Paul A H Posted January 17, 2017 Share Posted January 17, 2017 Me-262B-1a 'Doppelsitziger' 1:72 Mistercraft In April 1944, the Messerschmitt Me 262 Schwalbe, or Swallow, became the first jet fighter to enter service anywhere in the world. It would have entered service even sooner were it not for problems with its Junkers Jumo axial flow turbojets. The Me 262 was a fast and highly effective fighter, with 542 kills claimed by its pilots. Its impact on the War was limited, however, due to a shortage of engines and fuel, as well as the fact that the Allies developed tactics to counter the new threat by destroying the aircraft on the ground or at the point of take-off or landing. The Doppelsitzsiger was, as the name suggests, a twin-seat trainer version. Unsurprisingly for a combat aircraft that has attained an almost mythological status over the years, most of the major manufacturers have had a bash at the Me 262. In 1:72 scale alone, Academy, Airfix, Hasegawa, Heller, Hobbyboss, Matchbox and Revell have all churned out variants of the type, as have Mistercraft. Don't be taken in by the rather bold suggestion on the box top that this kit is 'NEW', however. It is actually a re-pop of the Smer kit with new decals. I believe this is the first time that Mistercraft have re-boxed this kit. Hopefully it is an indication that Misercraft will get their hands on some of Smer's better kits and churn them out at attractive prices. This kit isn't great, but at the same time it's nowhere near as bad as their MiG-29. Panel lines are raised but fairly fine, and the overall level of detail is pretty crude but just about good enough to lift it off the bottom rung of the ladder. Construction should be straightforward. The cockpit is basic, but includes two crew seats, an instrument panel and control column. As I said, it's not brilliant but better than the MiG I reviewed last month. Before joining the fuselage halves together, you also need to fit the nose landing gear into the locating points. There is no nosewheel bay at all, but you could box it in if you've got nothing better to do and fancy the challenge. The engine pods are split vertically and include the characteristic bullet-shaped engine starter motor housings and exhaust cones. The wing is moulded in five parts, with the lower wing split into a central section which covers the area between the two engines and two separate outer sections. The tail surfaces are all solid parts. As with the nose wheel well, there is no detail at all inside the main landing gear bays. Finishing touches include the canopy and a couple of long-range fuel tanks. A generous four options are spread across three small decal sheets: Me-262B, Luftwaffe, Germany, October 1944; Me-262B, captured aircraft tested by the USAF, Germany, Spring 1945; Avia CS-92, Czech Air Force, Praha-Kbely Aviation Museum; and Me-262B, captured aircraft tested by the RAF, Farnborough, 1945. I'm not sure how well the decals are likely to perform, but they do look a little rough. The colours of the RAF roundels are far too bright in any case. On the plus side, a full set of stencils have been included. Conclusion Although it isn't particularly offensive, it is still difficult to recommend this kit. It is not the greatest Me-262 by a long chalk, and while it's cheap, so is Revell's two-seater. It'll do for a bit of fun, but for the last word in detail, you should look elsewhere. Review sample courtesy of UK distributors for 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Antoine Posted January 17, 2017 Share Posted January 17, 2017 (edited) 7 minutes ago, Paul A H said: Hopefully it is an indication that Misercraft will get their hands on some of Smer's better kits and churn them out at attractive prices. Paul, I was wondering.... Did you do something that bad in your previous lives to be in charge of Misercraft reviews??? Edited January 17, 2017 by Antoine 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AaCee26 Posted January 17, 2017 Share Posted January 17, 2017 Hi, I think this is originally Heller kit from late '70's. Good kit of that time and now showing how much model industry has developed after that. Cheers, AaCee 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Paul A H Posted January 17, 2017 Author Share Posted January 17, 2017 15 minutes ago, Antoine said: Freudian slip... 15 minutes ago, Antoine said: Paul, I was wondering.... Did you do something that bad in your previous lives to be in charge of Misercraft reviews??? Equilibrium is the great leveller in the reviewer's world. For every Eduard Spitfire Mk.IX, there is a Mistercraft kit to review I didn't get them all though. Julien has an Il-2 to review. I think everyone should send him a PM to remind him to review it 12 minutes ago, AaCee26 said: Hi, I think this is originally Heller kit from late '70's. Good kit of that time and now showing how much model industry has developed after that. Cheers, AaCee Yes, that's what Scalemates says. I don't have the Heller kit, but I think the sprues may have a different arrangement of parts? Perhaps someone with the Heller kit can confirm or deny this. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
March Posted January 17, 2017 Share Posted January 17, 2017 (edited) 34 minutes ago, Antoine said: Paul, I was wondering.... Did you do something that bad in your previous lives to be in charge of Misercraft reviews??? I think Mister Craft kits get handed out to review if you ruffle Mike... Edited January 17, 2017 by March 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Graham Boak Posted January 17, 2017 Share Posted January 17, 2017 If the Il2 is also the SMER tooling then he's lucky, it's a good kit, though not up to the Tamiya/Academy ones.. The only original SMER tooling that I know about. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Paul A H Posted January 17, 2017 Author Share Posted January 17, 2017 3 hours ago, Graham Boak said: If the Il2 is also the SMER tooling then he's lucky, it's a good kit, though not up to the Tamiya/Academy ones.. The only original SMER tooling that I know about. I agree, the Smer Il2 is a good kit. Unfortunately the Mistercraft Il2 is a rebox of the ZTS Plastyk kit, which is... um... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Graham Boak Posted January 17, 2017 Share Posted January 17, 2017 Something else altogether. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Julien Posted January 17, 2017 Share Posted January 17, 2017 Yes it is errr something else completly................... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Julien Posted January 17, 2017 Share Posted January 17, 2017 4 hours ago, Antoine said: Paul, I was wondering.... Did you do something that bad in your previous lives to be in charge of Misercraft reviews??? As Paul has done such a good job of this review and the MiG-29 I think he should be offically in charge of ALL Mistercraft reviews from now on. Julien Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mike Posted January 17, 2017 Share Posted January 17, 2017 8 minutes ago, Julien said: Yes it is errr something else completly................... Landfill? 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Paul A H Posted January 17, 2017 Author Share Posted January 17, 2017 13 minutes ago, Julien said: As Paul has done such a good job of this review and the MiG-29 I think he should be offically in charge of ALL Mistercraft reviews from now on. Julien That's kind of you Julien. I heard a rumour that they've been acquired by an oligarch and their next kit will be a 1:24 British Phantom, tooled for them by Tamiya 3 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mike Posted January 17, 2017 Share Posted January 17, 2017 That's how rumours start! 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sroubos Posted January 20, 2017 Share Posted January 20, 2017 (edited) This is definitely the Heller kit. Nice it was too. Forgive the many inaccuracies, one of my first efforts after getting back into the hobby after leaving it some 15 years earlier. Edited January 20, 2017 by sroubos 4 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
yarvelling Posted January 21, 2017 Share Posted January 21, 2017 Definitely looks to be like one of the SMER kits.... I recently completed a 1a version - single seater version, complete with Czeck Avia S92 decals, and finished it in that version for a change from the usual Luftwaffe versions..... It even came with a small PE frame which included gun trough covers and undercarriage spring mounts. Even though it had no forward wheel-well details, I had to build a false bay to accommodate the weights that are needed to ensure that the model isn't a tail-sitter... This was a simple thin card floor and simple wheel-bay, lined with lead shot and wood-glue! And yes, the panel lines are all raised, and overall the kit is rather 'crude' (being polite here), but it actually looks pretty decent when assembled and painted (Avia version:- RLM02 all over!) and the transfers/decals, though slightly glossy and very thin, actually work well; settling nicely with no silvering The best thing about the SMER kit is the price....even with the photo-etch parts included, it was still under £10 with free shipping (Amazon Prime), and it does look pretty decent for a basic kit too Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sroubos Posted January 22, 2017 Share Posted January 22, 2017 The Smer is the reboxed Heller kit: https://www.scalemates.com/kits/158001-sm-r-messerschmitt-me-262 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sgt.Squarehead Posted January 22, 2017 Share Posted January 22, 2017 Yup it's a reboxing of the reboxing.....I've got one on my desk waiting for the STGB. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BerndM Posted January 29, 2017 Share Posted January 29, 2017 Build that kit out of a Heller box, many moons away. It was fun then. It should read Doppelsitzer. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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