Trumpeter’s
models have been improving lately and in this case I would say “this is as
good as it gets”. The engineering is almost perfect so much so that the main
structures just clip together and need no glue, even the tail planes interlock
and fit so tight it is a job to pull them apart.
The 262 Schwalbe or
swallow in this scale is long overdue; it must be 30 years ago that Revell
released their version of the plane which was good at the time and I built it as
No 711 the machine that was surrendered to the allies by defecting pilot Hans
Fay, this was a bare metal aircraft that just had the rivets and panel lines
puttied in and some stenciling, a bit unusual but easy to do. I had destroyed
the model many years ago and regretted it so I chose to do a repeat job with
this model and with so much more information around it was a must for me.
The Kit is an Me
262 A-1a this is a four gun fighter version but the kit contains clues to
possible alternative versions, more later. On the whole the parts are well
moulded but I did see some tiny amounts of flash on the edges of one or
two parts, my copy had a fuselage half that wasn’t completely moulded
but I put that right with a small amount of plasticard and all was well, I
have heard reports from other modellers about other small complaints in
the parts but that must be down to the quality control dept not wide
awake. You get a choice of undercarriage legs, metal or plastic and a
choice of nose wheels but you only get rubber tyres no plastic
alternatives. The Engine cowlings frame comes in grey plastic and you get
an exact copy in clear plastic which I chose not to use. A small sheet of
etched metal supplies two sets of seat belts (first clue) which when
painted look very nice, Then there is a second gun cover panel with two
gun troughs (second clue), two complete engines make up the large box full
and at around £30.00 that’s value for money. |
Click on
image below to see larger image
|
|
|
The instruction booklet has 20
pages of clear procedures, good drawings and plenty of painting notes, I chose
not to follow their sequence to the letter but that is a matter of choice for
the builder. A large coloured artwork sheet gives all the camouflage info and
all the decal placements for the two versions on the decal sheet, one for
10/JG7 in April 1945 and the other is Major Walter
Nowotny’s white 8 in 1944.
My
construction notes.
Step 2 When
you make up the rudder pedals parts D25 add some foot straps with your
favourite materiel, the instrument panel is a sandwich affair with film
instrument faces these need a white background to show them off properly
so I painted the panel part D36 Humbrol 130 silky white the film
instruments section is too big to fit the recess so I trimmed it to locate
properly. |
Click on
image below to see larger image
|
|
|
Step 3 The
gunsight part D23 is best left off until much later as it can easily get
mangled during test fitting etc.
|
|
Step 4/5
The nose wheel leg has the torque link moulded
on and some early machines never had that so check your choice of aircraft
if you are using alternative decals, My 711 didn’t have it so it was cut
and filed away. The tyres are a very tight fit so a visit to your local
tire shop might be in order here. |
|
Step 6
A noticeable improvement here is to drill out the ends of the cannon barrels
just a small way in, makes all the difference.
Step 7..Covers
a number of steps to construct the gun bay, part D22 front wall will need
the holes for the barrels reamered out a little so the guns fit right home
in the recess’s and when that section is finished add the hinge bar for
the doors part C31 at this stage before slotting into part
D4 wheel bay as this could distort the wall enough to make C31 impossible
to fit properly later on. The nose leg can be fitted later in the
construction, it’s a tight fit but not difficult but make sure the nose
door is attached before you place it as it is almost impossible to fit
later. |
Click
on
image below to see larger image
|
|
|
Step 8…Engine
build here, the location in part F9 for part F42 needs enlarging a bit the hole
is just too small. I built the main parts up first then used various Alclad II
shades to colour it before adding all the painted accessories. If you want to
plumb up one of the engines there are some excellent photos in a book from AJ
Press, Aircraft monograph No9, on the 262.
Click on
images below to see larger images
|
|
|
Step
9/10 Part E1 the port
nacelle half has a tiny bump on the top surface where it meets the wing that
needs sanding off to get a good fit. Not mentioned in the text anywhere is the
fact that there is a thin cut line inside each nacelle half so you can lift off
the front inspection cowling as seen in many photos if you so wish. I would
suggest that parts E2 and E8 rear cowlings, be added after the whole nacelle is
fitted to the wing, could be tricky if done in the shown sequence.
Step
19 Make sure that section built in step 11 is hardened
off in the lower wing half before adding the wing section to
the fuselage as this could distort the dihedral angle and
check to see if your machine was fitted with the RATOG bottles before drilling
the holes to mount them.
Step
20 I found the ailerons and flaps were a tight fit, so I
gently sanded the ends of them until they popped in easily I would not mount the
inner flaps until after the fuselage was mounted as it also is a tight one.
Step 22..The
colour instructions call for RLM 02 grey on the interior of the fuselage
but I have it on good authority that it should be silver, most certainly
around the wheel bay cockpit area. Can anyone verify that? |
Click on
image below to see larger image
|
|
|
Step 24..Cement
all the components into the port half of the fuselage and add the stbd half with
no cement to keep the alignment right, tape up and leave overnight to harden.
When you open the halves you will need to add some nose weights in the space
between the cockpit and gun bay you will need at least 40 gms, I used shotgun
pellets poured in and fixed with a drop of superglue and a squirt of activator.
Step 25..
On the sides of the fuselage/wing joint area there are two holes, these are for
the retraction rams, parts C28, for the main undercarriage legs, to locate into.
They will need enlarging a little as they are too small for the pegs, now is a
good time to do this. I used a round file to enlarge the gun troughs holes in
part C8 for a better appearance.
Step
27/28 I have added
some brake lines to the legs and wheels at this stage but when it came to
adding the doors I found on the port side the long door was difficult to
locate on the leg in the locations provided.
Step
30.. Those rams for the main
gear are fitted here and you will be glad you opened up the holes earlier.
I never added the Undercarriage until all the painting was done and I used
the doors to mask off the bays, each held in with a dab of Blutac, If you
don’t require the RATOG bottles you can plug the holes with plastic rod
now. |
Click on
image below to see larger image
|
|
|
Step 31/32..
There are some ejector pin marks to be sanded off the insides of the elevators
if you want to make a nice thin joint, the tailplanes have very thin ends on
them but make sure you sand off the mould gates which are thoughtfully placed on
the inner surfaces.
Step 35..
The rear wall of the cockpit part A5, seems to interfere with the rear
canopy fit so I over came this by just rounding off the top “shoulder”
of the part to match the slope on the canopy itself. I found a problem on
the length of space available for the complete canopy, when the fuselage
was joined there was a slight step at the front edge of the forward
cockpit area where the canopy fits; it was about 15 thou which I filled
with a strip of plasticard to keep the front canopy section level. Later I
found the hood and rear canopy were too long to fit in the space provided
by about 15 thou, moral here is “don’t fill the gap sand away the
excess on the other side until level”. I also replaced the support rods
for the gun bay doors with fine flower arranging wire, much neater than
the plastic rod supplied and the Pitot tube was made from hypo tubing.
|
Click on
image below to see larger image
|
|
|
Click on
images below to see larger images
|
|
|
Painting and
finishing, various
shades of alclad II were used over all and to give further contrasts some
areas were sprayed with Revell No 2 mat varnish. The putty areas were done
with Humbrol 64 light grey, all the lines deliberately made uneven but
following the lines you can see in various reference photos. Some of the
decals were from the kit sheet but the rest were from old Hisairdec sheets
with the clear decal film carefully trimmed away so there was no silvering
on the surface. The remainder, mainly numbers for data on fin were set up
on my computer and I printed them out on Experts Choice decal paper by
Bare Metal Foil, in a very dark grey colour not black. |
Click on
image below to see larger image
|
|
|
Click on
images below to see larger images
|
|
|
I have to thank
Eagle Cals decals for the information supplied in their excellent 1/48th
scale decal sheet EC #29.
Click on
images below to see larger images
|
|
|
My conclusions on
this build are that this is definitely a value for money kit and despite my
comments here they are only nit picks. An excellent chance for you large scale
Luftwaffe fans to excel here and to look forward to some other versions I hope.
I am very pleased
with the model.
Ted
Drop by Ted's
Website to see more of his models. Ted
Taylor's Modelworks
|
|