Model building
Messerschmitt Me-262
Schwalbe
www.e-rokodelnica.si
Model building | Messerschmitt Me-262
| www.e-rokodelnica.si |
This page describes a model of ME-262 made of plywood. The airplane model is designed to learn sawing with a fretsaw and other skills. Since it is not difficult to make, it is suitable for beginners. The model airplane is not a flying one, but it can be used as a toy, because it has seat for pilot. Because of small parts, it (as a toy) is not suitable for children under three years.
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It is not allowed to use this document or part of it for commercial purposes. The exception is teachers who may use it at their own classes.
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We cut parts of the aircraft out of 4 mm thick plywood first. We find patterns of the parts in a file that is pointed at by a link in figure 1. We print the drawing and transfer the patterns to the plywood. A procedure is described in greater detail in the page Transferring Shapes of Parts to Plywood.
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Figure 1: Parts of the Aircraft
In the drawings, each pattern is drawn only once. It is written in brackets, how many parts of each pattern we need to cut out. We need two engines 8, two cockpit sides 3...
We cut all parts out of plywood as precisely as possible. We can find some tips to help us sawing in the page Using of a Fretsaw. After that, we sand the parts to remove cutting marks.
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When we have all the parts, we start to glue. On the wing 1, we assemble the cockpit, which consists of parts 2, 3 and 4. Now, we wait for glue to harden.
Figure 2: Assembling of the aircraft, step 1
A vertical stabilizer 7 is inserted into a slot in a tail 6. The completed tail is affixed on the wing. We glue also the nose 5 of the aircraft.
Figure 3: Assembling of the aircraft, step 2
We affix the main gears 9 together with engines 8.
Figure 4: Assembling of the aircraft, step 3
Assembly is now complete. To finalize the aircraft, we sand and paint it.
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The Me-262 was a jet fighter of Nazi Germany. The first drawings of the airplane were made already in 1939. But the development was progressing slowly, because the project was not important and because of problems with jet engines. Additionally, Hitler didn't understand the role of Me-262 as interceptor aircraft. Thus, this plane became operational in 1944 and it couldn't influence the outcome of World War II anymore. However, the ME-262 impacted the development of military aircraft after World War II.
The maximum speed of the aircraft was 900 km/h and its service ceiling was 11 km. The wingspan was 12 m and it was 10 m long.
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