Messerschmitt Me 262 A-1a

This model has been around for a while in the Revell catalog, on and off. It features a detailed cockpit, removable or open (you decide) gun cowling and engine cowling section. That's the show-off part. It is tail heavy and includes a clear plastic peg to hold the rear end up on the tripod. Putting some bird shot into white glue in the nose section can help you delete the need for the strut. The model also benefits from being able to be painted in many different schemes. It's a good model for the beginner or the pro.

Like the name of the kit and this review implies, its A1 in my book...well as far as Revell goes. Don't get me wrong, I like Revell just fine. Their kits are a decent value for the money, but let's face it, if you've ever built a Revell plane you know how the fitment on their kits is. This kit went together in just a few days with very little problems. The instructions are clear and basically you get a book. There are a couple pages of part descriptions, one for paint colors, and the assembly instructions take up the remaining pages. There are optional instructions for different weapon loads, as well as gear up or gear down configurations. This is where this kit started going bad...if you have ever read one of my reviews you know that the option for gear up (which I prefer) usually earns a star, however, with this kit it caused it to lose one. If model companies wish to include options like this they can't halfway do it. That's what they've done in a BIG way here. First the nose gear door is made up of just two doors one small rectangle fore and a longer one aft. Simple enough right? Well when u glue the doors together guess what...a huge gap! Nowhere near the right size to fill the gear bay. I'm not above using a little filler but this thing isn't a little crack its a gaping hole! Next, yes there's more. You would think that if there was a gear up option that there would be included with the kit optional pieces to help make the fitment as nice as possible...well the aft gear doors should be one piece to fit in the hole made for the two main gear. Not on this kit. In total there are 5 pieces you have to meticulously glue together and after all that trouble the fit is still awful at best. The last issue I found was the fact that the plane or the figures included or both are not 1/48 scale. I have various 1/48 pilot figures I save from other kits and each one I tried barely fit inside the cockpit. And the giant figures they include could never fit inside even if they were in the sitting position. But everything else on this kit fits like a glove so it still ranks pretty high...for a Revell kit.

For a re-issue of a kit from 1978, this is a good starter kit for anyone with a little experience in 1/48th scale aircraft. I have built several in the past and this latest one is no exception when it comes to having fun building. The instructions are older along with the plastic parts and not too hard to follow if one pays attention. Be sure to follow the instructions for getting the parts to fit, they are a little bigger and rougher in molding than that of newer model kits. The thickness of some of the parts has to be sanded down so that they fit however other than that it is a very good kit. The box art is excellent as this is a great showpiece for any model. Conversion to a jet that carried bombs is a strong departure from what the designers at Messerschmitt intended but Adolf Hitler was in charge of designing by his standards and wanted the jets to bomb the Allies and then fight the opposing fighters, all propeller engine powered by the way and win. The Me 262 took on many roles even as RADAR guided interceptor with some of the first RADAR equipped aircraft in the world, fully equipped and manned as such. I chose to show mine as a pure one-man fighter to take on Allied bombers. At speeds exceeding 400 MPH the Allies were lucky to take these jets on, finally the Allies developed fighter tactics to shoot them down. One such tactic was to shoot them down either at take off or landing as this is a dangerous maneuver for any aircraft. I would highly recommend this kit and have fun with the splinter camouflage !