Me 262 Question

[JKim]

Hi people! Quick question... on my wish list as a future build is a ME 262B-1a/U1 as a night fighter and have wondered what the upper wing camo looked like? Most commonly, I've seen the upper wings match the upper fuselage mottle but I've also seen a few profiles showing a splinter pattern on the wings and horizontal tail surfaces. Is there anything definitive in terms of research to point one way or another?

 

[fubar57]

If you don't have an answer by morning John, I'll start looking.

Geo

 

[Wurger]

If these tops of wings would be of the dark camo scheme the leading edges of wings and front tops of engine nacelles weren't of the light colour that can be noticed in the pics below. Contrary to that the Red12 shows dark colour at the leading edges and tops of nacelles.

The image source: the net....

 

[Wurger]

If there is still a doubt about the tops of the Red10 here a couple of her shots I found via the net ...

And here you are the final proof... please notice the camo scheme on open flaps. It appears the wing tops were painted light with a squiggled pattern.

 

[Crimea_River]

I have a fair amount of info on these and can help when I get more time. (Going to work on the Merlin tonight) I too have a plan to build one of these rigs, probably in the night war GB. Short answer right now is that the 262's of NJG11 did not all have the same camo.

 

[destrozas]

Tomorrow I will put some pictures that I have 10 and 12 red and I did in the GB jet was not because they have lost or broke link

 

[stona]

Hi people! Quick question... on my wish list as a future build is a ME 262B-1a/U1 as a night fighter and have wondered what the upper wing camo looked like? Most commonly, I've seen the upper wings match the upper fuselage mottle

That's how I did mine as that's what the available evidence suggests.

Cheers

Steve

 

[destrozas]

 

[Crimea_River]

John, sorry for the delay. I was looking for a link I thought I had bookmarked but lost it. After some digging, I found it again. Good discussion of the colours for the 10/NJG11 262's here: Me262B Night Fighter Camouflage

I know Erich might have some comments as well but I haven't seen him for a while.

 

[Wurger]

 

[JKim]

WOW... I certainly came to the right place with this question! The pictures are great and the article that Andy posted is wonderfully informative! Definitely going to be a source of info when I get around to the 262B. I am thinking of picking up the Hobby Boss 262b-1a from my local hobby shop. Although it is not the U1 nightfighter version, it appears to have the necessary parts including the radar array. Hobby Boss was supposed to have released the nightfighter but I can find no trace of it from any retailers.

Thanks to all!

 

[Crimea_River]

Hi John.

Just quoting here and I have not researched this much but note this statement from the article I linked:

"For those interested; the Me 262 night fighter and trainers were not identical airframe wise. Different cockpit sills, different length rear cockpits, different height canopies, different fuel access ports, different fuel tank locations, different nose cones, different foot step locations on the fuselage and modifications to the interior fuselage cockpit tub and rear bulkhead area to accommodate the different cockpits tubs."

My short look at the Hobby Boss offering seems to indicate its the trainer version.

I have this Dragon kit in my stash which I assume (hope) reflects the real nightfighter. Maybe you can find this one somewhere

 

[JKim]

Hi John.

Just quoting here and I have not researched this much but note this statement from the article I linked:

"For those interested; the Me 262 night fighter and trainers were not identical airframe wise. Different cockpit sills, different length rear cockpits, different height canopies, different fuel access ports, different fuel tank locations, different nose cones, different foot step locations on the fuselage and modifications to the interior fuselage cockpit tub and rear bulkhead area to accommodate the different cockpits tubs."

My short look at the Hobby Boss offering seems to indicate its the trainer version.

I have this Dragon kit in my stash which I assume (hope) reflects the real nightfighter. Maybe you can find this one somewhere

View attachment 283945

Interesting... is there anything specific you saw on the Hobby Boss kit that leads you to believe that is based on the trainer version of the 262b-1a? I could see Hobby Boss deciding not to differentiate between the trainer and nightfighter besides the obvious nightfighter radar equipment. But it that were the case, they would would base the kit off of either the nightfighter or the trainer.

Not that it means anything at all but I found an online discussion at HyperScale about the DML and Hobby Boss kits and found at least one person who thinks the Hobby Boss molding is based on the nightfighter.

The HB Kit is the better looking one: It better matches data, though is a bit of fudge between a 'B1a trainer and 'B1a/U1 night fighter. The cockpit contents are pure night fighter, though the kit decals and color scheme is for the trainer. That strip at the canopy sill should actually be a raised bit for the nigh fighter modification, the original trainer had a slightly lower canopy profile without the sill addition. The trainer also had a complete second pilot's cockpit, not the short radar GIB position. Overall the HB kit goes together much better and is generally a better kit for accuracy than the Dragon, though it is only the 'B1a/U1 version.

Plane Talking - HyperScale's Aircraft Scale Model Discussion Forum:

 

[Airframes]

Interesting stuff.
I don't know if it's of interest, but I've just read the latest 'E Newsletter' from Book Depository, and they have Brett Green's 'Stormbird Colours' on offer at the moment, at £7.95 in the UK, so approximately $12 US, with free shipping World wide.

 

[Crimea_River]

John, no. As I said I haven't even begun to research anything on the 262B and the model reviews. All I did was go by the box art for the HB kit, which shows the trainer so I just assumed they were not depicting the nightfighter. I picked up the Dragon kit as an impulse buy in a sale at a local store that closed after the owner died. I didn't know anything about the kit at the time, just that a 262 nightfighter was on my to do list.

Terry, that's a good price. I just picked this book up in Toronto and it's worth sticking in the library. However, it doesn't devote any attention to the two seaters.

 

[JKim]

Got it Andy. The Hobby Boss is one of the few kits that I can pick up at my local hobby shop for a reasonable cost so that is why I am considering it. Plus, my experience on the D-9 was a good one. Assuming that it can be used as a base for a U1, I would just need to scrounge up some decals. Maybe even utilize some masks that I already have. That's one reason why I am interested in Red 12... I may be able to recycle the "12" mask from my Dora build.

 

[JKim]

This WAS going to be my next WIP project. I picked up the Hobby Boss kit over the weekend. Did a quick scan of the box contents at home and found that both antenna array pieces were broken. Surprising, given that HB packs all of the sprues in individual bags. I will have to get a refund or exchange.

Because of that, I started on the Revell 109G-10 instead.