nicely done! I enjoy seeing these older kits built.
Thank you Robert.
Nice work, Bob. Building the older kits sure brings back memories and reminds us of why we started building.
George thank you.
Nicely done Bob.
Thank you Allan.
You got the best from the Lindberg and Revell kits, Bob (@v1pro). Well done!
George thank you.