1:32 Me 262B-1a cockpit set

The double interior of the Me 262B-1a in a large scale

Replacement equipment for the cockpits of a model of the two-seat Messerschmitt Me 262B-1a. Aires casts these sets in resin and aims them at builders for whom a plastic cockpit is not enough. Because the two-seat version has its seats one behind the other, the package contains considerably more equipment than sets for single-seat machines, and its extent corresponds to that.

The real subject and its role

The Me 262 took off with Junkers Jumo 004 jet engines in 1942 and became the first jet fighter in the world to be used in combat. The two-seat B-1a variant came about as a training machine for the conversion of pilots who were arriving from piston aircraft and had to get used to the sluggish build-up of thrust and to the long takeoff run. From this version a night fighter with radar later grew as well.

What to watch out for during the build

A larger tub will bear even less tolerance than with single-seat sets. It pays to seat the front part first, only then the rear one, and in between to try the closing of the fuselage dry repeatedly. Wash the castings, cut the casting blocks off and level the cuts under water. Anyone reaching for resin for the first time should set aside more time for dry trials than for the gluing itself; a badly seated tub can no longer be put right later.

Suitable for

• builders of a large scale with an interest in German jet machines
• modelers who are planning open canopies on both cockpits
• the advanced, who do not mind modifying the fuselage by sanding
• collectors who want the whole development line of the Me 262 in a display case

The accessory is sold separately, without the plastic aircraft and without paints.