Luftwaffe Messerschmitt Me-247 bomber, February 1945

[nönöbär]

Messerschmitt Me 247 Bomber

The Me 264 Bomber:

In WW2, the German Luftwaffe did not had a real heavy, long-range bomber. In 1941, Messerschmitt started the development of the Me 264, the "Amerikabomber", a long ranger bomber that should have been able to attack the American East coast with a bomb load of 3000kg. Two prototype of the Me 264 were build, the first flight was in December 1942. While the test flights with the Me 264 showed several problems, the plane did not had the requested performance as the desired engines were not available yet. Testflights also showed that the plame would not had the range to make a round trip from the French coast to the USA and back, therefore themain focus shifted to a long range maritime reconnaissance aircraft.

Both prototypes were badly during an air raid in July 1944. It was said that a third incomplete prototype was also destroyed during this attack. The project was officially canceled in September 1944.

Development of the Me 247 Bomber:

After the first test flights, it got obvious that the Me 264 did not reach the required performances, so while the Me 264 was still under evaluation, an enlarged and modified version was developed in mid 1943.
Officially called the Me 264 V3 - the third prototype of the Me 264 - the new plane was internally designated as the Me 247. Enlarged, with a bigger fuel load, the latest aerodynamical wing research results lead to a swept wing design. The new plane was powered a a mixture of engines - for cruise speed, it was equipped with two Junkers 109-022 turboprops plus four Junkers 109-012 jet engines for combat speed. Additional build in rockets were used for take-off support.

Armed with eight 20mm cannons in remotely controlled turrets and two 3,7 mm cannons in the rear of the plane, the Me 247 had a crew of 7, Pilot, Bombardier, Radio-Operator, Navigator and 3 gunners.  The plane was projected to carry a 3 ton payload over 12000 km or 6 ton over 4500 km.

Construction of the Me 247 prototype was done under complete secret and while the "Me 264-V3" was officially destroyed during the air raid in July 1944, the almost complete aircraft survived and was completed by February 1945. After its roll-out on 02.02.1945 it made its first flight only 5 days later, however problems with the engines only allowed a short 20 minute maiden flight.

When American troops captured the Messerschmitt factory in Augsburg only a few weeks later, the Me 247 was immediately labeled as top-secret. The aircraft was disassembled and transported to the USA.  There, Boeing was working on the Model 424, a jet-engined modification of the B-29 bomber. Based on the remains of the Me-247, Boeing revised the design which then lead to the B-47 bomber. 


The model shows the Me-247 during its roll-out on 02.02.1944 in Augsburg.
 





The Me 247 together with the Me 264 V1



The Model:
The model was build using two kits, a 1:144 Acedemy B-47 and a Minicraft B-29 of the same scale. The idea was to take the hull and wings of the B-47 and add the cockpit of the B-29 to it to give it a more "classic" bomber style. Both aircraft have about the same diameter of the hull ,therefore the cockpit fits quite good to the hull. However, the hull had to be made a bit longer, to give the plane some better looking proportions.

The position of the twin and single engines were swapped as I wanted to made some turboprops from the single engines. Additionally the landing gear had to be modified a bit, otherwise, the props would cut into the ground. The bombs under the wings were from the spare parts box. 

The aircraft was air brushed with Revell Aqua color, with a standard German bomber camo, decals are made by Paddinghaus.

[PR19_Kit]

Brilliant piece of work there.   

That Me 264 looks good too, which kit, or kits, is that built from?

[nönöbär]

Brilliant piece of work there.   

That Me 264 looks good too, which kit, or kits, is that built from?

Thanks!
The Me264 is nto a kit, its a ready made model either by Atlas / Altaya / IXO (don't know which one, don't have the box anymore), but as it is also in 1:144, it fits quite good to the Me-247

[zenrat]

Nice floor.

Planes are great as well.  I think I prefer the 264 V1 over the 247 but that's just me.  Both excellent Whiffs.

[dumaniac]

yes I like both of those

where is your courage - I thought you might have tried it in 48 scale

[TomZ]

Wow, Looks Great!

TomZ

[sandiego89]

Nice bash- well done

[Captain Canada]

Wow ! Did that ever turn out awesome ! She's a pure beast next to that 264 ! Great job. Just imagine the fear when the Allies get wind of this !

[NARSES2]

Great work 

[PALG]

I love Luft '46 whifs with 2+ engines and big wings - that is am awesome result there.

One of the most pleasing  Luft '46 I have seen.

[Father Ennis]

A truly outstanding idea and a perfect execution !!!   A very beautiful aircraft.

[Tophe]

Wow! Frightening!