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Excellent kit, as it's usual with later Huma releases. The kit puts together almost without putty. The instruction sheet is very clear and comprehensive (even pictures from the cockpit and rocket nozzles are included). It can be built as the Ju 248 or the Me 263 which differed in that the Messerschmitt had well covers. The instructions incorrectly state that both planes Ju 248 and Me 263 had front wheel covers. Only the Me 263 had covers for all wheels. Cockpit is fair but can be improved. I added seat belts, buckles and the odd detail here and there. Undercarriage is very detailed but a bit tricky to assemble. I strictly followed the instructions and found out that the model didn't had the correct stance. To correct it I changed the main wheels for bigger ones from my spare-box. Now it looks fine to me. I found troubles joining the wings to the fuselage. A bit of putty was needed on the undersides. The canopy is a bit on the thick side so I made a new one from acetate, using the kit part as a master. A thin wire mast-tip antenna was added. I also reworked the exhaust and added two small lengths of tubing to represent the rocket nozzles. Painting was done with an airbrush and enamels. On the undersides I used Areomaster. This is an excellent paint, nice sheen, good coverage and needs not much thinning. On the upper side I used-up old tins of Humbrol & Compucolor. Painting instructions are wrong, sadly as usual. It should de painted in parts and not in a splinter pattern. That means that some parts were already painted before assembly, thus forming a kind on camouflage. This was a German late-war rather desperate cost-cutting measure. In this case nose and right wing were colour 82 and the rest, except the tail and the undersides (which were colour 76 with 81 & 82 mottling) colour 81. Decals came from the kit and are very good indeed. One decal is missing though, an oval stencil on nose left under the canopy.
Version : First prototype Wr. Nr. 381001 PV+PA Ju 248 V1. The only one of that model, built by Junkers at Dessau, August 1944. Flight trials during Autumn 1944. Early 1945 reassigned to Messerschmitt with a change of designation to Me 263.
| KIT | Messerschmitt Me 263 - Huma 1/72
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| COMMENT | Very Good, almost without putty |
| MODIFICATIONS | Cockpit detailed, scratch rocket nozzle, acetate canopy, new wheels |
| REFERENCES | Waffen Arsenal 32, M. Ziegler, Pallas Verlag Waffen Arsenal 113, M. Emmerling, Pallas Verlag Aerodetail 10 Me163/He162, Dai Nippon Kaiga Luftwaffe Painting Guide, Merrick & Hitchcock, Monogram Komet, J.Ethell, I. Allan Hugo Junkers and his aircraft, Vol 1 & 2, Günter Schmitt, Motor Buch V.
Magazines : |
| PAINTING | General - Under : RLM 76 Aeromaster Enamel Airbrush mix - 1.5 Paint + 0.5 Humbrol thinner Upper : RLM82 (Compucolor CG25), RLM81(66+98 Humbrol) Airbrush mix - 1 Paint + 1 Humbrol thinner Varnish - Tamiya Semi-Gloss Airbrush mix - 1 Paint + 1.5 thinner (Tamiya + Alcohol) Detail - Cockpit : RLM65 Tamiya XF63, hubs Tamiya X18, tires : XF63+X18 mix, undercarriage : RLM02(9 XF22 + 1 XF19 + 2 XF2 Tamiya). All brush painted. |
| EXTRAS | Main wheels form ??? |
| DECALS | From the kit - good |
| FINISHED | May 96 |
| HOURS | 8 |
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