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Revell Me 262 B build photos


RBrown

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Can the trainer version be built from this kit? Or is there some fundamental difference between the night fighter and the trainer?  Radu?

 

No, you cannot build a trainer from this kit. There are some issues, some major, some minor, some insurmountable.

 

- The canopies: The night fighter had a unique system to quickly jettison the canopies in an emergency. This quick-release mechanism was housed in a "frame box" that was bolted on top of the cockpit sill. The canopies were hinged on the top of this mechanism - when activated, the frame and canopies left the plane in one go. You can see the lateral edges of this mechanism fairing as a "strip" between the fuselage and the canopies in all photos of the night fighters. As a result, an equivalent width of material was removed from the bottoms of the canopies of the night fighters to compensate for this mechanism. The trainer does not have this quick-release mechanism and the canopies are hinged directly on the cockpit sill. Therefore, no material was removed from the bottoms of the canopies. In other words, in profiles the height of the night fighter canopies and the trainer canopies are identical at the top but different at the bottom. For that reason, the canopy you get in the Revell kit is suitable only for the night fighter but not suitable for a trainer.

To make a trainer from this kit you need new front and rear canopies. 

 

- The rear cockpit: The night fighter had a large fuel tank behind the radar operator. As a result, the radar operator seat was pushed forward to the point that his feet could no longer fit inside the rear cockpit and two "tunnels" had to be added on the sides of the pilot's seat. The Revell kit has these "tunnels." A refuelling cap for the additional rear fuselage fuel tank was added on the cockpit sill, behind the radar operator's seat. The trainer did not have the fuel tank behind the rear seat, there is no refuelling cap at the rear on the trainer.The rear cockpit was pretty-much the same length as the front cockpit. That means that the rear-seat pilot did not need a tunnel for the feet. The rear cockpit on the trainer was a simplified version of the front cockpit, some instruments were removed. 

To make a trainer from the Revell kit you need a new (may be modified) front cockpit without the "feet tunnels" for the radar operator (which are visible though the wheel wells), a whole new rear cockpit and a whole new cockpit sill. 

 

In my own personal opinion, the canopy is the biggest hurdle to overcome. To compound problems, the canopies from other kits cannot be used. The Trumpeter canopies have too much height and curvature at the top (they seem to be based on the drawings of the planned-but-never-built B-2) and for some reason the rear canopy is too wide at the bottom (which may indicate that the fuselage is too wide). 

 

Night fighter. Note the "strip" between the fuselage and canopies. 

152-16.jpg

 

Trainer. Note the lack of that "strip". Also compare the "height" of the large clear side panels. 

0018_Prag-Kbely_Me_262_B-1a_Avia_CS_92_C

 

HTH 

Radu 

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Thank you, Radu

 I had been told that there was an issue with the canopy but never received the level of detail that you have provided. Looks like another opportunity for a conversion kit. The only problem being the limited number of 2 seat Me-262's built

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Parts/sprue breakdown looks to be designed to facilitate trainer (all n/f parts look to be on one smaller sprue - canopy seems to have an area gated off - different two seat or single seat canopy?). I suppose it depends if Revell deem it a worthwhile version to kit... A single seater would be nice and that would no doubt do well given Radu's attention to detail and the Revell pricing...

 

Maybe time to slide a couple of Trumpy kits onto eBay.. :)

 

Matt

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There are new pictures of the sprues showing the single seater canopy at the Revell online store!:

 

http://www.revell-shop.de/out/pictures/generated/product/7/665_665_88/04995_sp_messerschnitt_me_262_b1_u1.jpg

 

The fuselage is the one of the B-1a/U1. Maybe they have accidentally included the single seater canopy in the photo of the sprues?

Edited by Roger Gaemperle
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There are new pictures of the sprues showing the single seater canopy at the Revell online store!:

 

http://www.revell-shop.de/out/pictures/generated/product/7/665_665_88/04995_sp_messerschnitt_me_262_b1_u1.jpg

 

The fuselage is the one of the B-1a/U1. Maybe they have accidentally included the single seater canopy in the photo of the sprues?

That is the two piece two seater canopy.
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I contacted Revell today to ask about when the kit would become available in their shop. They got back to me within an hour and told me that it was slightly delayed, but it would be available from calender week 51, which is the week starting on 19 December. So maybe just in time for some of us to get our Christmas present ;-)

Edited by Roger Gaemperle
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