excellent, although the rather
prominent panel lines may put
some modellers off. Cockpit
detail is adequate, featuring
decals for the instrument panel
and a pilot figurine (which I
omitted). The clear canopy parts
are split and can be posed open,
a feature I always appreciate.
The fuselage has drop-
shaped blisters on each
side of the nose gun access
panels, which accommodate
the cartridge ejector chutes.
Early production aircraft had
a curved cartridge ejector chute,
which would often jam due to the
high fire rate of the 262’s MK108
guns. To resolve these issues,
they were replaced on all 262s
by L-shaped cartridge chutes,
resulting in the characteristic
drop-shaped blister for late
production aircraft. All Me-262s
still in service were modified to
this standard by early 1945; the
only exceptions were the few 262s
built at the Budweis assembly
plant, which carried a square
blister on each side of the nose.
The Airfix rudder has a narrow
trim tab, as used on all early
production machines, as well as
those assembled in Leipheim and
Schwäbisch-Hall. This may be of
interest if you are planning to useaftermarket decals on this kit –
check your references and replace
the trim tab with a broad one if you
are modelling an Obertraubling,
Neuburg, or Budweis-built 262.
Another way to identify the
production plant is to take a look
at the instruction placards under
the snap fasteners of the gun bay
doors, which were centerline-
mounted on Leipheim factory
machines, as represented in the kit.
For the very first time in this
scale, we get a correct rendering
of the undercarriage bays of the
Me-262. These are open, displaying
the inside of the aircraft, including
the bottom of the cockpit tub. Airfix
has done a very good job here.
Another interesting feature of
the kit is the representation of the
torque link on the nose gear. Only
a few early production aircraft had
these, and by early 1945 they werereplaced by shimmy dampers on
most, if not all, examples. If you are
modelling Airfix camouflage Option
B, the Jagdgeschwader 7 machine,
the torque link should be removed,
as original photographs confirm
they are absent. (I do not have
photographic references of Airfix’
first option, “Yellow 3”, sporting
a blue and white checker band, so
I can’t comment on that one.)
The only thing that’s really
missing from the kit is the pilot’s
armour plate, a feature seen on
most late-production 262s (in
fact, all late 262s, except those
assembled at the Leipheim plant,
were fitted with a headrest). While
this is fairly easy to scratch-build, I
don’t understand how or why Airfix’
design team missed this feature.
Also on the sprues, but marked
as ”not for use”, are drop tanks,
usually associated with the“AIRFIX’ NEW KIT HAS ALL THE
BENEFITS OF A MODERN TOOLING,
WITH CRISP SURFACES, GOOD
INTERIOR DETAIL, AND CORRECTLY-
RENDERED OPEN WHEEL BAYS”
KIT DETAILS The wing/engine front joint leaves a lot to be desired Gap at the wing/fuselage joint came as a surprise
MANUFACTURER: AIRFIX
RELEASED: SEPTEMBER 2017 (NEW-TOOL)
PRODUCT CODE: A03088
SCALE: 1/72
TYPE: INJECTION MOULDED
PARTS: 66
DECAL OPTIONS: 2
EXTRAS: EDUARD PHOTO-ETCH ED73600WWW.SAMPUBLICATIONS.COM • MARCH 2018 • 23
1/72
022-27-FEAT-Me262-0318.indd 23 09/02/2018 14:25