Me 262 Collection

AIMS Decals, 1/32, 1/48 & 1/72 scales

Reviewed by Brad Fallen

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These three near identical releases from AIMS Decals live up to their title, providing a diverse variety of Messerschmitt Me 262 markings in 1/32, 1/48 and 1/72 scales.

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The 1/32 sheet features the following seven aircraft:

• Me 262 A-1a/U2, V056/W.Nr.170056, night fighter prototype equipped with FuG 218 Neptune VI radar, tested at Lagerlechfeld, Bavaria, Germany, winter 1944-45.  This well known Me 262 was used extensively as a test bed, and underwent a number of configuration changes during its service (for example, its vertical tail surfaces were modified several times).  V056 is represented here as finished in RLM 74 Grey Green and RLM 75 Grey Violet over RLM 76 Light Blue, with RLM 22 Black tail surfaces and rear fuselage.  The black areas were covered in several hundred woollen tufts to test wind flow effects.  These colour call outs seem reasonable, but are not universally agreed, so if you intend to model this aircraft it’s worth conducting some further research.

• Me 262 A-1a, ‘Black 4’/W.Nr. unknown, derelict at Prague-Ruzyne airfield, 1945.  ‘Black 4’ is another well known and colourful Me 262, with its white nose and RLM 23 Red and RLM 24 Blue rear fuselage band.  The instructions suggest the overall camouflage as RLM 82 Green and RLM 83 Dark Green over RLM 76, but other sources indicate this might have been RLM 81 Brown Violet and RLM 82 over RLM 76, so check your references.

• Me 262 A-1a, ‘White 22’/W.Nr.1117 of JG 44, derelict at Salzburg, Austria, 1945.  Suggested camouflage for this aircraft is overall RLM 83 over RLM 76.

• Me 262 A-1a, B3+BC/possibly W.Nr.111571, flown by Oberfeldwebel Freidrich Gentsch of Stab 7./KG (J) 54, based at Neuberg/Donau, March 1945.  No colour call-outs are provided for B3+BC, but the profiles on the instruction sheet appear to be 81/82/76, an interpretation that is reinforced by other sources.  Adding further colour are the diagonal RLM 04 Yellow fuselage stripe and RLM 25 Green code letters.

• Me 262 A-1a/U3 or Me 262 A-5, ‘White 33’/possibly W.Nr.500539, possibly of 2./NAGr.6, Lagerlechfeld, May 1945.  ‘White 33’ was camouflaged in the 83/76 ‘squiggle’ finish common to many reconnaissance-equipped Me 262s.

• Me 262 B-2, B3+SH/W.Nr.170075 of 1./KG (J) 54, Geibelstadt, Bavaria, Germany, autumn 1944.  Finished with a dramatic lightning bolt on both sides of the forward fuselage, B3+SH was probably painted in 82/83 over 76 – but once again, check your references.

• Me 262 B-1a/U1, ‘Red 8’/W.Nr.110305 of 10./NJG 11, Magdeburg, Germany, April 1945.  One of the only two surviving B-1a airframes and arguably one of the most famous Me 262s of all, ‘Red 8’ resides at the National Museum of Military History in Johannesburg, South Africa.  AIMS’ colour suggestions for this aircraft are RLM 22 undersurfaces and engine nacelles, RLM 02 Grey fuselage and vertical tail surfaces with heavy 74/83 mottling, and solid RLM 83 wings and horizontal tailplanes.  There are however a range of views on the camouflage finish of ‘Red 8’ – for example, in his first Airframe and Miniature book on the Me 262, Richard A. Franks suggests RLM 76 upper surfaces, lightly oversprayed with RLM 02 and then mottled with 81/82, and solid RLM 82 wings and tailplanes.  If you are thinking of modeling ‘Red 8’, I’d recommend you conduct further research and come to your own conclusions.

The 1/48 and 1/72 sheets contain the same aircraft as the 1/32 sheet, with one addition:

• Me 262 A-1a or A-2a, 9K+BH/W.Nr.170096 of 1./KG (J) 51, Rheine, Germany, late 1944.  9K+BH is suggested as having been finished in 82/83 upper surfaces (with the RLM 83 applied as blotches) over RLM 76. 

In all three releases, the decals are supplied on a single sheet.  Printing is by Fantasy Printshop and looks very good, with no apparent quality control problems.  Sufficient national markings are provided for modelers to complete most, but not all, of the featured aircraft – if you are going to be this ambitious, you will need to find some additional crosses and swastikas in your decal stash.

Also included on the 1/32 sheet are numerous, tiny instrument codes to dress up the rear cockpits of B3+SH and ‘Red 8’, suitably differentiated between the trainer and night fighter versions; a full placement guide is provided.  These decals are a thoughtful addition and will add further authenticity to the rear cockpit of your 1/32 Trumpeter Me 262 B-1a model.  The extra decals are not provided in the 1/48 and 1/72 releases, probably because in these scales they would be very small and therefore difficult to effectively use or see.

The instructions are comprehensive and include full colour port or starboard profiles of each subject, backed up by a detailed written description that points out key features and (in most cases) provides suggestions for further reading.  Unfortunately no overhead views are supplied, presumably to reduce costs, so you will need to conduct your own research in this area. 

Also included are a stencil placement guide and seven RLM colour chips, which should come in handy when you are deciding what paint colours to use.

These decal releases from AIMS nicely capture the diversity of camouflage and markings applied to Me 262s during the Third Reich’s final chaotic months.  This interesting range of subjects, and the fact that the sets have been produced in all three major scales, makes them easy for me to recommend highly to all Luftwaffe modelers.

Reference

Richard A. Franks, Airframe and Miniature No. 1:  A Guide to the Luftwaffe’s First Jet Fighter (Valiant Wings Publishing, 2010).

Thanks to AIMS for the samples

AIMS' decals, kits and accessories are available online from AIMS website

Text and Images Copyright © 2013 by Brad Fallen
This Page Created on 30 August, 2013
Last updated 30 August, 2013

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