Academy

1/72 Me262A-1a

Kit Number: 12410

Reviewed by  James Kelley, IPMS# 42106

MSRP: $22.00 The Messerschmitt Me262 Schwalbe ("Swallow") was the world's first operational, production model turbojet fighter aircraft. Produced in the latter portion of World War II, it saw action starting in 1944 as a multi-role fighter/bomber/reconnaissance/interceptor warplane for the Luftwaffe. It was officially named Schwalbe because the swallow, when in a dive, is one of the fastest birds known. While the Me262 had a negligible impact on the course of the war, with 509 claimed Allied kills, (although higher claims are sometimes made) for more than 100 Me262 losses, its design had a strong influence on postwar aircraft development. Although often viewed as a last-ditch super weapon, the Me262 was already being developed as Project P.1065 before the start of World War II. Plans were first drawn up in April 1939, and the original design was very similar to the plane that would eventually enter service. The progression of the original design into service was delayed by a lack of funds, as many high-ranking officials thought that the war could easily be won with conventional aircraft, and therefore most of the available government funds were used for the production of other aircraft. In April 1944, Erprobungskommando 262 was formed at Lechfeld in Bavaria as a test unit to introduce the 262 into service and train a core of pilots to fly it. Major Walter Nowotny was assigned as Commander in July 1944, and the unit was redesignated as Kommando Nowotny. Kommando Nowotny was essentially a trials and development unit, but it holds the distinction of having mounted the world's first jet fighter operations. Trials continued slowly with initial operational missions against the Allies in August 1944, allegedly downing 19 Allied aircraft for six Me262s lost, although these claims have never been verified by cross-checking with USAAF records. The RAF Museum holds no intelligence reports of RAF aircraft engaging in combat with an Me262 in August 1944, although there is a report of an unarmed encounter between an Me262 and a DH98 Mosquito. Nowotny himself was shot down and killed on 8 November 1944 by 1st Lt Edward "Buddy" Haydon of the 357th Fighter Group, USAAF and Capt Ernest "Feeb" Fiebelkorn of the 20th Fighter Group, USAAF. The "Kommando" was then withdrawn for further training and a revision of combat tactics to optimize the 262's strengths. Academy's much-anticipated kit comes on three light-grey parts trees, and one transparent parts tree. Optional parts allow the modeler to build one of two versions: Me262A-1a, the most-produced version. Me262C-1a (V186), the single prototype (made from Me 262A Werknummer 130186) rocket-boosted interceptor (Heimatschützer I) equipped with a Walter 109-509 rocket under its tail, first flown with combined jet/rocket power on 27 February 1945.

The light-grey parts all have recessed panel lines, which are delicately engraved. The raised details on appropriate parts are petite as well, and reflect the scale very nicely. Several unused parts on trees B, C, and D hint at future releases of other variants ,including the - A-2a "Sturmvogel", a definitive bomber version retaining only two Mk108 guns, and the - A-3a, a proposed ground-attack variant.

Included with the instruction sheet is an insert with a stencil-placement guide, and painting guides for all 12 decal-optioned aircraft. That's right … the kit provides markings for no less than a dozen aircraft, including two end-of-war planes captured by "Watson's Whizzers". Marking options include:

ME262A-1a W.Nr.111918, III./JG7 ME262C-1a (V186)W.Nr.130186, Obstlt. Heinz Bar, III./EJG2, March 1945 ME262A-1a , 7./KG(J)54 "Totenkopf", Neuburg ode' Danube, March 1945 ME262A-1a W.Nr. 500491, Heinz Arnold, 11./JG7, March 1945 ME262A-1a W.Nr. 500491, "Watson's Whizzers" (Allied Markings), May 1945 ME262A-1a, October 1945 ME262A-1a W.Nr. 111559, Obstlt. Heinz Bar, III./EJG2, March 1945 ME262A-1a W.Nr. 111711, Test Pilot Hans Fay, March 1945 ME262A-1a W.Nr. 110400, Maj. Walter Nowotny, Kommando Nowotny, November 1944. ME262A-1a, Obtw. Heinz Arnold, 11./JG7, April 1945 ME262A-1a W.Nr. 113367(?), "Watson's Wizzers", Newark, NJ, USA, September 1945 ME262A-1a GenLt. Adolf Galland, JV44, 1945 The twelve-step set of instructions has you begin with the nose wheel well, including installation of the nose gear. Should I build this kit again, I will leave the nose gear off until the painting of the built kit is complete. This is easily done, and will avoid potential damage to the installed gear during progression of assembly. The nose wheel well is then installed into the front 2/3 fuselage half. The tail unit is assembled separately, as the ME262A-1a and ME262C-1a have different tail assemblies. There is no mating lip or structure for this step, so the modeler needs to ensure the mating halves are flush, lest the aft 1/3 of the aircraft become askew. Before closing up the cannon bay, the modeler must install 5 to 8 grams (Academy's recommendation) of weight to avoid tail-sitting. There is not much space to do this in, as the nose wheel's insertion point juts into this space. Since I'd already installed the gear, I snipped this cylindrical structure off and sanded the floor of the cannon bay flush. This still does not allow much room for weight to be added. Even the small lead fishing sinkers I have were too big. I trimmed one down to fit, using an old set of parts snippers, but this was then not heavy enough. I superglued it in anyways, then made up the difference with a mix of cyanoacrylate and Tungsten powder I had left over from a Pinewood Derby car project my son and I conducted last year. The cannon bay cover fit is fiddly … it's as if the curve required to go from port to starboard is not long enough. I had to clamp it in place, which resulted in a slight amount of "flattening" of the compound curve. The cockpit is next, and despite having no provisions for a seat harness, is nicely detailed for a kit in this scale. The instrument panel has raised bezels and switches, as do the side panels. The seat is basic in appearance. I used a set of Reheat photoetched seat harness belts, which covered the seat almost completely. No instrument panel decal is provided. The underside of the "tub", visible through the wheel wells, is nicely and accurately detailed. The completed wing and fuselage assemblies fit together snugly, without the aid of filler. The engine nacelles are easy to assemble, and resemble the Junkers-Jumo 004B turbojet engine housings nicely. A small amount of filler was required on the inboard margin of each nacelle, where it joins the wings. The landing gear are nicely detailed; however, there are fine mold lines on each that need to be removed. The gear doors all have small ejector-pin marks in obvious places which will need filling and sanding. The main wheels are molded in three parts, allowing for easy painting; the inner and outer wheel hubs, and the tire itself. The transparent parts are crystal-clear, and after a dip in some Future floor polish sparkle. The frame lines are delicately engraved here, and as a result, masking is not mandatory; I painted my canopy and windscreen frames by hand with a fine-point brush. The canopy can be positioned open or closed. One thing of note is that the shape of the canopy is slightly incorrect. As its curvature reaches its apex directly behind the windscreen, it appears to be a bit exaggerated, as the curvature should be "flatter", or have less apogee at this point. Its shape isn't off by much … but it is noticeable. The superimposed line drawing placed over a side-view photo of the completed model illustrates this point below.

Step 11 comprises assembly and installation of the under-wing, air-to-air rocket pods for the ME262C-1a version. The color callouts are accurate, and appear to be matched for Gunze-Sangyo paints. Academy decals have been the subject of discussion with regards to quality over the past several years. The perfectly-registered decals in my sample are thin, and the colors are close enough to what they should be to be acceptable. They went down easily, and without silvering. I used Gunze-Sangyo's Mr. Mark Softener to aid in their application. Were I to do it over, I'd probably use SolvaSet, as the Mr. Mark Softener wasn't "hot" enough, and a few are not "snuggled down" as I would like them. All in all, this is a really great new release from Academy. It's a kit that provides an appropriate amount of accurate detail, and goes together easily without being over-engineered. With options for a dozen machines, this affordable kit is one that should be enjoyed more than once. Highly recommended. My thanks to Akiko Kimura at Model Rectifier Corporation, (who personally handed this one and only sample kit over to us at the 2007 National Convention) and to IPMS/USA for the review opportunity.

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