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  1. Hi All, This is my second post on Britmodeller, it is a Me262 A-1a from Tamiya upgraded with Aires aftermarket for cockpit, wheel bays and engines. Hope you like it! Happy modelling, Alex
  2. Hi, guys... this is my recent conversion build of Trumpeter's 1/32 scale Me262, from the fighter variant to the reconnaissance version. A good kit to build, although most of the parts have a very tight fit. The conversion set is from AIMS, which provides resin and PE parts. With a little care, everything goes togther well with few issues. The biggest problem I had was of my own making... messing up the underside colour paint work, and had to spend a few days reviving it. Paints were Humbrol enamels and the wave-pattern was applied in both variations of the late-war RLM83 Green shade. Some small access hatches were opened up and new access panels for these were made from plastic card and attached with Tamiya tape using Krystal Klear so as to avoid getting adhesive on the paintwork. All of the additional wiring behind the instrument panel, on the engine, in the wheel and camera bays was made from various thicknesses of fuse wire. None of the detail is intended to be 100% perfect, but I wanted to make it a bit more interesting than just OOB. There are no plastic wheels with this model, only black rubber ones, although having said that, they're probably some of the better offerings I've encountered. I scuffed them up and took the glaring black shade away by applying a cream shade oil paint mixed with a little pale grey onto the tyres and into the tread detail. I left this for 10/15 minutes, then removed the excess, which gave the desired effect. The finished kit, showing 'White 29', was supplied direct to III./EJG2 in early 1945 for training purposes; a small batch of similarly-painted 262s had been delivered to the reconnaissance unit NAGr6, but were almost immediately passed to III./EJG2 for their pilots to get familiarised on the type. I hope you like the images below, and if you want to see the YouTube video build instalments, then the last of four is available here and you can navigate backwards from there to the earlier episodes if you choose. Thanks for looking in... ;-). Paul
  3. Hi All - finally got round to finishing this up - this has probably been my longest build yet, done during the lockdown here in NZ. It's a lovely kit and really enjoyed putting it together. It's very well engineered - even for Tamiya and surpassed every kit I've done since returning to the hobby. Can't recommend it enough - if I had to knit pick, some rivet detail on the upperside would have been nice. And I'd recommend some aftermarket decals if tamiya decals have given you trouble in the past. I added an Aires resin engine which was excellent and provides a huge amount of detail - it wasn't too hard integrating it with the model though it took a fair bit of work. It was my first stab at a resin engine so it was a good one to start off with. I also had a PE set from Eduard, however I left most of this on the fret - just using some wiring and the seat belts. The cockpit is quite detailed already, as is the wheel and gun bays. You can choose to display the latter open or closed - I didn't glue the covers in so I can switch them over which is nice. Painted with Mr Color, Tamiya Acrylics and Alclad - weathering with AK and Tamiya enamel washes and further weathering with oil paints. Thanks for looking - The WIP is here if you're interested: Hope you're doing well and staying safe where ever you are John
  4. Hello Everyone This is the wonderful Tamiya 1/48 Me-262 A-2a. The only modifications where a few wires in the main undercarriage bay, some homemade seat straps and I decided to cut the flaps out and display them drooping. I believe the leading edges would also be lowered at the same time, but I had a bad case of diminished enthusiasm hit me halfway through the build. I’ll save that job for the 1/32 262’s in my stash. It started out well enough but then the decals silvered in places (all my fault), so I decided to remove all the paint and start again. I think it turned out a little better but still not satisfied, but hey it’s all about the taking part and learning. Most of the markings are hand painted as a way of punishing myself for not doing the decals justice in the first place. Thanks for looking
  5. Hello everybody, I want to show you my Me 262 C-1a. The Me 262 is one of the most beautiful aircraft designs for me. Construction: The Academy kit, released in 2007, contains a multitude of details and very interesting options, including alternative components for the Me 262 C-1a with a Walther rocket in the rear fuselage. Unfortunately, in my opinion, the nose shape failed completely, so an extensive cosmetic surgery has to be done. I also narrowed the fuselage at the top by approx. 1 mm, which means that the too wide canopy has to be exchanged for a deep-drawn one. An old canopy from a Hasegawa Me 262 served as a deep-drawing stamp. The rear fuselage is also suboptimal. Academy simply suppressed the opening for the Walther rocket and did not bulge the fuselage in this area enough. So this will be changed too. And because it is already work, I add a few details around the plane, for example extended flaps and slats. Original aircraft: My model shows the C-1a V186, as far as I know the only raketen schwalbe (rocket swallow) that has flown. In horizontal flight 934 km/h were achieved with additional thrust, making the V186 the fastest Me 262 ever flown (comparison A-1a: 870 km/h). With Heinz Bär in the cockpit, the aircraft shot down a P-47 that was flying over 8,000 m over Lechfeld airfield after about 3 minutes after start from runway. Source: asisbiz.com Painting: The paintjob was started as standard for me on an Alclad Airframe aluminum primer. After that preshading, three glazing layers per colour, painting scratches with a silver pin, intermediate finish with future, decals, washing, dust, oil paints, chalks etc. Walk around: Bottom view: Details: I hope you like my model. Criticism, notes, and comments are gladly welcome. Kai
  6. For all the ME262 enthusiasts, I think this is the largest ME262 model on the market at 1:18 scale. I built their 1/48 scale and enjoyed it. The level of detail and accessories is great. However don;t think I have space for a 1/18 scale!
  7. Ok guys, next project. Or better a reboot. I had gotten this as a bd present and started this one last year. Due to stress at work and a training and uncertainity I could do the mottling scheme I put it aside. Having finished my La-5 I now return to this but not without a challenge. Due to the home decoration I got no workspace AND most of my paints and stuff is behind a heap of other stuff in the garage. So I can just cut, clean and glue abit. This makes that I try to clean and assemble as much as possible. And cleaning I do need to this. My first verdict is that it is not a perfect model but this package of a big bag of plastic and lots of nice detail for €35,- is a steal.The box with sub assemblies and parts fill quickly. Well there are a view weird attachment points on the engine part. Points?? Hmm more strips, will have to sand down this abit. There were four of these strips on both engine caps :(. . . The lower hull with lower wings. I needed to help this a bit to get the undercarriage part in place. Dry fitting with the hull will show if I can proceed. I can only build with good weather in the gardin till 5pm. So pray with me for good weather next weekend! Greetings Lars
  8. This is a collection of all the small scale models myself and David (the husband) have built so far. These were all pretty hard to photograph being so small so i hope you don't mind my less than perfect photography skills (plus I should have dusted a couple first!) Lets begin with the Eduard spitfire, made by David. It was painted using alcad and tamiya acrylics. This model goes together like a dream and wing of this aircraft is phenomenally thin! Next up is the Stuka. This is the older eduard boxing with the snake (I presume the one coming out soon is the same kit just with different decals). This was also a great fit, although the photoetch and the flaps on the wings were fiddly and required a little bit of an extra file to make sure that they were staying put. The splotches on the undercarriage legs are done freehand. More to come....
  9. Hi all, FROG reboxed some of Hasegawa's output including a number of 1/32nd scale models.... https://www.scalemates.com/kits/frog-f289-messerschmitt-me262a--953399 So I'll be building this Hasegawa boxing of the ME262. So what's in the box? I'll be building it OOB and on a stand as the wheel wells have nothing in the way of detail at all and I don't really want to spend money on aftermarket or time on scratch details. Plus I'm not sure where it's going once it's built! Work has started. KR's IanJ
  10. Bought this kit to try and build one of my most liked WW2 fighter the ME262. The kit had many detailed parts, which is good. It also comes with the nose wheel and nose cannon/machine platform cast as a single piece of lead for weighing down the nose. Decals are quite well done.
  11. FINISHED MODEL Got this kit for £12(?) off a guy on Facebook, it sat in the stash for a week or two, but I was itching to build my first German aircraft (German aircraft being my favourites in WW2). Yeah the canopy needs a little clean up, but that's effort. It's not built to an amazing standard, just enough for me to be happy with it on display without close scrutiny. Criticism welcome though, I'm always looking to improve where I can (be bothered) . Yep wonky gear, haven't glued it yet, so that why. REVIEW Quick version (copy pasted from my review on Airfix's website) The cockpit goes to together nicely, and is well detailed for the scale. I added some seatbelts made from masking tape as that's the only area I can really fault the interior on, not having any. The wing fit however I found to be off, I don't know if this was due to my error or the kit, which also messed up the fit of the engines to the wing. The landing gear doors (front of the nose gear door, and both of the main gear doors) have quite a tight fit, and may need a small amount of sanding to fit well. The decals were a little difficult to get on right around the tail, the checker pattern being made of two decals, which I think were labelled with the the wrong number (which was rather confusing). I got them on in the end, with some chipping using some silver paint it looks acceptable now. I completed the kit in little over a week, a very good speed for me, and it was a fun kit to build. I would consider getting the other variants available to add to my collection. Long Version First thing is the sprues, the parts are aranged onto 3 (not 4, one was cut so it'd fit in the box I was washing them in) main sprues, and one clear. The parts are well organised with only a few small issues immediately obvious, one of the wheels was a little off and misshapen, but that was fixed with relative ease. This looked like it would be an easy build, and as per normal now, I decided on a gear down build, and wanted the cockpit open with no pilot. First thing to build was the cockpit assembly, which goes together very nicely. I added seat belts using masking tape and painted them in a tan-yellow colour (looks more yellow on the photo. Next was the wings, which had a terrible fit with the body, and threw off the fit of the engines I kinda stopped taking so many pictures here... Lots of filler, and sanding, and frustration around the engines (ended up trimming most of the join away and using filler instead), and added bullet holes. Painting, always silver primer for me, Maskol was sued for chipping, and blu tac for the cockpit and wheel wells. Not bad for a first attempt (no practice) at mottling Decals now Tail band decal was a nightmare, and I got aftermarket for the swastikas, which are not included Link to the kit here: https://www.airfix.com/uk-en/shop/aircraft/messerschmitt-me-262-a-1a-schwalbe-1-72.html
  12. Here is my latest effort. Tamiya's 1/48 Me262 in the markings of the WWII Luftwaffe pilot Oskar 'Heinz' Bär who was credited with 16 aerial victories whilst flying the '262 jet fighter. The kit is excellent; great details and good fitting parts all round! I would highly recommend it. HOWEVER, as you will see in the the pics below, the kit did have one major drawback. The carrier film for the decals is so damn thick that getting the decals down without any silvering was an absolute nightmare! If I'd known they were of such poor quality, I would've sourced alternative decals from the after-market. The sharp-eyed amongst you will notice that the aircraft actually has two different serial numbers on the fin. This was because I destroyed one trying to get it to settle properly. But, hey-ho, nothings ever perfect, and it is what it is. I still thoroughly enjoyed the build and will enjoy having it in my collection. One added 'extra' I bought for the build was a CMK resin Jumo jet engine. Introducing this to the build was a step into the unknown for me. But I fancied pushing my skills a bit. You're never going to improve unless you try new stuff, right? And I like the effect of having one of the engines on show. Here's the pics. Hope you enjoy
  13. Anyone else noticed that the airfix 2018 announcements include a 1/72 two seat 262? Might have to invest in one of those, always liked the night fighter with the barbed wire nose. Selwyn
  14. Link to a set of pictures taken at Wright field in 1945. They show two Me262's which were evaluated by the USAF. Lots of detail down to the airframe structure. http://www.network54.com/Forum/149674/message/1511394394/Captured+Me+262+A-1a+Schwalbe+%40+Wright+Field+July+1945+... I found the link on hyperscale.com. Hopefully no one there will mind me doing this here.
  15. This morning the postie delivered a package from Wonderland Models containing the new Airfix Me262 and I've posted up some quick shots of the box contents here: http://www.britmodeller.com/forums/index.php?/topic/235026581-airfix-me262-a-look-in-the-box/ but I think I'm going to go straight ahead and build it as a respite from my current 1/35th scale figure project. I'm not a huge Luftwaffe modeller but I've always liked the shape of the Me262 and you certainly can't deny its place in history. I think my first Me262 would have been the old Airfix mould in the Me262 and Mosquito Dogfight Double boxing: http://www.vintage-airfix.com/images/Type 3 Dog Fight - Mosq and Me262.jpg I also had the 1/72 Revell kit that scored over the Airfix one in having a hinged cockpit canopy: http://www.oldmodelkits.com/jpegs/r/Revell H624 Me262blue.JPG These things were important in the late 1960s! I never built the FROG or Heller kits but I did get the Matchbox, which was "chunky". In bigger scales I got the all-singing-and-dancing Nichimo kit, complete with retracting undercarriage, engines, guns and so on: https://www.scalemates.com/products/img/0/8/1/145081-11104-pristine.jpg and, soon after it came out, the Monogram 1/48th scale kit: http://www.oldmodelkits.com/jpegs/m/Monogram 5410 Me262OK.JPG The Monogram kit was really nice, and I expect it still holds its own. So, it's been 35 years since I built a 262. Let's see how things have improved... John
  16. Hi I have just started to build the new Airfix 1/72 Me 262 and the Academy 1/72 Me 262 In common with my recent theme builds I am building the aircraft of the highest scoring pilots who flew that type. So the top three Me 262A-1a pilots were according to Aircraft of the Aces - German Jet Aces of World War Two by Hugh Morgan & John Weal were: Kurt Welter 20+ jet victories flying Me262B-1a (two seater night fighter and the subject of another build) Heinz Bar 16 jet victories The Academy kit enables you build both his Me 262A-1a Red 13 and the rocket assisted Me262C-1a V 186 which is my first choice to build Franz Schall 12 jest victories However for my second choice ( the airfix kit) I have a dilemma as I would like to build an aircraft that Adolf Galland flew as he was instrumental in the development of the Me 262 and did score 7 jet victories with JV44 that he commanded (representing the elite of the remaining experten in the last months of the war) The Academy kit includes a full set of R4M underwing air to air rockets which Adolf Galland recalls using and will be easy to add to the airfix kit The difficulty is there is so much confusion over the aircraft he actually flew ( let alone the colour scheme) He is widely credited whilst with JV44 flying White 3 although this is far from certain. The Academy kit contains markings showing his rank <- # - and the mickey mouse emblem that adorned all his aircraft. Its very believable that the pilots of JV 44 had their own aircraft markings like Heinze Barr Red 13 but in reality flew whatever was available. Does any one have any further information on the markings for Adolf Gallands Me 262 I would like to do <-#- but would be happier with a bit of confirmation. Ill put pics & comments of the builds, both kits have strengths and weakness but are not straightforward builds Thanks
  17. Just arrived from those nice people at Wonderland Models for the very reasonable price of £12.99 (yes - mail on a Sunday!): Typical current Airfix instructions - note the neat treatment of the cockpit tub: Colour scheme diagrams referencing the recent Humbrol Luftwaffe colours: Decals, small but perfectly formed: Three sprues of the now standard light grey plastic: Separate mainwheel hubs and tyres -nice: Neat cockpit interior detail: Nosewheel well: Intriguing flashed over holes on the lower wing: Clear bits - note the windscreen includes part of the fuselage decking: Looks superb. John
  18. One of those moments of frustration in modelling when, upon looking at ref pictures, the answer still isn't clear Did the Me262 have a particular design for its nose wheel use more than most, or where they both in use? My HobbyBoss kit supplies the option of a treaded wheel, which would nicely demonstrate weathering, or a smooth version. A few pics of captured Me262s show the latter installed, but its hard to confirm if the smooth tyres were a later installation, with the treaded being earlier models. Appreciate any help Gaz
  19. So I've recently picked up a HobbyBoss Me262 and I've been pondering about the addition of a revealed resin engine. On the one hand I would love to have one shown, but it seems like most of the kits either carry more than I would like, or omit certain pieces that would be a bit crucial. For example, this particular set (https://www.bnamodelworld.com/model-planes-engine-details-aires-air-4140) seems ideal, as its just the engine and I could remove the cowling components as necessary to reveal it. My issue, however is that when I see pictures of the cowlings removed, there's usually this perforated, half-moon plate capping the end of the cowling mount on the wing's leading edge, which does not appear to be a part of this kit as far as I can tell. Another alternative was a CMK engine set (https://www.bnamodelworld.com/model-planes-engine-details-cmk-cmk-4115) that comes with the mounting plate, but this would require more surgery to the wing and also lead me to stave off major progression, namely the painting and other aspects of the aircraft itself. My question really is, does anyone have experience with these particular sets and/or can they recommend how I could attach (particularly the former) to the aircraft? If there's no clear solution I may just aim to get one to display next to the plane, in which case does anyone know what they carried these engines on, or how they transported them? Cheers in advance. Gaz
  20. Hi all! My fist wip on the forums, I hope you'll enjoy! Kit: Hobby Boss Me-262B-1a no.80378.Aftermarket: Brassin wheels 648106 Eduard cockpit PE FE705Decals: Paint masks from Montex, stenciling from kit decalsI'll be building Me-262B-1a/U1 "Rote 10" (Red 10) Werknummer 110635, as it flew with the famous "Kommando Welter" officially known as 10./NJG 11 from Schleswig in Germany.This Me-262B was build as Me-262A-2a in Leipheim in October 1944. She was converted to a Me-262B-1a/U1 bij Lufthansa in Berlin Staaken in early 1945.According to flight logs available she made her first flight on March 17th 1945 an probably delivered to "Kommando Welter later that month".When the war came to an end, she was captured by US forces and later handed over to the British Forces and was taken to the UK. It has been said that she had been in the UK in 1946 and 1947 although her final faith is unknown. She is probably scrapped.IMG_5501 by Remy Janssen, on FlickrOn this photo you can see Kurt Welter (left) on the wing of Rote 10 in May 1945. post-804-1202422439 by Remy Janssen, on FlickrHere is Rote 10 in her British markings after the war.The reason I choose this aircraft is because of her scheme, this is the only one we know of wearing this scheme:Rote10-2 by Remy Janssen, on FlickrThe bottom is painted black like all other German nightfighters, but Rote 10 has the same camo pattern on the wings as on the one on the fuselage. Other Me-262B's had the green / black camo on the wings.Alright, this is the kit I'll be using:IMG_5622 by Remy Janssen, on FlickrThis kit doesn't have the correct decals for Rote 10, I have found Montex masks (http://www.montex-mask.com/en/home willing to cut me some masks for the "Rote 10", Balkenkreuzen, Werknummers and swastika's. More on that later.The nightfighter 262's were equipped with a radar and radar equipment, all the necessary bits are in this boxing, but not in the instructions.Like with most aircraft kits we start with the cockpit:IMG_5592 by Remy Janssen, on FlickrCockpit assembled with some PE rudder pedals. Also all detail is sanded of to accommodate other bits of PE.IMG_5598 by Remy Janssen, on FlickrI always like to start with a black (XF69 Nato Black) coat for the shading effect, I'll be lighting it up with some other (dark) grey's after the other PE has been placed.The IP got some wiring, as these will be visible.IMG_5596 by Remy Janssen, on FlickrThis kit also contains some metal parts. The bottom of the gun compartment and NLG bay is from metal, good casting and good overall fit!IMG_5595 by Remy Janssen, on FlickrI won't be displaying the gun doors open, so no further detailing was done.The inside of the fuselage was painted gloss black followed by Alclas Stainless Steel (ALC115).IMG_5603 by Remy Janssen, on FlickrThe IP has gotten the Eduard treatment:IMG_5604 by Remy Janssen, on FlickrI do think Eduard's colors are way off, they don't represent RLM66. The have a purple-ish color instead of black / grey. I will try blending them in with some oil washes.The cockpit after a clear coat and ready for some washes:IMG_5625 by Remy Janssen, on FlickrA quick dry-fit is showing an great fit from this HobbyBoss kit!IMG_5591 by Remy Janssen, on FlickrIMG_5590 by Remy Janssen, on FlickrComments en critiques are welcome! Remy.
  21. Messerschmitt Me-262 B1a/U1 Nightfighter Revell 1:32 Several two-seat trainer variants of the Me 262, the Me 262 B-1a, had been adapted through the Umrüst-Bausatz 1 factory refit package as night fighters, complete with on-board FuG 218 Neptun high-VHF band radar, using Hirschgeweih ("stag's antlers") antennae with a set of dipole elements shorter than the Lichtenstein SN-2 had used, as the B-1a/U1 version. Serving with 10 Staffel, Nachtjagdgeschwader 11, near Berlin, these few aircraft (alongside several single-seat examples) accounted for most of the 13 Mosquitoes lost over Berlin in the first three months of 1945. However, actual intercepts were generally or entirely made using Wilde Sau methods, rather than AI radar-controlled interception. As the two-seat trainer was largely unavailable, many pilots made their first jet flight in a single-seater without an instructor. Despite its deficiencies, the Me 262 clearly marked the beginning of the end of piston-engined aircraft as effective fighting machines. Once airborne, it could accelerate to speeds over 850 km/h (530 mph), about 150 km/h (93 mph) faster than any Allied fighter operational in the European Theatre of Operations. The Me 262's top ace was probably Hauptmann Franz Schall with 17 kills, which included six four-engine bombers and 10 P-51 Mustang fighters, although night fighter ace Oberleutenant Kurt Welter claimed 25 Mosquitoes and two four-engine bombers shot down by night and two further Mosquitoes by day flying the Me 262. Most of Welter's claimed night kills were achieved in standard radar-less aircraft, even though Welter had tested a prototype Me 262 fitted with FuG 218 Neptun radar. Another candidate for top ace on the aircraft was Oberstleutnant Heinrich Bär, who claimed 16 enemy aircraft while flying the Me 262. The Model With the issue of the extremely well thought of Me-109’s and Fw-190, Revell have now released another in their series of new mould 1:32 kits in the form of the Me-262 B1/U1 Nightfighter. Now while the kit is new and a great replacement for their venerable kit from 1971, they still insist on using the horrible end opening boxes, which, if it wasn’t so packed with plastic would collapse the minute you put it in the stash. Inside the box there are eleven sprues of grey styrene, two of clear styrene and a mid-sized decal sheet. The parts are very nicely moulded with some good surface detail, no signs of flash around the parts, although there is a bit on the sprues, no other visible imperfections and only a few moulding pips. The build begins with the front cockpit tub, which is made up of separate side consoles, and side sections of the seat area, rear lower bulkhead, battery tray, floor, which is fitted with the joystick and control cable run. The circuit breaker panel on the right side console is then attached, followed by the three piece rudder pedal assembly and instrument panel. The cockpit assembly is then attached to the front bulkhead. The front section of the rear cockpit floor is attached to the rear bulkhead of the front cockpit, followed by the separate side consoles, rear bulkhead, along with both seats, which are provided with decal seat belts and which you may wish to change for aftermarket etched or cloth belts for added realism. Both cockpits are then enclosed with the two sidewalls, making the structure strong and ready to fit into the fuselage. The Neptune control box and screen is assembled and put to one side, whilst work continues with the assembly of the gun bay and nose wheel bay. The gun bay floor is attached to the rear bulkhead and the nose bulkhead attached to eh floor. The nose wheel bays sides are fitted to the underside, whilst the ejector chutes are attached to the floor itself. The four cannon and fitted, with their barrels slid through the sub-bulkhead attached to the floor. The ammunition runs are then fitted, followed by two stays between the sub-bulkhead and the rear bulkhead. The instructions say that you will need 15g of weight fitted into the space just forward of the gun bay. I would probably add a little bit more jsut to make sure it’s not a tail sitter, but not too much as the undercarriage legs may not take the strain. The gun bay assembly is then fitted into one half to the fuselage and enclosed with the other half. The cockpits surround is then attached, as is the rear cockpit instrument panel into the upper fuselage and the Neptun radar set and its bracket. The cockpit assembly is then fitted from the underside, where the wings will later fit, followed by the underside cross-members, oxygen bottles, electrical boxes, and control rods. The front and rear spars are joined together by longitudinal bulkheads and attached to the lower wing section which has been fitted with the outer wing panels. The two upper wing sections are fitted with the two flap sections, each of which can be posed extended or retracted, as can each of the two piece ailerons and single piece actuators. The spring loaded slats are also provided as separate parts so that they can be posed extended, their normal position on the ground, or retracted, when in high speed flight. The completed wing assembly is the fitted to the fuselage assembly and it’s becoming to look like a plane now. Whilst you do get most of the engines in the kit, Revell have decided to keep things simple, and therefore cheaper, but not providing a separate engine, or engine covers, so if you want to show off an engine, which will need to be further detailed by the modeller, will also need the separate covers to be cut out. The intakes are made up from the intake surround, internal intake section, bullet fairing and compressor face. The rear section is made up from the exhaust outlet, built, rear stator and rear engine face. The centre section of the engine comprises of fore and after sections split horizontally glued together with a centre wing. With the three sections glued together there are five ancillary parts to fitted, before the nacelle halves are attached covering any engine detail fitted. The front and rear fairings are then attached then each nacelle is glued to their respective positions on the wings. The tail feathers are then assemble, each of the horizontal surfaces are in upper and lower halves, as is the rudder, whilst the elevators are single piece items. Once assembled, they are glued into position along with the separate rudder trim tab. Moving right forward the gun bay panels are attached. If you want to pose these open you will have to cut them in half longitudinally and scratch build a couple of struts. Moving on to the undercarriage, each of the nose wheel is made up from inner and outer wheels with alternative tires and with separate hubs, which will certainly aid painting, these are then glued to the axle on the leg. The main wheels come as two halves and are glued to the main wheel legs, The mains also have separate scissor links which appear t be a little too wide open, with the inner piston of the leg too extended as if it was taken from an empty museum aircraft. You may wish to change this by reducing the piston length and altering the rake of the scissor link. The undercarriage is then fitted to the model, followed by their associated doors, which will need to be split at the appropriate points as they are moulded as one for those who wish to build their model with the undercarriage up, followed by the door retraction jacks and undercarriage actuators. The front windscreen is fitted with a support bar and gunsight, as well as the internally mounted armoured windscreen before being attached to the fuselage. The front and rear canopies are also fitted, and can be posed either in the open or closed positions. Under the nose the bomb racks are attached and fitted with the two, two piece drop tanks. Under the tail section there is a fuel dump tube fitted, whilst at the nose the two Neptun aerial arrays are attached and finished off with the nose cone. Finally the slats are attached, along with the DF aerial, VHF aerials and the clear navigation light covers. Decals The medium sized decal sheet provides options for two aircraft. Messerschmitt Me-262 B1a/U1 “Red 12” 10./NJG 11, Schleswig, May 1945 Messerschmitt Me-262 B1a/U1 “ Red 8” 10./NJG 11, Schleswig, May 1945 The decals are nicely printed, with good opacity, in register and slightly matt. There is quite a bit of carrier film between the Balkenkreuz lines as well as number 12 markings. Naturally there are no decals for eh swastikas, so these will need to be sourced by the modeller. The markings were researched and designed by AirDoc. Conclusion This looks like it will build into another great kit. Revell really have upped their game with the latest releases of 1:32 aircraft. Being nicely detailed, there is still plenty of room for those who want to really go to town on it, yet easy enough for the intermediated modeller to have a go at and get some good results, the price point is also worth considering as it is half the price of a similar Trumpeter kit. Review sample courtesy of Revell model kits are available from all good toy and model retailers. For further information visit
  22. And it's another beauty: https://www.airfix.com/uk-en/shop/new-for-2017/messerschmitt-me-262-a-1a-schwalbe-1-48.html J
  23. Picked up this kit in a shop when I was stocking up on paints. Cost me £6 and was stashed away for a bit of a fun, mojo restorer when things got a bit intense. A noticed it had been built/review in a magazine this month and tbh, I was less than impressed by the effort put in. So, it was out of the stash and onto the workbench. By no means a perfect kit but a really enjoyable and straight forward build.
  24. Hi all, Just a thought... In my mind the Meteor has it by a long shot. Note: I'm not suggesting comparing the aircraft in a dogfight, I'm comparing there operational usefulness (not necessarily WWII) The Me262, despite being faster and far superior with it's swept wings, automatic slats and axial flow turbojet, had serious problems, the biggest being the engines. The Junkers Jumo 004 had an engine life of 50 hours (supposedly), but a skilled pilot would be lucky to get 25. They also had a very inconvenient habit of erupting into flames if mishandled or shot. Overall it seems very poor when compared with the Meteor. The Meteor was slower but was far more maneuverable and had a higher useful ceiling (just). Admittedly, being more maneuverable but slower is of no real advantage because the 262's could employ 'boom and zoom' tactics. Furthermore the Meteor was further refined into an absolutely superb aircraft topping out at 600mph as the F.8. The Me262 was built as the Avia S.92 but production ended due to difficulty in manufacturing. The F.III was powered by the RR Derwent (Whittle's simpler, bulkier, radial flow design), the problem with the big radial flow turbojet is it couldn't be under slung beneath the wings and instead had to be mounted in the wing thus reducing the wings useful area. Operational use of the 262 was greater than the F.III's due to military politics it seems. The Meteor was refused operation on the continent for fear of it falling into German hands, furthermore, the Meteor spent a lot of time in developing new jet tactics and training US bomber crews in defensive jet tactics. Now to the problem of armament. Both aircraft has 4 cannons. The Me262 30mm and the F.III 20mm Hispanos. Initially, one would think that the larger 30mm would be better. However the 30mm travelled at only 540 ms^-1 whereas the 20mm travelled at 880 ms^-1. Travelling slow is problem when you are flying a fast aircraft at a maneuvering fighter because you need a HUGE amount of deflection in order to get the bullet in the right place (more lead=less accurate). The energy delivered by both weapons is almost equivalent (E=1/2 mv^2) because the mass of the 30mm isn't MUCH greater the energy is almost the same due to velocity^2. Overall, the Me262 seems a better bomber interceptor and the Meteor a better fighter. Despite this, the Me262 was just too complicated so production was slow and the engines extremely unreliable.. It's really got my thinking (I'm probably biased) thoughts are more than welcome!, Ben
  25. Messerschmitt Me262 Wheels 1:32 Brassin To replace the wheels in the Trumpeter kits, Eduard/Brassin have released this set of resin parts. The parts come in the standard blister pack with two layers of foam protecting them. On opening the quality of parts really stands out. The tyres, with very finely engraved treads, the mains with radial treads and the nose with transverse are beautifully moulded with a more natural look than the kit parts. Clean up of the wheels should be quick and easy as the webs holding them to the moulding blocks are very thin. Any excess left after removal will only require a quick swipe of a sanding stick to tidy up. Also included in the set are the inner hubs, with nicely rendered brake details and attachment holes that match the kit axles. The outer hubs have a finesse and depth to them that would be impossible to do in injection moulding. The hubs are on quite large moulding blocks for their size, but since they are on the rear of each item it’s just a matter of razor sawing them off and flattening them with a sanding stick. The set also comes with a set of masks to aid in painting which are always very handy. Conclusion This is another very simple but useful upgrade set from Eduard/Brassin for your Me262 kit. They will certainly be quite a noticeable improvement in this scale. Highly recommended Review sample courtesy of
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