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Messerschmitt Me 262 Detail Set

 

Wingz
(A Division of the VLS Corporation)

 

S u m m a r y

Catalogue No. and Description Item WG 0002
Price: USD$19.95 from VLS website
Contents and Media: 21 pieces cast in a cream resin supplied in a small square cardboard box.
Scale: 1/48
Review Type: FirstLook
Advantages: Well cast with no casting deformities or air bubbles; welcome addition to detail the new Tamiya Me-262 or the old Trimaster/Dragon offering.
Disadvantages: Lack of any instructions, donor kit requirements, parts checklist or guide for installation and use (see text for resolution to this problem).
Recommendation: Recommended.

 

Reviewed by Dale Smith


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FirstLook

 

Recently passed to me for review is a detail set in 1/48 scale for the the Tamiya Messerschmitt Me 262 .

I had not heard of this manufacturer before, however I understand they have 2 other sets available that cover a cockpit set for the Bf 109G-6 in 1/32 scale as well as a 1/48 scale German Airfield Runway Diorama base. These items are available through The VLS Corporation. The packaging states they are a VLS company, so contact VLS Corp for availability and further details. You can also check them out at www.modelmecca.com

Enclosed in the small ziplock bag within the box are 21 pieces cast in a cream coloured resin. There were no air bubbles or casting deformities present in the pieces, with the casting blocks on most pieces being quite small. 4 of the pieces which make up the outer wing leading edge slats and their interior wing mating surfaces are very long and fine and could have been susceptible to warping during the manufacturing/curing process. My samples were perfectly straight.

Covered in the set for the interior are: Replacement pilots seat with molded harness straps, new control column, instrument panel, new pilots side consoles and main cockpit switchboard. Exterior parts supplied related to the flying surfaces and include a new rudder, replacement ailerons, a complete set of flaps, both inner and outer wing leading edge slats and their corresponding inner wing surfaces.

My set did not include any instructions or recommendations for the kit that the set related too. I contacted VLS direct and was advised that the set had been devised for the new Tamiya offering and that some of the earlier boxings had been despatched without any form of instructions. If ,like myself, you have any of the earlier boxings VLS advised that instructions will be hopefully available by the 15th of October. Contact VLS direct so that some way of getting the instructions to yourself can be worked out.

I am very much a fan of the Me 262 jet fighter, but unfortunately have yet to purchase the new Tamiya offering. As a stopgap measure for the review, I cleaned up all the resin parts and dry fitted them to a Dragon offering I have put away, with all the parts de-sprued and ready for construction.( I have to fill in my time during night shifts somehow, don't I). All of the flap items both inner and outer, as well as the ailerons fitted perfectly, so those parts shouldn't be a problem. The cockpit parts also fitted with little drama so should also be ok. Now to the leading edge flaps. There have been many discussions over the last few years as to the lengths of the wings between certain manufacturers. If you have taken to the different kits with a micrometer, you would have found that the Monogram offering was the shortest, the Dragon then came in second and the new Tamiya kit came in with the longest in overall wing length. Tamiya claimed to be correct as they measured their new kit from an existing airframe, so the Tamiya kit would have to be the closest to being correct for the purist. The flaps when placed against the Dragon kit wing were about 1.0-1.5mm too long so would need to be trimmed to suit the Dragon kit ( which is what I'll be doing ) but should fit the Tamiya kit as VLS have advised without any hassles.

Other points I noted were the molded on seat harness on the pilots seat which could be a good or bad thing depending on what you the modeller prefer. My replacement rudder had the very top portion missing that had probably broken off in the packing process. The rudder balance is also finer for the Tamiya offering as compared to the Dragon kit, so a little bit of filling with some styrene will be required on the tailplane if you use the Dragon kit.

 

 

Conclusion

 

Apart from the small difficulties I had without any form of instructions or donor kit requirements, the set is very good. It provides the extended flaps that were almost always observed on Me 262s when they were on the ground and replaces the moving flying surfaces nicely. This set could be used quite effectively on the Dragon kit or on the Tamiya kit for which it was originally designed.

Recommended.

Thanks to ' VLS ' for supplying the sample for review
and for their prompt assistance with my email enquiries regarding the lack of instructions.
 


These and other VLS products may be viewed at the VLS Website


Review and Images Copyright © 2002 by Dale Smith
Page Created 15 October, 2002
Last updated 22 July, 2003

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