1:48 Horten Ho 229 jet engines Junkers Jumo 004 for Zoukei-Mura kit

The real subject

The Horten Ho 229 was a German jet aircraft laid out as a flying wing, that is, a machine with no fuselage and no tail surfaces. It was powered by two Junkers Jumo 004 engines, the first turbojets with an axial compressor to reach series production. They are turbojets with a long tubular casing; in a flying wing they sat inside the center section, so on the finished model the intake and the exhaust are what you see of them, and the rest only where you leave the structure open.

What the set contains

Replacement engines for a model in 1:48 scale. According to the name they are cut for the Zoukei-Mura kit, so they seat into its structure without any changes to its parts. The exact contents of the package and the assembly sequence are given in the manufacturer's instructions. The parts are not polystyrene: cement for plastic will not hold on them and the joints are glued with cyanoacrylate.

Building and painting tips

Cut the excess material off a short way from the part with a sharp blade and sand the remainder away; wet sanding pays off, so that the dust does not fly around. Before painting, wash the parts in lukewarm water with a drop of dish soap and let them dry degreased, otherwise the paint will not hold on the smooth surface. Test-fit the engines dry first and only then glue them permanently. The metallic look of the casing stands out if you go over a dark base tone with a metallic shade and pick out the edges with a dry brush; the scorched end of the nozzle takes a hint of blue and brown.

Who it is for

For modelers who want the power units of the Ho 229 to be finer than the production plastic allows, and above all for a build with the structure left open. The package holds a set of engines; the kit, paints and glue are not included, unless stated otherwise.