My Airfix kits, No 1 Messerschmitt Me 262 Swallow

 
When I was a kid, between the ages of 11 and  14, I made a huge number of Airfix kits, which I also hand-painted. It was a kind of competition between myself and a pal who was very good at it. (He had WW1 biplanes and triplanes suspended from his bedroom ceiling.) I improved as I went along. This was one of my later attempts. I painted the canopy using a pin. It’s still a bit wonky. I rescued some of these things from an auction hall in Helensburgh in 1968. (See my short story, ‘The Auction Hall.') I liked the shape of this plane, knowing nothing of it’s history. It was the world’s first operational jet-powered fighter bomber, capable of 540 mph. The design influenced both that of the US Sabre and the Soviet MIG.