1/32 Trumpeter Me 262

[rohan]

Im wanting to make a 1/32 ME 262A1.  Can anyone tell me if it needs aftermarket, and if so, what is the best to get?  ie resin PE sets - Eduard Aires etc

 

Cheers,

Rohan

[Avenger2614]

I'll echo what Jennings said. . . All it really needs are some aftermarket wheels (the BarracudaCast ones are gorgeous, and no, I wasn't paid to say that!) and maybe some HGW seat belts in the cockpit. I'd recommend wiring the instrument panel from the rear, as you can see it from the canopy, but other than that, just take your time and build it carefully. The fit isn't stellar in some areas but it can absolutely turn out an impressive kit. I just posted my completed night fighter in "Ready for Inspection" if you want to check it out. Good luck and enjoy it!

[rohan]

Thanks for the heads up guys.  Appreciate it

[stevegallacci]

If you are a crazed rivet counter, the engine intake is shallow, the compressor face is way forward to accomodate the kit exposed engine. No one really cares, but I did a full length centerbody replacement. The kit engines are very nicely detailed- BUT it is all underscale to fit within the kit engine cowls, so everything is 20 to 40% undersize. Ironically, the old Hasegawa kit has not very detailed but full size engines inside over size cowls, a more notable inaccuracy to the old kit.

[Tony T]

I have an A-1a WIP, started in 2005 ! Must finish it this coming year. Very useful tips on this thread.

 

Any recommendations as to what to use as suitable thin yellow wire (without dismembering components bought in a electronics shop) for the back of the IP, and wheel well / fuselage interior ?

 

I still have yet to understand the almost pathological hatred of rubber tyres in kits. I have never encountered any problems with them, and putting them on a Dremel and running them over emery paper makes them look a ton more realistic. And they're rubber, or a synthetic equivalent - the weight of the model gives them the right 'sit'. And they give a perfect tyre/rim edge every time without *any* fiddly painting. Is it only the "my kits aren't toys, which is why I don't have turning propellers or rubber wheels" brigade who object to them ?

 

Tony

[rohan]

I agree with Tony T.  What is wrong with rubber tyres?  They look fine.  Easy to put on and the work you have to do on one piece resin tyres/wheels is just a pain in the rear end.  I dont go over my models with a ruler that has measurements in hundredths of millimetres checking it

[Mark P]

I think this one of those enduring issues with models that began when the rubber wheels on an AMT kit caused the styrene wheel hubs to melt. To this day, there has been a reluctance to rely on them.

 

If it still the case today or not, the fear remains...

 

Mark Proulx

[dutik]

Dragon had the same issue with its armor kits too. The tires cracked over the time. Not good. Also the aspect that ootb tyres often miss the correct thread or lack manufacturer stencils and so on. So aftermarket wheels solve a number of problems at once.

 

 

As for the wires: Use soft copper or lead wire and paint them. Did so with my own Stormbird (wip) and it worked fine.

 

Possible problems with the Trumpy kit: A lacking fuel hatch and missing some stencils/ fuel markings. Nothing else noted. Good fit. Just take your time to align the fuselage halves. The are large and tend to bend inwards. Sometimes it might be useful to cut off the alignment pins or to add a styrene lip inside the seam.

 

 

Enjoy the build!

- dutik

[rohan]

I have built 41 1/32 scale models over the last 12 months and 36 of those had rubber tyres.  No one has had an issue with any of them.  The other 5 had plastic/resin wheels.  All these were a pain in the rear end to paint and to get siting right and two have sunk because the weight of the model is too heavy for the pins that hold the wheels onto the strut.  So I think rubber tyres are easy.  They look realistic like Tony T said with a bit of quick weathering and are better as solid and sturdy.  Also remember that tyres on aircraft dont last long.  So they dont have to look dirty or anything.  Also look at the moulding on the tyres on say the Flanker.  They are great

[rohan]

The 262 sounds good.  Its also a reasonably priced kit.  Its Trumpeter so any fit problems wont come as any surprise.  Why is it that Trumpeter kits are just such a shocking fitting?  Ive built a few Super Hornets, Flanker, Mig 21 and all Ive used a tube of filler.  Then the best one is the F8 Crusader!!!  What a nightmare!!!  But with a bit of work and patience, Trumpeter kits do come up nice

[D Bellis]

I still have yet to understand the almost pathological hatred of rubber tyres in kits.

 

What is wrong with rubber tyres? 

It is impossible to properly paint and weather the "rubber" (actually vinyl). Sure, the vinyl can be scuffed to look as though it has been driven on pavement its whole life, but that's not the same as depicting the mud and other filth that lathered the tires so widely used on grass runways during and before WWII.

 

The "sit" that solid 'rubber' kit tires supposedly have is nowhere near the "sit" of actual, pneumatic tires.

 

The issues with some manufacturers' (Airfix, Dragon, AMT, etc.) 'rubber' melting adjacent plastic and/or breaking down themselves over time is a distant third, but still noteworthy.

 

For a few bucks, all of that is bypassed with resin wheels & tires that are usually far more detailed, easy to paint, and are known to last a lifetime.

 

As for the Trumpeter '262 kits, most of it has been covered here. I used thin copper wire for added electrical wiring and hydraulic tubing, with the wiring painted yellow and the hydraulics painted silver when I built mine a few years ago. 

 

An item not yet covered are the fictitious cockpit stubs for mounting the tub to the fuselage sides, and are visible through the main wheel well. These stubs can easily be trimmed off of the cockpit tub and the insides of the fuselage halves - the cockpit tub attaches nicely to the fore and aft bulkheads without them.

 

The fit of the slats (which should be hanging open on the ground) is fiddly, and the various parts making up the forward fuselage didn't fit together very well on mine, either.

 

HTH,

D

[D Bellis]

I almost forgot:
3/16" (5mm) was removed from my build's main gear legs' oleos. Checking my references, it appeared that the kit legs depict them fully extended, and the model looked like it was standing on its 'tippy toes' with them like that.

Each plastic leg was cut at the top of the oleo, and the oleos shortened by the required amount. The ends at the joint were then center drilled to accept a short length of 1/16" strene rod before gluing them back together. A small alignment tab had to be removed from the inside of the upper gear doors as well.

I would have preferred to use the kit's metal main gear legs, but modifying those would have been far more difficult. In the end, only the metal nose gear leg was used (with the oleo scissors removed to represent the late production version).

D          

[Tony T]

It is impossible to properly paint and weather the "rubber" (actually vinyl). Sure, the vinyl can be scuffed to look as though it has been driven on pavement its whole life, but that's not the same as depicting the mud and other filth that lathered the tires so widely used on grass runways during and before WWII.

 

The "sit" that solid 'rubber' kit tires supposedly have is nowhere near the "sit" of actual, pneumatic tires.

 

The issues with some manufacturers tyres.

 

For a few bucks, all of that is bypassed with resin wheels & tires that are usually far more detailed, easy to paint, and are known to last a lifetime.

 

An item not yet covered are the fictitious cockpit stubs for mounting the tub to the fuselage sides, and are visible through the main wheel well. These stubs can easily be trimmed off of the cockpit tub and the insides of the fuselage halves - the cockpit tub attaches nicely to the fore and aft bulkheads without them.

 

The fit of the slats (which should be hanging open on the ground) is fiddly, and the various parts making up the forward fuselage didn't fit together very well on mine, either.

 

HTH,

D

With respect to your opinion, my habits and experience differ:

 

With the exception of the Me 262 and a few plastic-wheeled Revell props I do post-war jets which...

A/ are seldom covered in mud and other carp

B/ have immensely strong wheel sidewalls making vinyl tyres far more realistic than some resin which, frankly, looks like a punctured tyre - "flattened" being the operative word.

 

Resin wheels need priming, and are most definitely *not* easier to paint than "spray me" hubs and pop-on tyres. If you prime and paint the hubs the vinyl tyres will not melt the hubs.

 

I have (albeit mostly armour) kits made ten years ago, sat in the sun in spring and autumn (window solar grazing angles) and which have not cracked, peeled or deteriorated in any manner whatsoever. Resin can sag or warp in strong sunlight, and the inherent lack of "give" can create fractures in joints.

 

Thanks for the Me 262 tips D - much appreciated. Ditto with the build, which is very useful.

I agree regarding the locating lugs for the cockpit tub - I've lost 2 already, and may remove all of them. The bulkheads seem sufficient to hold the tub in place. I may try to find yellow plastic than I can heat and pull into wiring.

 

Tony

[Guest Clunkmeister]

I was going to mention the high stepping stance of the main gear legs, but you beat me to it.

[LSP_Kevin]

I actually used Trumpeter's vinyl tyres from their 262 kit on my Hasegawa build, and found the centre seam on each impossible to remove. Even got pinged at a contest for it. I'd never use them again.

 

Kev