Best brand of Messerschmitt Me 262 kit?

[PlasticUtopia]

Well, I say best brand but probably mean best brand to build. I was trudging on web to see if Eduard made such a kit but I do not think that they do.

 

Anyone have a good build experience from a kit in the 1:48 scale?

[Lawzer]

Personally I really like the old Monogram kit but nowadays there are better (and a cheaper!!) alternatives.

 

Hobbyboss do a fairly wide range of 262's (which can be had for well under 20 quid) which are pretty nice.

 

Tamiya do one (possibly more) but they are more expensive.......and as you'd expect the usual Tamiya quality....

 

Both Tamiya (I think) and Hobbyboss come with a metal nose gear bay which avoids the need for any additional nose weight.

 

I'm not overly bothered by COMPLETE accuracy so someone more knowledgeable will able to advise better than me

 

[Werdna]

I've built the Hobbyboss A-1a, which has good levels of detail, fits together well and is relatively easy to get hold of for a reasonable price.  You haven't said which version you are looking to build, but Hobbyboss seems to offer multiple versions, so there's plenty of choice there..

[PlasticUtopia]

Thanks Werdna,

thats 2 referals for Hobbyboss, Ill go and choose now😊

[Mike]

If you want a great range of kits, Hobby Boss is your way to go in 1:48.  Tamiya's kit is also good, but a narrower range, and it's getting older now.

[BerndM]

Monogram: Well detailed but old kit with raised panel lines.

You get a nice cockpit and weapon bay but the kit has a main wheel bay which the real ones had not.

Only fighter or fighter bomber versions can be done witth it.

I can t remenber the fit it was most probably typical Monogram. Long gone !

 

Pegasus: Snap together kit. Never seen it.

 

Trimaster/Dragon/Italeri/Revell: A very well detailed and accurate kit with recessed panel lines.

All around well made details with correct wheel bays. You can look deep inside the well detailed inner fuselage.

Fighter/fighter bomber variants, single seat nighter prototypes, two seat nightfighters and the Me 262 A-1a/U4 "Pulkzerstörer " are available.

I think there were also recon birds and the glass nosed bomber variant available at some point.

Dragon and Trimaster kits contain metal parts. Fit is not always fun. Probably the most difficult build of available 262 kits.

 

Tamiya. State of the art kit but i never build mine so far. Looks great in the box.

There is a figher and a fighter bomber kit out. The bomber kit has also a Kettenkrad towing vehicle in the box.

 

Hobby Boss. Well detailed with fine recessed panel lines and rivets. The rivets are petite and look good under paint. I have read the the rivet pattern is wrong.

The details are on par or better with the kits mentioned above and it has the best price.

Hobby Boss has offered a wide range of variants so a large part of the 262 family can be build inclusive prototypes and rare build examples like the trainer and nightfigher aircraft.

Building is fun and my "Kanonenvogel" is in the paint stage. It will maybe land on BM at some time.

 

Happy Modelling

Bernd

 

[treker_ed]

I would also go for the Hobby Boss range of ME-262.

 

Fairly well engineered, good range of variants from standard fighter (262 A-1) through to more experimental versions (cannon in nose 262 A-1/U4) and 2-seater nightfighter versions (262 B-1a/U1), they also come with pre-shaped nose weight which forms part of the nose structure of the kit! So no working out if you need weight in the nose , its already there!

 

Last time I bought one, it was under £15 so very reasonably priced as well for what you get in the package!

 

Definitely recommended. 

[Troy Smith]

12 hours ago, BerndM said:

but the kit has a main wheel bay which the real ones had not.

No, I think this is getting confused the the 1/72nd Revell kit,  which is like this,  but actually has the correct bay behind this! (which is really the bottom of the cockpit tub) 

 

The Monogram kit has the correct wheel well.   It came out not long after NASM restored their Me262,  and was evidently based on access to that restoration.

 

I have seen it rated as the best shaped 1/48th Me262.   It also had a complete but basic Jumo 004 engine, and you could cut away a panel to expose the front section of that.

12 hours ago, BerndM said:

Only fighter or fighter bomber versions can be done witth it.

I can t remenber the fit it was most probably typical Monogram. Long gone !

Perhaps the reason for the confusion.

12 hours ago, BerndM said:

 

Pegasus: Snap together kit. Never seen it.

All the Pegasus kits are based on existing kits AFAIK, including the base kit faults.... their Hurricane is based on the Hasegawa.   

I'd expect their Me262 to be based on the Monogram or the Trimaster/Dragon kit

Used to be bargain priced in the UK, now would cost as much as Hobby Boss...

 

 

[Sturmovik]

I'd say you get the Hobby Boss kit. They made the entire family of the 262 in 48th, and they must be cheaper than the Tamiya kit.

 

Hobby Boss's decals are also thinner than the Tamiya ones. You can get lots of aftetmarket decals for it too (may have been designed for the Tamiya kit, but I don't spot any difference when I put the HB and the Tamiya kit next to each other).

 

The only downside of the HB kit is the placement of the sprue nubs, which go into the surface instead of being in the edge of them as other companies do.

[Tojo72]

I'm for the Tamiya kits,really enjoyed mine.

[Space Ranger]

Lindberg also made a 1/48 Me 262. I had one , but about all I remember about it is that it was molded in a light green plastic and had a lot of moving parts, none of which fit very well, but which offered much play value for 12-year-old me.

[Chuck1945]

13 hours ago, Space Ranger said:

Lindberg also made a 1/48 Me 262. I had one , but about all I remember about it is that it was molded in a light green plastic and had a lot of moving parts, none of which fit very well, but which offered much play value for 12-year-old me.

I remember that one. If you didn’t smear the glue too badly you could open the access covers for the nose cannon 😎

[PlasticUtopia]

Thanks all with your advice.

 

I ended up going with the Hobby Boss 1:48 ME 262 A-1a / U1. Started thread in "work in progress"

 

Link

 

 

 

 

 

Edited April 11, 2022 by PlasticUtopia

[Caerbannog]

I guess the Hobby Boss choice was not a wrong one - if I were to buy a new Me 262 kit it would be a HB (but I wait and hope for Eduard to bring one out sooner or later). What was written above is also my point of view on the subject.

 

Two things to consider/add:

1. No out of the box kit has the slats extended - so all show the in-flight wing. When parked the slats were always extended (they could not be operated manually - the drag pushed them back and flush with the wing profile)

2. Seams and rivets were puttied and sanded on the real deal. So if the rivet pattern is incorrect on HB kits... Just putty them over 😉

[Julien]

I built the HobbyBoss one and that went together like a tamyia kit, really good.

[MilneBay]

Tamiya is excellent.