Heinkel He 162A-2 Salamander

[Mike]

Heinkel He 162A-2 Salamander

1:48 Cyberhobby

The Salamander was designed in answer to the Vokljager requirement for a point interceptor that made minimum use of strategic materials, and was easy to fly and maintain. It was powered by a single BMW 003 in a nacelle above the fuselage, making maintenance easy, and had a H-tail to accommodate the jetwash. It was service in small numbers from early 1945, and despite being considered a nice aircraft to fly by its pilots, it came too late to have much of an impact on the outcome of WWII.

This kit is a re-release of Dragon's kit, and as comes in the usual Cyberhobby white top opening box with an orange border. Mine had taken a bit of a hit in the mail, which you can probably see in the boxtop picture, but as there is plenty of room inside, there was no damage to the sprues.

Inside the box are 4 sprues of grey styrene, a clear sprue, Photo-Etched (PE) fret, pre-bent hinges for the engine nacelles, plus 2 metal rods to complete the hinges. There is also a small decal sheet, and glossy full color instructions.

Detail on the parts is good, especially on the cockpit, which has a PE instrument panel, and the rudimentary ejector seat that was fitted to this design. The multi-part BMW jet engine can be displayed if you elect to leave open the cowlings. The engine has many small styrene parts, and a wiring loom made up from a piece of PE, and with a little care should build up into a creditable replica. The cowling has rib detail inside, but some ejector pin marks will need to be removed if posing them open. A set of plastic hinges are also included for those not wishing to use the metal parts.

The fuselage of this small aircraft is only just over 6" long, and is sleek, with only a few panel lines that are rendered as recessed lines. Fine raised rib-work in the cockpit sidewall area is also supplied, which should make for a suitably busy cockpit out of the box. The two part wings each fit into a root slot under the engine cowling, and have a large contact patch with a step in, so should prove strong once glued. The step should also ensure that the wing dihedral is easy to set, which is another good thing.

The V-tail is also provided as one part, so again - no problems setting the dihedral, but the vertical tails will need accurate setting to ensure that they remain at the correct angle, towed-in at the top. The vertical tails have an apparent patina on them that gives the impression that they are a bit bumpy, but this disappears under a thin coat of primer, so it clearly an optical illusion. An alternative true-V-tail with tail bullet is also included for anyone wishing to model the early tail.

The main gear bay is a one-box affair, with port and starboard legs originating from the same bay. The complex rams and supports are rendered nicely, as are the legs themselves, but the instructions tell you to install them before completing construction, so it may be wise to investigate leaving them off until later in the build. The gear bay doors are supplied as one part that can be fitted as-is if you are modelling the Salamander in flight, but will need separating if you are modelling it with its gear down. There is a slight sink mark running along the joints, so the in-flight modeller will need to do a little sanding and re-scribing here to tidy up.

The nose gear bay is made from the inside of the nose and the underside of the cockpit floor, and as such has no internal structure other than the gear leg that attaches to the front bulkhead of the cockpit. A few strips of styrene in here would go a long way to improve the detail.

The clear parts are thin and optically clear, and the canopy can be posed open or closed as it is moulded in two parts with a small hinge at the rear, ensuring a good bond. A gunsight part and odd curved part that sits atop the gear wheel hump in the cockpit are also provided on the clear sprue.

The decal sheet is small, permitting you to build one of four machines from the same squadron from the sheet:

• 1./JG 1, Leck 1945
  
• II.JG 1, Leck 1945
  
• 2./JG 1, 1945
  
• 1./JG 1, 1945
  

The color scheme is a simple RLM 82 Light Green and RLM 81 Brown Violet over RLM 76 Light Blue, with only small variations in nose and intake lip color between the the machines. Options one and four have the familiar red arrow design on each side of the nose.

Decals are thin, in register, and printed for Dragon/Cyberhobby by Cartograf in Italy.

Conclusion

A welcome re-release under the Cyberhobby banner, with some nice Photo Etched detail parts raising the standard of the original kit. A few what-if schemes to broaden the appeal of the decal sheet would have been interesting, but these could easily be sourced elsewhere with a little imagination. With a little care and test fitting of parts the kit should build up into a good looking model of this unusual early jet.

Review sample courtesy of UK distributors for

[crookedmouth]

It would be really nice to see this built up. I saw this kit somewhere a few days ago and started salivating, but my "wanted" list is too long