The Trumpeter kit
The box is packed with sprues and parts to build the Messerschmitt 262B-1a/U1 and the look and feel is typically Trumpeter – nicely moulded parts in general with slightly overdone rivet detail. On the rivet front the wings are very well done and feature less well-defined yet subtler engraved detail – the fuselage is a little overdone, but my hope is that with subtle weathering later on in the build this should be as obvious as it is staring at all the parts.
General shape is good and matching the parts to various photographs taken from many different angles I think the shape is perfectly within acceptable tolerances and parameters.
Some other observations:
- Parts breakdown – seems logical and fairly straightforward with plenty of options available to you
- Options – dropped flaps and tailplane elevators are included and this is a big one for me in a model in this scale, so plus points there
- Fully detailed engines and option to display with cowls off or partly so is very good if you want to go that far – the rather gimmicky additional clear sprue to have transparent engine cowls is included
- Rubber-vinyl tyres are included – personally I quite like these although I will probably use lightly weighted resin alternatives available from an aftermarket source – wheel hub detail is good on the kit items
- FuG 218 Neptun nose radar array is quite well done but some of the poles will need refining if a realistic scale effect is to be had – alternatively you could use (as I plan to) the stunning brass Master Model items that have no equal in my view
- Options for dropped wing leading edge slats is very nice, especially if you want to add the lovely Eduard PE inserts (again, as I plan to)
- Nose-mounted twin fuel drop tanks are well detailed
- Cockpit – this is nicely done with good raised detail for the side instrument consoles and main panel that is clear (not sure why) and designed to take a clear acetate film insert behind. Seats are pretty fair representations of the real thing and come with photo etch (PE) belts. My plan is to use a combination of the excellent Eduard pre-painted parts and keep the kit side consoles as they add a more 3-D appearance
- Canopy clear parts are excellent – check out the photos in the attached Gallery Grid.
White metal parts
Good decision to include white metal undercarriage by the manufacturer, this one is going to need plenty of heavy weight in the nose area to avoid a tail-sitter! The WM is well tooled and needs only minimal cleaning up by removing the fine mould seam line.
Instructions / decals
Classic Trumpeter and are pretty clear, just decide along the way what you want to add and when to avoid unnecessary damage to parts needlessly added earlier than is necessary or as shown in the instructions.
Decals look to be pretty good and I will probably use the ones from the kit in my build – you can see the attached photos to identify the two aircraft supplied.
To sum up
This is a very good package, probably one of Trumpeter’s best and I have seen several made up over the years and it certainly can look the part if you invest the time and patience needed for this kind of larger project.
Recommended
Geoff C.
SMN Quick summary Star rating out of 5
| FEATURE | STAR RATING (out of five) |
|---|---|
| Quality of moulding | **** |
| Accuracy | **** |
| Instructions | **** |
| Decals | **** |
| Subject choice | ***** |
| Overall | **** |