Too Little, Too Late

Historical Background

Following the successful test flights of the world's first jet aircraft, the Heinkel He 178, the Reichluftfahrtminisiterium (RLM) issued a request to Bayerische Fleugzeugwerke / Messerschmitt for a jet aircraft capable of an hour's endurance and a speed of at least 850 km/h (despite Heinkel also have a follow-on design, the He 280 - this was because Heinkel was not in favour with the RLM, besides, they were also running behind Messerschmitt). Designated P.1065, the plans were drawn up in April 1939, featuring wing root-mounted engines. Technical issues with the BMW 003 turbojet delayed the progression of the project. In the meantime, the designers had the engines moved to underwing pods for ease of maintenance. As the BMW 003 was heavier than anticipated, the wing was swept slightly to accommodate the change in the centre of gravity. Funding for the jet engines were also lacking at this time as the many high-ranking officials such as Hermann Goering, Willy Messerchmitt and even Adolf Galland (later one of the Me 262's champions) thought that the war can be won by conventional, propeller-driven aircraft.

The first test flight of the now-designated Me 262 took place on 18 April 1941 but because the BMW turbojets were not ready for fitting, a Junkers Jumo 210 piston engine was mounted on the nose of prototype V1. When the jets were ready, the piston engine was retained as a safety measure. It was a wise decision as both BMW engines failed during their first flight in November 1941, forcing the test pilot to use the back-up engine. Prototypes V1 to V4 were also unusual by having conventional two-wheel landing gear. This caused the jet exhausts to deflect off the surface of the runway, while turbulence negating the effects of the elevators. On 18 July 1942, the first attempt to fly the Me 262 on purely jet power was abandoned because of this problem. To overcome it, test pilot Fritz Wendel tapped the aircraft's brakes at takeoff speed for his second attempt. This lifted the tail off the wing's turbulence, allowing the elevators to function. The engines however has been changed, the Me 262 was now using Jumo 004.

The landing gear was changed to a tricycle configuration from V5 onwards to simply take-off. Despite the change in powerplant, engine problems continue to plague the project, delaying serial production until 1944. Even then deliveries were slow. The delay in engine deliveries were caused by the lack of strategic materials, especially metals and alloys that can withstand the high temperature produced by a jet engine. Completed engines had a low service life of 50 flight hours, with many having an average of just 12. These early turbojets also develop less thrust at lower speeds, resulting in slow acceleration. However at high speeds, the Me 262 enjoyed a far superior rate of climb than a piston-engined aircraft. Fuel consumption was double the rate of conventional aircraft, allowing an endurance between 60 to 90 minutes with 2,000 liters of fuel. Being primarily intended to down heavy bombers, the Me 262 was fairly heavily armed with four MK 108 30 mm cannons (just two for the bomber version).

In November 1943, prototype V6 was demonstrated before Adolf Hitler himself. He was so impressed that he suggested the Me 262 be used in the tactical bomber role for which Messerschmitt was not completely ready to undertake within the tight delivery schedule. Nevertheless they promised the fast bomber version (nicknamed 'Sturmvogel' (Stormbird); the original fighter was nicknamed 'Schwalbe' (swallow)). Despite Hitler's insistence, work on the stormbird takes second place until May 1944, as the Me 262 was seen to be the answer against the mass bombing raids by B-17s of the US 8th Air Force escorted by the superlative Mustang fighters. In that month, Hitler expressly ordered that the A-2 bomber version be given priority over the A-1 fighter. Even then, every 20th airframe was marked for fighter role.

To test the aircraft under operational conditions, Erprobungskommando 262 was formed at Lechfeld on 19 April 1944, commanded by Hauptmann Werner Thierfelder. Upon his death in July 1944, ace Major Walter Nowotny was appointed as commander and the unit was renamed Kommando Nowotny. The Me 262 scored its first kill (though unconfirmed) on 26 July 1944, claiming a reconnaissance de Havilland Mosquito. The erratic nature of production and distribution at this stage of the war meant that only small numbers reach operational units. On 28 August 1944, the first Me 262 was shot down by two P-47 Thunderbolts. The Me 262 was sporadically used, mostly in the fast bomber role, until the end of 1944. With Allied bombings increasing in tempo, Hitler finally allowed the production of the fighter version to go ahead, allowing the first fully operational wing, Jagdgeschwader 7, under Major Johannes Steinhoff to form in early 1945. Another wing, Jagdverband 44 was formed in February 1944. It was led by the recently dismissed General der Flieger, Adolf Galland and are mostly staffed by the highest-scoring aces of the Luftwaffe. A number of Me 262-equipped Kampfgeschwaders were also re-roled during the final days of the Third Reich, in order to stem the Allied aerial onslaught upon Germany.

About 1,400 units were produced although only around 200 were available at any one time. The pilots claimed around 450 Allied aircraft shot down, while losing 100. Production was continued at Czechoslovakia postwar, as the Avia S / CS-92. Nine C-92 and two CS-92 were built.

The Kit

For years, the best 1/48 scale Me 262 was from Monogram and Dragon but they were getting rarer as time goes by. In 2002, Tamiya came up with their version of the aircraft. Some modellers were underwhelmed as Tamiya chose to model the A-2 / Stormbird version first. Their disappointment did not last long as Tamiya released the -A1 version several months later. The kit featured all of Tamiya's well-engineered characteristics of well-moulded parts and crisp panel lines. In 2003, Tamiya came up with the 'clear version' where the fuselage, engine nacelles and certain other parts were moulded in clear plastic to allow modellers to show off the interior.  Critics of the kit pointed out the recessed panel lines (the real item had overlapping panels, so raised panel lines are more accurate) and non-deployable flaps and slats. Like their He 219, the nose wheel well doubles as counterweight. External items include R4M and W.Gr21 rockets, 250kg bombs, RATOG booster and engine FOD covers. Markings were provided for three aircraft:

1. White 2 / Werknummer 170071 , Eprobungskommando 262
2. Yellow 3, III. / Kampfgeschwader (Jagd) 54
3. Werknummer 111603, Spring 1945

Construction

I would like to say that I was actually looking for the 'regular' Tamiya Schwalbe but the local shop did not have one in stock, just the clear version. Despite the less-known marking options, I grabbed it as I want a 262 in my collection and disregard the reason why it was mainly moulded in clear plastic. Anyway, construction started at the cockpit of course. As usual, the parts were painted while still on the sprue, although this time I only painted the general colour, namely XF-63 German Grey. The parts were then cut off the sprue and have the base painting retouched, afterwards more detailed painting was done and instrument panel decals applied. They were then assembled and at this point the choice for markings would have to be made as the modeller would have to chose between parts G13 (for options A and B) or D2 (for option C). I chose the former. The rear fuel tank was left off as it won't be visible from the outside.

Next up was the landing gear / cannon bay module. The instructions have you add the complete landing gear strut at this time - something which I don't like in any aircraft kit. I however just superglued the part which holds the strut and left the nose wheel strut off. The cast metal wheel well should be painted AS-12 Bare Metal Silver but nothing beats simulating bare metal than bare metal itself, so it was unpainted. The cannon bay was next. As I intend to have it closed, it was unpainted and I only put the cannons (without the ammo chutes) and the two braces. As with the rear fuel tank, the forward tank was not used by me. The wheel well / cannon bay module and the cockpit was then cemented to the right-hand fuselage half. The cockpit sidewalls were painted AS-12 and XF-63 and their respective colours for the detail parts. Again, as they won't be visible, the radio, compass and oxygen bottles in the rear fuselage were discarded.

The wings are next and before I forget, holes were drilled on the lower wing half to accommodate the rocket racks. The upper halves and the one-piece lower half was then mated together and then cemented to the fuselage. Somewhat surprisingly, the upper surface did not fit well with a sizeable gap on the right and a step towards the trailing edge on the left wing. It must be me as all other reviews stated that they have perfect fit (that or the fit was off for the clear version). There were two types of rudder (early and late) and it was indicated which goes with which marking option(s). The navigation light cover was a separate clear piece. The 'light bulb' was a hollow 'pimple' inside the part but since I was afraid of ruining it, the bulb was not painted. As for the engines, there were two choices, a detailed one for display outside the pods, or inside (taking advantage of the clear parts) or just the engine face exhaust. As I'm gong to fully paint the model, the latter option was taken.

Painting and Decalling

The plane I chose, Yellow 3, has fairly simple scheme of RLM 83 Hellgrun upper works and RLM 76 Lichtblau lower down. The latter was applied using Tamiya AS-5 while Gunze H423 was used for the former. As with my Fw 190D-9, the mottling was done by applying paints of differing density and using stabbing motions occassionally. I also deviated a bit from the instruction sheet by having the fuselage area next to the wing joints painted Hellgrun. Afterwards the decals were applied. At first I was concerned that the tail camouflage colour was different from the rest of the upper fuselage. However, after seeing colour profiles and built models, it was indeed like that and I continue decalling the aircraft. Interestingly, should one build the kit as intended, Tamiya provided semi-transparent decals for fuselage bands, individual aircraft number and unit insignia shields. As usual, the decals received the Mr Mark Softer treatment.

Finishing

As always with aircraft models, I started with the landing gears. No problems here except I found that it was rather fiddly to attach the already in place retracting arm to the nose gear stalk (because of my fat fingers, I guess). Although not widely used (the first usage was in March 1945) and it was unknown whether any of KG(J) 54's Schwalbes ever received them, the R4M racks were assembled and cemented to the lower wings, just to show the one of the air-to-air weapons available to the Me 262 (although in retrospect, since the it was a re-roled unit, the Wikingerschiffe pylon underneath the fuselage may be more appropriate). The most vulnerable parts such as the DF loop aerial, pitot tube and the FuG 16ZY radio aerial were then cemented. The model then received an application of AK Interactive Panel Liner solution. This is another great stuff from them and will replace my usual sludge wash technique used previously. A final coat of Flat Clear finishes the build.

Conclusion

The difficulties I encountered in mating the wing to the fuselage may be entirely my fault and not Tamiya's as virtually all reviews stated that they did not face the same problem I had. As with the 'regular' kit, the Clear Edition includes a variety of external stores to be hung on the aircraft. Although I did not take up the option, the kit allows modellers to test their skills by building and painting the interior and have their masterpiece be shown through the transparent fuselage. Despite the problems, the clever engineering and good fit overall allowed a rather short building time and I am very content that I have a miniature milestone (make that a quantum leap) of military aviation in my collection. The drawbacks? Basically none. OK, Maybe those non-deployed slats and apparently, the recessed panel lines. But I don't really paid much attention (and grief) to that!

New Generation X

Fictional / Real World Background

The T-65 X-Wing starfighter was a product of Incom Corporation, builder of warships for the Galactic Republic and later, the Galactic Empire. Designed by Voors Voorhorian, it was the direct descendant of the popular Z-95 Headhunter, incorporating lessons learned from the ARC-170 starfighter of the Clone Wars. After receiving news of the Imperial takeover of the company, Incom's engineers defected to the Rebel Alliance, bringing with them the complete production blueprints. Four prototypes were recovered at planet Fresia and the X-Wing first saw combat at the Battle of Turkana. More prototypes were liberated from an Incom production facility and soon the Rebels were building the X-Wing from clandestine facilities in the Outer Rim Territories. The clandestine nature however meant poor deliveries and standardisation. Nevertheless the X-Wing commands a healthy fear from the TIE pilots and scored amazing success during the Galactic Civil War, chief of which was the destruction of both of the Imperial's dreaded Death Star battle stations.

Thirty years on after the Battle Of Endor and the signing of the Galactic Concordance after Battle of Jakku, the war started again, now between the First Order, an organisation rising from the ashes of, and inspired by, the Galactic Empire and the Resistance, a military force founded by Princess / General Leia Organa (as the New Republic refused to take the threat of the First Order seriously, and viewed her as overly paranoid and a warmonger). Chief starfighter of the Resistance is again the X-Wing, a new variant designated T-70 and still produced by the now-named Incom-FreiTek. The resistance, like the Rebel Alliance thirty years before, however did not have sufficient resources to build all the X-Wings they need and have to rely on covert support from the New Republic, such as donations from sympathisers in the Senate. Unlike the original X-Wing, the wings of the T-70 can be considered a 'monoplane', with interlocking wings that split up in the attack mode: the leading edge downwards and the trailing edge upwards.

Like the T-65, the T-70 is also a multi-mission platform, able to do space/air superiority missions and strike missions, whether against enemy fortifications, ground troops, starfighters or capital ships. To do these missions, the T-70 is armed with four fire-linked Taim & Bak KX12 laser cannons, an upgrade of the Civil War-era KX9. The weapons bay underneath the cockpit can carry and fire a variety of guided weapons, from concussion missiles to proton torpedoes and mag pulse warheads. A weapon not seen in the T-65 was also added, namely a rapid-fire, underslung laser blaster, to hold off close-range attack by enemy stormtroopers or any hostile party while on the ground. The crew comprised of one pilot and an astromech droid, using the old R2 and R5 series and also the new BB series. The T-70 also was faster than the older version, thanks to the new Incom 5L5 fusion engines. Like the T-65 before it, the T-70 had its finest hour attacking and destroying a major enemy installation, this time the planet-sized Starkiller Base.

Off-screen, the T-70 was first revealed to the public at the Star Wars Celebration Anaheim 2015 in April of that year. In The Force Awakens it (and the new TIE Fighter) was shown flying and fighting in atmosphere (at Takodana and Starkiller Base), something not shown in the previous six movies involving starfighters. Despite being supposedly the new version of the X-Wing, the design of the T-70 borrowed some early ideas of the original X-Wing. Most recognisable is the half-moon air intakes which was originally seen in Ralph McQuarrie's concept art for Episode IV A New Hope. Wookieepedia however mentioned that the similarity was only discovered after the design had been prozen for production.

The Kit

The T-70 (dubbed 'Resistance X-Wing Fighter') was part of the initial release of Star Wars model kits from Bandai in 2015. The kit was made of 103 parts spread among one multi-coloured sprue (this time comprising of light grey/clear red/light blue and clear), one light grey, one metallic grey and one sand-coloured sprues plus decal and sticker sheets. While nearly all the decals look pixellated, the worst are for the grey-coloured ones. The light blue parts for the fuselage are meant to replicate the Blue Squadron X-Wings from the movie without having the modeller paint them. The wing ID  bands however use either the waterslide decals or the stickers. Two types of canopies were included : one the 'normal', clear plastic (which you have to paint the framing, or in this case, apply sticker or decal to the frame) and the other is a 'glassless' opaque plastic frame which replicate the original studio models (the canopy was made glass-less in order to avoid glare during filming). Two figures of the pilot (one seated, one standing) and of BB-8 were also included. The pilot figures, unlike those in the AT-ST kit, have properly proportioned lower arms and generally have good details.

Construction

Unlike most model kits of 'flying things' (whether real or fiction), the X-Wing has one starting at the wings. They are moulded with an opposing upper and lower wing on each half. The very first step was concerned with the starboard upper/port lower wing assembly. The wings were moulded as one with certain panels and parts being separate. The intakes have engine detailing inside which I painted a mix of Burnt Iron and Silver. The rest of the wing panel went on easily although there may be gaps between the hole in the wing surface panel and the snap-fit locating post (to be checked before painting commences). There was also the need to check the orientation of the wing during assembly at it involved some flipping. The exhaust ends were left off to facilitate painting. The same steps were repeated for the other pair of wings. To complete the assembly, the two wing sub-assemblies were simply pushed together. A 'stopper' was then placed on each end of the wing pivot, to help modellers pose the wing at the proper angle.

The next step is concerned with the fuselage and this time, construction started at the cockpit. While still on the sprue, the cockpit parts were painted XF-69 NATO Black. The control stick was painted X-18 Semi-Gloss Black. Afterwards, they were cut off the sprue and more detailed painting was done in lieu of the decals, except for the instrumentation panels at the front end of the cockpit. The upper fuselage assembly started by getting the 'exposed wiring area' and astromech droid compartment inserted into place. Although having a tight fit, I applied some cement, just in case. Before closing up the fuselage, the wing was put into place first. Finally the upper fuselage half was mated to the rest of the model and this was followed by the one-piece nose. The multi-piece fuselage, incorporating separate 'blue panels' caused a number of gaps which had to to puttied. I intended to place the model on its display stand so I used the closed gear door parts (the alternative parts were placed in storage).

Painting and Decalling

One problem about these Bandai Star Wars kits is that they are mainly meant for the Japanese market only. This in turn meant Japanese-only descriptions in the instruction sheet. It wasn't really a problem during assembly but was quite problematic for painting. The painting instructions, when translated, only gave generic paints (light grey, black, green, orange etc). After testing various shades of grey (ahem) in my inventory and after browsing through the internet, I came to the conclusion that the best colour would be Light Grey FS 36495. I also decided not to use the decals for the blue trims on the model. Instead I painted them a mix of X-14 Sky Blue and XF-8 Flat Blue (basically the same colour for the nose of my P-51 Mustang). Again, the exposed interior bits on the wings were painted a mix of Burnt Iron and Silver. The canopy frame was painted a custom mix of metallic colours. The pilot's flight suit was painted a mix of X-7 Red and XF-3 Flat Yellow but with more emphasis on red to match the colour of the suit in the movie (the instructions have you paint the suit International Orange, as used in the original trilogy).

The decals were then applied. They came off the backing paper easily, even in room-temperature water. The drawback I noticed was that some of the pattern decals (the dark grey ones) did not exactly match the shape of the panels, were pixellated and were not quite responsive to Mr Mark Softer. Sure, I can have them painted instead (like the blue portion of the wings) but I decided to use the decals anyway. Despite fairly thin, the decals have trouble over curves, especially the decals for BB-8.

Finishing

To start, I washed the model with dark grey and applied a slightly thicker mix on certain areas such as the wing pivot and the torpedo launcher troughs. And yes, the cannons were washed separately. Once done, the pilot and the BB droid were placed at their respective positions and the canopy fitted. I wanted to take some photos of the model with the landing gears attached but I made the mistake of placing the closed doors first. They fit so tightly that I can't remove them. So, the gear down photo session was cancelled. The display stand parts were sprayed TS-6 Matt Black as a base. The display base have textures suggesting the sand dunes of Jakku but apart from Poe's X-Wing seen in the opening scenes, no X-Wings was seen flown over the planet. I therefore decided to turn it into the snows of Starkiller Base.

There was however no snow substitute available so I simply paint the display base Flat White. The stand remain matt black. The stand has multiple slots to allow a number of possible poses and are meant to be fully poseable. The fit is however, too good here that I find it hard to pull them apart to make the variable poses; I just manage to get two for the photos. The whole assembly was then sprayed with a sealing layer of semi-gloss clear. 

Conclusion

Bandai has done it again and after looking at photos of its Revell counterpart, the Bandai T-70 leaves the 'other guy's' X-Wing parsecs behind. The Bandai T-70 has better and crisp details, especially on the cockpit instrument coaming, the exposed areas on the top and the rear of the fuselage and the engines. Sure, there were hiccups such as the less than ideal fit of the fuselage and the snap fit posts in the canopy but those still do not detract from the fact that this T-70 is a nice kit. The snap fit nature, while causing some loss of details, especially around the landing gear doors, makes it easy for one to change the way the model is displayed. I am looking forward to more Star Wars kits...too bad the TIE Avenger, Defender and various other starfighters have been relegated to 'Legends' status and most probably won't see the light of the day as a 'legit' kit.