EARLY JETS

back to homepage back to models

In England and Germany, solitary scientist were working independently on the development of a jet turbine engine. Both had to cope with uninterested governments, and the German Pabst von Ohain was only slightly ahead of the british Frank Whittle. At the end of the war, German engineers were well ahead, with a surprising large number variaty of jet airplanes, only hampered by lack of fuel and certain materials. After the war, an allied 'brain drain' made sure this knowledge was not lost. And so it could happen that later, in the Korean conflict, offspring of one single German prototype would meet in combat.

The Heinkel He 178 V1, the first real jet plane to fly, in august 1939. Remarkable little can be found on the internet about this plane. The original was destroyed in an allied bomber raid over Berlin, and only a few pictures pop up again and again. The V-1 in the name has nothing to do with the V-1Buzz bomb. Here it stands for Versuch flugzeug 1. The kit is a 1:48 Condor kit, a 'limited run' kit. This means the kit is made by a small company, without the high tech resources larger companies have. Low pressure casting makes for rather rude plastic shapes, less fine details and some fit problems. On the up side, the kit came with some photo etch that helped a bit. The undercarriage had me puzzled for a long time, and although I build it according to the kit' instructions, it is not right (the legs should attach to the horizontal bar INSIDE the fuselage). And I opted for a 'wrong' paint job just to make the model more interesting (this is the painting of the V2 aircraft which had retractable undergear, the V1 had just a warm-grey undercoating in RLM 02, with no bare metal). All in all, I am not to happy about this model, but it is the only model to be found in this scale, and no early jet airfield can do without...

The Heinkel He 280 V3. After initial success with getting the He 178 in the air, Heinkel continued with a real jet fighter. This became the He 280. The plane demonstrated jet superiority over piston driven engines in a mock fight with a Focke Wulf Fw 190, at that moment the most advanced German fighter. In the end, due to a politics, the Me 262 was chosen for production, but although different, both planes were more or less equal in capabilities. The kit is a 1:48 Eduard kit. It went together like any kit form a big company, with no problems whatsoever. This kit even had a nose weight to prevent it from tail sitting. Only the open canopy did not fit to well over the back of the plane, and my attempt to reshape it a little with a hot blowdryer ended in melting the open canope. So I had to close up the nicely detailed cockpit, which was a shame.

Messerschmitt Me 262 A-1A. Before I started on this new modelling spree, this was the only second world war jet fighter I knew. I thought the British Meteor was later, after the war (it was not, although it did not see any action outside Britain). First jet powered flight of the Me 262 was in 1941. Although the engines were notorious troublesome (mostly due to the lack of certain metal alloys) in design the aircraft was well ahead of its time with its swept wing design and underwing engines. This kit was a 1:48 Italieri kit, and went together rather well with only some small fit problems. Once I decided to close the gun bay (the kit comes with 4 guns and the possibility to open up the gun bay) it was easy to fit the needed nose weight quite late in the building process. Although this is one of the most beautiful jet planes I know, I am not to happy with this model. Hard to say why, I think I don't like the camouflage. I will build this plane again some day, with the new Tamiya kit and some detail sets, in a factory fresh metal-primer-and-filler finish.

This is the Gloster Meteor Mark I, the second fully operational jet fighter in the world. The first prototype flew in 1943, but the final Mark one entered service about the same time as the Me 262. These 2 never met in air combat, for security reasons the Meteor was only deployed over Britain. It was quite effective in bringing down Buzz Bombs (V-1 flying bombs). The kit is a 1:48 Tamiya kit. I bought a version that included a model of a V-1 before I found our Tamiya also had a kit with prototype markings. Tamiya Netherlands was willing to sell me that decal sheet and send it by mail. Thank you! The kit itself was almost an anti-climax in building, it is just all to easy. Everything fits, locks into place, and if it was not for the drying time of paint, the model could easily be slapped together in an afternoon. Even the needed nose weight is included. The camouflage is wrong, but in accordance with the aeroplane that is kept in a British museum. Any mistake, good enough for a British museum, is good enough for me.

This is a Heinkel He 162, the 'Volksjäger'. By far the weirdest jet and heard about it until about 2 years ago. In spite of weird wings, old fashioned tail and a ridiculous engine placement, the shape and design is remarkable modern. The design was rushed into service in an absolute record time (3 month from first design order until flying prototype), but due to lack of fuel and pilots, it is unclear if it ever saw real action. The plane was intended to be flown by Hitler youth, but needed quite an experienced pilot. The kit in 1:48 is a Dragon kit, and over all it is a nice kit. It comes with a nice jet engine than can be displayed (or not) and 2 tail designs. There is a little Photo etched detail. Building it was a mixed pleasure. There are some fit problems (wings/fuselage and main landing gear/wheel bay). Figuring out the needed lead weight to prevent tail sitting was not easy (but there is a little opening at the bottom that can remain open until painting). The photo etched details turned out to be steel, not copper or brass, and almost impossible to use. And the main wheel bay has a huge amount of (ill fitting) detail, that becomes almost invisible after finishing the plane. On the other hand, the engine is nice and invites scratch adding detail like wiring and tubes (I used some fine soldering lead and fishing line). The cockpit is a beauty, and the canopy can be posed open or closed, and can even remain unfixed.

And another Messerschmitt Me 262 A-1A. The bare metal with primer and filler stipes and the markings indicate this plane as werkenummer 111711. This factory fresh plane was flewn into allied hands by German pilot Hans Fay, who decided the war had been long enough for him. Once the allies were done singing "he' a jolly good fellow', the plane was taken to the U.S. for testing. This kit was a 1:48 Tamiya kit, with addition of 2 detail sets; Czech Master Kits 4114 for slats, flaps, ailerons, radioset and some cockpitdetail, and Czech Masters Kits 4115 for an open engine. In a way this turned out to be A Bridge Too Far for my modelling skills; especialy the slats at the front of the wing did not come out too well. The resin parts were just to fiddly and although unworkable thin the are slightly overscale. Looking back it would have been enough to only use the flaps, radio and some cockpitdetail, and the engine kit, the rest was just too hard for me. The engine kit was fine, although again some parts turned out to be extremely fine, and sometimes impossible to remove fromt their casting blocks. Since the Jumo 4 engine has a complicated front part and a boring tube behind that, a detailset that only offered the front of the engine would be enough. I used the backpart of the Tamiya engine to cover up the end. The Tamiya kit looks quite different from the Italeri kit, with wing dihedral as biggest differance. I am not sure which kit has it right, but the Tamiya was a much easier build.

And finaly, here is the Arado Ar 234-C, the first 4 engine jet. This aircraft used BMW 003 jet engines, a little smaller then the jumo 004 engines. This aircraft also shows 2 small rockets that were sometimes used as take off boosters. The aircraft was designed as fast bomber, but more often was used for photo reconnaissance. The kit is a 1:48 Monogram Pro-Modeler kit, but is largely the same as the Hasagawa and Revell kit (Both different types of the Ar 234). On the web, this kit was highly praised, but i was a little disapointed by fit. Especialy the cockpit/fuselage seam neede quite abit of work. Non the less, it was a great kit to build; many parts and beautifull detail/ The cockpit is a work of art, and it's a pitty the hatch on top can not be opened. The 2 camara' are also great, and it is sad to see them disapear in the rear fuselage. Behind the cockpit was quite a bit of lead needed to prevent tail sitting.

back to homepage back to models