ajaycad Posted January 31, 2013 Share Posted January 31, 2013 Thought I would start posting my first WIP. Its a Trumpeter 1/32 Me262. The kit is the 262A-2a version, but its basically a A-1a with an extra sprue for the bombs and pylons. I wasn't overly keen on the colour scheme options in the kit, and couldn't find an alternative decal set for a A-2a, so I have decided to build the A-1a version instead. The fuselage moulding represents a 1a as the 2a has a small panel under the canopy on the port side, which is not moulded on this example, although it would only be a 30 second re-scribe job to correct and you would have an A-2a. I'm only working from one main reference, Richard A Franks, Airframe and Miniature no1, and of course the internet. The decal options for a 1a are much more readily available, which then presented another problem, which one ! I have finally settled on Wk. Nr 501232 "Yellow 5" from KG(J) 6 and the Eagle Cals decal set, its the one with the red and black chequered tail band, shown below. Other extras are Mastercasters wheels, Aires cockpit and wheel wells, HGW Seatbelts and Eduard exterior etch set and canopy masks. I only started the build 3 days ago, but I work shifts so hopefully I should post updates every week. Work so far: To enable the Aires tub to fit, the internal frame detail needed removing, so out came my Christmas present, a nice new Dremel. Wish I had one of these a long time ago - saves so much time and effort. I think a bit more is going to have to come off though. The Aires tub viewed from below. As usual the Aires stuff is first class. The components were initially sprayed with RLM02 grey, however most references suggested the U/C bays on some aircraft could also be natural metal. Considering that materials were in short supply at the end of the war, and not having a picture of the real aircraft, I used a bit of "artistic licence" and compromised. The RLM 02 was lightly oversprayed with Alclad aluminium, an oil wash of lamp black applied, then lightly drybrushed with Tamiya rust pallette. Wiring on this aircraft was apparently yellow in colour, so this was picked out as shown - The camera tends to show the yellow more than in reality - its much more subdued than the picture shows. The cockpit was sprayed with RLM66 as usual for this era, Oil wash, drybrushed and the details picked out. And thats about it so far, the next step is to work out where all the control linkages go, which is really the only criticism I have of the Aires instructions as they are not very clear. I cannot find a decent picture of the undercarriage bay on a 262, so its going to be a challenge. Andy Derek B 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LSP_Kevin Posted January 31, 2013 Share Posted January 31, 2013 Welcome aboard Andy! That's gorgeous work mate! I built the Hasegawa kit a while back, and scratch-built much of the wheel bay area, which may be of some use to you: http://forum.largescaleplanes.com/index.php?showtopic=2969 If I can remember what references I used, I'll let you know. Looking forward to following your progress! Kev Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BJG Posted January 31, 2013 Share Posted January 31, 2013 Bang! Straight away, picture #4 shows this is going to be a very nicely detailed build. I'll watch this one. Brad Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Thomas Lund Posted January 31, 2013 Share Posted January 31, 2013 Bang! Straight away, picture #4 shows this is going to be a very nicely detailed build. Absolutely - that tub looks really good. Looking forward to following this Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Posted January 31, 2013 Share Posted January 31, 2013 Well Andy, this is one hella first post ! looks very good. Pit and wheel well are very convincing...............Harv Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Derek B Posted January 31, 2013 Share Posted January 31, 2013 Lovely work Andy Derek Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DougN Posted January 31, 2013 Share Posted January 31, 2013 Great work so far - and welcome to the site!Doug Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ajaycad Posted January 31, 2013 Author Share Posted January 31, 2013 Have managed to progress quite well on this project. The fuselage halves are joined and the Aires cockpit tub has been fitted but still needs all the detail items adding. This will have to be done before the lower wing assembly is attached as the space will be quite limited. The fit of the halves is quite good generally. I will have to re-scribe some panel lines and I've invested in one of Radu Brinzan's Rivet-R tools as some of the rivet detail has been lost. The fit of the Aires front wheel well is a challenge as it doesn't sit too well in the front nose section. It wouldn't be an issue if the gun bay was going to be closed up, but I intend to open one or both sides and add some extra detail. A few other minor jobs have been done which were not worth photographing, such as the main and nose oleos, although they still require paint. The HGW seatbelts have arrived. I have used these before on my 1/32 Tamiya P-51 Mustang (posted in ready for inspection) and these belts are brilliant. Much better IMO that etch and look much more realistic. I will post a picture of those once attached to the seat. Anyhow, that's all for now. Any tips or questions are very welcome, and if anyone has any photographs of this particular aircraft (Wk Nr 501232) I would be keen to hear from you. Cheers Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Posted January 31, 2013 Share Posted January 31, 2013 The only question I have is where have you been hiding ?? Very good work.......Harv Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tucohoward Posted January 31, 2013 Share Posted January 31, 2013 Off to a great start! I like it a lot. Jay Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ajaycad Posted February 4, 2013 Author Share Posted February 4, 2013 A little progress since the last post. The cockpit tub has been fitted and all the control rods/detail items have been fitted. The length of sprue was fitted to give the Aires resin parts some strength, as a little sanding was required to allow the wing sub-assembly to sit correctly. The only other work I have managed to complete is fitting the HGW seat harness to the seat. As I've said before, HGW seat harnesses are, in my opinion much better than etched items as they are made from fabric and sit more realistically - those of you who have used them probably know what I mean. Just a light raw umber oil wash applied and careful dry-brushing to finish them off. That's all for now. Andy Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dodgem37 Posted February 4, 2013 Share Posted February 4, 2013 Mighty nice. Sincerely, Mark Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Posted February 4, 2013 Share Posted February 4, 2013 I swear that second shot of the bay looks real ! Really ! Great work so far.............Harv Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LSP_Kevin Posted February 4, 2013 Share Posted February 4, 2013 Great work Andy, most impressive. Kev Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ajaycad Posted February 7, 2013 Author Share Posted February 7, 2013 (edited) February 7th 2013: Day off work today, so I have managed to spend a good few hours on the 262, so I set myself the goal of finishing the gun bay. I wanted to pretty much go to town on this area, so plenty of lead wire to replicate the cabling in this bay. As I have previously mentioned, the majority of the smaller gauge wiring on this aircraft is an off-yellow colour. This really makes it stand out and provides a nice contrast to liven up an area. As per my references, the bay was sprayed Alclad dull aluminium and given a black oil wash. The guns themselves were dry-brushed with one of those Tamiya gun metal weathering pastel to highlight the raised detail. I found some old decals in the spares box, so attached them to the gun junction boxes. The macro setting on my digital camera can actually define the word "notice" in English, however in reality you can't read it with the naked eye, or at least I cant anyway. Edited February 10, 2013 by ajaycad Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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