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!