{"product_id":"special-hobby-72025-messerschmitt-me-264-amerika-bomber-1-72-plastic-model-aircraft-kit","title":"Special Hobby 72025 Messerschmitt Me 264 Amerika Bomber 1:72 Plastic model aircraft kit","description":"\u003cp\u003eManufacturer: Special Hobby\n\u003cbr\u003eKit number: 72025 \/ SPH72025\n\u003cbr\u003eAircraft: Messerschmitt Me 264\n\u003cbr\u003eScale: 1:72\n\u003cbr\u003eBarcode \/ EAN: 8595019310513\n\u003cbr\u003eKit type: Short-run injection-moulded plastic with resin and vacuformed clear parts\n\u003cbr\u003eCountry of manufacture: Czech Republic\n\u003cbr\u003eCatalogue date: 2006\n\u003cbr\u003eStatus: Discontinued\n\u003cbr\u003eManufacturer and kit background\u003c\/p\u003e\n\n\u003cp\u003eSpecial Hobby is a Czech manufacturer particularly known for short-run kits covering unusual aircraft and prototypes. The Me 264 is a good example of the company's earlier approach: relatively limited production tooling combined with resin detail parts and a vacuformed canopy.\n\u003cbr\u003eKit contents and details\u003c\/p\u003e\n\n\u003cp\u003eThis is a considerably more substantial project than the small WWI kits you've been listing.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\n\u003cp\u003eThe kit contains:\u003c\/p\u003e\n\n\u003cp\u003e    Short-run injection-moulded plastic parts\u003c\/p\u003e\n\n\u003cp\u003e    Fuselage halves\u003c\/p\u003e\n\n\u003cp\u003e    Large wing assemblies\u003c\/p\u003e\n\n\u003cp\u003e    Four engine nacelles\u003c\/p\u003e\n\n\u003cp\u003e    Four engines\u003c\/p\u003e\n\n\u003cp\u003e    Tailplanes and twin fins\u003c\/p\u003e\n\n\u003cp\u003e    Main landing gear\u003c\/p\u003e\n\n\u003cp\u003e    Nose gear\u003c\/p\u003e\n\n\u003cp\u003e    Cockpit components\u003c\/p\u003e\n\n\u003cp\u003e    Crew stations\u003c\/p\u003e\n\n\u003cp\u003e    Bomb-bay\/interior components\u003c\/p\u003e\n\n\u003cp\u003e    Resin detail parts\u003c\/p\u003e\n\n\u003cp\u003e    Vacuformed canopy\u003c\/p\u003e\n\n\u003cp\u003e    Propellers\u003c\/p\u003e\n\n\u003cp\u003e    Undercarriage doors\u003c\/p\u003e\n\n\u003cp\u003e    External fittings\u003c\/p\u003e\n\n\u003cp\u003e    Decals\u003c\/p\u003e\n\n\u003cp\u003e    Assembly instructions\u003c\/p\u003e\n\n\u003cp\u003eThe vacuformed canopy is an important characteristic of this early Special Hobby release. It gives a thinner, more scale-like transparency than a thick injection-moulded part, but it requires more care to cut and fit.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\n\u003cp\u003eThe resin components are used to improve smaller details that would have been difficult to reproduce economically in the short-run plastic tooling.\n\u003cbr\u003eFour-engine layout\u003c\/p\u003e\n\n\u003cp\u003eThe finished model is substantially larger than most 1:72 aircraft you've been cataloguing.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\n\u003cp\u003eThe Me 264 had:\u003c\/p\u003e\n\n\u003cp\u003e    Four engines\u003c\/p\u003e\n\n\u003cp\u003e    Very long wings\u003c\/p\u003e\n\n\u003cp\u003e    A large internal fuselage\u003c\/p\u003e\n\n\u003cp\u003e    Twin tail\u003c\/p\u003e\n\n\u003cp\u003e    Tricycle landing gear\u003c\/p\u003e\n\n\u003cp\u003eConsequently, this is a large 1:72 model, rather than a small shelf model. The long wings and four nacelles make careful alignment particularly important during construction.\n\u003cbr\u003eModelling considerations\u003c\/p\u003e\n\n\u003cp\u003eThe kit's age and short-run origins mean it should be approached differently from a modern mainstream kit.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\n\u003cp\u003eA modeller should expect:\u003c\/p\u003e\n\n\u003cp\u003e    More test-fitting\u003c\/p\u003e\n\n\u003cp\u003e    Some sanding and adjustment\u003c\/p\u003e\n\n\u003cp\u003e    Less positive locating detail\u003c\/p\u003e\n\n\u003cp\u003e    Careful work around the resin\u003c\/p\u003e\n\n\u003cp\u003e    Careful cutting of the vacuformed canopy\u003c\/p\u003e\n\n\u003cp\u003e    More attention to alignment of the four engines\u003c\/p\u003e\n\n\u003cp\u003eThe four nacelles are especially important. Small alignment errors can become very obvious when all four engines and propellers are viewed from the front.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\n\u003cp\u003eFor a second-hand kit, the canopy and resin parts are the items I would check first. Missing ordinary plastic parts are difficult enough, but replacing the original vac canopy or resin components can be substantially harder.\n\u003cbr\u003eThe full-size Messerschmitt Me 264\u003c\/p\u003e\n\n\u003cp\u003eThe Messerschmitt Me 264 was a German long-range bomber prototype developed during WWII with the ambitious goal of being capable of reaching North America and returning to Europe.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\n\u003cp\u003eIt originated from a German requirement for an extremely long-range aircraft. Messerschmitt responded with a completely new design rather than simply modifying an existing bomber.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\n\u003cp\u003eThe resulting aircraft had a very clean aerodynamic layout, a high-mounted wing, four engines and a twin tail.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\n\u003cp\u003eThe project became associated with the term “Amerikabomber”, although it was never developed into a successful operational strategic bomber.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\n\u003cp\u003eThe first prototype flew in December 1942.\n\u003cbr\u003eDevelopment and service history\u003c\/p\u003e\n\n\u003cp\u003eThe first Me 264 prototype was primarily an aerodynamic and flight-development machine.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\n\u003cp\u003eFor its initial flights it used Junkers Jumo 211 engines and nacelles associated with the Ju 88, rather than the definitive powerplant arrangement originally intended.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\n\u003cp\u003eThe design was notable for its exceptionally long range, achieved partly through its very large fuel capacity and relatively clean aerodynamic form.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\n\u003cp\u003eHowever, the project faced major problems:\u003c\/p\u003e\n\n\u003cp\u003e    Engine availability\u003c\/p\u003e\n\n\u003cp\u003e    Structural development\u003c\/p\u003e\n\n\u003cp\u003e    Competition from other long-range aircraft projects\u003c\/p\u003e\n\n\u003cp\u003e    Changing German wartime priorities\u003c\/p\u003e\n\n\u003cp\u003e    Increasing Allied bombing of German industry\u003c\/p\u003e\n\n\u003cp\u003eOnly a small number of prototypes were completed.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\n\u003cp\u003eThe Me 264 never became an operational bomber and the project was eventually abandoned.\n\u003cbr\u003eAircraft specifications\u003c\/p\u003e\n\n\u003cp\u003eFigures vary according to prototype and intended configuration, but the Me 264 was approximately:\u003c\/p\u003e\n\n\u003cp\u003e    Crew: around 6–8 depending on configuration\u003c\/p\u003e\n\n\u003cp\u003e    Engines: 4 × piston engines\u003c\/p\u003e\n\n\u003cp\u003e    Role: strategic\/long-range bomber\u003c\/p\u003e\n\n\u003cp\u003e    Configuration: four-engine high-wing monoplane\u003c\/p\u003e\n\n\u003cp\u003e    Tail: twin-fin\u003c\/p\u003e\n\n\u003cp\u003e    Landing gear: retractable tricycle\u003c\/p\u003e\n\n\u003cp\u003e    Intended range: approximately 15,000 km class in the ultimate long-range concept\u003c\/p\u003e\n\n\u003cp\u003eIts very long wings were central to the design's ability to achieve the required range.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\n\u003cp\u003eThe aircraft was roughly 21.3 m long, with a wingspan of approximately 43 m.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\n\u003cp\u003eAt 1:72 scale, that produces a model approximately:\u003c\/p\u003e\n\n\u003cp\u003e    Length: 29.6 cm\u003c\/p\u003e\n\n\u003cp\u003e    Wingspan: 59.7 cm\u003c\/p\u003e\n\n\u003cp\u003eSo this is a very large 1:72 aircraft model. Display space is worth considering before starting the build.\n\u003cbr\u003eHistorical significance\u003c\/p\u003e\n\n\u003cp\u003eThe Me 264 is interesting less because of its combat record—it never had one—and more because it illustrates the extraordinary range of aircraft concepts being investigated by Germany during WWII.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\n\u003cp\u003eIts proposed mission against targets in North America was technically ambitious. However, by the time the prototype programme was mature, Germany lacked the resources and strategic circumstances necessary to turn the design into an operational weapon.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\n\u003cp\u003eThe Me 264 therefore remained an experimental aircraft and ultimately a prototype of a strategic bomber that never reached production.\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"Special Hobby","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":57509849596284,"sku":"Specialhobby-72025","price":44.99,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0432\/8584\/0033\/files\/5623350B-16D3-44E6-861D-3C206C60D4F2.jpg?v=1790575263","url":"https:\/\/sussex-model-centre.co.uk\/products\/special-hobby-72025-messerschmitt-me-264-amerika-bomber-1-72-plastic-model-aircraft-kit","provider":"Sussex Model Centre","version":"1.0","type":"link"}