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  1. Kovozávody Prostějov (KP) is to release in 2016 2024 1/72nd Messerschmitt Me.262a/b Schwalbe & Avia S-92/C-92 kits. It'll be ex-Směr kits. Source: http://www.kovozavody.cz/wp-content/uploads/2016/02/AVIZOKP-EN-0116.pdf V.P.
  2. Amusing Hobby is to release a 1/48th Messerschmit Me.262 HGIII/2 kit - ref. 48A003 Source: https://tieba.baidu.com/p/7178046448 Box art V.P.
  3. Kora Models has just released 1/72nd Me.262 Schwalbe kits. - ref. KPK72168 - Messerschmitt Me.262V-1 Schwalbe - 1.stage Source: https://www.lfmodels.com/index.php?main_page=product_info&cPath=1_5_73&products_id=4161 - ref. KPK72169 - Messerschmitt Me.262V-1 Schwalbe - 2.stage Source: https://www.lfmodels.com/index.php?main_page=product_info&cPath=1_5_73&products_id=4162 -ref. KPK72170 - Messerschmitt Me.262V-2 Schwalbe - 1 .& 2. stage Source: https://www.lfmodels.com/index.php?main_page=product_info&cPath=1_5_73&products_id=4163 - ref. KPK72171 - Messerschmitt Me.262V-1/V-3 & V-4 Schwalbe - 3.stage Source: https://www.lfmodels.com/index.php?main_page=product_info&cPath=1_5_73&products_id=4164 V.P.
  4. Messerschmitt Me.262A-1a/2a (A03090A) 1:72 Airfix The shark-like profile of the Messerschmitt Me.262 Schwalbe and its almost matchless abilities at the time have given it a high profile despite its lack of practical effect on the outcome of WWII. If Der Fuhrer had been a little less prone to meddling however, the effect of its presence may have been felt more by the bomber streams than it was. That's if they could have solved the metallurgy of the engines to obtain sufficient flight time before they needed a total rebuild to prevent possible catastrophic failure. That's a lot of ifs, but if we concentrate on the actual performance of it, it's still an impressive aircraft of the day that was superior to the British Meteor in many respects, using axial flow jet engines and swept outer wing panels together with an efficient aerodynamic shape. It first flew with a prop in the nose and dummy engines, dragging its tail along the ground until airborne, but this was changed to tricycle gear once the engines were live as the thrust from both engines would have incinerated their landing strips. The delays were caused partly by Hitler's insistence that the airframe should also be able to carry bombs, which it eventually could on pylons under its nose, but as usual their efforts were spread too thin by trying to make the Schwalbe a workhorse suitable for many roles, all of which took valuable engineers and strategic materials away from the existing fighters that were to be the most use in defence of the Reich. The huge speed differential between the 262 and its bomber stream targets meant that zoom attacks were necessary that gave precious little time for the pilot to take aim due to the high rate of closure. The aircraft were also vulnerable during take-off and landing due to the slow spooling-up of early jet engines, which the Allies took full advantage of to reduce the fleet by attacks on their airfields at crucial moments that took more scarce piston-engined fighters away from other duties to protect them, with intensive maintenance whittling away at the available airframes even further. It was a case of too little too late in terms of numbers and even with their speed advantage a few were shot down by piston-engined Allied aircraft, due in part to the extensive experience that the Allied crews had gained during the invasion and the comparative lack of experienced German pilots by that stage of the war. As the Allies rolled through Germany they captured airbases and research establishments with many potential variants that didn't see combat and other design schematics hoovered up by US Operation Paperclip and similar operations by the other Allied governments. The Kit This is a reboxing with new decals of a 2017 tooling from Airfix, and it arrives in a red-themed box that has a painting of a 262 having just downed a B-24, with more potential victims in the background. Inside are four sprues of the new darker grey styrene, a sprue of clear parts, decal sheet and the instructions that are printed in greyscale with spot colour and full colour profiles on the rear pages for the decal options. Detail is good, with raised and recessed features across the sprues, and engraved panel lines on the skin of the aircraft. Construction begins with the cockpit tub, which has a bulkhead installed at the rear to accommodate the seat, and a floor insert that holds the rudder pedals. The control column is slotted into a hole in the tub, then the two side consoles are applied to ridges along the sides, adding the top to the tub after installing the instrument panel and decal in a slot near the front. An optional pilot is included on the sprues for you to use if you wish. The full-span lower wing has some flashed-over holes drilled out if you are using the supplied rocket packs, adding a short spar in front of the gear bay openings, and a bulkhead behind on slots in the interior. There are three sockets on the bulkhead front that allows you to plug the cockpit tub in, resting the forward end on the spar, and remembering to drill out the two holes in the centre section of the wing if you are using the stand that Airfix sell separately. The fuselage halves are painted where the cockpit will sit, and a bulkhead is inserted at the front, then the lower wing and cockpit assembly are inserted from below, fitting the nose gear bay under the front, and the upper wing halves at the same time. If you plan on using the bombs under the nose, you will need to drill out holes either side of the gear bay before inserting it. The instructions also suggest you add 5 grams of nose weight to prevent a tail-sitter before you close things up. The addition of the slot-in elevators perpendicular to the fin and rudder complete work on the fuselage for now. The two Jumo engines and their cowlings are built up in mirror image, creating the exhaust bullet with a depiction of the rear of the engine, which is trapped between the main cowling halves, and has the intake lip and bullet inserted into the front, which advises that the intake bullets should be painted the same colour as the exterior of your model. They are inserted into the recesses in the lower wings, and it’s impossible to put the wrong engine in position unless you’re very persistent and quite destructive. For the in-flight option all three bays are covered by bay doors, the main gear bays made from just one part for your ease. For the gear-down option, Installation of the landing gear begins with the nose, adding the front door at an angle along with the strut and retraction jack, followed by the wheel and sideways opening rear door. The main gear bays have the outer captive doors inserted first, fitting the struts and retractors, then the two inner bay doors as a single part. The main wheels have separate hubs, and thanks to clever use of keyed parts, the flat spot on the tyres will be correctly oriented once complete. A pair of scrap diagrams show how the wheels and bay doors look from the sides and in close-up. You have a choice of a pack of unguided rockets on separate palettes under each wing that use three holes drilled earlier to hold them in place, or a pair of two-part bombs on thick pylons under the nose, with an antenna under the starboard wing root for both. Turning the model over onto its wheels, the canopy is installed using three parts, starting with the windscreen that has part of the fuselage moulded-in for your ease, the fixed rear portion, and the canopy, which can be posed open or closed as you wish, and if open you could add a short length of wire to represent the stay wire. The last parts are a D/F loop on the spine and a pitot probe near the tip of the port wing. Markings There are two decal options on the sheet from aircraft at the bitter end of the war that are wearing very different schemes. From the box you can build one of the following: W.Nr.110956 White 17 flown by Obstlt. Heinz Bär, III./Ergänzungs-Jagdgeschwader 2, Lechfeld, Bavaria, Germany, 29th April 1945 W.Nr.500200 flown by Fj.Ofw. Hans Frölich, 2./Kampfgeschwader 51, Fassberg, Lower Saxony, Germany, 8th May 1945 Decals are by Cartograf, which is a guarantee of good registration, sharpness and colour density, with a thin gloss carrier film cut close to the printed areas. The stencils included on the sheet are dealt with on a separate page that is line-drawn for clarity, also showing the decals on the insides of the engine nacelles. Conclusion This is a detailed little model of one of my favourite WWII jets, having most of the same details as the larger kits I usually build. The decal options are attractive, and if you are mottle-phobic one option has almost none other than some clouding on the tail, and a soft-edged demarcation along the fuselage. Highly recommended. Review sample courtesy of
  5. Well, what seemed like a long time in the future is now next week, and I'm scratching my head wondering where I'm going to find the time to build this, but also really looking forward to it. Why? Because I have a soft spot for the 262, and have almost all the 1:48 Hobby Boss kits, and a couple more besides in a larger scale that we won't mention. I've been waiting for the glass-nosed one to come out for ages now, as I once saw one with a conversion in 1:32 (damn!), and that's where this all started. I have the kit, purchased with my own hands, with a set of Eduard wheels, and I'm hoping to get a set of those amazingly realistic HGW seatbelts to add a bit of sparkle to the cockpit, as there doesn't seem to be a specific Eduard PE set for it, and I can't be bothered hunting through the rest of my kits to see if I have any PE hidden there. So - apart from wheels and belts, this is going to be as close to OOB as I get these days, and rather than post up a blank place-holder thread I've taken a snap of the box contents that proves I haven't started it Actually, I have removed one part from the sprue, so I could check the fit of the bulkhead with the metal forward bay. It was not good, because the white metal was a little bit warped, so out came the pliers That's it til Monday, honest!
  6. Airframe & Miniature #1 - Messerschmitt Me.262 2nd Edition A Complete Guide to the Luftwaffe’s First Jet Fighter Valiant Wings Publishing The Me.262 Schwalbe, Swallow in English was the first operational jet in the world, and would have been a real problem for the Allies if it hadn't been for delays in production due to the interference from on high that seems to have plagued development of almost every military project since time began. It has captivated modellers and aviation enthusiasts ever since, possibly because of the shark-like profile, possibly because of the potential it showed that was exploited post-war by the victors in their own designs. Whatever it was, that has resulted in plenty of kits for us modellers, and quite a number of books to match. This title, the first of Valiant's Airframe & Miniature range has been thoroughly augmented, adapted and re-released in this new Second Edition to include a big chunk of new information. It is also a good excuse to re-print and offer the opportunity to acquire it to anyone that missed it first time around. It is aimed at the modeller, but has plenty of content to tempt the pure aviation enthusiast too. It has been penned by Richard A Franks, a name familiar to a great number of modellers, and is packed with text, information, profiles and pictures. Although broken down by Airframe and Miniature sections, the two parts are further split into chapters in their own right, as follows: Airframe Chapters Evolution: The V Series Testing: The S Series Productions: The A Series The B & C Series & Drawing Board Projects Camouflage & Markings and Colour Profiles Miniature Chapters Messerschmitt Me.262 Kits Building a Selection Building a Collection In detail: The Me 262A/B plus the Avia S.92/CS.92 Forward fuselage & cannon armament Cockpit & canopy Mid & aft fuselage Tail Wings Engines & nacelles Undercarriage Ordnance, drop tanks & sighting Radio, radar & camera Miscellaneous Appendices I Me.262 Kit List (inc. Avia S.92/CS.92) II Me.262 Accessory & Mask list (inc. Avia S.92/CS.92) III Me.262 Decals List (inc. Avia S.92/CS.92) IV Bibliography 1:48 Scale Plans Fold-out I’ve been hunting high and low for my original first edition, but can’t find it, which is weird given how besotted with the 262 I am. I suspect it’s probably lurking there laughing at me, and will turn up as soon as the need is passed – probably under my pillow. It does however prevent me from doing a comparison, so we’ll treat this as a fresh review, rather than a comparison. One thing I can attest to is that the volume has been expanded to a substantially larger 208 pages, and has been fitted at the rear with a set of fold-out plans that consist of four full-size sheets that are printed with 1:48 plans of many variants and aspects of the airframe, plus a few photos and contemporary diagrams on two of the pages. This effectively gives us an additional eight sides of content. The airframe section covers the 262 from inception to the end of production and testing of new variants (and beyond) as the factories were destroyed or over-run by the advancing allies. The drawing board section is of particular interest, as it shows the projected evolution of the aircraft that would have taken it beyond all recognition from the Schwalbe that we all know so well. Even some of the projects that were tested are somewhat odd looking, such as the 1a/U4 equipped with a 50mm cannon (a favourite of mine) for attacking the bomber streams, and the 2a/U2 fast bomber with prone bomb aimer's position in the nose. The HG III will also be of interest to anyone like myself that’s waiting for the Amusing Hobby kit in 1:48. The narrative shifts to the modeller's point of view in the second part of the book, with chapter 6 covering the major kits available in various scales. Immediately after are builds of some of the excellent kits out there, including a 1:72 262B-1a/U1 from Airfix, a 1:48 HobbyBoss A-2a/U2 with clear nose, 1:32 Revell B-1/U-1 Nightfighter for the larger scale modeller, and two pages of single photos of other available kits with brief comments and summaries. Chapter 8 details all the variants in isometric drawings that existed both in physical form or on drawing boards, and suggests suitable kits as either a starting point for conversion where necessary, or if available, the actual variant in each of the three major scales. Differences are pointed out as the airframe evolves, and a shaded drawing of each one is given to illustrate the look of them all. This is my favourite part of any Valiant Wings book, and this section is long due to the many projects and variants the 262 went through. The In Detail chapter begins with some overall shots of preserved airframes in museums across the world, and goes on to cover the intricacies of the airframe using colour and black & white photos accompanied by verbose captions that point out the relevant aspects that are an essential from a modeller's point of view, even down to the RATO pods and their mounting lugs under the fuselage. The closing pages are given over to appendices that cover a list of kits, detail sets, conversions, decals and books on the 262 at time of print, including those that have come and gone. Of course, these few pages will become outdated very quickly, but a few pages out of 208 isn't exactly much as a proportion of the whole. The eight sides of plans are captive to the rear cover, and fold out to show you the 1:48 plans and other drawings. Conclusion This book is even more crammed with information in the second edition, and will be as good a read as a reference book, so is recommended to anyone with an interest in the Schwalbe, and well-worth the asking price. Very highly recommended. Review sample courtesy of
  7. Hobby Boss is to release in late January 2020 a 1/18th Messerschmitt Me.262 Schwalbe kit - ref. 81805 Source: http://www.hobbyboss.com/index.php?g=home&m=article&a=show&id=151&l=en V.P.
  8. Messerschmitt Me.262A-1a Fighter (81805) 1:18 Hobby Boss via Creative Models Ltd The Schwalbe had the distinction of being the first jet engine fighter to see active service, and was respected by the Allies due to its speed and manoeuvrability, care of the advanced axial-flow engines that burned brightly, but not for very long. It came too late with too few airframes entering service due to delays with the engines, and the German high-command's insistence that every aircraft should have a myriad of variants sporting different configurations that brought with them further delays and confusion. The A-1a was armed with four Mk.108 cannon mounted in the nose, which resulted in a concentrated destructive power for this innovative aircraft. It could also carry bombs under the nose, or a palette of unguided rockets under each wing, thanks to Hitler’s infernal meddling that helped the Allies win the war. The Kit This is a reboxing of the kit that was released by Hobby Boss/Trumpeter’s sister company Merit International in 2013, which I think has also been available as a completed display model at some point in the past, although I couldn’t prove that in any way shape or form. It is what I’d call a project model, because it provides the base level of detail you would expect from a 1:48 kit, but in this scale of 1:18, which is roughly 2.67 or 2 2/3 the size, the detail seems spartan in places, and softer than you might like in others. In addition, due to the huge size of the kit (the fuselage is almost 24”/60cm long) it uses screws to hold some of the larger parts together, which have plastic covers that will need filling to make them melt away, and it is moulded in tougher ABS plastic to maintain structural strength. Inside the big top-opening box are a lot of parts separated into two sub-boxes with the fuselage taking up much of the remaining space. There are thirteen sprues and four engine nacelle halves according to the instructions, but the fuselage, intakes and exhausts and some of the other parts are supplied off their sprues in my boxing. It’s all moulded in grey styrene, and there are three very firm flexible tyres, a bag of thirty screws of four types, plus a large decal sheet in the bottom of one of the boxes. The clear parts are bagged in bubble-wrap, as are the two large nose weights that are simply 45mm lengths of 14mm bar that have been dressed roughly and given a coat of something shiny to prevent corrosion. If you have a copy of the excellent 1:48 Hobby Boss kit to hand, the parts will be very familiar, as it is almost a straight “blow up”, or pantograph (a slightly outdated term now) of that design in terms of how it builds up. Construction begins with the nose gear, with the strut having a clip-on retraction jack and wheel made from the black tyre that has the two sides of the hub pressed into the central hole. This clips into the gear bay part, and has the two cylindrical nose-weights attached to the top in a retaining frame with a cross-brace keeping them in place. The four Mk.108s are then made from two-part breeches, a top section and the barrels, which will need drilling out after you’ve flattened off the tip that seem to have been tooled with safety in mind rather than crispness. The bay floor and bulkhead are fitted together and the guns are placed on top with ammunition guides leading away through the floor for each one. A frame holds the barrels in place, with a bracing rod linking it back to the bulkhead, then the assembly slots over the nose gear bay, with a small bulkhead attached to the front. The cockpit is next, and has a front and rear lamination to the instrument panel, adding dial decals as you go, then slotting it into the top section of the cockpit tub. The lower tub has the side console detail skins and controls added, a pair of rudder pedals, control column, and electrical panel fitted, before the seat with separate side panels and bulkhead behind it is slid into the rear. The tub is bookended front and back by another pair of bulkheads that suspend it within the fuselage above the main gear bay. The fuselage can be closed up at that point, after installing two spreader bars in the open lower section to ensure a good mating surface between fuselage and wings. The cockpit and nose gear bay are slotted into receivers on the inside of the fuselage, and you are exhorted to also put the canopy in place then too, which traps it between the fuselage sides and the cockpit, allowing it to open and close without glue. The rudder is also trapped between the fuselage halves, and then you glue and screw the two halves together, choosing the correct covers for each screw, as they are shaped to match the contours of the fuselage. The radio bay door is also popped in, although there’s no detail behind it out of the box. They clearly had a 2-seat version in mind, as there is a large rear insert behind the cockpit, which has the usual turtle-deck and T-bar added before it is glued in place – glue the D/F loop in place now at your peril. The rest of the canopy is clipped in place at this time too, and it’s worth stating that the clarity isn’t 100% here. They have a very slight cloudy aspect to the panes, and this may or may not disappear after dipping in Klear/Future, plus there’s an odd ‘bullseye’ in the left curve of the canopy part that creates visible distortion from some angles. The engines are next, and are made from two main halves that push together using internal turrets/receivers, then have the intake with trunk screwed inside, and the exhaust made in a similar way, with decent fan detail in both ends. The three-part exhaust bullets are then centred within the trunk, and of course there’s another one to be made up for under the other wing. The completed engines are then mated to the lower wing with a couple of screws from the inside, and the main gear legs are built up with more clip-on retraction jacks and two-part hubs round flexible black tyres. The bay doors attach to the back of the struts, reflecting its “toy” roots, with no internal detail moulded-in. The wing is completed with the upper panel fitted over the top, trapping the slats, flaps and ailerons in place, all of which have T-shaped hinge points either separate parts or moulded-in. A clear(ish) wingtip light is also trapped on a pip during closure. The wings are screwed together with 3 screws and contoured caps, then the process is repeated for the other wing. The two completed wings screw together at their roots with three more screws, and have the internals made up and screwed into the assembly to be seen later from inside the bay. The wings and fuselage are then brought together with more screws and caps, and the smaller mid-line bay doors are made up and inserted into the centre, although the instructions seem to depict them closed, which isn’t usually the case. It's looking like an aircraft now if you back off far enough to be able to fit the whole thing in your vision, and we’re about to have a break while you make up the two fuel tanks on their stubby pylons, install them with RATO (Rocket Assisted Take Off) bottles under the trailing edge of the wing, an aerial under the wing, and a stubby antenna under the fuselage. With the model sitting on its own wheels, the tail is built with movable flying surfaces, then the upper nose panel with cannon ports is put in place, and here I feel the lips around the teardrop shaped apertures is too soft. The gun bay panels behind it can be closed or posed open on the central spine, with a pair of stays supplied, then the final part is a pitot probe at the tip of the port wing. Markings You get two decal options in the box with precious little background information as we’ve come to expect from Hobby Boss. Check your references in case there are any discrepancies between the portrayal and reality, and make your own decision. From the decal sheet you can build one of the following: As you’d expect the decals are massive and benefit from their size, having nice crisp outlines, legible stencils and detailed dials for the cockpit instruments. The swastikas are included in two halves each for territories where the symbol is legislated against, and you get what appears to be a good selection of walkways and all the commonly depicted stencils along with some rather large crosses – whether the stencils are spelled correctly I will leave to a German speaker to decide, as they have printed their own name as “HobbyBoos”, which isn’t a confidence boosting goof. Conclusion This is a LARGE model. You don’t fully realise that fact until you open the box, and then you take a deep breath and begin opening the bags wondering where you’re going to put it when finished. Personally, I feel that it is a model that you should take your time over, detailing the heck out of it, maybe adding a full set of rivets to the skin, although maybe not as they were supposed to be puttied over, which may come in useful, as the panel lines are quite deep and wide. For the internal details that us modellers usually obsess over, I’m hoping that the aftermarket companies are already getting their upgrade sets into production. As it stands it’s more of a toy than a model, but with the right builder a stunning replica could result, as the shape seems to be about right, and all the major components are there for you to go to work on. The transparency issue is a downer, but it’s a good candidate for someone to come along with a resin or vacformed replacement, the latter being almost below scale at 1:18. Recommended, after reading this review thoroughly. Review sample courtesy of
  9. Me.262A BIGED Set (BIG33110) 1:32 Eduard Revell’s big Schwalbe has been out for a while and Eduard have a number of sets available for it, which they have now aggregated into this big set that arrives in a large card envelope with the various sets inside in their original flat foil packaging. Interior (32960) Two frets are included, one nickel plated and pre-painted, the other in bare brass. A complete set of new layered instrument panels and side consoles are the primary parts on the painted set, with new rudder pedals; gunsight details; seat and head armour parts; rear deck details and canopy internal structure is also supplied. Seatbelts STEEL (33241) In case you don't already know, these belts are Photo-Etch (PE) steel, and because of their strength they can be etched from thinner material, which improves realism and flexibility in one sitting. Coupled with the new painting method that adds perceived extra depth to the buckles and other furniture by shading, they are more realistic looking and will drape better than regular brass PE. There is a full set of four-point belts included with separate comfort pads under the buckles, with instructions to attach them to the seat back by small loops of wire. Exterior (32448) This larger bare brass set contains some important upgrades, such as interior surface skins for the engine cowlings that is rolled to match the shape of the removable panels; an upgrade to the detail in the nose gear strut and the main wheel bay doors; actuators and end-caps for the flying surfaces; a full set of actuators and detail panels for the gravity slats on the leading-edge slats; additional parts for the gun bay and hinges for the cowling, along with some surface enhancement panels. Masks (JX244) Supplied on a sheet of yellow kabuki tape, these pre-cut masks supply you with a full set of masks for the canopy, with compound curved handled by using frame hugging masks. In addition, you get a set of hub/tyre masks for all the wheels, allowing you to cut the demarcation perfectly with little effort. Review sample courtesy of
  10. Revell is to release in October 2016 a new tool 1/32nd Messerschmitt Me.262B-1 Schwalbe kit - ref.04995 Single seaters should follow at an unspecified point of time. Design is reported executed by famous modeller Radu Brînzan. Source: http://www.plastik-modellbau.org/blog/revell-neuheiten-2016/2016/ V.P.
  11. Me.262A-1/A-2 (03875) 1:32 Revell The shark-like profile of the Messerschmitt Me.262 Schwalbe and its almost matchless abilities at the time have given it a high profile despite its lack of practical effect on the outcome of WWII. If Der Fuhrer had been a little less prone to meddling however, the effect of its presence may have been felt more by the bomber streams than it was. That's if they could have solved the metallurgy of the engines to obtain sufficient time before they burned themselves to oblivion. That's a lot of ifs, but if we concentrate on the actual performance of it, it's still an impressive aircraft that was superior to the British Meteor in many respects, using axial flow jet engines and swept outer wing panels together with an efficient aerodynamic shape. It first flew with a prop in the nose and dummy engines, dragging its tail along the ground until airborne, but this was changed once the engines were live as the thrust from both engines would have played havoc with their landing strips. The delays were caused partly by Hitler's insistence that the airframe should be able to carry bombs, which it eventually could under its nose, but as usual their efforts were spread too thin by trying to make the Schwalbe a workhorse with many variants, all of which took valuable engineers and strategic materials away from the fighters that were to be the most use in the defence of the Reich. The huge speed differential between the 262 and its bomber stream targets meant that zoom attacks were necessary that gave precious little time for the pilot to take careful aim due to the high rate of closure. The aircraft were also vulnerable during take-off and landing due to the slow spooling-up of all early jet engines, which the Allies took full advantage of to reduce the fleet further with intensive maintenance whittling away at the available airframes even further. It was a case of too little too late in terms of numbers and even with their speed advantage a few were shot down by piston-engined Allied aircraft due in part to the extensive experience that the Allied crews had gained during the invasion and the comparative lack of experienced German pilots by that stage of the war. As the Allies rolled through Germany they captured airbases and research establishments with many variants that didn't see combat found and hoovered up by US Operation Paperclip and similar operations by the other Allied governments. The Kit This is a fork of the 2016 tooling in this scale of the Me.262B-1/U-1 two-seater with new parts to depict the single seat fighter. This was made easier by the sensible decision by Revell to tool the engines and other common parts to ensure they could be used for other variants, so it's a case of new fuselage parts on the otherwise identical sprue, new clear parts, a new single-part cockpit and of course the bombs that the fighter was supposed to carry. Inside the deep end-opening box are thirteen sprues in their usual light grey styrene, two clear sprues, decal sheet and the new-style instruction booklet with painting guide printed at the rear in colour. Construction of this variant is broadly similar to the original, beginning with the cockpit and its sidewalls. These are made up with levers and some decals, then the centre section of the cockpit floor is added along with the power breaker panel that is prominent on the pilot's right. The instrument panel has cylindrical backs moulded in with a separate add-on section depending upon whether the airframe is to carry rockets or bombs. Decals for the instruments are supplied, and the panel is attached to the forward end of the side consoles by two tabs, with the rudder pedals fitted under them, then joined by the front bulkhead. The pilot's seat is well-moulded and you'll leave another on the sprues as a left-over from the 2-seat variant. You can use the decal seatbelts directly on the seat, or add these to foil to give them a bit of depth if you don't want to go for PE or those awesome HGW belts that I'm always going on about. The cockpit's cylindrical "tub" is added in two parts around the assembly, then it is set aside for a while to build up the combined gun bay and nose-gear bay on opposite sides of the tapering floor part. The two walls of the bay are added with the stub of the nose gear leg, the rest of which is added later, then the top side is fitted out with ammo guides before a pack of four Mk.108 cannons and their supportive bulkhead are slipped into place past the ammo feeds. The remaining upper feeds are then laid over the installation, and two braces are added between the two bulkheads, which will all be visible if you elect to leave open the bay doors. In the fuselage halves, the ammo chutes are placed inside depicting the rectangular outlets for the spent brass, then the bay is glued into the port side and the fuselage is closed up. One handy feature of the 262 is that in most scales the majority of kits allow you to insert the cockpit from below before the wings are attached. The cockpits sills are inserted into the aperture from above along with the canopy rail, then the cockpit with aft bulkhead are fitted from below and ancillary equipment that will be visible through the gear bays are added to finish off. Speaking of the gear bays, the main spars that pass through the main bay are next to be built, beginning with the front section that is joined to the rear by three ribs and the stubs of the main gear legs. These are placed in the centre lower wing section which has the outer panels added that use overlapping tabs to strengthen their joints. The two flap sections are added to each lower wing, then after fitting the upper wing panels the two-part ailerons are installed with their actuators and fairings. The 262 had gravity operated slats along the leading edge of the wing, so on the ground and at low speed they will be deployed by default, and this is depicted by the separate surfaces that are joined to the wing by six points moulded into the upper wing section. If you are posing your model with the gear up, the slat tabs are cut off and the slats fitted flush to the wing. This completes the wings, and they are added to the lower fuselage, taking care to align the lower panel and its fairings front and rear to minimise any clean-up. Now work begins on the engines, which are depicted in their entirety (externally) from intake to exhaust with separate handed nacelles added to turn them into port and starboard units. The intake and its inner trunk are joined one inside the other, with the bullet and front face of the engine added from behind, with a similar method used for the exhaust with its stator vanes and the rear of the engine just visible through them. The mid-section of the engine body is made of five parts and its various colours are picked out as you go. The intakes and exhausts are added, more ancillaries are fitted around the middle, and then the two units are slipped within their two-part nacelles that fit port and starboard after adding the compound curves of the fairings front and rear that fit neatly onto the leading edge of the wing first and are then glued along their length. It's looking a lot like a Schwalbe now, but needs its tail-feathers. The fin is moulded into the fuselage halves with a separate rudder and trim-tab, and the elevators are made up from two part fins and a single elevator unit for each that can be posed at an angle if desired. These are fitted into the slots in the tail and should be at 90o to the fin and monitored as the glue sets. For the landed option, the gear needs making up next, with a choice of design of four-part nose wheels and standard two-part main wheels with a zig-zag tread. The struts are single parts each, the nose leg having a single armed yoke, while the main gear have separate scissor-links added to the fronts of their struts and the wheels fitted to a stub axle that sits roughly perpendicular to the leg. If you're going wheels up the nose gear bay is closed up by a single part after cutting off the hinge points. The main gear bay is provided with a single piece that spans both bays. If you are using the gear, the nose bay door is cut into two sections and posed with one piece attached to the side, and the other part captive to the front of the leg. The main gear bays take three parts each, with two attached to the leg, and the inner section affixed to a central brace between the bays and fitted with two retraction jacks each. In order to fit the canopy the gun-sight has to be made up first on a cruciform bracket with the clear gun-sight fitted to one leg and the lenses left clear while the rest of the sight is painted. The windscreen has its bullet-proof internal screen attached from the inside before the completed gun-sight is fitted into the inside edges of the screen then glued into position at the front of the cockpit aperture. The opening canopy has its head-armour fitted and can be glued into place open using the two moulded-in tabs, or closed by removing the tabs before installation. The aft section of the canopy is usually seen in position, but can be shown open using the tabs provided although there's not much to be seen under it. The engine cowlings can be left off to display some of the detail, as can the nose bay to show off the cannons just by cutting the cover into three sections, one part of which is glued across the centre and the other two fitted gull-wing style with props supplied on the sprues. The nose cone and cannon troughs are glued to the front, with a tiny clear light on the tip of the nose. The 262 could carry either two drop-tanks to extend its range, or a pair of bombs in the fighter-bomber role, or rockets under the wings. The drop tanks are each two parts split top and bottom at a natural seamline and share the same pylons as the bombs. The bombs supplied are 250KG or 500KG and use the same construction method of two parts with a separate nose-cone, two fins and an exterior ring at the rear on the 500KG unit, and braces for the smaller units. The rockets are moulded as one part and are attached to their racks that are conformal to the underside of the wings. The model is completed by clear wingtip lights, D/F loop on the spine, pitot probe on the port wingtip and aerial under the wing. Markings There are two decal options included in the box, each one spanning two pages of the booklet and printed in full colour. They are sufficiently different to please many, and from the box you can build one of the following: Me.262A-1a Wk.Nr. 130017, Erprob.Kdo 262, Lechfeld, 1944 Me.262A-2a WkNr. 170122, 2./KG 51 "Edelweiss" Rheine, 1944 Decals are printed for Revell by Zanetti, with good registration, sharpness and colour density, with a thin matt carrier film cut close to the printed areas. Conclusion Grab one of these if 262s and 1:32 are your thing and you'll be well-pleased. There is a lot of detail moulded-in, and if you want more there will be enough aftermarket to sink a ship in due course. With Revell's distribution network they'll be pretty easy to find too. Revell model kits are available from all good toy and model retailers. For further information visit or
  12. Pepelatz is to release a 1/72nd Messerschmitt Me.262B-2 Schwalbe with props resin kit Source: https://www.facebook.com/permalink.php?story_fbid=793154381056846&id=563609150678038 V.P.
  13. Hi all!My little Me-262 from Eduard. I have used Mr Hobby paints.
  14. Messerschmitt Me 262 Schwalbe. Me 262 A-2a W.Nr.112372 at The RAF Museum Hendon, pics mine.
  15. Me.262 Wheels (632100 for Revell) 1:32 Eduard Brassin Hot on the heels of our review of the new Revell kit here, here is a nice set of wheels to add a little bit of extra detail to the model. As usual with Eduard's resin sets, they arrive in the familiar Brassin clamshell box, with the resin parts safely cocooned on dark grey foam inserts, and the instructions sandwiched between the two halves, doubling as the header card. There are nine resin parts on six casting blocks, plus a set of pre-cut masks on yellow kabuki tape, which supply you with a full set of masks for the wheel hub, allowing you to cut the demarcation perfectly with little effort. The detail on the wheels is superb, with sidewall markings and maker's technical data, while the rolling surface is covered with hexagonal tread blocks that look oval to the casual observer. The casting block attaches to the contact patch, which is slightly deformed to give the impression of weighting, with outriggers barely touching the tread pattern, primarily to ease the casting process. Both the main wheels and the single nose wheel have separate hub details, which could be painted separately if you'd rather, or masked with the abovementioned tape if you don't. Superb detail and highly recommended. Review sample courtesy of
  16. Me.262B-1 Update Sets (for Revell) 1:32 Eduard Revell's new 1:32 Schwalbe has ticked a lot of boxes for many larger scale modellers, making up for the scarcity of the main competition in the scale recently. We've got one that we'll be reviewing soon, so keep your eyes peeled, but Eduard have been Johnny-on-the-spot and brought out this spread of sets tailored to the kit to improve the detail over what is included in the box. As usual with Eduard's Photo-Etch (PE) and Mask sets, they arrive in a flat resealable package, with a white backing card protecting the contents and the instructions that are sandwiched between. Interior Set (32893) Two sheets are in the package, one of which is bare brass, the other nickel-plated and printed with cockpit details such as instrument panels, bezels etc. It includes a new gunsight; rudder pedals, a complete set of new instrument panels laminated from multiple parts; side consoles, knobs, dials and levers; additional seat details and of course the prominent electrics panel in the front cockpit. In the rear is the big black box between the crew; a detailed rear panel; various small structural parts; the NAXOS radar detector that sits in between the crew, and other canopy details. You will need to supply a few lengths of rod for the NAXOS antenna from 1.2mm, 2.2mm 3mm round stock, plus a few of other sizes through the build, all of which will likely be to hand if you're prepared. Seatbelt Set (32894) Hived off to a separate set to utilise their new STEEL technology with wafer thin etching that is pre-painted, and has additional relief hinted at by the addition of shading on the belts to give extra depth to buckles and overlaps. They are extremely flexible and drape much more realistically than traditional PE, which can be difficult to manipulate. Exterior (32395) This set is bare brass and supplied on a large fret, the contents of which are used all over the airframe. Starting with the lugs at the tips of the bullet fairings in the engine intakes, it jumps to two panel inserts for the nose gear bay; brackets for the front bulkhead in the gun bay; internal skins for the removable engine cowlings; fine detail upgrades for the gun bay; hinges, teardrop panels and closures for the gun bay doors; end-caps for all the flap segments; replacement slat guides and skins for the slat bays themselves, which requires you first to remove the styrene parts and create a notch for each new part to project from, as detailed in the accompanying diagrams. The remaining parts include actuator arms for the various trim-points on the flying surfaces; a wrap-around part for the main gear legs, and additional details for the bay doors. Masks (JZ196) Supplied on a sheet of yellow kabuki tape, these pre-cut masks supply you with a full set of masks for the canopy, with compound curved handled by using frame hugging masks, while the highly curved gaps are in-filled with either liquid mask or offcuts from the background tape. In addition you get a set of hub/tyre masks for the wheels, allowing you to cut the demarcation perfectly with little effort. Review sample courtesy of
  17. Me.262B-1a/U1 Updates (HobbyBoss) 1:48 Eduard HobbyBoss have a growing range of Schwalbe kits that shows no sign of slowing at time of writing, and these two sets will be quite familiar for the most part if you have seen Eduard's other offerings for the range. As usual with Eduard's Photo-Etch (PE) and Mask sets, they arrive in a flat resealable package, with a white backing card protecting the contents and the instructions that are sandwiched between. Me.262B-1a/U1 (49768) Unusually for this type of set, it contains three sheets of PE, two of which are nickel plated and pre-painted, the other in bare brass. It's quite a comprehensive set as such, and includes details for the cockpit, gun bay and landing gear bays. The cockpit is augmented with seatbelts; new laminated instrument panels and side consoles at the front and rear that are pre-painted; sidewall details; pre-painted wiring looms; rear deck and sill parts;the missing FuG 350 Naxos Radar Warning Receiver that hangs from the rear-canopy interior; gun-sight and control column upgrades. The gun bay has various small structural parts added, plus a number of pre-painted wiring loom parts that will make the area pop once added to the painted bay. The gear bay is spruced up with wall skin details, small structural parts; new hinges to the bay doors; oleo scissor-links; a wiring loom to the actuator, and brake lines for the struts. Masks (EX507) The two-seater 262 has quite a few panes in its canopy, and this set of pre-cut kabuki tape masks eases that job for you. As a bonus you also get a full set of wheel hub masks, and two masks for part GP3, which is the armoured windscreen panel that fits inside the primary glazing. Review sample courtesy of
  18. Me.262B-1a/U1 1:48 HobbyBoss The Schwalbe had the distinction of being the first jet engine fighter to see active service, and was respected by the Allies due to its speed and manoeuvrability, care of the advanced axial-flow engines that burned brightly, but not for very long. It came too late with too few airframes entering service due to delays with the engines, and the German high-command's insistence that every aircraft should have a myriad of variants sporting different configurations that brought with them further delays and confusion. The B-1 variant was a two-seater trainer that was hastily adapted to a night fighter for the defence of the Reich and given the U1 designation to differentiate. It was fitted with the FuG 218 Neptun radar, plus the "Antler" eight-dipole antenna array on the nose. The Kit HobbyBoss have a wide range of single-seater 262s, and are now working their way through the two-seater range, plus some of the oddities that were either proposed or were actually in work when the war ended. If you have seen any of the preceeding kits, you'll be familiar with much of the kit already, as it has been tooled from the outset to be a modular "system" to maximise use. Inside the box are nine sprues in mid-grey styrene, two in clear, a metal nose-weight, a sheet of decals, instruction booklet in portrait A4, and a separate double-sided A4 painting & marking guide. The most notable difference of course is the doubled-up cockpit, which has two seats and instrument panels, with decals for both. The side consoles have separate instrument skins, and the tubular cockpit "tub" also forms part of the main gear bays, sitting in a cradle that forms the fore and aft bulkheads of the bay. The nightfighter was well armed with a quartet of 30mm Mk.108 cannon in the nose that could decimate anything in its sights. The gun bay sits atop the nose gear bay, which you can either install the metal part, or the lighter but slightly crisper styrene part if you prefer. The bay, four cannons and their ammo feeds fit to the top, and at the front the stubs for the forward antennae project from the circular front bulkhead. You can fit the nose gear leg at this point, or leave it off until later, and this has the option of smooth or treaded tyres, both of which are two-parts each. The fuselage parts are complete with a lengthened cockpit aperture, and have a number of parts fitted within that will be vaguely seen from the removable hatch on the starboard side. If you're closing the hatch however, leaving these parts out will reduce the need for nose weight fractionally. The fuselage is then closed up around the cockpit and nose gear/gun bays, and set aside while the wings are built up. The cockpit is completed later by the addition of additional equipment between the cockpits for the radar operator, and a sloped rear deck. The engine nacelles have detailed fans at the front and exhaust bullets to the rear, and for no apparent reason, also have ribbing detail (perhaps for strength?) one their inner skins. With two of these built up, the full-width lower ing and split upper are joined together, some additional main gear bay detail added, and the fuselage then the engines are fitted to their respective slots. The nose cone is added, and the cannon bay doors can be fitted in opened or closed positions, while the forward panel that contains their troughs is fixed closed. If you're either brave or foolhardy, the front antennae can be fitted at this stage, but I'd leave them off, and consider some Master replacements in hardy brass. Under the aircraft the cannon shell ejector chute panels are added, remembering to make holes for the drop-tanks if you will be fitting them. The main gear legs have separate oleo scissor-links, and two captive bay doors each, with the third inner door fitting to the centre between the two bays. The bay door for the nose gear has a long retraction jack that clips into the side of the bay wall. As often happens with HB kits, you get a stack of extras, which in this case includes the aforementioned drop-tanks, plus a tray of unguided rockets for under each wing. Additionally, a pair of rocket (RATO) packs are also included for under the rear of the fuselage, which were sometimes used to assist a heavily laden Schwalbe to take off quickly. Markings There are two decal options from the box, both of which have black undersides and RLM76 uppers, differing mainly in the style of squiggle camouflage that they wear. From the box you can build one of the following: W.Nr.111980 10/NJG 11 Kommando Welter 12 – smoke rings and stripes in RLM81/83. W.Nr.110494 piloted by Lt. Herbert Altner – RLM75 mottle. The decals are printed in-house and are in good register with adequate sharpness and colour density. There are some rather noticeable steps in the diagonal sides of the Swastika however, which is incidentally printed in parts to avoid issues, so you might wish to use your own if you will be applying them to your finished model. Conclusion Another well-done 262 to add to HB's stable. Detail is good, as is the choice of weapons/equipment fit, and other than a slight improvement needed in the decal printing, it's well-rounded kit. Highly recommended. Review sample courtesy of
  19. Next 1/48th Schwalbe kit by HobbyBoss is a Messerschmitt Me.262B-1a/U1 - ref.80379 Source: http://tieba.baidu.com/p/2804569608 Hobby Boss Schwalbe variants & boxing: - Messerschmitt Me.262 A-1a - ref.80369 - http://www.britmodeller.com/forums/index.php?/topic/234948927-148-messerschmitt-me262-a-1a-schwalbe-by-hobbyboss-released - Messerschmitt Me.262 A-1a/U1 - ref.80370 - http://www.britmodeller.com/forums/index.php?/topic/234965082-148-messerschmitt-me262-a-1au1-schwalbe-by-hobby-boss-release-october-2014 - Messerschmitt Me.262 A-1a/U3 - ref.80371 - http://www.hobbyboss.com/index.php?g=home&m=product&a=show&id=523&l=en - Messerschmitt Me.262 A-1a/U4 - ref.80372 - http://www.hobbyboss.com/index.php?g=home&m=product&a=show&id=551&l=en - Messerschmitt Me.262 A-1a/U5 - ref.80373 - http://www.hobbyboss.com/index.php?g=home&m=product&a=show&id=448&l=en - Messerschmitt Me.262 A-1a/U2 (V056) - ref.80374 - http://www.hobbyboss.com/index.php?g=home&m=product&a=show&id=430&l=en - Messerschmitt Me.262 A-1b - ref.80375 - http://www.hobbyboss.com/index.php?g=home&m=product&a=show&id=330&l=en - Messerschmitt Me.262 A-2a - ref.80376 - http://www.britmodeller.com/forums/index.php?/topic/234971808-148-messerschmit-me262-a-2a-schwalbe-by-hobby-boss-released - Messerschmitt Me.262 A-2a/U2 - ref.80377 - http://www.britmodeller.com/forums/index.php?/topic/234987781-148-messerschmitt-me262-a-2au2-schwalbe-by-hobby-boss-box-art-release-october-2015/ - Messerschmitt Me.262 B-1a - ref. 80378 - http://www.britmodeller.com/forums/index.php?/topic/234954190-148-messerschmitt-me262b-1a-schwalbe-by-hobby-boss-released - Messerschmitt Me.262 B-1a/U1 - ref.80379 - http://www.britmodeller.com/forums/index.php?/topic/234953218-148-messerschmitt-me262b-1au1-schwalbe-by-hobby-boss - Messerschmitt Me.262B-1a/Avia CS-92 - ref. 80380 - http://www.britmodeller.com/forums/index.php?/topic/234992900-148-messerschmitt-me262b-1acs-92-schwalbe-by-hobbyboss-released/ V.P.
  20. Me.262A-1a/U1 1:48 Hobby Boss The Schwalbe had the distinction of being the first jet engine fighter to see active service, and was respected by the Allies due to its speed and manoeuvrability, care of the advanced axial-flow engines that burned brightly, but not for very long. It came too late with too few airframes entering service due to delays with the engines, and the German high-command's insistence that every aircraft should have a myriad of variants sporting different configurations that brought with them further delays and confusion. The A-1a/U1 was the heavy armament Zerstörer or destroyer, with six cannon mounted in the nose, two of which were 20mm MG151s, two more 30mm MK.103, and the final two 30mm MK.108. Only a single prototype was constructed before war's end, but had it seen service it would have packed a phenomenal punch, especially as the armament was all concentrated in the nose, thanks to some careful arrangement of components, and a little additional fairing. The Kit If you've seen any of the other Hobby Boss kits of the 262, or indeed any kit of the 262, there will be much that you recognise here, and on opening the box you will see that there is again a highly modular configuration of the sprues to extract the maximum permutations from the toolings. Good, says I, as you just can't have too many Swallows IMHO! There are two sprues containing fuselage halves, three larger sprues, and seven smaller sprues in a medium grey styrene, two small clear sprues, a white metal nose weight, and a medium sized decal sheet. The instructions are A4 portrait in black and white on plain paper, stapled into a booklet, while the painting and decaling instructions are printed on one side of a piece of glossy paper. It was one prototype airframe, or one of three if you believe some sources over others, so wore limited schemes. One thing I noticed about the boxart is that it doesn't represent the kit in the box, which has two protruding cannon and two more faired in cannon bulges in the nose. The boxart has faired over upper troughs, and a pair of bomb carriers under the nose, none of which is in the box. Not to worry though… the stuff in the box is correct for the nomenclature. Construction begins with the cockpit tub, which is well detailed and provided with instrument decals for the main panel, plus the side consoles, all of which have clear backgrounds so you don't have to match paint with the rest of the cockpit. The cannon bay is next, and again there is a lot of detail packed into this area, in the shape of six cannons and their ammo feeds. The larger 30mm cannons are fitted to the rear of the bay, which sits on top of the metal nose weight, which also forms the walls of the nose gear bay. The gear leg is shown fitted at this time, along with a retraction jack and bay door, and you can choose between a simple smooth tyre or a heavily treaded one to suit yourself. A quantity of internal parts of the aircraft, such as radio gear and other equipment are placed within the two fuselage halves, which can be seen through a small hatch in the side of the fuselage if you care to leave it open. The fuselage halves are painted RLM02 inside, then closed up around the cockpit and nose gear bays. The engines and wings are built up next, with the engine nacelles split vertically with single mouldings for the front and rear fairings, plus depictions of the front and rear faces of the Jumo 004 engines. The wings are full-width on the lower, and separate port and starboard on the upper, with some main wheel bay detail added to the gap between them before the fuselage is added along with the engines, tail, separate rudder, and the cannon bay covers, which includes optional open panels and props that sit on a central brace. The nose cone has fairings moulded in for the 20mm cannons, and the larger 30mm cannons have barrel parts, the lower of which have perforated muzzle-brakes moulded onto them, although none of the barrels have hollow muzzles. It would be well worth getting a set of brass barrels for these, as they're somewhat a focal point of this variant of the 262. A three-part windscreen and canopy is added over the cockpit, with the windscreen including a small portion of the upper fuselage, making for a nicely faired in look to the screen once complete. Main construction finishes with the main gear legs, which have separate oleo-scissor links, retraction jacks and two bay doors each, with another opening into the centreline. Two cannon shell-chute panels are added to the underside of the nose, as is the remaining nose gear cover, and that's the aircraft finished. As a bonus, a set of Ruhrstahl Ru 344 X-4 wire-guided missiles are included in the box, taking up two of the small sprues, and covered with some protective wrap. Although eventually cancelled, the X-4 was destined to be carried by the 262 and Do.335, but problems with guidance and the pilot splitting his attention between flying his own aircraft and a missile some hundreds of metres distant led to its cancellation before it was ever carried by the Schwalbe. These are constructed by adding stabilising wings to the body, which already has two wings moulded in, and adding a tail section. The missile is then added to a two-part pylon that mounts on the wing via two holes drilled before the wings are closed up. A task to remember if you're planning on using them. Additionally, a pair of tubular RATO pods are also included, which fit close to the fuselage centreline, just aft of the main landing gear bays. Even the advanced Jumo engines were slow to spool up or down, so the additional thrust of a pair of rocket motors would be useful to get a heavily laden 262 off the ground quickly. Markings As already mentioned, there was only one prototype of this variant (depending on who you ask that could be three airframes), so your options are limited if you intend to stick to real-world scenarios. Hobby Boss have opted for a hypothetical scheme however, as some of the prototype schemes can be a bit samey, I suppose. From the box you can build: Einsatzkommando Schenk (E-51)3.,KG/51 'Eddleweiss', red 5. RLM82/83 spinter camo on the topsides, with faded and mottled sides, over an RLM76 underside. Red 5 on the front cowling, and bisected Swastikas on the tail. The decals are printed in-house, and include plenty of stencils and walkway decals, although the red dotted lines aren't used in the scheme above. Print quality is good, as is registration, but the whites of the various crosses appear a little translucent. Sourcing alternatives might be a wise idea once you've satisfied yourself of their quality. Conclusion Hobby Boss to a nice line in 262s at an attractive price, and this one is no exception, with perhaps the caveats of the scheme and decals to watch out for. Detail is good throughout, and it is well-engineered, with the built-in nose weight especially welcome. Highly recommended. Review sample courtesy of
  21. Hi, I have had an idea to build this 'What If' for quite a few years now but I never got around to it... however my club voted to make our club display at next years Southernn Expo show a What If theme so there are no excuses not to build it.... My original idea came about while I was modelling and researching aircraft of the Irish Air Corps.... I noticed that the IAC allocate a simple code for each of their aircraft with each new batch issued the next available number... Twelve Hawker Hurricane mk.I's were ordered for the Irish Army Air Corps in 1940 but were not delivered due to a wartime embargo imposed by the British Government. Eleven Hurricane Is were eventually delivered to the Air Corps, from surplus R.A.F. stocks, between July 1943 and March 1944. The Hurricane mk.I's were the first monoplane fighter aircraft to enter service with the Air Corps and was also the first aircraft capable of reaching 300 m.p.h. in level flight. These aircraft were issued with the serial no.'s 103 to 114 but the serial no.113 was never allocated. What If.... in the final days of the war in Europe a lone Me 262 made it to neutral Eire where it was pressed into service with the Irish Air Corps... the new recruit would be issued with the serial 113. Here is a sketch of that Irish Messerschmitt Me 262 'Schwalbe' in the new post war livery which would later be applied to the IAC Vampires.... Ireland's first Silver Swallow. So on to the build.... I picked up this 1/48 Monogram kit at this years Expo Kit is good and bad in equal measure... but on the whole It is fine....
  22. Next Hobby Boss 1/48th Schwalbe variant will be a Messerschmitt Me.262 A-2a kit - ref.80376. Sources: http://www.hobbyboss.com/index.php?g=home&m=article&a=show&id=33&l=en http://scalemodels.ru/news/8281-Hobby-Boss-fevral-2015.html Box art. Release expected late February 2015 Hobby Boss Schwalbe variants & boxing: - Messerschmitt Me.262 A-1a - ref.80369 - http://www.britmodeller.com/forums/index.php?/topic/234948927-148-messerschmitt-me262-a-1a-schwalbe-by-hobbyboss-released - Messerschmitt Me.262 A-1a/U1 - ref.80370 - http://www.britmodeller.com/forums/index.php?/topic/234965082-148-messerschmitt-me262-a-1au1-schwalbe-by-hobby-boss-release-october-2014 - Messerschmitt Me.262 A-1a/U3 - ref.80371 - http://www.hobbyboss.com/index.php?g=home&m=product&a=show&id=523&l=en - Messerschmitt Me.262 A-1a/U4 - ref.80372 - http://www.hobbyboss.com/index.php?g=home&m=product&a=show&id=551&l=en - Messerschmitt Me.262 A-1a/U5 - ref.80373 - http://www.hobbyboss.com/index.php?g=home&m=product&a=show&id=448&l=en - Messerschmitt Me.262 A-1a/U2 (V056) - ref.80374 - http://www.hobbyboss.com/index.php?g=home&m=product&a=show&id=430&l=en - Messerschmitt Me.262 A-1b - ref.80375 - http://www.hobbyboss.com/index.php?g=home&m=product&a=show&id=330&l=en - Messerschmitt Me.262 A-2a - ref.80376 - http://www.britmodeller.com/forums/index.php?/topic/234971808-148-messerschmit-me262-a-2a-schwalbe-by-hobby-boss-released - Messerschmitt Me.262 A-2a/U2 - ref.80377 - http://www.britmodeller.com/forums/index.php?/topic/234987781-148-messerschmitt-me262-a-2au2-schwalbe-by-hobby-boss-box-art-release-october-2015/ - Messerschmitt Me.262 B-1a - ref. 80378 - http://www.britmodeller.com/forums/index.php?/topic/234954190-148-messerschmitt-me262b-1a-schwalbe-by-hobby-boss-released - Messerschmitt Me.262 B-1a/U1 - ref.80379 - http://www.britmodeller.com/forums/index.php?/topic/234953218-148-messerschmitt-me262b-1au1-schwalbe-by-hobby-boss V.P.
  23. Last hope for the Luftwaffe: Me.163, He.162, Me.262 1:72, 1:48, 1:32 Kagero This is issue 37 of Kagero's successful MiniTopColors series, that consists of a booklet of 18 pages containing three-view digital paintings of ten different aircraft with decals to match in 1:72, 1:48 and 1:32. There are three schemes for the Komet, four for the Salamander, and three for the Schwalbe. As these are late war aircraft, they are rough and ready, with very heavily adapted and personalised schemes, altered airframes with unpainted parts, previously painted grafted sections, and naked metal with puttied seams evident. The schemes are as follows: Me.163B V53 W.Nr. 16310062, White 9, flown by Kurt Schieber of 1./JG400, Brandis, Germany early August 1944. Me.163B White 10 flown by Lt. Hans-Ludwig Loscher of 1./JG400, Brandis, Germany, late February 1945. Me.163B V52 W.Nr.16310061 Yellow 1, flown by Lt. Reinhard Opitz, Kapitan of 7./JG400 Nordholz, Germany, April 1945. He.162A-1 W.Nr. 310003 Yellow 5 of 3./JG1, Leck, Germany, May 1945. He.162A-2 W.Nr. 120067 White 4 of 1./JG1, Leck, Germany, May 1945. He.162A-2 W.Nr. 120028 White 3 of 1./JG1, Leck, Germany, May 1945. He.162A-2 W.Nr. 120231 White 6 of 1./JG1, Leck, Germany, May 1945. Me.262A-2a W.Nr.110613 9K+DK flown by Ofw. Hermann Wieczorek of 2./KG51 Rheine-Hopsten, Germany 25th February 1945. Me.262A-1a Yellow 2 of 3./KG(J)54, Prague-Ruzyne, Czechoslovakia, May 1945. Me.262A-1a White 34 of III./EJG2, Brunnthal, Germany May 1945. The decals are printed by Cartograf as usual, and are of top quality, with good register, colour density and sharpness, accompanied by a very glossy and close-cut carrier film. Each scale is separated by a dotted line, so you'll not get confused between scales. Conclusion Perfectly timed for the release of the new Meng Me.163B kit, and I'm sure a great many of us will end up owning both. The partially bare metal schemes are very interesting, and there's a lot of mottle, scribble and soft demarcations between colours, so you'd best spruce up your airbrushing skills to tackle them. I'm personally very tempted by them all, although having only one Salamander in my stash is now starting to look like a problem. Highly recommended. Review sample courtesy of
  24. I picked up this at the weekend as a distraction from review builds and reviews, as it's ages since I've built anything just for my own pleasure. This is a Cyber Hobby Orange boxing of the Dragon (Trimaster?) kit of the proposed Bomber Destroyer that was fitted with a 50mm Bordkanone 5 in the nose. Only two prototypes were finished before the end of hostilities, and the box top artwork shows a drab RLM 81 with RLM82 spinter pattern on the wings, over RLM76. That late in the war, I'd have thought that a bare metal finish under the wings would be more likely, but what do I know? I'm in the market for a more interesting colour scheme, as the 262 is one of my favourite looking of the early jets. Putting a big fat cannon on the front of it just appeals to my sense of "wrong", so I treated it to one of Master's excellent turned brass and aluminium examples off eBay. I also had a cheapo Zoom! set of Eduard PE that was meant for a nachtjager, so I pressed the front half of that into service. I also killed two birds with one cannon shell and built up a set of the new Eduard "fabric" seatbelts, which took a while, but paid off. It allowed me to write the review with more conviction into the bargain, which is nice The cockpit of this ageing kit is a little rough and not very ready. The tub is nothing more than a section of tube with front and rear bulkheads built in, and some very sketchy detail moulded in. There were tooling marks and ejector pin marks all over the show, and the bases for the side consoles were a bit narrow, so I skinned those with some 0.1mm styrene sheet patterned from a masking tape template. The floor was also given a little extra care & attention, plus a new cross-board in front of the rudder pedals, which were replaced with some early LionRoar examples from the stash. Some of the detail was removed to accomodate the PE, which was pre-painted a not especially convincing colour. Once I'd painted the cockpit I touched in the grey with my shade, so it blends in better (I think?). I also added some lead wire to the rear of the instruments, which has been largely a waste of time and effort, after seeing the part in place I squished the control column's grip and have carved a new one from styrene rod, which is sitting beside me now waiting for the glue to cure, after which it will be painted up... again The nose gear bay had some tricky looking ejector pin marks, so those were filled with punched styrene circles and sanded flush (enough) before being painted. The kit includes a couple of PE sheets in some tough ferric blend of metal that really doesn't like to be cut or bent. Curiously enough, most of that is used in constructing the main gear bay, so that was built up after some seriously aggressive clean-up of the styrene parts, which were 'orrible. They were glued in the lower wing, primed, painted, varnished and washed, then matted down. I also built up the nacelles for the engines, electing not to use the extra sprues of Jumo engines for the stripped down option that's included with the kit along with a couple of mechanics and a stepped platform. The fit of these parts wasn't the best, but it's nothing that some CA and sanding sticks can't sort out, although some minor rescribing looks to be on the cards. These are currently setting up with CA in the joints, waiting for me to create a haze of styrene dusk at some point in the near future. I'm considering riveting the entire airframe once I've built up the fuselage, as there's not a massive amount of surface detail on the kit, as it's quite an old one. It's also got some horrible rubbery tyres and quite nice styrene hubs, which I'm trying not to use, but I'm also trying not to spend much money on it, as it's an old kit. If anyone's got any good ones that they have no need for, I'd be happy to negotiate their release I've added a few tabs to strengthen the obvious underside seams of the fuselage, and the wing joints, but these are going to need some adjustment, as the wall thickness is extremely variable all over the kit due to the old skool techniques used for tooling back then. Enough waffle - here's a pic of everything sat together. Looking forward, I think I've still got a lot of work to do, as the inspection panel covering the cannon breech fits where it touches. I think the guy that tooled the part was told there was a kit being tooled, but not about the dimensions. The landing gear could be interesting, but I'm sure I'll manage. Then there's the colour scheme - I'd prefer not to do the kit scheme, so if anyone's got any ideas, I'm all ears I guess it would have been easier to just buy the newer Hobby Boss kit, but this was just staring at me from the shelf, looking all forlorn with its partially crushed box and simple artwork. "buy me a cannon" it said, and I did. I'm impressionable like that
  25. Messerschmitt Me.262 Valiant Wings Publishing The Me.262 Schwalbe, Swallow in English was the first operational jet in the world, and would have been a real problem for the Allies if it hadn't been for delays in production due to the interference from on high that seems to have plagued development of almost every military project since time began. It has captivated modellers and aviation enthusiasts ever since, possibly because of the shark-like profile, possibly because of the potential it showed that was exploited post-war by the victors in their designs. Whatever it was, that has resulted in plenty of kits for us modellers, and quite a number of books to match. This title, the first of Valiant's Airframe & Miniature range is aimed at the modeller, but has plenty of content to tempt the pure aviation enthusiast too. It has been penned by Richard A Franks, a name familiar to a great number of modellers, and is packed with text, information, profiles and pictures. Although broken down by Airframe and Miniature sections, the two parts are further split into chapters in their own right, as follows: Airframe Chapters Evolution: The V Series Testing: The S Series Productions: The A Series The B and C Series & Drawing Board Projects Camouflage & Markings plus Colour Profiles Miniature Chapters Building a Selection Building a Collection In detail: The Me 262A/B plus the Avia S.92/CS.92 Bibliography Kits The airframe section covers the 262 from inception to the end of production and testing of new variants (and beyond) as the factories were destroyed or over-run by the advancing allies. The drawing board section is of particular interest, as it shows the projected evolution of the aircraft that would have taken it beyond all recognition from the Swalbe that we all know so well. Even some of the projects that were tested are somewhat odd looking, such as the 1a/U4 equipped with a 50mm cannon (a favourite of mine) for attacking bomber streams, and the 2a/U2 fast bomber with prone bomb aimer's position in the nose. The narrative shifts to the modeller's point of view in the second part of the book, with builds of some of the excellent kits out there, including a 1:72 262B from Hasegawa, a 1:72 1a/U3 by Revell, 1:48 HobbyBoss 1a/U4, 1:48 Tamiya A-2a, and for the large scale modeller, the Trumpeter 1:32 B-1a/U1 night fighter. Chapter 7 details all the variants that existed in physical form, and suggests suitable kits as either a starting point for conversion, or if available the actual variant in each of the three major scales. Differences are pointed out as the airframe evolves, and a shaded drawing of each one is given to illustrate the look of them all. The In Detail chapter begins with an exploded diagram of the basic airframe, and goes on to cover the intricacies of the airframe using colour and black & white photos and verbose captions that point out the relevant aspects from a modeller's point of view. The closing pages are given over to appendices that cover a list of books on the 262 at time of print, as well as kits available in the major scales, including those that have come and gone. Of course, these few pages will become outdated very quickly, but five pages out of 112 isn't exactly much as a proportion of the whole. Conclusion Where Richard Franks gets his information, time and modelling skill from (he built most of the example kits) is a mystery to me, but he manages it. This book is crammed with information, and will be as good a read as a reference book, so is recommended to anyone with an interest in the Scwalbe. Highly recommended. Review sample courtesy of
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