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Herbert Altner s Me-262 B-1a/U1 Red 12


dutik

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My hat is in the ring :thumbsup:

 

I have started Trumpeters NF Me-262 kit this week and want to build it as Herbert Altners mount at 10./NJG-11. Factory number was 111 980, tactical marking the red 12. Informations about the camouflage are somewhat so-so. The upper hull was painted with the common RLM 76 and blotches, the lower sides were black (photo-proof). But "as usual" there are no images of the upper wing and tail surfaces (the exception of the rule is Red 10, which was portrayed with landing flaps down). Ospreys "German jet aircraft aces" claims for RLM 82, but the Osprey Luftwaffe books are not a real good source regarding verified facts. At least some of the line. But that is all we know (there was a LSP discussion about the Me nigthfighters at the beginning of 2008). So my choice will be RLM 82. Xtraacryl, to be correct :speak_cool: And Braunviolett, whatever the RLM number was - 81 or 83, standard Messerschmitt wing camouflage.

An information from the pilot is the fact that they flew their missions from Burg (that is a small town near Magdeburg, my hometown and home of the Krupp-Gruson factory too, and a "Flak-city" still remembered by Col. Robin olds in his memories) without drop tanks. The runway at Burg was short, the NF-equipped doubleseater heavy, and Berlin nearby. You can read the story of his flights and fights with Red 12 here: http://www.fliegergemeinschaft.de/informat...eid=N&ID=22 and elsewhere in English too.

 

To cut down AMS I will use only the content of the kit, MasterCasters resin wheels and Schattons antenna dipoles. Schatton products must be seen to be believed. They have even small noses to stop the dipoles at the proper center position when inserting them into the mount. Foolproof!

There is only one major problem: no aftermarket decals for Red 12. Even generic numbers are hard to get. I have ordered a sheet from Peddinghaus, but I am not sure, if the red numbers have an option for the white outline.

 

For images you have to wait until next week. Will have all hatches closed to speed up building. At the moment I have the cockpit primed (black) and ready for painting. Also made some necessary innards of the hull. And I made a mistake, that turned into a benefit: I cut off the "pegs" of C-27 (a rod inside the UC bay) as sprue gates, but in fact these are part of the part. When looking at some images to find a fix I noted that the original part is the pushrod for the ailerons, and the "pegs" are small connecting levers. So I've added a second, missing pushrod and proper levers too instead of that "pegs" :thumbsup: Just want to add some wiring and plumbing inside the UC bay, but only to a small extend. Another fix will be some rescribing to add a few missing hatches, footsteps and so on. But overall these are very few corrections and additions for a kit of that size. Nice job, Trumpeter!

 

See you next week!

- dutik

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dutik,

 

Hasegawa's old Me 262 B kit:

 

Messerschmitt Me 262B-1a/U1; 1/32 scale; manufactured by Hasegawa [Japan] — product no. CH005; MEDIUM/MEDIA: injected, decal, rubber; MARKINGS: Messerschmitt

Me262B-1a/U1’s “Red 8” and “Red 12” of 10./NJG 11; COMMENT: “Collectors’ Hi-Grade” series (No. 5)

 

contains markings for "Red 12." I could send you a high-res scan of those decals if you wish.

 

Charles Metz

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Thank you very much! LSP forum is a nice place to be.

I will wait for the Peddinghaus decals. If they are not suitable I will order the bad omen sheet.

 

Run into another snag. Glued the wing as per instructions and tried to mate it with the fuselage. Heck, there is no way without the use of brute force. Just to many solid protrusions of fuselage and wing in the way. But I was lucky again: Had only glued one wing half (taped the other), but it was difficult enough to stick the fuselage on and to get it off...:popcorn: Skip the instructions here. Add the lower wing first to the fuselage, and than the upper wings, or you will face some serious fit problems.

 

Regards - dutik

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An information from the pilot is the fact that they flew their missions from Burg (that is a small town near Magdeburg, my hometown and home of the Krupp-Gruson factory too, and a "Flak-city" still remembered by Col. Robin olds in his memories) without drop tanks. The runway at Burg was short, the NF-equipped doubleseater heavy, and Berlin nearby. You can read the story of his flights and fights with Red 12 here: http://www.fliegergemeinschaft.de/informat...eid=N&ID=22 and elsewhere in English too.

Here's that page in English, thanks to Google Translate.

 

Charles Metz

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Any progress pics on this yet dutlk?! :speak_cool: I love this AC, and looking forward to seeing how you build it up. I did 'red 12' in the 10th Anniversary GB, but alas didn't show any pics of it 100% complete.(only about 95% :P ) I did mine in the green top wing,...but think the brown color you're doing would be cool looking too.(and probably correct? :m0152: ) I believe I might have a couple of pics of this AC if would help? I never showed the final squiggle of brown over my gray on the fuse. Don't know if that was correct, but it sure looked neat.

I ended up having to make my own decals for the '12' on the fuse. Looking at the pics of the real aircraft, it sure is difficult to actually tell what colors it is. Hope you get a chance to show some progress on the model,....I sure would like to see where you're going with it! Later, Russ

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From the front:

 

post-7459-1264066403.jpg

 

Oh, well, the scratch on the seat cushion was irl a lost brush hair. That kind of modelling accident I really, really hate! :speak_cool: It's nearly impossible after removing a ahir to restore a painted surface to status ante without a complete new paintjob. I've manged to turn this into a somewhat used and worn looking cushion without too much work. Whoo! Lucky shot! :m0152:

 

As for the paintjob:

Black primer (Citadel/Games Workshop rattle can)

Tamiya XF-24 German grey

oil paints, mostly "warm grey" (in fact some sort of greyish mustard color), "green umber" for the detail washes (its a very black pit, so black or brown washes would not work that good) and "translucent redbrown" for the seatpads. After this I highlighted every edge with a silver pencil, and also added some chips an metallic effects here and there. I have opted for the bright silver pencil instead of the darker graphite also just because the cockpit is that kind of black hole.

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Overwiev of what is in progress. I will keep the hatches closed, so no need to go overbord with superdetailling here. Want only to add some dothats at the UC bay (watch for that white rods on top of the spar) and some piping too.

post-7459-1264066962.jpg

 

One more snag lurking in the waters:

- Got the Peddinghaus decals. Not bad, but no choice of white outline here. Also checked the Bad Omen decals. Guess what? No option for white oulines with the red numbers. Hmm, thats a problem. Have to ask a fellow modeller (who has build all Me-262 subtypes in large scale except the prototype and the glass nose) if he has suitable surplus numbers.

Some needed minor refinements:

- The rudder needs an enlarged trim tab. Trumpy missed this. Easy fix with some styrene.

- The cockpit is lacking a step for the rear seater.

- There is a missing fuel hatch at the right fuselage site.

- The loop antenna should sit flush at the spine, so that little socket will be carved off.

 

As for the wings color:

Hmm, there are no photos available beside for red 10 an the one in South Africa. But 262 without splinter camo (or a substitute pattern) were really rare birds. Hey, thats the Luftwaffe, they followed the regulations up to the end (as well as the Fuehrer). So I will make an educated guess and go for the official Messerschmitt Me-262 splinter camo pattern, which for I have printed templates :speak_cool:

 

Regards! - dutik

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Also checked the Bad Omen decals. Guess what? No option for white oulines with the red numbers. Hmm, thats a problem.

dutik,

 

As I understand the Bad Omen web page, you could obtain white-outlined red numerals by combining the first and third sheets shown there, because the lower set of numerals on each sheet is slightly larger and "fatter" than the middle set, thereby providing the outline if applied first. Even though you'd need to buy a pair of sheets, the US$15.00 total is still very reasonable, in my opinion.

 

Charles Metz

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Yes, I have noticed this. But 15 bucks are still 15 bucks, and one more unhappy aspect is that the onlineshop is not able to calculate delivery costs prior to order. I don't like to buy this way. There is the risk to double the price or something else more, and I am also not able to see if I have to pay custom fee here at home or not. No, I don't want to waste my money with gambling. Thank you for the kind help, but I am so sorry, this is not my preferred kind of online shop.

Will ask the fellow. If he has some leftover numbers, I will get them for free. When not, I will try to make a painting mask or ask someone to print me decals.

 

Regards! - dutik

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Howdy dutik! I thought you might be interested in these pics of 'red 12' to help you along with your build? I have another photo of this AC sitting alongside 'red 10' from the rear also(it shows it having a solid color top wing? Well, it looks solid anyway....never can tell with the film they used then.), but I can't seem to be able to find it at the moment. Gah! You can just make out 'red 10' in the background in this photo. The other pic I have must have been taken at the same time, but from the rear? This is the only photo of the actual aircraft at my fingertips. Serial #111980, 'red 12'. Cool looking, huh?! :D

 

 

 

post-4413-1264151636.jpg

 

 

 

And here is a profile out of 'ME-262 Stormbird Rising' which has an excellent painting of 'red 10' on the cover. This is very close to how I ended up painting my build. I think I got it a little too dark in comparison with the pic above though?

 

 

 

post-4413-1264151811.jpg

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I actually found a spare set of decals that I used on my build. Here they are compared to what I had left over from the original kit decals for a size/font comparison. If you're interested, I can send these to you free. I want to see this model built as 'red 12'! Whoohoo!

 

 

 

post-4413-1264152204.jpg

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I'm not trying to steal your thread, but I wanted to show you what these actually look like put on the model. This is before I sprayed a green(or brown, can't remember) squiggle over the top to darken it up a bit. I think your version of a brown wing top would be super cool looking, and can't wait to see how it turns out!

 

 

post-4413-1264152448.jpg

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