Decal sheet - SH72341 He 162A Spatz in 1/72

The decal sheet of Special Hobby's March release, the famous ‘Volksjaeger’ He 162A Spatz German WWII jet fighter caters for four marking schemes. The sheet also contains decals of the instrument panel and seat belts. The idea was to bring machines interesting both for their appearance and the pilots who flew them. So, the following have been picked out:

Scheme A

Heinkel He 162A-2, yellow 11, W.Nr. 120074. Assigned to Oblt. Karl-Emil Demuth, CO of 3. Staffel, JG 1, at Leck, Schleswig-Holstein, Germany, May 1945. Yellow 11 was manufactured at EHAG in Rostock. Demuth’s 16 victory markings painted on the tail fin were in fact gained while flying another fighters earlier in his military career. Most of his victories were USAAF four engine bomber planes.

Scheme B

Heinkel He 162A-2, yellow 3, W.Nr. 120072. 3. Staffel , JG 1, at Leck, Schleswig-Holstein, Germany, May 1945. Manufactured at EHAG in Rostock. Although some sources say that this machine was a personal mount of Lt.Gerhard Steimer, yellow 3 was in fact flown by Oblt. Wofgang Wollenweber who had previously been posted to JG5 flying Bf 110s and in June 1944 volunteered for the Defence of the Reich. He went through training on Me 163 and Fw 190 fighters and was eventually assigned to JG1 where he achieved at least fourteen combat sorties at the controls of He 162 before the war ended. Wollenweber is the author of Die Reichsadler book.

Scheme C

Heinkel He 162A-2, white 1, W.Nr. 120013. 1. Staffel , JG 1, at Leck, Schleswig-Holstein, Germany, May 1945. Flown by Lt.Rudolf Schmitt who claimed a British Tempest shot down on 4 May 1945 while flying this very Spatz. Besides, he is also the first He162 pilot to save his life using an ejection seat during a combat mission which occured on 19 April 1945 after his Heinkel experienced an engine failure.

camo D

Heinkel He 162A-2, white 6, W.Nr. 120. 1. Staffel , JG 1, at Leck, Schleswig-Holstein, Germany, May 1945. This Spatz is usually portrayed with a natural metal front section of the fuselage, period photos seem to suggest that the metal skinning was more likely painted with a primer and the panel lines treated with dark-coloured filler.