Mitch K Posted February 11, 2018 Share Posted February 11, 2018 This is a Messerschmitt Me 262A-1a, Red 13 of III/EJG 2, based out of Lechfeld, March 1945. An Ergänzungs-Jagdgeschwader was an operational training/conversion unit, but often undertook active combat missions as well, particularly at the late stage of the war under discussion. Red 13 was the personal mount of Major Heinz Bär. Bär was a veteran of over 1000 missions and ended the war with 220 or 221 kills. Bär, nicknamed Pritzl because of his love of Pritzl candy bars, was an interesting character. He seems to have lacked any sense of reverence for rank or hierarchy, and made an enemy of Hermann Goering. When shot down over the Channel, he told Goering he had spent the time clinging to a rescue buoy reflecting on Goering's statement that England was no longer an island. This sort of behaviour resulted in Bär not being awarded the Diamonds to his Knight’s Cross, a decoration that all other fighter pilots with similar scores received. Bär suffered a mental breakdown during the fighting in the Mediterranean, was relieved of command and demoted, resulting in him having to fly as “Kommodore of his own crate” as he wryly put it. A rebel to the end, he refused point-blank to relocate JV 44 to Prague, citing that he was under the direct orders of Adolf Galland, infuriating Dietrich Peltz and Gordon Gollob, but ensuring that JG 44 went into American, not Soviet captivity. Bär survived the war but was killed in an accident during the trials of a supposedly foolproof trainer. The aircraft was intended to be impossible to stall or spin, but Bär found that it would indeed spin, and even a pilot as skilled as he was unable to recover. Bär was killed in the crash. The kit is Revell’s 1/72 scale, with extra details in the cockpit. The aerial is EZ-line and the pitot is steel capillary tube. Paints are Tamiya mixes and the decals are kit/spares except for the red 13, which is home-made. 25 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Corsairfoxfouruncle Posted February 11, 2018 Share Posted February 11, 2018 This is a great looking 262 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Simon382 Posted February 11, 2018 Share Posted February 11, 2018 A great looking 262 and I learned a bit of history on the way, thankyou 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Buzby061 Posted February 11, 2018 Share Posted February 11, 2018 Good looking Schwalbe & an interesting bit of history. Pete 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JWM Posted February 11, 2018 Share Posted February 11, 2018 Nice build and very intersting story of a pilot who from your story seems to be a right person fighting on a wrong side...Maybe therefore sufferd nervous breakdown? Regards J-W 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mitch K Posted February 11, 2018 Author Share Posted February 11, 2018 Just now, JWM said: Nice build and very intersting story of a pilot who from your story seems to be a right person fighting on a wrong side...Maybe therefore sufferd nervous breakdown? Regards J-W J-W, the incident in the Med seems to have arisen from a period of unremitting physical and mental stress that drove him to breaking point. There has always been this background of stories about Luftwaffe pilots who were staunch non-Nazis. The Luftwaffe of course was arguably the most Nazi of the Wehrmacht, having had no previous existence like the Army or the Navy. I've never been quite sure what to make of this. Pilots in every air force seem to have had a maverick streak, and a desire to flout authority, and one can't help expecting the Luftwaffe to be the same. Bär seems to have taken a greater than normal delight in it, but at the same time there is no doubt he was a most dangerous opponent. Interestingly, Gordon Gollob seems to have brought out this behaviour in a very large number of his fellow officers. After the war, Johannes Steinhoff spoke very poorly of him. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
F-32 Posted February 11, 2018 Share Posted February 11, 2018 Nice looking '262 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Knight_Flyer Posted February 11, 2018 Share Posted February 11, 2018 Very nice build, I have the Revell in the stash although it might be a while before I build it as I just picked up the new Airfix. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mitch K Posted February 11, 2018 Author Share Posted February 11, 2018 2 minutes ago, Knight_Flyer said: Very nice build, I have the Revell in the stash although it might be a while before I build it as I just picked up the new Airfix. I think it might be interesting to compare the Revell and Airfix versions. Hopefully Airfix haven't built beautiful wheel wells full of detail then plated over them like Revell did! 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Roman Schilhart Posted February 12, 2018 Share Posted February 12, 2018 4 hours ago, Mitch K said: Hopefully Airfix haven't built beautiful wheel wells full of detail then plated over them like Revell did! No they did not plate them over - that what makes the new Airfix kit the best rendition in 72 scale (in my humble opinion). (Look out for a detailled build review in the upcoming March edition of SAMI.) Roman 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Spitfire31 Posted February 12, 2018 Share Posted February 12, 2018 Excellent 262 and ditto story about Heinz Bär. Mitch K wrote: "Pilots in every air force seem to have had a maverick streak, and a desire to flout authority, and one can't help expecting the Luftwaffe to be the same." I'd suggest narrowing that observation down to "fighter pilots in every air force…". Especially in the days of regular dogfighting, the day fighter pilot job seemed to select for initiative, aggression and individuality, as opposed to, for example, bomber 'bus drivers', if you will pardon the generalism. Incidentally, since you spell Bär's name the German way, the name of his boss is Hermann Göring. Nice Schwalbe! Kind regards, Joachim 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mitch K Posted February 12, 2018 Author Share Posted February 12, 2018 4 hours ago, Spitfire31 said: Excellent 262 and ditto story about Heinz Bär. Mitch K wrote: "Pilots in every air force seem to have had a maverick streak, and a desire to flout authority, and one can't help expecting the Luftwaffe to be the same." I'd suggest narrowing that observation down to "fighter pilots in every air force…". Especially in the days of regular dogfighting, the day fighter pilot job seemed to select for initiative, aggression and individuality, as opposed to, for example, bomber 'bus drivers', if you will pardon the generalism. Incidentally, since you spell Bär's name the German way, the name of his boss is Hermann Göring. Nice Schwalbe! Kind regards, Joachim Joachim, my mistake with Göring! I do a with umlaut pretty much every day, and the keyboard shortcut is second nature, so Major Bär gets spelled correctly. I just couldn't be bothered to dig around for o umlaut for Fat Hermann! REgarding pilot types, you're probably right! 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jean Posted February 12, 2018 Share Posted February 12, 2018 Hi Mitch, great 262! Furthermore, this scheme seems quite easy and does not involve ridiculously complicated mottles. That's a big plus for me! What shocks me most, is that you have done a Luftwaffe plane, and not a Schwalbe from Transylvania... Great show JR 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mitch K Posted February 12, 2018 Author Share Posted February 12, 2018 2 hours ago, jean said: Hi Mitch, great 262! Furthermore, this scheme seems quite easy and does not involve ridiculously complicated mottles. That's a big plus for me! What shocks me most, is that you have done a Luftwaffe plane, and not a Schwalbe from Transylvania... Great show JR Since I am the One You Warned Me Of, I have another one in the works, bearing the markings of Les Invisibles... 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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