Me262 A-1a/U1 "Edelweiss" Hobbyboss - 1/48

[Gregovit]

Hello friends!

It was taking a while, but here's the Allied Aviation Terror, the ME-262.



The Messerschmitt Me 262 Schwalbe ("Swallow") was the first jet fighter to come into operational use. It was years ahead in terms of design and performance, but it did not have the right priority, coming too late to change the course of the war. The jet engines, the reason for the high performance, presented little reliability, causing many casualties. The first units to use it operationally were bomber (on Hitler's order, the aircraft were modified to carry bombs), presenting poor results due to the high speed of approach.

Only in 1944 they were used in their natural function of interceptor, with some successes before the numerous bombers and allied fighters.

It became very famous among the allies, becoming as feared as the Junkers Ju 87. Its characteristic trait, the imposing triangle-shaped fuselage, the winged wings with its two junkers jumo engines caused panic among the allies, and by its peculiar shape earned the nickname "mouse." [3] It developed a speed superior to 850km / h. Despite this incredible speed for the season, it lacked a lot of maneuverability. Most of the Me 262 overthrown during the war were lost in fights at low speeds or when making turns. The only Allied airplanes capable of facing him in height were the Englishman Gloster Meteor and the American P-80 Shooting Star. But never faced them, leaving the first duel jet versus jet to the Korean war. However, planes such as the Hawker Tempest, the Typhoon (both English) and the American P-51 Mustang successfully faced them in the skies.

The Me-262 dropped 735 allied airplanes, most of them bombers like the Boeing B-17 Flying Fortress and the Handley Page Halifax. In the A-1a Schwalbe version, the armament consisted of four MK108 30mm cannons grouped in the nose, while in the A-2a Sturmvogel version the armament consisted of two 30mm Mk 108 guns and two 250kg bombs using external racks in the front of the fuselage. Both versions could also carry 24 R4M 55mm rockets. It was preceded by the rocket interceptor Me 163 Komet.

The Me 262A-1 / U1 differs from the standard A-1 model by its armament in the nose of the aircraft. It has two 20mm MG 151 cannons with 146 projectiles each, two 30mm MK 103 cannons with 72 projectiles each and two 30mm MK 108 cannons, with 66 projectiles each. The MK 103 has a longer barrel and a faster firing rate than the MK 108.

The Me 262A-1a / U1 was an attempt to overcome the limitations of the 30mm "quartet" MK108. The MK 108 had a tendency to stall a lot and had a very low firing rate. However, the combination of three different guns proved very problematic and only three units of this aircraft were built.

Here, images of the Sprues:







Here, in the next post, we begin the assembly, taking into account that I intend to leave as detailed as possible the process of assembly and painting of the kit. It is very detailed, already factory, so that even if nothing is invested in detailed sets, it already stands out in the correct ways.


I hope you enjoy and enjoy the trip!

See ya!

[Gregovit]

Let's start then, with the great differences of this aircraft, with the other models, be they manufactured and operational or only of tests. The aircraft that I will portray, has the most weapons of all versions, counting on three different types of weapons! It's the top one, right!


Here, we have the scheme of positioning the weapons in the nose of the aircraft.


At this stage, I intend to put a wiring together the weapons, to simulate the electrical wiring and the firing of the weapons. I need a more detailed Blueprint of this area.

[Gregovit]

We started the project, with the painting of the cockpit, with the RLM66 of the Mig, which I found very good.


And the "tub" and driver's panel.



Here we begin the invention of ideas. I'll put some wires in the hope that it will show up with the cockpit open, which is my intention. We made it with metallic wire, painted yellow.


And a little dry fit ...


Later, I'll post the progress of the cockpit.

Cheers, fellas!

[Gregovit]

A small Dryfit to see if the cockpit is fitting properly. It is always good to proceed with tests, first of all, to know if your work is going well. So far so good!




Well, let's update a little more of the assembly. I found this color of the Mig, very bright and weird, but the tone seems the correct one. Here, I applied as requested by the manual.




Internal structure of the aircraft. It has an access door on the right side of the aircraft that I do not know whether I will open it or not. It looks like the radio compartment.


And here, I began to detail the cockpit, with the color I found closest to the color of the leather worn on the seats of the aircraft, as specified, and seen in photos. The kit does not have seat belts in PE or molded in the seat. So, to ensure that I can leave the cockpit open for better viewing, I used the PE seatbelts of a FW-190 from a Dragon kit, which is practically the same as the ME-262






It is important to inform that I have not done yet, any aging work in the cockpit of the aircraft, and that will be done. I hope you enjoyed the journey here!

Feel free to comment!

Cheers, boys!