Me262 with Mk112 55mm cannon, New HobbyBoss '262A1a/U4 modified

[sagallacci]

A real paper project that would have fitted Me262s with the Mk112 auto-cannon, in effect, a scaled up Mk108 from 30mm to 55mm. Presumably it would have been an alternate fitting for the '262A-1a/U4, which had a long barrel Mk114 50mm auto-cannon. The new 1/48 Hobby Boss kit was on hand to do the deed to.

[Jeffry Fontaine]

The weapon certainly fills up the gun bay. 

[sagallacci]

The Mk112 seems to be a little bit bulkier than the Mk114, but weighs about half as much. It's desireability is in the faster cycle rate, 300 rounds per minute versus 120. On the other hand, the '114 has a better range, meaning it can be used as a stand-off weapon against Allied bomber formations.

[Jeffry Fontaine]

How much space was left for a useful load of ammunition in that thing? 

[jcf]

How much space was left for a useful load of ammunition in that thing? 

Not much.

MK 112 Maschinen Kanone 
Source main page: Deutsche Luftwaffe.de




***fixed link***jjf

[Flyboy69]

Looking good,

I love the 262.

Arnold

[kitnut617]

Big guns in aircraft have always fascinated me but after reading a book called 'I flew for the Fuhrer' by Heinz Knoke, I wonder if they were a bit slow with the firing rate back then.  Knoke describes that even with four 30mm's an aircraft as big as a B-17 or B-24 wouldn't get hit because the shells would go over or under them as the bombers tried to avoid the attack.  What was the firing rate of this monster?

[sagallacci]

The rate listed in the Smith and Creek book is 300 rounds per minute, even slower than the Mk108(500-600 rpm), and the ballistics wouldn't be much better. But the mine shells would be so much larger that even one reasonable hit would be enough to do massive damage.
And a bomber box didn't do evasive maneuvers, misses were more likely due to the lousey ballistics of the rounds combined with the fast closing speed and evasives on the part of the attacking fighter. Faced with a dozen or so .50 BMGs , I'd be jinking as hard as my mount would allow, and just hope that my spray of cannon fire might hit something.
The build also has R4M rockets, very nice ones taken from the Tamyia Me262 kit.
And in regards to the kit, the Hobby Boss kit went together pretty well, the older Trimaster kit was a nasty bit of work to get built, with poor part fit especially on the engines, engine to wing fit and wing to fuselage fit. The Trimaster Mk114 gun was nicer, but the modified fuselage was less accurate.

[kitnut617]

Yes I have to agree with you, one hit would do the job for sure.  In Knoke's book he describes the bombers moving around in their boxes, they had to follow a certain course but they were constantly moving up and down and side to side so that fkak couldn't get an exact range on them.  This was compounded by the very fast closing rate the 262's had on the bomber stream and apparently most of the 30mm's fired missed the target.

I've got a Revell (I think) kit of the 262 with the 50mm gun, I've got some decals of the one that was captured too, USAAF markings IIRC, could be RAF though.  I'll have to have a look for them.

[sagallacci]

Here are some new in-progress snaps.

[sagallacci]

And

[sagallacci]

If the kit is the old Revell 1/32 kit, it is awfully gnarlly, probably the crudest/least accurate of their line of 1/32 kits. The one captured machine only appeared in USAAF markings, but there is nothing to prevent a whiffy finish. There have been several 1/72 kits and/or conversions, one based on the new Revell kit ought to be pretty good.
Sounds like excuses, re the pilot's accounts. A bomber in a strike formation can't do any kind of meaningful maneuver versus fighters, we're talking only a few seconds worth of engagement time, and co-ordination of a batch of bombers has to be ponderously careful as they didn't wander around as individuals.  Shifting of a formation to avoid flak was a rather slow-motion effort compared to air-to-air combat.

[matrixone]

Great looking Me 262! I like these type of what-ifs.

When I can I will get one of those HobbyBoss kits.

Matrixone

[kitnut617]

If the kit is the old Revell 1/32 kit, it is awfully gnarlly, probably the crudest/least accurate of their line of 1/32 kits. The one captured machine only appeared in USAAF markings, but there is nothing to prevent a whiffy finish. There have been several 1/72 kits and/or conversions, one based on the new Revell kit ought to be pretty good.

It's a 1/72 scale kit, I'm fairly certain it's a RoG one.  I found my decal sheet of markings for captured 262's, it's Ventura sheet V7263 and it covers five USAAF ones and an RAF one.  The five USAAF ones actually cover three aircraft, the one with the 50mm has two options as does a recon bird.

[sagallacci]

The 1/48 Hobby Boss kit is brand new, I got the first one to show up at my local shop last week. It only has the long barrel 50mm Mk114 and markings for V083 and "Wilma Jeanne", but only the name and no USAAF markings to go with it, perhaps mistaking the name for a German applied detail(?)
As previously mentioned, it is a pretty nice scale down of the 1/32 Trumpeter kit, with the addition of the big gun, and an awful lot nicer a build than the old Trimaster kit.