Messerschmitt me 262 A1a Schwalbe

I had finished this one a few weeks ago along with my fw 190 g but I was to lazy to take pics of it but now I felt in the mood to to and to show you this cool model kit of a me 262:
Backround: German engineers were always ahead of their time when it comes to new designs. In the early 1940´s the company heinkel developed a new turbine powered plane called the heinkel he 280. This aircraft featured two jet engines that gave it supreme speed, almost impossible speed for its time. Unfortunately for the germans and fortunately for the allies, the heinkel 280 wasnt ent into production dueto the fact that the german high command didnt trust the new powerplants and they had also some arguements with the heinkel company itself, that s why many designs made by heinkel didnt make it over prototype stages. If the 280 would have been ordered into service it would have changed the war. Instead of bf 109´s the british would have faced heinkel 280s in the battle of britain if the 280 would have been mass produced. So it came that the first operational jet that was mass produced ,flew some years later: based on heinkels 280 the messerschmitt me 262 flew first in 1943 but with a piston engine in addition to the 2 jet engines. the prototypes were also taildraggers . This turned out to be a problem as the 2 engines and the wing blocked the air stream to the rudders and therefore the pilot had to brake just before take off to position the plane straight. Therefore, the 262 was featured with a nose landing gear. Not only did the 262 had jet engines, it also featured swept wings. German engineers found out that this wing design gives the airplane more speed. The 262 had two jumo004 engines. These jet engines could accelerate the 262 up to 870 km/h, faster than any other allied plane,faster were only the me 163 and the heinkel 162.
Planned as an interceptor, the 262 had 4 massive mk 108 cannons . These were positioned i the nose of the 262. The caliber of these guns was 30mm. The upper cannons had 80 shots, the lower guns 60. A few hits from the mk108 could nock out a heavy bomber. In addition, the 262 could carry 2x12 R4m Orkan unguided air to air missiles under the wings and 2 under the nose. The 262 went into combat in 1944 and spread panic among the allied pilots. The new aircraft was fast enough to run out every enemy plane and was heavily armed. At that time, germany was already in the defense and the 262 were used to ataack enemy bomber formations. Hitler wanted the 262 to be a fighter bomber although there was a jet powered bomber in service that was more suited for those missions: The arado 234. The luftwaffe high command could not convince hitler to built the 262 only as a fighter and therefore 2 versions were priduced: the schwalbe, a fighter, and the Me 262 b sturmvogel. The b carried two bomby under its nose and had a differnt canopy. But it turned out that the 262 was everything but a good bomber, the bombs and the hardpoints to carry them produced air drag , therefore slowing the airplane into an area where alied fighters could keep up with the jet fighter. Also visibility was bad for ground attacks, the 262 was a true fighter aircraft and not a bomber, and after that the 262 was produced as a fighter in greater numbers. At that time, the situation for germany was very bad the war had come to the european mainlany now by land and air. Bomber streams escorted by fighters came daily. Even worse, they bombed the fabrics that built the 262 and the fuel station were also destroyed. The 262 production went under the earth were it was safe from bombing raids. The 262 was rushed into service so fast that some problems with the plane werent seen. The plane was nothing for an unexperienced pilot, it was difficult to maintain and the engines had some seroius problems , in fact they had to be repaired every second flight. In the hand of a more experienced pilot, the 262 was a lethal opponent , nearly impossible to catch for any allied plaen. the 262 was feared a lot by allied crews, their hard htting cannons and their speed made them deadly even at alonger range. Still, some 262 were lost due to engine problems. Alot of them were destroyed before they even saw combat as enemy bomber raids destroyed some of the new planes when they stood in front of the fabric or their staring points. Fuel problems were also a main problem. In the air, the 262 was able to fight any enemy plane, although it wasnt as maneuverable than piston engine fighters, it was much faster,and one shot of a cannon could destroy an enemy fighter plane. The 262s downed a lot of enemy aircraft, but even they couldnt stop or change the course of the war. They came too late and too few ever saw combat . The 262 was constantly developed further. As the war ended ther were plans to make a variety of aircraft based on the 262. 2 262 were featured with a 50 mm machine cannon. This dangerous plane looked like a real bomber killer, and this was its function: to down lots of bombers. The 50mm cannon sat in the nose . The 2 produced me 262 of that kind were captured by allied forces. One of them saw combat but the 50 mm mk 214 had jammed and it was the only operation of that aircraft as the war ended shortly after. The allied forces captured another one that was nearly finished.
Other variants included more swept wing designs, designs that looked completely differnt that the original 262 like the heavy fighters me p.1099 a and b, as well as a variety of planes with new guns. There were also night fighter varinats produced in small numbers.The allies searched for 262 and other german designs for airplanes as the war in europe had ended. The 262 was on the top of the list together with other jets like the heinkel 162 and the top secret horten 229. Many were captured and sent to america or the uk to be studied. The 262 was the first operational jet and had a huge impact on the future of aerial combat. The 262 was an excellent aircraft, it had the abilities to change the course of the war, if it hadnt come that late in the war. Today, the 262 is an icon under fighter planes, it is one of the best known fighter aircraft of wwi and probably the most feared of all.
The model:
well, its another kit from revell, its cheap and quite good. It is in 1:72.
Detail: Yes, it seems that you have never to be disappointed if you buy a model kit from revell in 1:72 that costs 6,99€(the fw190 f , the bf 109 g-10 all had the same prize and scale and they were all very good).
The kit is well deatiled, we have a very nice cockpit, beautiful turbines and a good landing gear detail as well. Included are also 2 R4M orkan rockets and fuselage tanks. There is nothing to complain about the detail except maybe he inside of the landing gear, it scores
****
Fitting. Also very good, no problems with fitting this time, the wings went together perfect and everything else too.
*****
Functions: Its a jet model and doesnt has any funtions. I will leave this point out as it is difficult to include funtions in that kind of model.

Decals: Very good, as always. We have decals for 2 versions of the german luftwaffe. Decals are clean, well printed,and without flaws
*****
Extrapoints: Itsa nice kit of a famous german aircraft, it was a joy to built. In fact this is my 7th 262! 2 of them were built when I was very young and they looked awful. I have 2 nightfighter 262 as well and a sturmvogel 262. This one here is the best, it is my best 262 so far.
*****
Fazit: Its a nice model kit, a beginner can built it . Its easy, has good detail and great decals, and its very cheap. So if you wanna build oneI would advise to buy this one, except you arent a fan of 1:72 kits
*****