wellsprop Posted June 17, 2018 Share Posted June 17, 2018 (edited) Hi All, I've FINALLY finished university after 4 seemingly long years. During my exam revision period, I took some downtime to read Eric Brown's "Wings on my Sleeve"; reading his book, combined with what I have been studying in the Applied Aerodynamics module inspired this build. From the end of the 19th century to the early 20th century, German scientists, aerodynamicists and engineers pioneered aerodynamics research, particularly boundary layer and transonic/supersonic analysis methods. Their expertise allowed Germany to create high-performance aircraft, such as the Me262, that were vastly superior to the Allied offerings. All of this against a backdrop of constant bombardment, poor (forced) labour and lack of high-performance materials is a testament to the true design genius that lay behind the Me262. Indeed, many German engineers were scooped up after the war by NACA and NASA to work on US aerospace projects. All of this taken into account, it can only be a good thing that poor decisions by Nazi high-command led to the Me262 being operational in too few numbers to have a significant impact on the outcome of the Second World War. Built from the 1/72 Airfix kit, it's a little rough around the edges as I was far more concerned about exams than making a perfect model - I did, however, add wire aerials and re-make the (I assume an aerial) loop out of flattened wire, along with using a needle as a pitot. IMGP0086 by Ben Standen, on Flickr IMGP0085 by Ben Standen, on Flickr IMGP0084 by Ben Standen, on Flickr IMGP0083 by Ben Standen, on Flickr IMGP0083 by Ben Standen, on Flickr IMGP0081 by Ben Standen, on Flickr I'm sure there are plenty of inaccuracies in my model, but I'm not too worried! Cheers, Ben Edited June 17, 2018 by wellsprop 31 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
wellsprop Posted June 17, 2018 Author Share Posted June 17, 2018 I also seem to have created a little bit of a fleet of German aircraft in RAF/RAE service! IMGP0087 by Ben Standen, on Flickr IMGP0088 by Ben Standen, on Flickr 32 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gorby Posted June 17, 2018 Share Posted June 17, 2018 Excellent 262 and an lovely collection. It always strikes me how different the aircraft look in British colours, somehow they look friendlier. Which probably shows how deeply entrenched these schemes are in my psyche. 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Corsairfoxfouruncle Posted June 17, 2018 Share Posted June 17, 2018 As Gorby said ..Excellent build and great collection 👍 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
pheonix Posted June 17, 2018 Share Posted June 17, 2018 Great collection of models in "unusual" markings. A point about the 262 and its late entry to the conflict. I do not wish to be pedantic but the hoary old chestnut that Hitler's intervention delayed it's development has only a small grain of truth. The real reason for the delay was the difficulties the engineers had with developing reliable jet engines: these proved to be much more difficult than anyone thought they would be at the time. When the engines were finally brought into service the Germans had many problems with them because the technology and materials were stretching the limits of knowledge and understanding. The 262 could not have entered service earlier whatever Hitler did or said. The same problems were experienced by the British who also had endless difficulties trying to master a raft of new materials technologies and science, hence the delays in getting our early jets into service. P 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RMCS Posted June 17, 2018 Share Posted June 17, 2018 Great subject great build Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
John Masters Posted June 17, 2018 Share Posted June 17, 2018 Cool collection! Excellent builds too! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
wellsprop Posted June 17, 2018 Author Share Posted June 17, 2018 1 hour ago, pheonix said: Great collection of models in "unusual" markings. A point about the 262 and its late entry to the conflict. I do not wish to be pedantic but the hoary old chestnut that Hitler's intervention delayed it's development has only a small grain of truth. The real reason for the delay was the difficulties the engineers had with developing reliable jet engines: these proved to be much more difficult than anyone thought they would be at the time. When the engines were finally brought into service the Germans had many problems with them because the technology and materials were stretching the limits of knowledge and understanding. The 262 could not have entered service earlier whatever Hitler did or said. The same problems were experienced by the British who also had endless difficulties trying to master a raft of new materials technologies and science, hence the delays in getting our early jets into service. P Cheers Yep, it was certainly the material science side and lack of strategic metals (in fact, the metals they really needed didn't exist) that most hampered the Me262 - ultimately the fighter-bomber redesign was a fairly simple design exercise adding bomb racks! The real problem was getting engines to work. I read the book "Frank Whittle" by Icon Science last week, that had some fantastic detail on the troubles faced by British engineers producing reliable jet engines. Unfortunately, the HP Compressor had a tendency to rip itself apart due to RPM's in the tens of thousands and temperatures in many hundreds! In Germany, these problems were compounded by strategic bombing seriously hampering supply of metals. 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Buzby061 Posted June 17, 2018 Share Posted June 17, 2018 An excellent Rafwaffe collection. Pete Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kapam Posted June 18, 2018 Share Posted June 18, 2018 Great model (plus reference photo) and thanks to all for the added information. I was probably one of those who put the in-service delay down to top-brass meddling (vis., Hitler's interventions). Another (though lesser) issue I read about was the apparent low German fuel reserves in the late-WWII period. To preserve fuel, the 262's were reportedly towed to the start of the runway before being fired up, to limit fuel loss during taxiing. Since it is only "what I read" I am prepared to accept correction on that. Great model anyway - and built while getting an education no-less. It was my university and early career years that saw me losing touch with the hobby for almost 10 years. Glad this hasn't stopped you. 👍 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Valkyrie Posted June 18, 2018 Share Posted June 18, 2018 Great build, nice collection. You should do another for the Me262 group build happening now. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
wellsprop Posted June 18, 2018 Author Share Posted June 18, 2018 20 minutes ago, Valkyrie said: Great build, nice collection. You should do another for the Me262 group build happening now. I really fancy an Avia S-92, don't tempt me! 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
stevehnz Posted June 18, 2018 Share Posted June 18, 2018 Really nice Ben, you've caught that beautifully, the rest aren't too dusty either, I did though wonder for a second, (a very small one) what the heck was the Tempest II doing in there. Steve. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
FalkeEins Posted June 18, 2018 Share Posted June 18, 2018 10 hours ago, wellsprop said: ultimately the fighter-bomber redesign was a fairly simple design exercise adding bomb racks! ..it certainly never got a bomb sight worthy of the name.. it was a hopeless bomber and not a very much better fighter - given the futility of flying combat sorties more or less piecemeal, poor throttle control response and an endurance of not much more than 40 minutes, not forgetting to factor in a reserve so you could get back down somewhere (well over 1,000 constructed, only about 200 ever saw service). It might have been a decent 'bomber destroyer' but max daily sorties flown was only about 37 IIRC...but that's a very nice grouping of German subjects in RAF colours though Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Valkyrie Posted June 19, 2018 Share Posted June 19, 2018 On 6/18/2018 at 8:37 AM, wellsprop said: I really fancy an Avia S-92, don't tempt me! Yes, that would be perfect as I fancy one too 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PlaStix Posted June 20, 2018 Share Posted June 20, 2018 Well done Ben - great job!! great collection too! 4 years eh? Seems like only yesterday when you said you were starting - where has the time gone?! Hope you thoroughly enjoyed it. Kind regards, Stix 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
F-32 Posted June 25, 2018 Share Posted June 25, 2018 Stunning collection! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
glatisant Posted June 26, 2018 Share Posted June 26, 2018 Odd,but nice. For all it's faults and failures the Me262 is one hell of a good looking machine. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
wellsprop Posted June 27, 2018 Author Share Posted June 27, 2018 On 6/20/2018 at 10:24 AM, PlaStix said: Well done Ben - great job!! great collection too! 4 years eh? Seems like only yesterday when you said you were starting - where has the time gone?! Hope you thoroughly enjoyed it. Kind regards, Stix Cheers Stix! It's certainly been an interesting few years Cant believe in a couple months I'm going to be designing real aircraft 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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