1/32 Trumpeter Me 262A-1a "Yellow 3"

[misha71]

great job

very neat and clean

[Troy Molitor]

Love all the efforts John. Coming along nicely.

 

Troy.

[monthebiff]

Just catching up with your build John, superb update and very clean work as always!

 

Regards. Andy

[Kahunaminor]

Beautiful work John,

 

Truly first class. I don't mean to throw a spinner but do you have access or knowledge of the stencils that were printed across the face of most late war(?) LW Metal parts? MDC prints them and they can be found here:

 

http://www.modeldesignconstruction.co.uk/mall/productpage.cfm/ModelDesignConstruction/_D32009/54283/German%20Duralumin%20Manufacturers%20Stamps

 

Apparently they are quite common on the Me 262 and other late war aircraft with natural Metal duralumin interiors.

 

Regards,

[speedgraflex]

John, I was just happily re-reading and viewing the section on brown washes—your techniques really bring out the characteristics of the finishes, and these are varied finishes! Thank you for your wonderful posts! I just wanna say "Hullo!" to Kent (Kahunaminor) as well. So nice to have more information, and Model Design Construction is just the bee's knees when it comes to added details! Wow! Thank you both, and my very best to all.

[Thunnus]

Thanks for the comments guys!  Kent:  Yes, I was aware of the manufacturing stenciling that some guys have put on the natural metal parts of the Luftwaffe interiors such as the wheel wells and engine bays.  I weighed it briefly in my mind but didn't feel strongly enough about them to seriously consider their use on this build. 

 

A bit more to report on the 262.  Being identified as an early 262A-1a and positively ID'd as having the old skool tail light, I decided to replace the solid panel with a clear one.  I used a piece from a clear toothbrush that I had laying around. 

 

 

 

 

I used the outline of the rudder to guide my grinding and sanding and I think I'll have to re-shape the bottom section a bit.  There is also a gouge mark from the rough sanding that I need to fill.

 

 

 

 

The clear canopy parts were given a dip of Future to increase their clarity.  This is my second attempt as I had some unanticipated pooling on the first go.

 

 

 

 

One of the things that had me procrastinating was how to add weights to avoid being a tail-sitter.  The answer was right in front of me but I was a bit slow to recognize it.  The kit comes with three fuel tanks.  The one in the front is completely sealed by the gun bulkhead in the front and the cockpit/wheel well bulkhead at the rear.  The front fuel tank is a hollow three-piece box... a perfect storage container for weights!

 

 

 

 

With the lid on, I didn't even have to add any glue!  I'm guessing this is enough weight to keep the nose down but I can add a few more weights to the two forward bays ahead of the weighted fuel tank.  I will not be adding the gun assemblies on this buttoned-up aircraft.

[PeterOlsen]

-looking good John. I was wondering,what glue did you use to attach the clear plastic into the rudder and did you have any problems with it dislodging when you started to sand and polish?

Cheers,

Peter

[Thunnus]

Thank you Peter! I should've mentioned this... I used a UV-activated glue to attach the clear plastic to the rudder.

 

 

The glue is clear and is hardened when exposed to UV light, which is provided at the end of the pen-like applicator.  The glue is VERY strong and held fast during all of the grinding and sanding.

[PeterOlsen]

Thanks John.

Edited April 14, 2018 by PeterOlsen

[Thunnus]

In addition to the tail lamp modification, I thought that I should remove the gun blister on the nose.

 

 

 

 

Before the removal...

 

 

 

 

After removal and restoration of panel lines and rivets...

 

 

 

 

The fuselage halves have been cemented together using Tamiya Extra Thin.

 

 

[LSP_Ron]

Nice work, 

[Gazzas]

That's a nice clean up on the blisters, John.  Why did Trumpy put them there?

 

Gaz

[VintageEagle]

Gaz,

 

Early production Me 262 didn't require them, but often had blocked canons because the cartridge ejection chutes were too narrow. Messerschmitt then designed new, wider chutes at the end of 1944. They wanted them to fit without the need of bulges, but due to a design error they became necessary. First bulges were just hammered into existing panels, later the bulges were riveted as seperate parts already at production level. Trumpeter's version is this last one, which doesn't fit to all produced Me 262s.

 

Cheers

Roger

[Thunnus]

I was gonna say something like that but much more simplified since I really didn't know the "why" just the "what". Thanks for the excellent explanation, Roger!  Yellow 3 has been identified as an early Me 262 A-1a but the Trumpeter model reflects the later production models.

[alaninaustria]

Very nice attention to detail!

Cheers

Alan