He-178, the world's first turbojet powered aircraft

Modeling Subjects Aircraft
1

Hey guys,

After months of hunting, chasing, and researching, I was finally able to track down this elusive kit, the Condor 1:48 Heinkel HE-178. As far as I can discern, this is the only 1:48 kit of the V-1. There are a few 1:72 kits of both the V-1 and the V-2. The 1:48 kit is a short-run release, and it is riddled with all the problems of short run productions

For those not in the know, the He-178 was the first practical jet aircraft. Most people will argue it’s the Me-262, but the He-178 was flying, while the 262 was still on the drawing board.

Unfortunately, the RLM wasn’t interestested in persuing a jet aircraft that under-performed existing prop fighters. So, after 12 flights, it was hangered in the aviation museum, which was destroyed in an allied bombing run, in 1943.

So, the kit has its problems - for instance, there are 27 parts in the kit, and only 2 steps in the directions (3 if you include the painting guide). It has a fret of PE, but the instructions only mention 2 of the 9 pieces, with only arrows pointing to where they might go. The parts also lack guide pins or location guides. So there’s no definite alignment. It’s a “get it close, glue and clamp it in place, and hope it’s right” type of build.

The final problem, is the paint guide - not so much the guide, but the color choice. The instructions say the fuselage is bare metal and RLM 02 (a light tan), But of the 4 or 5 archival pictures that exist, the color is much darker. I have taken several examples of models painted in RLM 02 and tried every trick in photoshop to get the colors to match. It just doesn’t work.

So, I settled on Tamiya German grey XF-63. I think it’s the most likely candidate, and I’ll show you why in the pictures.

Here’s my build, in normal color

The archive photo

And my photo, desaturated and little bit of film grain, thrown in

Anyway, sorry if I’ve bored anyone with the history lesson.

Enjoy

-Fred

2

Didn’t know anything about this plane until I watched the “Warplane” series on military channel. In fact I just watched the jet age episode today. It’s a great looking build. Despite the issues you did a good job. And it’s good to see modelers such as yourself paying it some respect. I’m not Luftwaffe color expert but the photo sure doesn’t look like tan. I think your color choice is pretty good.

3

Good to see someone with knowledge and passion to put into a unique build! Turned out very well.

4

I took some notes, Fred. Have the Condor kit in the attic. Nice build.

5

Great job there! I know what you mean about limited run kits but she looks good to me! And looks like you nailed the colour there, looks much darker than tan to me too. Kudos sir!

6

Thanks for the compliments, everyone. I’m glad you guys enjoy the less mainstream subjects, as well.

ProfessorDeath - I’d been working on a project for the last couple of years, building planes that best represented evolutions or inspiritations in human flight. When it came to the jet age, I had to do some digging to come across the He-178, to see where in the timeline it actually fell, in comparison to the Me-262. Then finding the kit was it’s own little challenge. Tracked one kit down, in a hobby shop in Poland, who then, as it turned out, had to get one from a supplier in the Czhech Republic. Took months of back forth emails, before finally getting it.

Thanks, Sub - and I’m glad you enjoyed the finished product, and could appreciate the work that went in to it.

Always glad to add to the knowledge base, John. Here’s a little heads up - when it comes to closing the fuselage, you’re going to need to completely re-shape the cockpit rear wall, and the front blanking plate, in the nose. As is, they’re completely wrong in shape and dimensions. Also, like me, you’ll probably be tempted to open the wheel wells (both front and tail), but for all flights, the wells were sealed and the wheels left extended. It’s only in the “beauty” shots, that the wells were open, LOL.

Thanks, Gamera. This one was almost a breeze, compared to the 1:32 Special Hobby X-15-A2, I built. That’s a 30" fuselage with no guide pins - talk about anxiety, LOL

-Fred

7

Absoloutly stunning. And a great little piece of history of an oft forgotten aircraft. I am after the SH 72nd kit myself, but i never realised there was a V-1 and V-2. I must read up on that.

Again, stunning. [Y]

8

Thanks so much, Bish [:)]

There’s 1 physical diference between the V-1 and V-2, as far as I can tell. The V-1 has rounded wingtips, whereas the V-2’s, are squared off. And when looking at archive photos, that’s the tip-off to tell which version you’re looking at, because they both get labeled as “He-178”, with no distinction.

The other, important difference (to me, anyway), is that the V-2 never flew. And that’s the reason I didn’t go for the easier-to-find V-2 kit. For my project, I needed to show the first practical jet aircraft. An aircraft that never flies, is just a funny looking car.

-Fred

9

Since I can’t seem to edit my above post, I’ll include this here.

Here’s an archive photo of the V-2

AS you can see, almost everything matches up (it’s hard to say 100% without matching angles), but from everything I’ve read, the only difference is in the wings.

-Fred

10

Some great info. I did find one site which says the V-2 also had a more powerful engine. I do rather like the look of the SH kits, but i think there 178 is not a new kit, so that should be interesting.

11

Considering the V-2 never left the ground, she could be powered by hamsters, for all anyone would care, LOL.

I wish that a proper manufacturer, would take a shot at making up-to-date versions of historically significant aircraft. I mean the Wright Flyer - a mid-60s release, in 1:39 scale - and that’s it? No other company has thought to make the plane that started it all, and give it the treatment it deserves? The He-178 - the world’s first jet, and it’s relelgated to some long-forgotten company, that couldn’t bebothered to write a complete set of instructions? Even if all the instructions were written in czhech, at least detailed pictures would have been beneficial. The Spirit of St. Louis, one 1:48 and one 1:72, is all it gets?

Sorry for the rant, but sometimes, the way some subjects get ignored, while others are done to death, is aggravating, to me, as a modeler.

-Fred

12

I agree. There are some really important historical subjects out there that deserve a decent kit. Unfortunatly, important historical subjects don’t sell the same way as many other subjects.

13

I believe it first flew in 1938 and it was the lead project in the jet powered designs.

14

I have build the 1/72 condor He-178, the same story as your build. Everything is in the box but the instructions are very vague. As for rlm 02, I used tamiya 22. According to ipms stockholm that is correct for rlm 02. And, just like you concluded, it was a dark color on the real He-178. I really like you build, makes me thinking about building the 1/48 version as well.

15

I have the 1/48 kit in the stash (the one you build) and I actually can’t wait to build it,
oh yeah, this subject was also covered by Special Hobby, so Gigatron, Condor wasn’t the only brand covering this subject, although it is heavily underrated but what can we do about it ey?
I also have the Heinkel He 280 from eduard in my stash and I’m happy to say that it is better than your average limited run kit!
So luckely, not everything is quickly and rapidly flushed through the production process. So if you are able to get your hands on one, get it!

Nice work on your little bird there.
With regards, Ninetalis.

16

I think Condor and special Hobby both belong to the mpm group. So it is probably the same kite.

17

Awesome!