Trumpeter 1/32 Messerschmitt Me 262A

TRUMPETER 1:32 MESSERSCHMITT ME 262A

Reviewer: Fred Boucher (rec.models.scale)
See link below in review for full article with plenty of photos at armorama.com!
Kit Review submitted: 10 May 2006

The Kit:

A big kit. In a sturdy big box. Three hundred fifty-five pieces. Full of detail options. Fine, beautiful detail. Wonderful decals. Predominately a well molded and good fitting kit though some minor fit problems. A few sink holes and mold release marks, but Trumpeter’s wise engineering prevents most from being seen after assembly. Yet, one might consider some assembly sequences unwise. Great potential for super-detailing. Questionable painting and decal placement references. This is Trumpeter’s ME-262 A-1a Schwalbe (Swallow).

For a photograph-full review of this kit, please see: http://www.armorama.com/modules.php?op=modload&name=Sections&file=index&req=viewarticle&artid=911

For in-progress build reports: http://www.armorama.com/modules.php?op=modload&name=SquawkBox&file=index&req=viewtopic&topic_id=61024&page=1

Early praise: the windscreen is molded as a single piece of the canopy and fuselage, engineered to fit along a natural panel line eliminating the trouble of gaps between the clear part and the fuselage. Armored glass to fit inside the windscreen is easily mounted into the inside of this forward part.

The landing gear are provided in both styrene and in white metal. Photo-etched parts for the cockpit and jet engine starters. Vinyl tires. Way to go, Trumpeter!

Construction:

STEP 1-3, Cockpit

You will be starting with the seat, rudder petals, instrument panel and consoles, all which are set into the ME-262’s cockpit tub, which is affixed to detailed bulkheads fore and aft. Everything assembles without much fuss. The seat is provided with photo-etched seatbelts and you are immediately presented with some of the kit’s questionable painting references. Every color and b/w photo I’ve found of the seat shows the backrest a leather (dark) color, not tan as the shown; everything I have read about the -262 indicates that Luftwaffe directives on colors and markings in the cockpit seem to have been taken as suggestions. Overall, the crew area is RLM 66, a dark gray which seems similar to the Panzer Grau of the Heers. This includes the instrument panel, though I found a restored one in which the flight instruments bezels are black. As a struggling rivet counter I don’t want to say ‘do what looks good to you’, but the Schwalbe proves ‘there is a prototype for anything’. There are some mold holes on the seat frame and elsewhere, but none can be seen after assembly.

Six small levers and knobs are provided for throttles and other controls. The instrument panel is a clear plastic-film-styrene sandwich. I put it together and behold, the beautiful instrument dial film is hardly seen due to the thickness of the clear facing. I separated it, sanded it thin, and reassembled. There is no painting guide for what color the bezels should be, yet again color and b/w photos of real and museum planes show a variety of markings. Most show the engine gauges to have markings along the edge of the bezels.

The gun sight--if you put it on now, you run the risk of breaking it off later. It was the fifth-last item I attached--after the windscreen! It has two small reflector lens to attach, very easy considering small clear parts. Photos show a power cord dangling out from it, routed under the main panel, the only extra detail I have added.

Finally, the cockpit tub’s exterior was unpainted. Makes a nice contrast inside the otherwise RLM 02 fuselage interior. Or not; please see step 22-24, Fuselage Interior and Assembly for another interior color idea! Speaking of the interior, the -262 was rather airy inside, and for those of you inclined, there is plenty of room for you to string bundles of straw-colored wiring throughout this machine.

STEP 4 & 5 and 26-28 Landing Gear

The landing gear are provided in both styrene and in white metal.

You can choose from fat nose tire or the thin one. The struts and hubs for each is different. While the plastic struts are numbered, the metal ones are not on the instruction sheet, but one has “1“ cast on it, with “2“ on the other.

The tires are vinyl. I took the risk and used them, but chose the metal struts. I coated the hub and tires with Future that I hope will act as a barrier should they experience the chemical reaction of some styrene and vinyl. If they do, they will not hurt the metal struts, and no doubt resin wheel are soon to be released. The tires have seams so I sanded them. This removes the seam, kills the vinyl shine and makes the tires look used.

My metal main landing gear struts have horrible seam lines (the dark line running down the strut.) I had to file these down; not all of it as most of one side will be hidden by the gear doors. Other modelers with this kit, some report seams, some say theirs are seamless. The struts also have prominent ejector mark on the oleo but these are hidden by the torque hinge. The metal gear’s mounting pins and tab for the gear doors are too widely spaced to fit into the mounting slots of the doors.

The plastic struts fit perfectly and have negligible seam lines. Each torque link is a two-piece set that snaps together and onto the strut, mine holding without glue.

The instructions have you put the nose gear in before mating the fuselage. I knew I’d break it off and waited till the end of the project. It snuggly fit into place.

TIP: Let me suggest you eschew the instructions and put the main gear on before attaching the engines. The fit is very snug unless you have spider-fingers, and the mount of the gear doors is fragile. This is exacerbated by the gear doors. These attach via relatively small, shallow tabs into relatively small, shallow slots. You must have a light touch not to knock them off (over and over) while wedging the strut tab into the mounting slot in the gear well. I surmise that if you use the plastic gear, that will simplify the gluing and maybe there will be a stronger bond between the teeny tabs and the doors. Or not.

Now, all this said, I used the metal gear. Unless you are a contortionist, I strongly suggest fitting the gear actuators into the gear well before mounting the gear.

STEP 6 & 7 Weapons Bay and The Nose Gear

Guns guns guns! Four Rhinemetal Mk. 108 3cm cannon are provided, along with 14 pieces of gun fittings. All fit in a very detailed 3 piece gun bay. Four decals are to affix to the four junction boxes. Bundles of wiring enter these boxes and there is plenty of room for those of you with the inclination to add them. The gun barrels fit into the front bulkhead. My fit was very tight, test-fit to avoid woe.

The gun bay sets upon part D4, a large piece that fills the forward fuselage. It is the nose gear well and mounting for the gun camera (you can not see it after joining the fuselage halves). This piece and the gun bay bulkheads and floor all fit interlocking. Go slow, because this fit was also very tight and the alignment of your fuselage and all within will depend upon how well these are aligned. The bottom, rear half of D4 is where the fired shell ejector chutes would be if Trumpeter provided any. This area makes a perfect place to mount ballast to keep the model on its nose wheel, or you can detail the area, as the access panels are separate.

STEP 8 - 10 Jet Engines and Nacelles

The next page is the beginning of the two 45-piece

(each) Jumo 004 turbojets. There are many color photos of Jumos 004s out there, and seemingly no two are painted alike. Trumpeter provides clear nacelles to display these. Good, because you need most of each engine to make the nacelles fit together, in which the Jumos are then hidden from sight. All is not lost as there are, unidentified in the directions, recesses inside the nacelles to cut open for display. These nacelle halves are molded with interior structural members.

Other builders of this kit have reported problems with the fit of the nacelles. Perhaps this is due to the nacelles attaching to mounts on each engine to hold them together, so I suggest you test fit and maybe shorten the mounting holes on the engines. I had to clamp the nacelles tightly to eliminate the gaps between the halves.

Regardless, my nacelles are much narrower than the intake cowling and a lot of putty and sanding was required to blend them.

My nacelles-to-wing fit were without any trouble. There is a slight gap that filled with nothing more than a big drop of liquid cement.

STEP 11-21 Main Gear Well Structure, RATO, Flaps, Ailerons and Wing

This sounds like a lot, but not really--each control surface is a separate step! Interestingly, the flaps and ailerons are molded with spars and stringers within. Unless you “battle damage” them, you’ll never see this detail.

If you want the Rocket Assisted Take Off attached, you should open the holes in the bottom of the wing now.

My right top wing was badly warped. The local hobby shop said Stevens International, the distributor in the USA, would handle this. I telephoned Stevens who said they would order a replacement but could not tell me when it might arrive. This was back in November, and I still have not heard from them. I e-mailed Trumpeter and they replied to contact Stevens. That was forwarded to Stevens (still have not heard from them) and later wrote again to Trumpeter. Awaiting replies, I resumed trying to unwarp the wing with warm ( then hot) water, and resorted to increasingly drastic measures. The day after I succeeded in straightening it (it has hammered brass strengtheners superglued and epoxied on it, and survived with cracks in the leading edge) I received a reply from Trumpeter that they would provide the part. I seem to be the ‘lucky’ one as I have found no other kit owner who has had any warped parts. I have also seen a couple of letters indicating Steven’s is better at customer service than I can attest to.

Step 20 includes mounting the control surfaces and leading edge slats. I attached mine for painting, and removed them for handling. The leading edge slats were aerodynamically actuated, thus it is proper to model them extended when not in flight. Many of the wing mounting slots need to be trimmed open. Some slats fit so well that I did not use any glue. I used no glue on any of the flaps, ailerons, elevators nor the rudder due to the great fit.

Tip: this is when Trumpeter shows you to mount the clear navigation lights on the wing tips. I did not, and there is no reason not to wait until after the model is painted. The instructions tell us to color these clear parts. Museum Schwalbe appear to have clear lenses and colored bulbs, so I drilled into the pieces and added a drop of paint.

Step 21 is attaching the engines and main gear inner doors. For reasons I mentioned earlier, I suggest you wait.

The inner doors are to be glued together, and four actuator rods are attached to them that terminate on the center main gear well spar. The doors have small shallow indentions to guide you to proper positioning of these arms. Be aware that the arms are probably meant to touch the center spar, though there are no attachment pins. Mine don’t but I am certain it is because that I affixed the two gear doors together with too shallow an angle. Be wary, because too great an angle and the rods will not fit.

STEP 22-24 Fuselage Interior and Assembly

Twenty-two pieces make up the oxygen system, radios and avionics. These can be seen through the separate fuselage access panel. Check your references as these radios have more color upon them than I knew of when I built them. The mounting panel is indicated as RLM 02, but I read somewhere they were actually a zinc chromate yellow. Then a site member with a ME-262 book told me many were made of wood. I believe the nice fresh wood color is mistaken for the yellow primer the other source cited, as I am not aware of the Luftwaffe using yellow or green zinc chromates.

This main avionics panel mounts easily onto one side of the fuselage. However, the oxygen system and compass affix into the same side but also have to fit into slots on the other half. Tricky. The instructions show the oxygen system as yellow, but I believe the Luftwaffe used light blue.

Two unidentified bottle parts (E25 and E28) fit on the fuselage next to the cockpit tub. Plenty of piping options here, as well as wiring E26, the electrical bus on the other fuselage half.

The instructions show the fuselage interior RLM 02. I read the Germans were using an electro-treated aluminum on some -262’s which negated the need to prime the interior airframe skinning. This treatment produced a goldish cast, described like the inside of a soup can, though the ribs and stringers were RLM 02.

Now join the fuselage halves. Remember, parts E11, compass base (said to be varnished, unpainted wood) and E12, oxygen spheres mount, fit in slots on both fuselage halves. Align carefully. The cockpit assembly and gun bay/nose gear structure fit into both sides of the fuselage via large tabs and slots. Very sturdy, and my fit was so tight that I did not use glue. This does hold the fuselage halves together for easy of gluing, at least from the cockpit forward. However, you may have to squeeze the fuselage halves together to get a good tight seam. Notice that along the bottom-side of the fuselage are raised mold lines.

A word of caution. Check and double check the dry-fit of these halves along these interior structures. The fore and mid gun bay bulkheads (parts D22 and D35) form ledges for C8, the gun bay top cover to rest upon. Mine did not fit smooth and tight because of my slight misalignment of the bulkheads. Parts D1 and D22 hold the gun access covers C6 & 7. Though these covers do not fit flush with the fuselage if you install the ammo feeds to the Mk-108s, they should if you leave those parts off--unless you slightly misalign them, too. I suspect that if you shave the detail from the inner covers, that they will fit snuggly even over the ammo feeds.

Pay close attention to the alignment of parts A37 and D34, the cockpit fore and aft bulkheads. The front one may be essential for the proper form of the fuselage bottom to mate smoothly with the front of the bottom wing. More about that soon.

I aligned and glued the fuselage in isolated segments, letting each dry before gluing the next segment. The fuselage went together tight with nary a seam line in all but a few small spots. However, despite all of my tricks, the turtleback portion of the rear cockpit did not align smoothly, leaving a step there that can cause trouble setting the rear canopy. The very tip of the nose is also slightly off in the alignment of the fine recessed panel lines. The bottom of the rear fuselage has more of a seam than I would ordinarily allow, but the photo I found of that area of the airframe shows such a lap in the skin.

This is a good time to address some aspects of the kit in regards to handling, modeling techniques and philosophy. This model has very fine, beautifully molded rivet and screw and bolt detail as well as its fine panel lines. The components of the ME-262, like the Bf-109, were intended to have a layer of putty to smooth the joints for better airflow. A Schwalbe finished to factory specifications should be devoid of any panel lines, except around moving or removable parts. The realities were that many were built hastily, with dwindling materials, often by slave labor. A ME-262 fan related a story that one of the quality control engineers alerted the boss to the poor state of finish of many (One report is of an empennage wedged onto the fuselage crooked, blended with putty, and sent to a unit!), and was sacked! I primed the entire plane with high-build gap-filling auto primer which, surprisingly, did not obscure that wonderful surface detail. However, after poring over photos of operational ME-262s, I noticed the real deal has some definite and obvious gaps and panel lines here and there: around the gun access covers, along the UPPER half of the top gun cover (part C-8), the underside of the rear fuselage, the panel ahead of the windscreen, part G1, and the fairings of the nacelles into the wings. Any gapping gap noticed in these areas are filled in that no light shows through, but not to the extent of filling and sanding smooth.

Handling the model was tricky for my fumbling fat fingers. The fuselage is smooth and triangular. I am surprised how difficult it is to grasp the structure with a good grip. Clamping is thus frustrating. Prepare to patiently use your hands more than you may be used to. When the wings are joined, this is exacerbated. Though she’s a big model, there is surprisingly little area to firmly hold once the wings are there, especially if you follow the direction’s order of adding antennas, gear and other protrusions.

I painted the wings before joining the fuselage and planned to paint the fuselage beforehand, too. Then I realized that the triangular shape will allow fine freehand airbrushing without the wing getting in the way. Painting the wing did relieve the need to mask the wheel wells--remember, they open into the fuselage and expose the cockpit tub. Please consider your building and painting technique carefully.

Weathering my Schwalbe is restrained for two main reasons. I want to present it to you as a display model. The other is that I surmise this one would be better kept being Heinz Bar’s plane. I figure that these planes were not used enough to suffer. Photos, black & white and color, of operational and captured Schwalben do not show much finish deterioration. I did accent the panels of the rear bottom fuselage, and will do some elsewhere, ASAP.

STEP 25-28 Front Gunbay Cover and Main Gear

I glued C8 to the fuselage because I could not get a good fit. Consider not doing so as the front portion of the bay has very nice detail, though is empty except for the gun barrels.

The spar for the gun access covers, part C31, fits loosely into the bulkhead mounting slots, fitting with big gaps. Dry fit and prepare to putty.

The gear I already touched upon but another concern is if you use the metal struts. Test-fit the axle’s fit into the rotating hub of the wheels. I didn’t and they were too tight. One main wheel now suffers from 3-D wobble about the axle. Glue will stop that but unless it is needed, I eschew glue!

STEP 29 & 30 Joining Wings to Fuselage

It is an airplane! Only ten items to add in these steps, but a lot to discuss. Mainly the wing. The wing snaps securely to the fuselage due to detail molded into the root of the fuselage and wing. I did not have to add any glue and the wing was firmly seated. The rear portion fit snuggly to the bottom fuselage. Not much of a seam line at all, and is along a large access panel (non-removable on the model) and along the flaps, so it really isn‘t a seam line anyway. The upper wing to wing root, surprisingly, do have wide gaps. Worry not, easily filled and smoothed.

The front of the bottom wing-to-fuselage joint is a big disappointment. There was a huge step to be filed, filled and sanded. The fuselage portion is a large panel bordered by large screws. These are, like all surface detail, very fine and shallow. They did not survive the blending of the wing-fuselage even though protected by tape. Mentioned above, this might have something to do with the fit of the front cockpit bulkhead. Consider this carefully.

Parts C1 & 2, spent shell ejection chute access panels, did not fit well either. Three sides fit onto rims molded on the fuselage opening, the flat straight end joins the nose gear well. Large gaps, incompatible curvature. Nothing I think a modeler can do to make this bad fit, just the way this otherwise well molded model is. Much filling and sanding and shaping required. Much detail sacrificed. Just keep reminding yourself the real plane was supposed to have this detail puttied over. Yet despite hours of work and worry, I consider this area the main blemish on my kit.

If you followed the kit instructions and mounted the main wheel doors, now you will regret it. Consider waiting to mount B20, bottom wing antennae until later, too.

The main undercarriage are set into their mounts now. The main undercarriage should be angled inward slightly. Hopefully you took my advice and have not mounted the engines yet. Another main gear challenge are the actuators. These are difficult to fit. Each butts into a hole in the wing root that is under and behind the wing skin. I suggest you mount these before the gear struts.

STEP 31-35 Stabilizers, elevators, Rudder, Cockpit Deck, Canopy

All of these assemble straightforward. My control surfaces fit into the stabilizers was very tight.

The windscreen has an armored glass to fit within. Trumpeter did a great job of molding these to fit easily. Be advised the armored glass has a frame you will need to paint prior to mounting. Black or RLM 66 would be my guess.

The center canopy piece is shown with an armored headrest to mount now. It has a leather headpad. Trumpeter’s odd painting guide tells us the color of it in the subsequent step--after the parts are joined! I have only found one photo of an ME-262 with this item. Fitting astride the pilot’s seat is the decking for the turtleback.

The stabilizers have interlocking tongues that fit through a slot in the tail. I had big gaps between them and the tail to fill and sand. The rudder fits nicely into the tailplane.

This step directs one to glue on the gun bay access panels.

STEP 36 Final Assembly

All three canopy pieces are mounted now. Dry fit these. Some minor problems. Windscreen: this piece's curvature has more arc than the fuselage contour, resulting in another step between parts.

I glued the front and rear canopies first, then tried to seat opening center piece in the closed position. It didn’t fit well. I had to gently, carefully file the center piece to fit between the front and rear pieces. Be advised the center piece also has two tabs on the right side. Do not cut these off, they are for mounting it open. Photos show a lever mounted in the middle of this piece’s bottom frame, but this is absent from the kit.

The rear canopy is to long. Not only does this squeeze the center piece, it extends beyond the turtledeck noticeably. To move it forward to avoid this leaves a hideous gap along the turtledeck, and squeezes the center piece even more.

Lastly, add the radio bay hatch and, between the canopy and tail, the loop antenna.

Decals & Camouflage:

Supplied is a large painting and decaling guide in full color. The camouflage diagram takes the form of a large full-colour sheet and gives a full 4-view for Schall's aircraft, but only a port view for Novotny's. Both are camouflaged in RLM 81/82 topsides over RLM 76, while Novotny's machine features the distinctive stenciled pattern applied to the fin and rudder.

Research your aircraft, some of the indicated placement may be faulty.

Trumpeter’s decals are impressive. I like them as user-friendly. They may be a little thick compared to most after-market products but they are in registration, crisp, opaque, came right off the sheet, did not curl, stuck fast, dried clear, and did not suffer under Micro Set or Sol, nor Walther’s Solvaset. Tough, too, as I found out while applying the wing walkway borders and the “Lift Here” stenciling on the nose and the rear fuselage. Swastikas are provided and avoid laws prohibiting them by being printed in four parts apiece. One choice of Balkenkruz. Plenty of stenciling, maybe not factory complete, but enough. Even service stenciling for the tires and wheel hubs is provided. Black and red options for the wing walkway borders, with no indication of which is appropriate for either aircraft. Decals for two aircraft, Red 4 flown by Haupt. Franz Schall of 10/JG7 in April 1945, and White 8, W. Nr 110400 flown by Major Walter Novotny.

I chose neither. Using Eagle Cal’s set (review at http://www.armorama.com/modules.php?op=modload&name=Reviews&file=index&req=showcontent&id=1177) I built Heinz “Pritzl” Bar’s* Red 13, Kommandeur III./EJG 2, Lechfeld March 1945.

While most Schwalben are depicted in late-war RLM 81/83/76, Eagle Cal’s state that Bar’s colors are uncertain, though its werk number was in a batch painted mid-war dayfighter 74/75/76. The venerable The Official Monogram Painting Guide to German Aircraft 1935-1945 verifies this.

My references state that some Schwalbe wore an undercoat of a light gray upon which the stenciling was painted. These areas were then masked to avoid the factory-applied standard camouflage over coating. Additionally, much of the stenciling was overpainted by field camouflaging.

I painted the kit almost exclusively with Polly Scale over automobile rattle-can silver paint, glossed with Future, sealed with a semi-gloss of Polly Scale.

For photo reference of a museum example, please see:
http://aircraftwalkaround.hobbyvista.com/me262/me262.htm

*Oberstletnant Heinz Bar

A light plane accident in Germany in April 1957 claimed the life of the 44 year-old pilot.

What enemy pilots and gunners were unable to achieve in over 1,000 combat sorties happened during a routine acceptance flight by the company test pilot, Heinz Bar.

Oberstletnant Heinz “Pritzl” Bar started his career as a bomber pilot and flying JU-52 transports. “Pritzl” Bar, known as an exceptional shot, flew throughout the war, becoming the world’s eighth-ranking ace with 221 victories who flew more than 1000 missions. He himself was shot down or crash landed several times, once into the English Channel during the Battle of Britain, and once deep behind Russian lines. Roughly half of his kills were against the Western Allies; he downed 65 aircraft over the Mediterranean and North Africa, 22 four-engine bombers and is the second most successful ME-262 ace with 16 jet kills.

He was known to act as the sole escort for his inexperienced pilots, to take off while his airfield was under attack, and fight rear guard actions to protect his pilots when they were low on fuel and ammo. His career was repressed after coming into Reichmarshal Goering’s displeasure. Bar was known as cavalier, as well as to have protected a half-Jewish Jagdflieger, offering his own papers should the Gestapo interrogate the pilot.

His first jet kill was a P-51 on 19 March 1945 after assuming command of III./EJG 2 at Lechfeld Schule, and ending the war with JV-44, Galland’s ME-262 “Squadron of Experten”. His personal Focke-Wulf 190s were emblazoned a large red 13 and 23, and “Red 13” was his personal ME-262.

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