The Heinkel He 162 Volksjäger (German, “People’s Fighter”), the name of a project of the Emergency Fighter Program design competition, was a German single-engine, jet-powered fighter aircraft fielded by the Luftwaffe in World War II. It was designed and built quickly and made primarily of wood as metals were in very short supply and prioritised for other aircraft. Volksjäger was the Reich Air Ministry’s official name for the government design program competition won by the He 162 design. Other names given to the plane include Salamander, which was the codename of its construction program, and Spatz (“Sparrow”), which was the name given to the plane by Heinkel.

The kit

Although released in 2006, this kit is still of very high quality.
It is absolutely possible to build a beautiful model out of the box without the need of any aftermarket products.
Personally, I like that Tamiya provides some extra information about the plane and its components on an extra info sheet. Bravo!
Special features of this kit:

• Beautiful pilot figure included
• Very detailed BMW-003 jet engine
• Maintenance trolley for displaying the unmounted jet engine
• Metal ball as counter weight included

So let’s have a look at the parts…

Box content.

A-sprue: Fuselage, wings and cockpit parts. Very nice details for the small cockpit!

B- & C-sprue: Jet engine, maintenance trolley and more cockpit parts and a lovely detailed pilot figure.

D- & E-sprue (2x included): Jet engine covers and landing gear

F-sprue: Clear parts. Very well molded. No distortion at all.

Pilot figure, molded as one piece. Very well engineered with the connection to the sprue on the bottom!

Some details…

Some details…

Some details…

Some details…

Poly caps and metal ball for counter weight included

Information sheet with historical data and facts about the jet and some of its components. Very Cool! (Backside provides the same texts in Japanese)

Classical Tamiya instructions printed in grey scale. Unfortunately, paint schemes are black and white as well.

Painting option A: side view

Painting option A: top/bottom view

Painting option B, C & D

Decal sheet looks really nice and well printed. I think some scratch built seatbelts will look better in the end but it’s nice that a decal is included. No swastikas.

Paint conversion table for Tamiya paints. A “nice to have” I guess.

The box contains:

• 5 grey sprues
• 1 clear sprue
• 1 decal sheet
• Instructions sheet
• He162 historical information sheet
• Tamiya paint conversion table
• 8 poly caps
• Metal ball

Pros

• Typical Tamiya quality: perfectly molded sprues
• Lots of small and crisp details
• Nice decals for 4 different versions
• Possibility to display the jet engine unmounted on the trolley and still having a complete He162 model
• Pilot figure (for those of you who like figures)

Cons

• Quality has its price, currently €25 to €35 (about $35)
• Decals do not include the swastikas