Background

If there's one topic that's likely to divide Luftwaffe modellers, it's the so-called "Luft '46" genre that deals with unfinished paper-projects and presents them as finished aircraft, usually in an alternative history in which WWII didn't end in 1945. Purists dismiss it as total nonsense, while other modellers treat it as escapist fun. I sit somewhere in the middle; so long as it's based on a real design, I see it as an interesting way to visualise the "state of the art" in German aircraft design at the end of the war.

So it is with the Messerschmitt Me 262 HG III, an unbuilt development of the standard aircraft with a radical 45° swept wing that carried Heinkel-Firth HeS 011A engines moved to the roots, a swept horizontal tail and a low-profile canopy, the so-called Rennkabine (racing cabin). Wind tunnel model tests were conducted, but the extent of the changes involved precluded modifying an existing Me 262 and the war ended before a prototype could be built.

The Kit

Niche subjects like this would previously only have been available from short-run producers, but Amusing Hobby have released it as a 1:48 mainstream kit which arrives in an attractive top-opening box with the runners and accessories bagged separately for protection in transit.

The kit comprises:

51 x sand coloured styrene parts

2 x clear styrene parts

Decals for 4 x colour schemes (only 2 of which are covered in the instructions)

As you can guess from the parts count, this is a pretty simple model - straight from the box, it would make a very enjoyable "weekend" project. The moulding is crisp, as you would hope with a modern new-tool kit, and I didn't find any real problems with sink marks in my kit - just one faint one on the underside. What is a bit of a shock, though, is that the kit has some of most prominent ejector pin marks I've ever encountered - so big, you can't fit many parts together until you've dealt with them. A small problem I noticed was some scratches inside the intake trunking - it's a bit of a mystery how that happened - and they will need sorting out because they're right at the front and pretty unsightly.

The overall surface finish is smooth and features embossed panel lines and extensive rivets across the airframe. These aren't as fine as, say, Eduard would handle them, but they should look fine under a coat of paint. Whether the panel lines and rivets would have been filled and sanded on the real aircraft if it had been built is another matter, but you replicate this on the model if you wish. There are some applique details on the exterior, such as what I imagine represents a strengthening strip around the tail, and these are a bit on the heavy side but, again, you can always knock them back.

Test Fit

Runner attachments for the main parts are one the gluing surfaces, so you need to shave them off carefully before you can start - plus, of course, get rid of those colossal knockout pin marks. But, once that's done, a quick test fit is very encouraging. 

Amusing Hobby have split the wings and fuselage laterally as far back as the jet exhausts, with a conventional vertically split rear fuselage and tail. The joint is on a panel line and should blend in well enough if you're careful. Similarly, the seam each side of the nose closes up tightly in a dry assembly.

The new swept horizontal tailplanes slot in without any hassle, completing the simple 6-part airframe.

Inside the fuselage there are a number of frames to add to support the intake ducts and engines. These will be visible in the main wheel well, so it's good that they fit very precisely. Overall, this promises to be a very straightforward build OOB.

A Few Details

The cockpit is logically based on a standard Me 262 single-seater and it is pretty basic with just 6 parts to fit into the tub - but it does the job. The instrument panel bezels are a bit clunky, but look to be the correct style, and a nice touch is the inclusion of instrument backs on the reverse so you can dress things up with some wiring. Sadly, the decals don't include instrument faces. There's no seat harness provided, so I'd definitely add one as a bare minimum - but you could really go to town with one of the many Me 262 cockpit upgrade sets, and it would be a valid "best guess" as to how the full-sized HG III's "office" could have been fitted out.

The engines are also pretty rudimentary, but the basic shapes seem to match shots of preserved HeS 011As. You could add a lot of wiring and piping, and this would be worth it because the trunks of the engines are exposed in the main wheel well. Up front there are just simple fans and no spinners, so these are something you might want to add - but, with the engines buried so far back, not a lot of what you do there will be visible.

What is visible, though, is the main wheel well - and this is very bare. As noted above, the frames holding the intake trunking and engines fit perfectly, but there's masses of scope to add structural details, control runs and items of equipment to the walls and the underside of the cockpit tub.

The undercarriage itself is sturdy and should look reasonable if you add some brake cables. The nosewheel is pretty much standard for a Me 262, but the main gear has been redesigned to retract forward and inboard of the engines. That seems logical enough, so full marks to kit's designers for coming up with something that looks workable.

Oddly, considering so much of the kit has been carried over from standard Me 262, the mainwheels have been redesigned with completely different hubs. Maybe they would have been - this is "Luft '46 after all - but it's very tempting to substitute a set of aftermarket standard Me 262 wheels. 

All the tyres are unweighted, plus the gear leg oleos appear to be fully extended, so the kit will have a pronounced "standing on tip-toe" look straight from the box. I'll definitely tinker with that when I build it.

The gear doors are fairly thin and have detail on their inner faces - but you'll also spot a few light pin marks in the photos that it will be worth removing.

Here are a few shots of the Me 262 at the RAF Museum from my time volunteering there to give an idea of what you could add in the wheel well - purely conjectural for the HG III, but a reasonable enough starting point.

The clear parts are good quality, but it's disappointing that Amusing Hobby didn't give the option for to open the canopy. It's tempting to reach for an ultra-fine razor saw and slice the canopy open -especially if you add more detail to the cockpit. What is a nice touch, though, is that the windscreen is moulded integrally with a section of the fuselage, making it easier to get a seamless fit.

Instructions & Decals

Amusing Hobby provide a colour-printed booklet for the assembly guide. The illustrations are clear and, with so few parts in the kit, there's not too much scope to go wrong. Experienced modellers will probably ignore the suggested construction sequence, though, because it leaves the nosewheel just begging to be snapped off from almost the word "go".

Although Amusing Hobby include matches for MIG Ammo paints for the exterior painting, no colours are suggested for interior details. This won't worry experienced Luftwaffe modellers, but it's certainly an oversight for anyone new to the hobby.

The exterior painting guide is something of a proverbial curate's egg; it has nice quality colour illustrations, but it completely ignores the undersides of each scheme. The assumption is that it's RLM 76 - but late-war Luftwaffe fighters often featured partly n/m undersides, so there's scope to have much more fun.

As for the decals - they echo the half-thought-out painting guide - because there seem to be enough items for four schemes on the sheet, but only two are covered in the painting guide. The decals themselves are decent quality, very flat finished, but with good register. Swastikas are included in split form in three different styles. The colours on the look overly bright - the yellow especially - but they may dull down when applied. Overall, though, I expect most Luftwaffe modellers with a stash of spare or aftermarket decals will ignore Amusing Hobby's offerings.

Conclusion

I've been critical of Amusing Hobby's kit in many ways - but I actually really like it! As I noted at the start, this is a subject which would have traditionally only been available as a short-run kit. That would have been expensive and, almost undoubtedly, entailed a lot of scratch building to bring it up to spec, so I'm prepared to make allowances for Amusing Hobby's model, which provides a much easier and more affordable way to build the Me 262 HG III.

It's certainly a bit basic in places, but it promises to build well into a really attractive model and, as much as I understand why purists may decry "Luft '46", I think it does deserve a place in any collection of 1:48 Me 262s to show where its designers were heading.

Kit #48A00s is available now worldwide. I bought my kit from Jadlam Toys & Models for £29.95, which I consider a very fair price for a decent quality model of an obscure subject.

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